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Warning: The following article is designed to enable the honest player to spot the devious cheat in his midst. Anyone caught using this information for immoral purposes will be tarred and feathered and paraded around town by the Bluff staff.
Romanticized by the silver screen in dozens old Westerns and the cause of many a saloon brawl, this month we turn our attention to crooked dealing.
THE SECOND DEAL
The second deal allows the cheat to secretly retain the top card for himself or an accomplice, while continuously dealing the second card round the table to the other players. Of course, the second deal is only of use to the cheat if he knows the value of the top card.
The uninitiated salivate at the thought of using the second deal in conjunction with a marked deck – with a desirable card on top, the cheat just keeps hitting seconds until it comes around to him. But funnily enough, the thought of being caught with a marked deck is most humiliating to those who put in the hundreds of hours required to master this difficult technique. Call it card cheat snobbery!
THEY SNEAK A PEEK!
Instead, they use a much subtler method known as a “glimpse” or a “peek,” a move that lets the cheat secretly sight cards at almost any position in the deck. The second deal (also known as a deuce dealer) favors the blister glimpse. The thumb applies pressure to the outer corner of the top few cards, causing them to buckle. Under natural cover, such as throwing in a chip or pulling up his sleeves, the cheat can sight not only the top card, but also the second, third, and even fourth. While every deuce dealer’s technique may vary slightly, they all fall into one of two categories:
THE PUSH OFF SECOND DEAL
The push off second deal is when the thumb is positioned at the outer left corner of the pack, enabling the cheat to push off the top two cards in perfect alignment, making them appear as one. As the dealing hand approaches the deck, the top card is drawn back, delivering the second card into the cheat’s grip.
THE STRIKE DEAL
The strike deal involves the thumb drawing back the top card the tiniest amount to expose a slight portion of the outer end of the second card (see Figure 1). As the cards are dealt, the thumb strikes the exposed portion of the second card, drawing it from under the top card (see Figure 2).
THE BOTTOM DEAL
Even more infamous than the second deal is the legendary bottom deal, which, as the name suggests, is how the cheat deals a card from the bottom of the pack, while making it look like it came fairly from the top. This is accomplished by pushing the top card off as if it were to be dealt, but actually the procedure offers cover for the index or middle finger of the dealing hand to extend under the deck and come away with the bottom card. As the bottom card is drawn away, the top card is pulled back square into position.
The bottom dealer, known as cellar man or basement dealer, has a variety of glimpses he uses to obtain the value of the bottom card. In Figure 3 you can see a peek, which is executed under the perfectly natural action of running the hand along the side of the cards, apparently squaring the deck. It’s virtually angle-proof, making it very difficult for the untrained eye to detect.
EVERYONE HATES A HANGER ON…
What makes the second and bottom deals so difficult is that they require not just perfect technique, but also perfect timing. If the move isn’t flawlessly executed at precisely the right moment, the optical illusion of a legitimate deal is lost, or worse, the dealer could be faced with what’s known as a hanger.
A hanger is when the second or bottom card isn’t properly drawn from the deck.
The dealing hand literally misses, and comes away with nothing, leaving the desired card hanging from the deck. It may sound comical, but for our cheat it’s a nightmare situation that can quickly turn into a finger-breaking session, depending on the temperaments of the other players.
SO WHAT ARE THE TELLS?
Before we wrap it up for this issue, here are a couple of ways to spot a cellar man or deuce dealer.
WATCH THE GRIP
First thing to be aware of is how the dealer holds the deck. In Figure 4, you can see what’s known as the mechanic’s grip. It offers the greatest degree of control over the deck and is the basic grip for all cardcheating moves.
It’s easily recognizable by the first finger, which is positioned along the outer edge of the cards. While I have come across players who naturally hold the deck in this fashion, it should be an immediate red flag if you see it in a game. Also, watch for the inexperienced mechanic who will often raise the pack slightly to help conceal a poor second deal. This is referred to as neck tying or choking the deck.
WATCH THE FINGERS
In a fair deal, the only part of the hand that moves is the thumb pushing the card off the deck. However, some basement dealers favor cocking the bottom card to prevent the possibility of a hanger (see Figure 5). So watch for an unnatural movement of the second or third fingers.
With a strike second deal the thumb never lifts off the pack, while an honest player has to raise his thumb momentarily to free the top card. So if that thumb isn’t lifting - watch out!
LISTEN
When a mechanic hits a second or bottom there is always a slight audible discrepancy from that of an honest deal. In the hand of an accomplished cheat, it may be very slight, but it’s always present for the vigilant ear to pick up on. So get out your Q-tips.
If you’d like to find out more about crooked dealing, check out my website –www.secretsofthecardcheat.com
Until next time, Keep your card up,
Jack Wise
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