Peeking
Peeking is the phrase used to describe the action of seeing a card in
the deck while the deal is taking place. Certain peeking maneuvers are
considered very easy to master and are often invisible to other players.
Knowing the actual cards being dealt is particularly useful in stud
poker because the process allows the cheater to know the next card that
will be drawn for a specific opponent.
Stud Poker Peek
Suppose the "Peeking" cheater is in the midst of a seven-card stud game
and there are only two players left in the action, the dealer and one
other player. Suppose also that only one face-down card remains to be
dealt.
To ensure the dealer knows what the next card is, he grips the deck in
his left hand as normal but then places his such that it is curled
across the top edge of the deck while the remaining three fingers are
wrapped around the bottom of the deck. The dealer places his thumb
directly over the top card. In an effort to confuse and take the
opponents eyes off of the action, the dealer then moves to the process
of checking his own hole cards one last time. So as to confuse the
opponent, the "peeker" may look at
the top card as he looks first at one hole card or may wait until he
examines his second hole card.
The cheater proceeds to lift one of the hole cards with his right thumb
and index finger and as he does so, he moves his left hand in for the
normal move of protecting his opponent from seeing the hole card he is
looking at. Of course, as he does so the deck is also positioned in his
hand during the blocking movement. During that shielding process, the
dealer inverts the deck in a casual and normal manner as he inverts his
hole card. Using his index finger to pressure the top card, he crimps it
ever so slightly so that he can see what the card is. In a joint motion,
he then releases the card as he also turns his own face down once again.
Another stud peek variation again involves a blocking process. As the
top card is being turned is being turned over for all to see, the dealer
will do so ever so slowly, perhaps even looking at the card himself
first and announcing it to the players before actually exposing the
card. By holding that top card in his right hand and the deck again in
his left, as the top card is turned over the dealer keeps that card to
obscure the peeking action from the deck in his left hand. This form of
peeking is very effective when the next card is to go to a key player in
the game.
Other forms include actions with other items to obscure the peek. Two
common forms are to move chips in a way with one hand while the other is
busy again with the deck or when the dealer picks up his drink or even
puts out his cigarette. The move is particularly effective when merely a
glance is used to see the revealed card.
Perhaps the easiest card peeking involves the bottom deck card. As
before, the deck is held in the dealer?s left hand while he then slides
his right hand over to square the deck. As the dealer grips the deck
with his right hand fingers, he gently presses on the base of the deck
with his left hand index finger forcing the base card out. While
gripping the cards with his right hand, he slides his thumb downward and
while pressing gently down with his right hand he forces the revealed
end of the base up his thumb just enough to see the base card. After
quickly reading, barely a second is passing, with his hands the dealer
slides the card back under in his final apparent move to square the deck
up.
