Two Ukrainians jailed for high-tech poker cheating

Two Ukrainians behind a high-tech casino heist — involving earpieces and hidden cameras linked to an accomplice in another country — were jailed for 15 months by a French court on Monday.

The men, aged 35 and 71, are estimated to have made more than 270,000 euros ($295,000) in more than a year of cheating in poker at casinos in Annecy and other French cities, according to police.

Arrested at Annecy casino on February 13, the court found them guilty of cheating and money laundering.

Prosecutor Justine Bernardi told the court how the pair used mobile phones left on the table or hidden in their shirt pockets to transmit real-time images of cards turned over on the poker table to an accomplice in another country.

It was “professional material”, said Bernardi of the videoconference application used to send the images.

The accomplice, using information gained before other players, “analysed the best possible combinations” to play in the game, said the casino’s lawyer Laetitia Blanc.

The duo became daily players at the Casino Imperial and even had “artificial intelligence” assistance, according to the establishment’s director Eric Perrin.

Defence lawyers said the pair were gambling addicts.

A specialist gambling police unit noted their presence at several casinos and started an inquiry.

Some 15,000 euros, 60,000 Swiss francs and a luxury watch was found in a raid at one of their homes.

The two will be expelled from France after serving their prison terms, the court ordered.

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