Cheating is more common in poker than most
people care to believe. Although most cheating
occurs in private games that do not follow strict
gaming procedures, it is also very common in
regulated card rooms and casinos. Cheating can be
done either by means of collusion, sleight-of-hand
(such as bottom dealing, stacking the deck,
switching cards etc), or the use of cheating gaffs
(such as marked cards, holdout devices, glims
etc).
Cheating is as common in friendly
games as it is in high-stakes games. A card cheat
may operate alone, but most of them operate in
pairs or small groups. The groups are often
composed of one card mechanic who is in charge of
manipulating the cards, one or several shills who
pose as regular players, and a muscle who acts as
a bodyguard. Street gangs also often employ a wall
man who acts as a lookout, however this approach
is more common with three card monte mobs, and
back-alley dice gangs.
Following is a list of
terms used to categorize specific card
cheats:
* card mechanic -- A card
cheat who specializes in sleight-of-hand
manipulation of cards. * base dealer/second
dealer -- Also called bottom dealer/second dealer
is a cheat that specializes in bottom/second
dealing. * paper player -- A card cheat that
exploits the use of marked cards. * hand mucker
-- A card cheat that specializes in switching
cards. * machine player -- A card cheat that
uses mechanical holdouts. * crossroader --
Originally, any kind of traveling hustler; but now
the term is mainly use to describe cheats who
specialize in hitting casinos.
Minimal-skill
methods
The easiest method for a
cheat, hard or soft, requires no ability of
manipulation, but rather the profound nerve to
blatantly cheat. Such methods include miscalling
of hands, shorting the pot, and peeking at cards.
Such cheating should not be tolerated. However, it
is very difficult to prove because when confronted
the cheat often calls the cheating an honest
mistake.
A simple and fair way to go about
preventing this kind of cheating is to simply
follow the rules. For example, "Cards speak" is
the common expression for the rule that no matter
what the player says, it is the cards that
determine who wins the pot. While it's barely
legal to call a bad hand a full house in the hopes
that people will give up, the players should want
to see this hand: they paid to look at it. Should
such honest "mistakes" occur, it is best to ask
the player to leave for that evening. If it was an
honest mistake, he is in no condition to play
poker (put aside your greed on this one - he will
come back). If he did mean to cheat, he can't do
it from outside the game and is unlikely to come
back.
The minimal skill methods of cheating
occur far more often than one might suspect. It is
common for a player who has folded to appoint
himself tender of the pot, stacking chips,
counting them, and delivering them to the winning
player, just so he doesn't have to get up. Nobody
seems to notice the chip palmed in the hand of
this helpful player. This is called check-copping.
This happens a lot. In fact, odorless adhesive can
be used for this purpose. Once again, the answer
is to follow the rules. Only at the showdown
should a player touch the pot. In fact, it is a
considerate player who obeys the rule concerning
placing chips in the pot; the player does not
throw the chips in the pot (splashing) but places
them in an easily counted stack in the center of
the table.
Cheating can happen even when
the cheat does not have the deal. In draw poker, a
player can discard two cards, throwing these two
in the pile of discards so as to avoid counting
(or if there is no pile, throw them on top of
another player's discards), while calling for
three. Not only does the cheat get the one card
advantage in this hand, but before the showdown,
he can ditch this extra card in his lap or vest,
and thereby retain this one card advantage
throughout the game. In this case, it is the
dealer's job to regulate the discards, and to
ensure the fairness of the process. In a way, this
is the most fair. In exchange for the huge
positional advantage the dealer has, he has
responsibilities to occupy his time.
Marked
cards
The most known method of
cheating is using marked cards. The cards are
printed or altered such that the cheater can know
their value while only looking at the back. The
ways of marking are far too numerous to mention,
but certain broad types can be mentioned. A common
way of marking cards involves marks on a round
design on the card so as to be read like a clock
(an ace is marked at one o' clock and so on until
the king which is not marked). Shading a card by
putting it in the sun or scratching the surface
with a razor are ways to mark an already printed
deck.
Much talk and advertisement has been
about concerning "colored readers", that is,
marked cards that can only be read with the use of
color filtered glasses or contact lenses. While
such decks are available, they are painfully
obvious to the observant poker player. Many
cheating authorities mention the idea that while
wearing contact lenses they always slip off-kilter
to the pupil, therefore a red (the most common
color) crescent will be visible on the sclera
around the iris.
"Juice" is a substance
used to mark cards in a subtle way so as to avoid
detection. Apparently one has to be "taught" to
read juice patterns, but once taught, one can read
(hence the term for marked cards "readers") them
from across the table. An easy way to protect
yourself from marked decks is to as the cheats say
"go to the movies". The idea is to flip through
the cards rapidly, treating the deck much like a
movie flip-book. If there is any difference in the
cards, they should become rapidly apparent. Decks
can also be marked while playing. A cheat can hold
his hand in such a way that it will bend or bulge
in a position that the cheat can read from across
the table (called a crimp). In this case one
should remember it is stipulated in the rules that
any player may at any time request a new
deck.
Moderate-skill
methods
A cheat with moderate skill
always has the option to hand-muck, that is,
switch their hand with one they have secretly
hidden on them somewhere. This may also be done
with a confederate (see Collusion). Mechanical
devices have been invented for the purpose of
switching hands. Though such machines are
outdated, the modern equivalents (clips that hold
cards on the underside of the table) should not be
overlooked. The "hands above the table" house rule
is recommended to prevent this. If it is done
above the table, then anyone at the table can see
it. This type of cheat runs the risk that he plays
the same card as someone else at the table; at
which time there must be a cheat at the table.
Most people, not wanting to point fingers, will
just end the game for the evening.
Skilled
methods
Never doubt that a skilled
cheat may deal a card from any place in the deck.
A skilled cheat can deal the second card, the
bottom card, the second from bottom card, and the
middle card. The idea is to "cull", or to find the
cards one needs, place them at the bottom, top, or
any other place the cheat wants, then false deal
them to himself or his confederate. Suppose the
cheat is next to deal. In the previous showdown,
there are four sevens in different hands. The
cheat pick up the cards so that all four sevens
end up on the bottom of the deck. He then false
shuffles the deck and deals himself the four
sevens off the bottom of the deck.
There are many tells as
to this kind of cheating:
1. Beware
of anyone gripping the deck with the index finger
in front of it. This is referred to as the
mechanics grip. It not only allows better control
of the cards, but provides cover as, showing the
back of the top card, and without moving the hand
holding the deck. 2. Beware any shuffle
instantly followed by a cut. This is a well known
way to undo a shuffle. The idea is that, as the
halves of the deck are taken apart, the bottom
half is shuffled so its top card is on top.
Cutting the cards, and in doing so, unweaving the
interlaced cards, places the bottom half right
where it started. Completing the cut places the
deck in its original order.
Dealing
mechanics
Despite all this high
power sleight of hand, the cheat still won't win
money with four sevens if everyone else has a
bust, so the cheat stacks two hands. Obviously the
cheat will get the better one. Let's say he has
two hands one on the bottom of each half of the
deck, ready to shuffle (let's say four kings and
four aces). All the cheat has to do is to shuffle
the two halves PERFECTLY, that is, alternating
from one half to the other. When done with the
whole deck this is called a faro shuffle. This
places in alternating order on the bottom of the
deck the cards K,A,K,A,K,A,K,A. He can then false
shuffle to his heart's content without disturbing
those eight bottom cards, and begin dealing. When
he gets to his mark, he deals that player the
bottom card. He deals himself bottoms too. This
places the big fish with four kings, a real
betting hand, and the cheat with four aces, hence
the cheat cleans up. This is called the double
duke.
The best way to foil mechanics of
this nature is to burn them, to watch their hands
at all times and to always insist on a cut. This
may not prevent them from cheating, but it forces
them to undo the cut - a difficult and dangerous
move. Only world class cheats will undo a cut
while being burned. Note: no other shuffling or
cutting is allowed after EVERY player is offered
the option of cutting. A cheat may bend the entire
deck so as to reveal where the cut was, so that
his confederate sitting to his left may undo the
cut or he may do so himself should the appropriate
distraction present itself.
Switching
decks
This pales in comparison to
the granddaddy of all cheating - the "cold deck".
After all the shuffling and cutting has been done
(everyone nicely pacified) the cheat can switch
the deck for one he has stacked beforehand so that
everyone has a real betting hand, but, of course,
the cheat has the best one. Other versions of the
"cold deck switch" utilize the cutting sequence to
perform the "work." Any deck switch is difficult,
and may require distraction, but once done, no
other sleights are necessary to win. The only
defense is to simply always watch the deck. Many
players believe that it is bad luck to look at
your cards before the dealer is finished as you
might miss your opponents' reactions to their
cards, and might miss burning the
dealer.
Collusion
One
of the easiest ways to cheat at poker is with a
partner or many partners, called collusion. This
is basically playing differently against one or
more players than you do against others at the
table (in contrast to mechanics, which is directly
manipulating cards or chips in violation of the
rules). The gravity of such cheating ranges from
the subconscious to the conspiratorial. Some
common forms of collusion are soft play, that is,
failing to bet or raise in a situation that would
normally merit it because of your opponent;
whipsawing, where partners at opposite ends of the
table raise and reraise each other to trap players
in between; and dumping, or deliberately losing to
a partner (perhaps someone you are backing
financially or with whom you have traded a
percentage stake). Signalling (that is, trading
information between partners) is probably the most
egregious example of such cheating, but all of
these are considered bad play and should not be
tolerated at any poker game.
In friendly
games it is common to be playing against someone
you know well. Perhaps your spouse may be playing
at the game with the rest of your friends.
Suddenly your luck turns for the worse.
Subconsciously, you are less willing to take the
money of the people you know or love. Perhaps one
fellow has been getting bad hands all evening, and
you know he has car payments to make, and this
changes the game being played. The best advice is
to leave friendship outside the poker game.
Especially in tournament poker, soft-playing a
friend is cheating all of the other players out of
their chance to see you bust your friend, getting
them closer to the prize money.
For this
reason, there are laws in some U.S. states saying
that a husband and wife cannot play poker at the
same table. Perhaps the easiest way to exploit
such a situation is to agree to split the profits
(after all, couples often have shared bank
accounts). Even without any explicit collusion
during the game, this reduces the variance of the
team as a whole.
It should come as no
surprise that two people sharing information about
their hands enjoy a great advantage over the other
players. If you do not believe this, deal out a
few poker hands, but deal yourself two. The idea
is that these players signal one another and only
play the better of the two hands. Signals can take
many forms, from the placement of the chips on the
cards to morse code tappings on the table. The key
ingredient in all signaling systems is the ability
to be repeated unobtrusively. In order for this
advantage to make money it has to be done many
times without someone realizing it. In a game
where people (hopefully) are always watching each
other, this can prove problematic. When a cheat is
signaling the value of his hand to his partner, he
is also signaling the value of his hand to
everyone at the table. The result of a system of
signals being figured out is nothing short of
financial disaster. Some games are more
susceptible to this kind of cheating than others:
in Five-card stud and Lowball, for example,
signalling the rank of just one card can give
another player sufficient information to make many
otherwise difficult decisions.
Collusion in
online poker is relatively easy and much more
difficult to spot if executed well. The main
reason is that the cheaters can engage in instant
messaging discussing their cards with no one
looking at them. Sometimes the same person can be
using two or more computers and playing under
different aliases. This gives him an advantage
that's difficult to work against. However many
poker rooms have imposed a maximum of one account
per household, though a determined cheater can
still bypass this by using multiple connections
thus having different IP addresses. However,
online poker sites keep records of every hand
played, and collusion can often be detected by
finding the appropriate pattern. Many sites also
offer head-to-head (heads-up) games, where
collusion is not useful.
Another concern in
online poker is the use of software called "bots"
(short for computer robots). These are programs
that make decisions on behalf of the player based
on odds etc. and also play on their behalf. Though
their accuracy and ability has been questioned, it
has nevertheless been seen as unfair practices by
the poker room and has sought to ban them. With
improvements in software and hardware it is
expected that in the near future a bot that can
beat a human consistently is a near
certainity.
Should two people wanting to
cheat be in close proximity, they might decide to
hand-muck. That is, to switch hands or alter them
in some way (though this particular form of
cheating might be considered mechanics rather than
collusion). A simple idea of this is to have two
people sitting next to each other in a game of
draw poker. While they receive two mediocre hands,
they could switch certain cards between themselves
in order to form a worthless hand and a winner.
There are many sleight of hand methods to this.
Hand-mucking is also a problem in
blackjack.
Perhaps the most odious way of
cheating with a partner is to have a weekly game
at your house, agreeing with all your regular
players that you split the profit from cheating a
single player. This hot-seat game invites a new
player every week, only to play against six
players all working together. The mechanics are
the same, players signal their hands, then play
proceeds as to drive the hot-seat out, or to put
all his money in the pot.
If you are at a
poker game and you detect that your opponents are
cheating, but are not very good at it, you can use
this information to your advantage. You may be
better off exploiting their inept cheating than
leaving or turning them in. Dr. Frank R. Wallace
wrote a book on this, in which he coined the term
neocheating (He later developed a philosophy
called Neo-Tech. The book consists of 2 parts easy
to spot cheating techniques (marking the deck,
crimping cards, false cuts, etc) and 5 parts
philosophical content and stories.
