“They won’t kill, but they will punish. Games in prison and in the criminal world What does gambling debt mean in prison

Games are a very common means of breeding in the criminal world. Skillfully playing on feelings of importance and significance, an experienced scammer leads the victim into the game for a long time, causing him to lose his vigilance. All about prison games and the criminal world.

Let's talk about such an interesting topic as games. Since there is more than enough time in prison, games occupy a significant place in the lives of prisoners. If we also take into account that the vast majority of those there are in a difficult mood, then games serve as both a distraction and an outlet for them. There are several well-known ways to do this - talking, reading, handicrafts - an ordinary person cannot be happy with himself. But games, of course, come first.

There are two options for games - “without interest” and “with interest”, i.e. the first involves simply passing time, the second involves betting on the game.

Games are a very common means of breeding suckers. Skillfully playing on feelings of importance and importance, an experienced scammer leads the victim to the game for a long time, often losing to him, lavishing praise or teasing, forcing him to lose his vigilance and bet everything he has and even more on the game, and then delivers the decisive blow.

If a person has nothing to pay with, he can turn into a slave - a “horse”, he can work his ass off, forever going into the caste of roosters, he can be faced with the need to perform any task, including murder. A gambling debt is a debt of honor, and those who refuse to pay it can be killed, maimed, or raped with impunity.

In prisons and zones with a predominance of human concepts, the beholders usually set the upper scale of rates. For prisons it is usually about 200 dollars, for zones - 1-2 thousand. Such measures are usually taken by unspoken agreement between the operatives and the thieves, the former of whom solve their problems in this way with the hands of others.

A very common way to punish or simply throw a person on order is to drop the victim for a certain amount, even a small one, but enough for him to ask for help from outside. Usually, a real period of time is given for payment, during which relatives or friends could add up the required amount - everything is “in accordance with the rules”. But then the operation is already starting to work - either the letters don’t arrive, or for some reason someone can’t get a pass because of some trifle, or the money is siphoned away... The payment deadline passes - and the person is in margarine. The debt immediately increases several times, or “legal” physical violence begins, or the operator recruits a new agent, promising help...

Often there is a conceptual rule - you can’t bully (play for fun) with a person who has been in the camp for less than 1 year. In prison (pre-trial detention center) - there was once a period of three months, but now it is usually not respected. Playing for fun, among other nuances, is economically beneficial for the elite - the shpili (players for fun) usually pay at least a quarter of the winnings into the common fund.

There are still a lot of options designed for a sucker, for a person who has not had time to get comfortable in prison. The most common of them is that a beginner is offered to play something. When he loses, he is told that the game was for, say, $100. He says that he didn’t play for anything, to which he hears - “But I played out of interest - I don’t know anything” - turns to the hut - “Has anyone heard that he sat down to play without interest?” Nobody, of course, heard...

Or - “What are we playing for?” - “No matter what.” Losing - “Pay 200 bucks.” “We played for nothing...” - “And for me, 200 bucks is nothing.” Despite the apparent comedy, everything is very serious. If you manage to evade the fee, it is often with a seriously damaged reputation.

Another option is “just play.” At the end - “And you know that in prison it’s “just” an ass. You lost your point."

Therefore, if you sit down to play, in any case you must announce: “We are playing without interest.” This is a universal formula - and hear your partner’s consent. And the advice is not to play for fun at all, but if you really can’t do without it, then at least in the first weeks of being in the cell.

There is another option - “sports interest”. They play squats and push-ups. It often turns out that the loser cannot perform, for example, several hundred push-ups in two hours, and then they announce that the loss will be “replaced” with something material - money, food. This option is often considered limitless, but it works among young animals.

The games where it is easiest for a sharper to work are cards, all games with dice. Cards are prohibited in prisons, and playing them is severely punished. But, as you understand, this stops few people. Probably, the ban on cards was introduced based on the high possibility of using cheating techniques, to prevent the exchange of experience, or maybe this is just an old ideological glitch.

Maps are usually made by hand. By the way, the stos (decks) made using all the technology are very beautiful. They are glued from newspapers with bread paste, they are leveled and sanded for a long time, drawings are applied (at the same time, secret marks) - thus, one deck can take up to 3 days of work.

By the way, card games can be played with dominoes - for example, in poker, which is often done.

If you are not a professional gambler, never sit down to play cards in prison for fun. And without interest they don’t play cards there - there’s no point in taking risks. And a non-professional will never risk keeping the cards - so if you are offered to play, you can be sure that you are under attack.

All other board games are permitted - chess, checkers, dominoes, backgammon (shyshbesh), dice (zary, zariki), as well as sea battle :) But, of course, all of them can be used with no less success for playing for fun.

The most honest games in this regard are chess and checkers, where it is difficult to adjust anything. Games where three or four people participate - for example, dominoes - are already more dangerous, since it is possible to communicate with secret signs and influence the outcome of the game.

One more piece of advice right away - if someone is playing, under no circumstances should you not only suggest, but even discuss the game next to the players. If the game is even more interesting, the loser can always demand that the tipper pay, no matter which side he gave the tip to or simply dropped a word.

Games with dice, among which the most popular are backgammon (shyshbesh), are quite dangerous in terms of cheating. Firstly, there are several simple techniques for picking up chips, and secondly, most importantly, a specialist with a high degree of probability can throw out the number he needs. To reduce this probability, they use either a glass in which the dice are “shaken”, or special methods of throwing stones - for example, from under a table, or by hitting an obstacle. Although this works, it is not always reliable.

Most people still play in prison to kill time. And the most popular game is backgammon. You can play them all day long, until you are completely stupefied, switching to full automation, while still getting a lot of pleasure.

Despite its apparent simplicity, this is a very interesting and instructive game. Having somehow realized that I didn’t like playing uselessly, just to kill time and distract from pain, I found in backgammon an inexhaustible reservoir for internal practice. Chess and checkers are purely intellectual games. Here, whoever is smarter and has more experience wins. You can train, analyze, grow, but the goal? If you win, it’s only thanks to yourself, because you’re smart, because you’re the best...

Purely probabilistic games - poker with dice, for example, is devoid of almost completely intellectual component, and everything depends on chance - are also of little interest.

In backgammon, these two components are harmoniously merged - you must do everything you can - the best move, calculate the combinations, very quickly, at the levels of intuition, and then surrender to the will of fate - as the stones fall. A very good model for our life: “do what you must, and come what may”

Since I began to approach the game in this way, I began to get a lot of pleasure and benefit. In general, these two components are present in any other game, but in backgammon they are very well balanced. Among similar games, I would also mention preference, but in prison it is simply not available.

To achieve mastery in backgammon, you need to learn just two of these components - to act in the best way for a given situation and at the same time to be submissive to fate. Distinguish between what can (and should) be changed and what cannot be changed. Live fully and be humble at the same time. Don’t fall into despair when faced with “undeserved” life difficulties, don’t take credit for the results of victory, accept your fate, be able to lose in winning situations... you can learn a lot with this approach. In such a game model of the world, it becomes possible to see yourself and your reactions to situations, your weaknesses - your irritation, anger, despair, pride... And seeing is already half the way to liberation from them.

So you can learn to live, learn to love, always and in everything - if you have the desire...

Nizhny Novgorod operatives detained two extortionists: they demanded that a resident of Gorodets repay someone else’s gambling debt.

Some time ago, a resident of Gorodets contacted the regional department for combating organized crime with a complaint of extortion. He said that two men demanded from him no less than half a million rubles.

“They justified their claims with a gambling debt, which, in the deep conviction of both, is “sacred,” Valery Klyuev, an employee of the information and public relations department of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate for the Nizhny Novgorod Region, told Pravda.Ru.

It is noteworthy that the “debtor” himself did not take any part in the game. In fact, he simply found himself at the wrong time and in the wrong place: he was “cheering” at the gaming table for his fellow gambler. He completely lost, but was in no hurry to pay off his “debt of honor” and went on the run.

Then the gamblers took advantage of that same friend from Gorodets. Like, if you were present at the game, pay.

“They repeatedly came to the victim’s home and persistently offered to return the money,” explained Valery Klyuev, “demanded that he write a promissory note.” In the end, the man realized that he could not cope with the extortionists himself.

When Nizhny Novgorod police officers got down to business, it turned out that the extortionists had already come to their attention: several years ago they were involved in a similar criminal case. In addition, both are well-known gamblers in the city.

“They were detained after another visit to the victim. A criminal case was opened under Article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Extortion,” but during interrogation neither one nor the other admitted their guilt,” our interlocutor added. However, investigators managed to collect enough evidence to bring charges. Let us remind you that the punishment provided by law for extortion is from three to seven years in prison.

Now the detainees are being checked for involvement in committing similar crimes both in Nizhny Novgorod itself and in the region.

A year and a half ago, a group of extortion gamblers also operated in Lesosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk Territory. True, the 23-year-old victim actually lost 500 rubles to them at one time, but for some reason he could not immediately give the money back.

The debtor was put on the "counter". The debt grew exponentially. The extortionists beat the young man and, to intimidate him, took him to the cemetery several times, where they threatened to kill him. The abuse continued for almost three months. The victim contacted the police only after the attackers announced that his debt now amounted to 300 thousand rubles and demanded that he take out a loan for this amount from the bank. All four suspects were detained on the same day. Now they face long prison sentences.

Prison forums on the Internet are full of questions like: “My husband (son, boyfriend) lost at cards, what should I do?” There is only one answer: you will have to pay for losing - gambling debt in prison and in the zone is a sacred matter. The famous art critic and philologist Dmitry Likhachev, who sat on Solovki in the 30s and wrote memoirs about it, gave an example of a variant of such retribution: a prisoner went to the industrial zone, cut off two of his fingers and brought them to the one to whom he lost - the debt was forgiven.

It happens that they play “for answer” - this is when there is a certain thing at stake, which the loser undertakes to give back after a pre-agreed time. Anyone who fails to fulfill his promise to become a “bullshit” (“pushing bullshit”, who does not keep his word), he can be “lowered” to “rooster”. Those who lose money must contribute part of the amount to the common fund.

A penniless and poor player has the opportunity to pay for a gambling loss by becoming a “horse” (slave) for the one to whom he lost, or “lowering” to a “rooster”. In this case, a kind of currency could be the execution of an order to beat or even kill a person indicated by the winner.

The situation with a loss is often used to its advantage by the operational unit of a prison or zone - it intercepts calls for help sent in one way or another to the outside world with a plea for money and, promising to solve the problem, recruits the debtor to become an informer.

Gambling card games are strictly prohibited in Russian prisons and colonies. But the prisoners skillfully bypass him and “slap” him in the “borax” or “sec”. Convicts never play just for fun; they always put something at stake.

Gambling debt in prison is sacred. It must certainly be given, otherwise the loser will face terrible reprisals and humiliation.

Faktrum will tell readers about how Russian prisoners still manage to play cards and what they bet on.

How they get playing cards in prisons

In areas with a not very strict regime, they turn a blind eye to the presence of cards in the cell. Prisoners can receive a deck along with a gift from their relatives or even buy it in the prison store. In prisons, where the rules are more strictly observed, the owner of a deck of cards may well be sent to a punishment cell or a punishment cell. That's why they hide carefully.

It’s not easy to get a deck of cards in high-security prisons, so craftsmen make them themselves. At the same time, special marks are immediately applied to the cards so that you can easily beat your opponent. Not everyone can play card games. According to prison rules, it is prohibited to accept a prisoner who has served less than a year into the game. But in some colonies and zones this threshold has been reduced to three months.

In Russian prisons there is a strict rule: they don’t play cards for nothing. And they don’t even say: “Shall we play just like that?” Because this phrase means that what is at stake is what is below the back. Usually prisoners play “out of interest” or “without interest.” In a game of "interest" there is always something at stake.

So how do prisoners pay for their losses? In the first place, of course, is money. Usually, when sitting down at the table, players voice how much they can lose and how long it will take to give it away. This is called the answer game. If this promise is not fulfilled, then the loser is considered a “sham” and can be morally and physically “put down.” As a rule, money is not retained from prisoners working at enterprises in the zone. Therefore, they write freely for relatives or friends to send them money to pay off their gambling debt. This money goes to the common fund of the prison authorities.

Cigarettes are also often put on the line, and their quantity must be strictly negotiated. There is a known case when one prison gambler bet two cigarettes, but, not knowing Zonov’s terminology, got burned on it. In prison, a "piece" means a thousand, so the loser owed his opponent 2,000 cigarettes, which, of course, he did not have. He asked to win back and, fortunately, the winner agreed. If not for his mercy, the loser would have had a hard time.

They pay for losing at cards with other things: clothes, “tchotchkes” - jewelry or, for example, the right to make a call. Prisoners also play for sport. Then the loser is forced to do squats or push-ups as many times as the winner names. Sometimes the fulfillment of a wish is also at stake. It can be either completely harmless (for example, shouting out the window: “I’m a fool!”) or cruel. The winner of a card game may demand that the loser beat someone up or even kill them.

What else do they play in Russian prisons?

In addition to cards, prisoners in Russian prisons can play dominoes, checkers, backgammon, chess or “Battleship” quite legally and without consequences from the administration. You can easily borrow games from the prison library or ask the warden. Even though these games are not as exciting as “borax”, “seka” or “twenty-one”, here too serious passions boil and some little things are at stake - candy or cigarettes.

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Much depends on the character and spirit of the prisoner, his determination and intelligence. Support from the outside, criminal experience and connections are of great importance. All this, in general, can be called “authority”. We can confidently say: all prisons live by the same laws, and, without very compelling reasons, no one oppresses or beats anyone. Incidents of assault are very rare and are harshly suppressed by the elite of the criminal world.

To each his own, but everyone has the right to live. Cases of direct extortion are almost excluded. But a prison is a prison. Analogies with army hazing are unacceptable!

A special case is gambling debts. They must be paid on time and on time. The consequences of non-payment of a debt can make the life of the debtor, the “bullyman,” unbearable. This is a stain and an infringement of rights until the end of the term! You need to do everything possible to help your ward pay off these debts on time and in full, if God forbid this happens!

Special advice for relatives - try to put transfers on a clear schedule. The prisoner needs to be able to plan his life and needs.

Visits from the lawyer and visits, if allowed, must also follow strictly as planned. This makes it easier to live and wait there. The main thing is to correctly assess your strengths and capabilities; it may very well be that this is all for years.

During the investigation and, later, the trial, much depends on the tactics you choose to defend the prisoner. Such a decision should be made by you as quickly and accurately as possible - a lot will depend on it, and first of all, of course, the fate of the accused.

First of all - in any case, this will not be superfluous - guarantees and petitions from public organizations, references from the place of work and place of residence, if any, are of great importance. If the arrested person has chronic diseases or disabilities, it is necessary to collect certificates about this. The specified documents must be kept with you until they are provided to the investigator, when one is appointed.

Now about the lawyers. It’s good if you have a family lawyer or a good friend. As a rule, this rarely happens in our society. You need to know that according to the Constitution, the accused has the right to a free lawyer. This lawyer is not necessarily going to be bad. Meet him, talk. Perhaps his help will be effective. However, when deciding to use the services of such a lawyer, you must keep in mind that a lawyer who “serves duty” in free services for obvious reasons gives preference to his paying clients, and may treat your case more than formally.

There is another danger lurking along this path, namely, lawyers cooperating with the investigation. In this case, his “client” may be in serious danger.

If you have the desire and opportunity to hire a lawyer, then, of course, you count on effective assistance and protection of your interests. If you've never encountered a problem like this before, you'll probably find the decision difficult.

The desire for maximum efficiency at minimum costs is understandable. That is why, before hiring a lawyer, I would recommend that you seek advice from an experienced lawyer - it is possible that his constant services will not be affordable for you, but in just one consultation he will be able to explain to you the task facing you and the arrested person, give legal advice overview of what happened, warn against possible mistakes and mistakes. You will need this when you manage the activities of the lawyer directly defending you, it will allow you to choose the right lawyer and plan your costs.

You must remember that the opinion that you form at the very beginning of the process after a conversation with an experienced lawyer, whose reputation is a guarantee that his advice is optimal and effective, will protect you from possible mistakes when hiring a lawyer.

It's no secret that sometimes there are unscrupulous lawyers who understand perfectly well the state you are in and your willingness to give everything for the speedy release of your loved one, solely and only for unsubstantiated promises, who unjustifiably inflate the cost of their services and demand money for additional expenses, often in advance, and then conduct the defense poorly and unprofessionally. Sometimes it happens that as a result of their activities they can cause irreparable harm and only worsen the situation of the accused. In other words, not only money can be wasted, but time can also be lost forever.

Many, unfortunately, have experienced this firsthand. We would like to warn you against this. Defending the arrested person is the task not only of the lawyer, but also of the arrested person. In general, one head is good, but two are better.

Whether the arrest was made correctly and legally;
- whether sanctions and warrants are properly executed;