Nevada Ban on Card Cheating Devices Upheld in Ruling on Wired Jockstrap

CARSON CITY — Nevada’s ban on the use of card cheating devices was upheld by the state Supreme Court in a ruling against a man who wired his athletic supporter to a hidden microcomputer to improve his odds of winning at blackjack.

The ruling last week revived a charge of possessing a cheating device that had been filed against Philip Preston Anderson in Las Vegas. Anderson had won a pretrial ruling from Clark County District Judge Earle W. White Jr. that the law was unconstitutional.

According to the court, Anderson strapped a microcomputer to his left calf. Wires ran to switches in his shoes that he could tap with his toes to keep track of the cards that had been played.

The computer calculated Anderson’s advantage or disadvantage with the house and sent “vibratory signals to a special receiver located inside an athletic supporter,” the Supreme Court said. “The signal told Anderson whether to hit, stand, double down or split.”