Niko Tosa and his two companies took £1.3 million ($1.6 million) from the Ritz Casino in London in 2004, prompting a Scotland Yard investigation. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
Make money at the Ritz
The world of gambling is full of mysterious, terrifying and fascinating stories, from bizarre bad hits to horrific robberies, murders and even ghosts. But when it comes to beating roulette, the story of the Croatian mastermind comes to mind – who claims to have won millions through sheer mental focus.
Not much is known about the man called Niko Tosa, a pseudonym used to hide his identity, other than that he lives in a small coastal village south of Dubrovnik. Believed to be in his 50s, Tosa comes from a prominent family and regularly uses fake names to visit casinos around the world.
He was arrested after pocketing £1.3 million ($1.6 million) from the Ritz Casino in London.
Nearly 20 years ago, Niko Tosa and his two partners, Serbian businessman Nenad Marjanovic, and Livia Bellesi, a 32-year-old Hungarian woman, were arrested after taking £1.3 million ($1.6 million) from the now-closed Ritz Casino. in London. .
Initial theories regarding the trio’s tactics even included the use of lasers and microcomputers to predict wheel movements. But after nine months of investigation and no further leads, Scotland Yard finally closed the case.
But now it appears the three have overcome the odds with a much simpler procedure: through sheer mental focus.
Arrest on suspicion of “fraud”
According to Tusa, there are only two things required to beat the odds at roulette: finding a table with a flaw to reduce randomness, and mentally estimating where the ball will go.
Tusa claims that the condition of the wheel is important because one with a slight flaw or bias reduces the randomness of where the roulette ball lands. By observing the wheel and the ball before the bets closed at the last second, Tosa and his companions were able to predict correctly.
For the most part, Tosa was off the radar before he pocketed £1.3 million ($1.6 million) from the Ritz Casino in London in 2004. After visiting the casino, Tosa, Marjanovic and Bellesi attracted the attention of security staff when they visited the casino. Several nights in a row.
Tosa would enter the casino and scan the room before choosing a table
Security watched on cameras as Tosa entered the casino and scanned the room before choosing a table. According to Tusa, he was choosing tables that he had been successful at before, but they had been moved to a different location within the casino.
Each night, the trio followed a similar pattern: just before betting closed and when the ball moved, they would place a bet. Over the course of several nights, they managed to increase their winnings to £1.3 million ($1.6 million).
Upon their return to the Ritz the next night, the three were met by police and arrested on suspicion of “cheating.”
Stay away from cash
Police searched the three, thinking they would find hidden devices. However, none were found. They also searched their hotel rooms, but found nothing but money and a list of casinos with pros and cons next to them.
Determined to find some evidence of the ‘deception’, the police stripped the roulette table thinking they would find a hidden device inside. They combed through the security footage and interrogated the dealer at the table, all of which came to nothing.
They were free to go with their winnings
After a nine-month investigation, Scotland Yard returned the money to Tosa, Marjanovic and Bellesi and told them they were free to dispose of their winnings.
In the wake of the incident, many casinos worked to improve their wheels, such as using clamshell pockets to increase the amount of time the roulette ball bounced.
Undeterred by these tactics and having previously used fake names and masks to visit casinos around the world without being detected, Tosa has hinted that he is planning another international casino tour where he will undoubtedly use mental focus to beat the casino again.
