How to Cheat at Poker by The Amnesiac Antelope February 2015 INTRODUCTION Short disclaimer: I am not accountable for any trouble you get into by following this guide. This is a file about cheating at poker. I suppose most of these methods can be easily adapted to other card games, but pretty much all of these methods were designed with hold 'em or five card poker in mind. CONCEALING CARDS This is the most basic form of poker cheating. The basic premise is that you simply have a stash of a couple cards (usually face cards or aces) in an easily accessible location so that you can add these to your hand at will. These methods are best done when you are not the dealer. If you are the dealer, refer to the next section, as those methods are more precise and tend to have better results. The Lap Method This is probably the easiest way to cheat, and one of the best. I've included it at the top of the file because of its simplicity, elegance, and effectiveness (it's very difficult for you to get caught if you're careful). The fundamental technique in lapping cards is simply dropping one or more cards into your lap. The most important aspect of this method is the timing. You have to time the drop so that it it occurs in an offbeat - a moment where attention is diverted toward something in the center of the table, i.e. away from you. The best time to lap cards is when the hands are being collected at the end of a round. Simply drop the best card in your hand into your lap before you place your remaining card(s) back in the center. This method is most easily employed if you hold the cards in your hand during the round (which most people in casual games do, despite it generally being bad practice). Another way you can do this if you have your cards tabled is to arrange your hand so that the card or cards you wish to lap are in the back of the packet, i.e. on top when the cards are face down. If you have the cards spread out on the table, simply place your hand on top, making sure to take hold of the card(s) on top, and drag the card off the edge of the table into your lap. This technique is easiest when done with only a single card, but it could be done with multiple cards, in theory. You could also keep your entire hand and let everybody else put their hands back in the center. If somebody notices you, just act like you weren't paying attention and put your hand back in (with one or two cards missing, if you want). In texas hold 'em, since you only have two cards in your hand, lapping is easier to do with a larger game (4+ players), so that there is less attention given per player. The Sleeve Method This is a classic, and is pretty easy to do. If you happen to be wearing a long-sleeve shirt or jacket, just slide cards stripped from your hand into your sleeve. This is best done with your arm near the edge of the table, but not under it. If you do this discreetly and smoothly, it is unlikely that you will be noticed. This was my method of choice playing Apples to Apples as a kid, and I was never caught. The hardest part is concealing the deposit and retrieval of the cards. Practice at some home games, and eventually you'll get the hang of it. CHEATING WHILE DEALING These methods are done while you have control of the deck, i.e. dealing. It is important you know how to riffle shuffle (both casino-style, on the table, and in the air with the waterfall) very well. If you can do both of these shuffles smoothly, you'll more often become the dealer as most people don't know how to shuffle properly. Riffle Stacking This is one of the subtlest methods of cheating in hold 'em out there, and is easy to do (with a little practice). Not only is it easy, it is extremely easy to conceal and you can't be seen doing it as long as nobody is standing behind you. This technique is done during the course of a tabled riffle shuffle. I don't want to go into how to do this, but it is probably NOT the shuffle you're thinking of (the one with the waterfall at the end where the cards are bent into an upside-down U shape and released). Just look it up. Erdnase's Expert at the Card Table has an in-depth explanation. Basically, all you are doing when cold stacking is sighting the index of the top card in the left packet when you are shuffling, and if it's a good card, securing it in a certain position at the top of the deck. If it isn't a good card (i.e. not a face card or ace), shuffle normally and take the bottom half of the deck to your left instead of the top half. Once you have a high card on the top of the deck, split the deck again but reverse (top half of the deck goes to your right hand, bottom hand to left) and repeat, but make sure you keep your card on the top by holding it back with your right thumb until all the cards from the left hand have been released. Once you find a high card in your left hand, put it right next to the card you already found, so on the top of the deck or second from the top. At this point, you should have a deck with two high value cards on the top, and to any onlookers it appears as if you have only shuffled thoroughly. The next part of this technique is the hardest part. You have to stack these cards so that they fall to you when you deal them. This is done by placing a certain number of cards in between the two cards on the top, so that when you deal them beginning with the player on your right, you'll get the cards. For example, suppose you are at a four-person card game, and you want to give yourself a hand consisting of the two aces you've shuffled to the top of the deck. You'd have to shuffle three cards on top of the first ace and three cards between the two aces, so that when you deal to the three other players, the card you deal to yourself is the ace. In summary, you have to place the same number of cards on top of the first card and between the two cards as there are players at the table, excluding you. In the example, that number would be three (four players, minus one makes three excluding you). Stocking, Securing, and Locating This is an easier method that accomplishes the same thing as cold stacking. To an onlooker, you are simply messing around with the cards in between rounds. It is inherently weaker in appearance than riffle stacking since you aren't pretending to shuffle the deck, but you'd be surprised at the things you can get away with at a casual game. Take the deck in your left hand, faces toward the ceiling. Grip it with your thumb on the left long side, middle, ring and pinky finger on the right long side, and index finger curled underneath. Grip the deck with your right hand in a Biddle grip (middle and ring fingers on the front short edge, thumb on the bottom short edge, index curled on face) and riffle back the index corner of the cards with your left thumb so that you can see the values of the cards. As you do this, rotate the deck 90 degrees so that the faces of the cards are pointing toward the right. Go slowly, and when you see a card you want, open the deck slightly at what is now the bottom edge (long edge facing the table) with your left middle and ring fingers, and contact the face of the card you want. Pull it out with those fingers only and slip it to the top. Then, slip one card for each player other than you at the table from the bottom to the top. What you have just done is put a bunch of random cards at the top, and below these is the card you want. This is essentially the same idea as riffle stacking, but done in a slightly different fashion. Repeat the above steps until you have the hand you want, separated by buffer cards to deal out to the suckers at the table. MISCELLANEOUS IDEAS I can't personally attest to these methods, as they are kind of strange and it is much more worth your time to employ the other methods described. However, I have included these just in case you can't shuffle or want to try something else. Table Peek If you are playing at a glass table, drop one of your cards on the floor. As you bend down to get it, peek at the adjacent player's hand through the table. Do this subtly, using your eyes and not your head, and do it quickly, but don't pause to look at the cards. Merely do it in passing. Lighter Peek This is a strange one. I've only heard of people doing this once, and I don't know why you would do this, but it's basically using the shiny surface on a Zippo (or shiny card box) to get a glimpse of someone's hand. Impractical, in my opinion, but maybe you can do something with it. That's all for this file, stay tuned for more.