Dealer at a New Hampshire Casino Charged with Class A Felony Theft

A dealer at the Boston Billiard Club and Casino in Nashua, New Hampshire has been charged with theft. The charges were laid against him on Tuesday after local police claim that he changed the game he was dealing at to help players win.

The dealer, 40-year old Christopher Hopf, faces a class A felony for drawing from the bottom of the deck. It could land him in prison for up to 15 years.

Spotted on Security Camera

Casino staff became suspicious about Hopf’s cheating on October 16 2018, after a player won nearly $2,000 in a game of Mississippi Stud. This is a poker-themed table game like Three Card Poker or Caribbean Stud Poker. According to the Billiard Club and Casino President, the pit boss became suspicious after a player was dealt a great hand. “The hand that was dealt is a pretty hard hand to get,” President Kurt Mathias reportedly said. “It seemed odd to the pit boss, and they immediately went to security and the security cameras.”

Dealer and Player Were in on it

They soon busted him for dealing from the bottom of the deck. “The player was somehow signaled by the dealer to come to the table at that time,” Mathias said. “He [Hopf] had figured out a way to get the cards to the bottom of the deck so it could work out for his friend,” Mathias explained.

Hopf has only been working for six weeks at the New Hampshire casino before he was fired for cheating. Consequently, the player has received a lifetime ban from the Boston Billiard Club and Casino. The dealer handed themselves in on Tuesday to the police without incident.

Boston Billiard Club and Casino’s marketing director, Kevin McMahon, they will be prosecuting the case rather than simply dealing out their own punishment and settling out of court. They want to ensure that it’s as public as possible so they will be making an example of the dealer. “We knew once the police report was released it would make the papers,” McMahon reportedly said. “But we wanted to make the point that this sort of thing will not be tolerated. We do our best to run a very tight ship. We don’t tolerate cheating or nefarious behavior of any kind,” he said.

For that reason, Hopf, the dealer, is will appear at the Hillsborough County Superior Court South on March 21.

Read our page on casino cheating to learn more about the act of swindling casinos and some of the most successful and legendary casino cheats.