Forms of Cheating
Most honest poker players are extremely vulnerable
to those who are willing to cheat. The reason is
very simple, an honest player is vulnerable because
of the fact that he is honest and does not know what
is involved in cheating. Most people believe it
takes years to become an effective, professional
card cheater but that is simply not the case. It is
important that all players understand some of the
cheating basics to protect their own interests.
There are four very simple techniques that can
provide a player a significant and unfair advantage.
These four are referred to as culling, stacking,
crimping, and blind shuffling.
The term culling is used to describe the process of
locating desired cards while either shuffling,
riffling through the cards, or by gathering discards
in a particular manner. These cards are ten
manoeuvred to the top or bottom of the deck for
select dealing.
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The term stacking describes the process of arranging
the cards within the deck by the dealer. Again such
action occurs during shuffling, riffling, or
gathering discards.
Crimping is the act of bending a card or cards to
produce a slight gap in the deck. That gap may be
felt easily by the dealer when the cards are cut.
The phrase Blind Shuffling refers to a specific form
of shuffling the cards. The process involves the
apparent shuffling of seemingly all the cards even
though the dealer does not actually shuffle the
entire deck. The action allows a cheater to keep the
stacked portion of the deck intact for their use.
Locating a Specific Card
First there are two basics forms of card shuffling,
the riffle shuffle and the overhand shuffle. In the
process of the riffle shuffle, the dealer holds the
deck in his right hand but rests the deck on his
left hand. He then riffles the cards with his right
thumb, stopping roughly halfway through the deck.
The dealer then parts the deck. Using the lower
portion of the deck with his left hand, the upper
with his right, the dealer knuckles his forefingers
down on the tops of the separated deck halves
holding them firmly in place. Using both thumbs, the
dealer begins to interlace the cards with a riffling
action as the thumbs create spaces for cards to
alternate in. The dealer then pushes the cards
together, squaring them into a singular deck once
again.
The overhand shuffle is done quite differently. The
dealer holds the deck in his left hand, thumb on
top, fingers underneath, hand tilted slightly. With
his right hand, he removes some of the lower cards
from the bottom half of the deck, raises his left
thumb and forces the cards in his right hand, a few
at a time, into those he holds in his left hand,
scattering the cards into the deck remaining in his
left hand.
To locate a specific card while doing a riffle
shuffle, the cheater follows these simple steps.
First, he watches the cards closely, observing the
faces of the rapidly passing cards as he performs
his riffle shuffle. The cheater will riffle the
cards with a casual rhythm, not too fast nor too
slow, and actually stop riffling when he sees his
desired card. When the cheater sees that card, he
parts the deck and passes the remaining portion of
the deck with his desired card on top to his left
hand. The cheater can easily move the card to the
top of the deck by holding onto the stacks
appropriately.
Maintaining a Card Using the Overhand Shuffle
Once a card has been moved to the top of the deck,
it can easily be moved tot he bottom with the
overhand shuffles technique. By placing the deck in
his left hand, the dealer can then press with his
left thumb firmly on the very top card and lift the
entire deck with his right hand. The selected card
then is the only card remaining in his left hand.
Smoothly, the cheater proceeds to use the overhand
shuffle technique to place the other cards on top of
the culled card.
Maintaining Card Location During the Cut
Of course, to be able to utilize the card that has
been culled to the bottom (or the top for that
matter), the cheater must be able to cut the deck
without disturbing the key card. One simple
technique that looks like a very real cut is for the
cheater to place the deck face down in the palm of
his left hand instead of on the table. The cheater
then pulls fifteen or twenty cards from the centre
of the deck, but never goes completely to the
bottom, using his right hand and gently slapping the
group of cards on top of the deck. The cheater often
repeats the action three or four times in rapid
succession making his false cut look very
convincing. However, the culled ace remains in its
desired location.
Crimping the Deck
To crimp a deck, the cheater uses a grip that
entirely shields the deck to create his advantage.
The cheater grasps the lower deck with his left
thumb on one side and placing his fingers on the
opposite side. The cheater then grips the upper deck
with his right hand, all four fingers on top but
with his thumb pressed against lower left corner. In
this action, the deck is completely shielded now by
the right hand. At that time, the dealer then
presses the lower left corner of the deck down and
inward with his right thumb to crimp that lower
portion of the deck. Ideally, the cheater crimps one
third to one half of the lower deck, some where's
between fifteen to twenty-five cards.
The cheater then places the deck with the crimp
facing him so that the sides facing his opponents
have no visible gaps. In fact, a good cheater
creates a crimp that is not visible but one that can
only be felt. A simple cut moves the desired card to
the middle of the deck, but right at the crimped
card point. The cheater then lightly grasps the
cards a second time so that his thumb naturally
finds the crimp once again, to then be able to cut
at the crimp. After making the desired cut, the
cheater flexes the cards outward with his thumb and
fingers to remove all remnants of the crimp before
proceeding to deal, once again he has his desired
card in a specific location for him to ensure that
he deals it to himself.
