Two California men have found out that cheating at casino table games doesn’t just get you banned from the casino, but it can put you in prison. On Tuesday, San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced that Vaagn Galustyan, 52, and Armin Martirosyan, 53, have both been charged with two felony counts of conspiracy to commit a crime for teaming up to cheat at two casinos in Southern California.
According to DA Stephan, the scheme was simple: card marking.
Galustyan, Martirosyan, and an accomplice who is yet to be identified, hit Pala Casino Spa Resort, located between Los Angeles and San Diego, first. They arrived separately, likely to try to make it look like they weren’t together, but ended up at the same Mississippi Stud poker table. While playing, they bent the corners of the ten-and-higher-value cards to help identify them when they were still face down.
After a few hours, the table closed and the two men left the casino with their chips. They returned five hours later, having changed clothes, and cashed out a portion of their haul – $19,250 – with two different cashiers.
The following week, they pulled the same cheating scheme at Harrah’s Resort Southern California, about 11 miles southeast of Pala Casino, winning $13,410.
Galustyan and Martirosyan were caught on security footage and subsequently apprehended.
“This method of cheating at cards goes back hundreds of years but with modern technology, the practice can be detected and those who would scam local casinos can be brought to justice,” said DA Stephan in Tuesday’s press release. “I’m proud of my office’s relationships with tribal governments and the cooperation we continue to have with them to successfully prosecute a variety of crimes that occur on tribal lands.”
“Modern casinos actively look for card marking with surveillance cameras, table inspections, and frequent deck changes,” the San Diego District Attorney’s Office added. “Dealers are trained to spot bent corners, unusual handling, or other signs of tampering, and many casinos now use plastic-coated cards or card changes every 20 to 30 minutes to make this tactic harder.”
If convicted, the men face over three and a half years in prison. A preliminary hearing has been set for January 15, 2026.
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