Question of the Day - 02 March 2022

While I am sure the casino is not going to give up any details - Analytics have come along way in the last 10 years and have the ability to perform routine tasks - ie count the number of people in a line. A very basic facial recognition system uses only 7 points to identify someone, with followup by a floor person for positive id. It can be used to detect large chips in play at the tables so more attention can be focused where its needed. 

Card counters are detected because they bet minimalistic then switch to large bets when the count is in their favor. The team scam is to have people playing at multiple tables waiting for a good count and then signal someone to come over and start betting big for a couple of hands (hit and run) - no variability in play here. Some casinos have a no mid-shoe entry rule for just this reason. 

You don't need special cameras - you simply take your camera stream and run it through the AI software - far more effective than people watching screens.

I have experience in many forms of advantage play and I never once gave any thought to cameras. Two big reasons for this
1 - This article and comments are all focusing on casino cameras. But what about back of house? Of course they have cameras there too. One rogue employee can do more damage than a whole table full of card counters - which one do you think surveillance is watching? 
2 - Do you goof off at work? Yeah, well, so do camera surveillance agents. I mean come on, they hire from the population of morons that is Las Vegas (relax, I live here too). They're up there goofing off, talking about the Raiders and whether it's going to rain tomorrow or not, just like you are at work. They can only do so much. 
Yes, some people will think that they have software to help them and stuff - and they do. But I work in the field of AI, trust me, it's not that sophisticated. 

I think it's a safe assumption that the 50% camera reliability statistic is far out of date. Cameras in 2003 were large, required a lot of power and cables. Today's cameras are tiny, require little power and can transmit wirelessly. Fewer moving parts means higher reliability. Plus, they're small enough now that they don't even have to be in those little domes that hang above the table, they can be hidden virtually anywhere at any angle.

There's more cameras on everyone now with the mobile phone cameras of every narcissist trying to get a selfie, video or just hoping to find something that will make their video go viral.

Although the question-poser didn't designate table games as the focus of his/her question, the Answer did focus only on table games. I needed surveillance help about a MACHINE issue. I played video poker on a green Game King multi-game machine at the Fremont several years ago and walked away without cashing out my $48. I remembered within a minute, but when I went back, someone had cashed out my money. I went to Security. What I found was sad. They did not have enough cameras to surveil all machines; a single camera covered 3 short rows, and the farthest row (where my machine was located) was totally obscured, so their video footage did not catch the culprit. Also, the quality of the video was poor; even if the view were clear and it showed the person who did it, the person's face likely would not have been distinct enough to recognize and look for. I don't think there was a camera covering the area from the opposite side to surely catch their face. I got nothing and was not impressed.

Several years ago I playing a Big Green Machine at the Flaming Oh on the strip. This machine has 15 squares, any amount appearing at the end of a spin is a win. $1 up to $1000.  I got 2 squares showing $1000=$2000.  Big win.  Machine locked up,showing 2 x $1000.  Blue square appeared on screen.  Usually this is a message saying slot worker on the way.  This time it said "Perform Memory Check"  Screen went black.  Minute later screen pops up, shows $5 and $1 winner.  Talked to several workers. Supervisor opens machine, replays last spin, checks memory, says I won $6.  He said gambling control can check, but it takes 2-3 weeks.  He said cameras saw nothing.  There were several cameras visible, or at least dark tinted camera covers.  Month later I got letter from "authorities" who claimed to investigate incident and found no evidence of my claim. Avoid large pink birds.