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The Professional Gambler's Handbook: Beating the System by Hook and by Crook

by Weasel Murphy

Copyright @ 1997 by Weasel Murphy CASI

rsBN 0-87364-915-XPrinted in the United States of America

Published by Paladin Press, a division ofPaladin Enterprises, Inc., P.O. Box 1307,

Boulder, Colorado 80306, USA.(303) 443-72sO

Direct inquiries and/or orders to the above address.

PALADIN, PALADIN PRESS, and the "horse head" design

are trademarks belonging to Paladin Enterprises and

registered in United States Patent and Trademark Office.

All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, no

portion of this book may be reproduced in any formwithout the express written permission of the publisher.

Neither the author nor the publisher assumes

any responsibility for the use or misuse ofinformation contained in this book.

ST

GONTENTS

crook INTRODUCTION t 1

CHAPTER 1CASINOS, CARD ROOMS, AND THE PEOPLE WHO RUN THEM t 3

CHAPTER 2CHEATING WITH CARDS i 15

GHAPTER 3SLOT MACHINES t 47

CHAPTER 4CHEATING AT CRAPS T 65

CHAPTER 5CARNIVAL GAMES T 89

CHAPTER 6STREET CONS AND OTHER CHEATING METHODS S 97

CHAPTER 7STAYING ONE UP ON THE IRS t 109

Y

GLOSSARY T 113

WARNING

This book is written for the sole purpose of entertainmentand education. It is not the intention of the author to promoteor condone cheating. Many methods described in this bookare illegal in any legalized gambling establishment or legal-ized games. Penalties for cheating vary from state to state andtown to town. In most.cases, cheating in a legalized gamingestablishment is punishable as a felony.

AUTHOR'S DISCLAIMER

Various incidents, dates, names, and location of eventsmay have been altered to protect the innocent, guilty, andthose who wish to remain anonymous.

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INTRODUGTION

This book is written for everyone who has been cheatedat one time or another and for those who wish not to becheated. J<nowing how to cheat is being able to ia".,iify u ,it_uation where cheating is taking place. Mu^y games oiit rr,..are identified in rhis book, anJ methoa, oi.i"uti;;;;;i"r"

games are explained. As fast as the manufacturers o? gr*i"gmachines add devices to. keep people from cheati;;;-i"*,::T_*"" is finding ways to bypiss t-h".,.* devices. With theaqvancement of technology in the surveillance area, cheatshave found ways to evade-t-hem as well.

Knowing how to manipurate cards and dice is an art. Atparties and family functioris, it,s entertaining to watch ,o*"_one who can perform tricks with cards u.,i di.". artt."gtit's underhanded and somewhat immorar to cheat others,there is a sense of power just in knowing how to do it. Mostpeople can master many of the tricks outlined in this book ina very short period of time. All it takes is practice.It cannot be overstated that cheating in legalized publicgaming houses is illegal. penalties for"cheating "r;y.f.o*state to state, but most viorations are considered feronies.Casinos take seriously- the prosecutitn of pe.so.rr lr"gt t

*:l::,t: rl,11l: gr, sambling' activiti es, gettin g ca u ght chea t_mg wilI not bring about fines or jail terms. Tie peiarties areusually more severe.

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CHAPTER 1

GASINOS, GARD ROOMS,AND THE PEOPLE WHORUN THETVI

This chapter deals primarily with bits and pieces aboutgambling and its beginning. trrctuaea are views tne-auir,o.has on cheating and differerit typ", of gambling houses.

A QUTCK HtsToRY TESSON

. M1.y different opinions exist on when gambling started,but who really knowi? Cave men probably ilua ,o*?iyp" ofgambling interest. I can visualize contests that involvedthrowing bones into a circre. "I bet six land in the circll-andtwo will be within a boar,s ear of the center.,,

., Op:"-qambling in the United States took a slow start inthe early 1800s, from New Orleans to San Francisco, and fromWashington, D.C., to Toledo. As fast as casinos opened foroperation, laws were introduced to make them ifielainiggames of that periodwere-faro, craps, blackjack, ,"Epotur.Many establishments had slot machines. In the tgsos, pinballmachines became popular They were still playing frro'ir., Lu,kFu?

in fhe early 7970s. The Unionplazawas one of the lastto hold a faro game.

early 1930, Nevada legalized gambling, but it would be10 years before casino. ga*U_ti.,g "would i'..o*" O;;;"r.Downtown clubs like the Er Coriez and ruxury rt.fo-tot.r,such as the El Rancho Vegas gave Nevaaa gamUtini itstigboost' Today, the Er Corteiis #u i.r operation and has one of

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

the best steak specials anywhere. The EI Rancho Vegasburned to the ground and is presently a vacant lot across thestreet from the Sahara. Although much is said about LasVegas, for many years Reno topped Las Vegas in gaming andentertainment activity. At one time, Reno had the dubiousdistinction of being the divorce capital of the world.

Organized crime got its start in casino gaming in the mid-1940s with the opening of the Flamingo Hotel. This hotel wasthe mastermind and dream come true for the infamous"Brtgsy" Siegel. In its day, the Flamingo was the ultimate ingambling atmosphere. As of this writing, the HiltonCorporation owns and operates the Flamingo. Rumor has itMr. Siegel built secret passages behind walls in the casino forhis escape, should the need arise. As many know, the needarose, but Mr. Siegel didn't make it.

DO CASINOS CHEAT?

Of course they do. Most of the blatant cheating takesplace in small, out-of-the-way places, and most of that cheat-ing is done by floor-level employees. It wouldn't be fair tosay cheating in major casinos is excessive, but the only reasonfor that is the Gaming Commission.

An argument often used concerning whether big casinoscheat is, why? Why do they cheat when a1l the odds are intheir favor? Why do people place themselves in a position tolose their license to operate? Greed is one of many answers.Stealing just to get away with it is another. There's a sayingthat answers why people in good positions cheat and steal:"Which tastes better? A watermelon stolen from a melonpatch, or the one you had to buy in the store?"

MAJOR CASINOS

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CASINOS, CARD ROOMS, AND THE PEOPTE WHO RUN THEM

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l]I1u"y- other big business: almost all have stockholders,CEos, a board of directors, and so on. years ago this wasnit thecase. Many were run by organized crime finities or formerbigtime gamblersmakingerren bigger big time. In those daysa small-time gambler cou-ld e_njoy most oflne ambiance a highroller could: free buffets, fine shows, and inexperri,u" .oar,-r.

.Those days are gone. Corporations feei the necessity tomake money at every turn. Tilkets for shows u." ."pu*irr",the cost. of dining is outrageous, and luxury .oo.r.,r'*a tooexpensive for the average working .rrur,. Competitionbetween these casino gianls is tremendous. several malorhotels have built theme parks so families on vacation will nolonger !lp*r Las vegaibecause there's nothing for *re kids.Paying for these new idditions is extremery expEnsive. io askyourself, would these expenses give management the motiveto cheat now and then?

. Although_upper management does its share, many casesof ch.eating take prace at th6 floor level. cheating at flo6r ierretusually benefits the floor men and dealers u"[.ur"iy r,"rp,the house. Reasons for these people cheating ,r" ,.,uir,y, Ur,most often it comes down to pLin greed.

FLEECING THE ARABS

I knew a dealer who worked at a major casino in Lasvegas who was calred on to do his handiwork whenever theArabs came to town. I,m not_talking about the average Arab.These are the oil barons and their fairilies. Ten millioi dolarswould be considered .walking around money,, to tt "*.There's a joke connected with thlse people that says ur.aruUsheik and one of his wives went to an irt gallery. After pur_c,haling several paintings valued at millio"ns

"1a"jir.r,tin"sheik turned to his wife and said, ,,Now that we have thegreeting cards, let's go buy some gifts.,,

According to this dealer and others in the know, it was

5

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THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

normal practice to fleece these Arabs every time they came totown. They were easy pickings because they didn't seem tocare about losing, and if they did, they didn't complain.Dealers didn't complain either, because tips were alwaysexceptional. To get away with fleecing the Arabs, the gameswould be in private suites. This maneuver was agreeable tothe Arabs because they like their privacy. The suites wereusually on the top floor of the hotel because the scrutiny ofgaming officials is very limited under these conditions.

One interesting story about a visit by these Arabs tells ofan invitation made by a major hotel and casino. The invita-tion included free accommodations (the entire top floor of thehotel), free food, free shows, and just about anything elseexcept gambling. Airfare would have been included, but theArab dignitaries had their own planes. They came. SheriffRalph Lamb, and a sizable police escort, greeted them onarrival at the Hughes private airfield. The reason for thepolice escort had nothing to do with the welcome committee:it was because the Arabs had brought an arsenal of weapons.The weapons were seized and held in safekeeping until theArabs departed Las Vegas.

Craps, blackjack, and mini-baccarat tables were already inplace when the entourage arrived. Gambling began almostimmediately. No sooner had gambling started when theArabs began complaining about the small baccarat tables.The casino manager attempted to explain that it would beimpossible to get a standard table upstairs. The Arabs becameenraged and complaints became threats to take their businesselsewhere. This was a serious problem, and the casino man-ager wasn't about to lose this golden-egg-laying goose. Thecasino manager immediately got on the phone and called a

local helicopter company and a building contractor. When thehelicopter arrived, employees of the hotel had already carrieda standard baccarat table into the parking lot. The summonedbuilding contractor was almost finished cutting a hole in the

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CASINOS, CARD ROOMS, AND THE PEOPLE WHO RUN THEM

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tells ofinvita-'of therg elserut theSheriffem on'or themittee:aPons.rtil the

rady inalmosten thetables.uld be)ecamersiness) man-;e. Thealled aren thecarriedmonedr in the

roof of the hotel. Minutes after arriving, the helicopter liftedthe baccarat table to the top of the hotel and lowered it intothe- freshly cut hole in the ioof. Employees then carriei *,"table to the room where the Arabs were patiently waitine.. ]t ryur reported this maneuver so preased ti-,. niuuit.,.y

decided to stay an extra week and lost an extra $50 million.

CHEATING

There are many ways to cheat. This book will cover manyof them, but there are several techniques I feel are morallywrong although legally right.

ro some ,n,, *:i"*;#;"[":ili.0, 0,,, these tech_niques are. very effective. rhe ibsence oi cloiks and windows:, :,:^"_ :

f-1": e p ra cti c e s. I t' s p.s ych o I o gi c a I c h e a ti n g. K ee pi n gplayers trom knowing what time of diy it is or wieth"i it,,luy o_. night is an effective way to keep them much longerthan they intended.

As far as I,m concerned,TfJ;;r"rt legal cheating methodis the use of alcohol.. Nevada haJi gu-i.g law thit ,ry, i.,effe5t,."it's illegal to take unfair adrrintage or allow an obvi_ously intoxicated individual to gamble.,,"Th"ru,, little, iiany,enforcement of this law. It,s u .oi.r*o., practice, and I,ve wit_:.:,r:d time- and again a pit boss instructing a cocktail waitressto "freshen" a winning gimbler,s drink. NLt only is the drinkfresh, it usually containi more alcohol than prurio* arint s.Once the winning player becomes intoxicated and loses backlfte

m:ney won plus, it becomes time for the pit boss to noticethe player is intoxicated and informs the player it,s time toquit' This final reprimand usually comes about the same timethe player announces he,s tempoiarily out of money.

7

rTHE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

Gard GountersFor years casinos have allowed the public to believe

there's a way to beat the system. Some systems help gamblerscut the percentage the house has on a game, but laws ofphysics (mathematics) can't be beaten over an extended per-iod of time. But, casinos make a big deal of throwing out cardcounters, players with adding machines, and other mathemat-ical devices. As of this writing, some creative and space-agedcard counters are using small computers hidden in their cloth-ing. These small devices are operated by the counter's toes.

Laws uphold the ejection of a card counter. Here's onereason why. Let's say you're an average gambler with justenough knowledge of blackjack to make the game fun. Oneday you get a streak of luck that's bigger than you everdreamed. Every move/ unconscious or intentional, works outto your advantage and you're thousands of dollars ahead.The pit boss has the right to have you taken from the table,forcibly if necessary, to a back room where you will be grilledabout your gambling practices. Forcing a player in these cir-cumstances to stand naked so casino authorities can check forhidden devices is not unheard of. Once it's determined youaren't a card countel, a feeble apology is offered and you'reallowed to return to the table. Your hot streak is over. If youdecide to stay, odds are you'll lose back every Penny youwere ahead, plus the money you brought with you.

There are a few casinos that don't use these tactics at all.Binion's Horseshoe is an example. I was living in Las Vegas

during the time the late Binny Binion took on a world famouscard counter. Binny was one of the old-time gamblers whowould let anyone take a gambling shot at him. Any time andany limit. The card counter always lost.

Faking WinnersAnother case of casinos morally cheating the public is fak-

ing large winners. Sure, there are big winners at one sitting,

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CASINOS, CARD ROOMS, AND THE PEOPIE WHO RUN THEM

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but they're very rare. Those who win big usually come backf:,_h":,|ry ilg give it back, plus whai they broughi withthem. Wh-9n things get slow for the casino tusineJs, somecasinos will fake a big winner. An example is having u .o.,r.a-era-te, acting as a tourist, walk into a casino with I briefcasetull of mo_ley (in reality it,s the casino,s money). He fuyiit uffon one roll of the dice. If the gambrer loses, itis oh weli. ff ttregambler wins, it's out the dooi with the winnings. A crowd ofpeople saw i! the news media picks up on it, ind the publicbelieves it. sometimes the actuaibet wai a hundred thousand.Four hours after the fact, word by way of the grapevine hasthe bet at one million. It,s incredibie free publicit!. '

severar casinos :I,oJ:1[tJrt""i,",lr",oo"r,, as the mainrngredient of their advertising campaign. These offers makevou feel you're getting , good deal. tfreality you,re g"iU.,gnext to_.1o!h]ng. It's a deceptive practice. Bob Siupak Jla nii\regas World Casino was one gf fo. biggest ,rr"rrtf this typeof advertising. He continually ran into trouble with the\evada State Gaming Control Bbard over this practice. iiyo,read magazines or the Sun-day pape, you have probably leadone of his ads that offer a ,,virtuaily

free vacation.,, The'oper_ative word is ztirtually.

.-A llpical advertisement for casinos using this practicervill offer free gaming tokens that can be usel to win largeamounts of money. Offering items such as automobiles, fan_tastic vacations, and other valuabre prizes is not uncommon.\vhat these casinos want is for yo, to assume these tokens:u" f". used throughout the casino. This is rarely ttre-case.special free tokens are usudny used excrusively in tne ortwospecially designated slot machines. These *u."runu, are oper_ated free and are not req rired to comply with gaming r"fiU_tions for jackpot payoffs. This meansit;s pe.feltty le[al t"o rigthese machines to pay off once in every ien million "pulls.

To

I

rTHE PROFESSlONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

some, especially casino operators, this activity is not cheating.To me, and many others, it's trickery. According to Webstettrickery is cheating.

Big Winner, Good-Bye MachineNot once have I seen or heard of a slot machine being

taken out of service because a player lost too much moneyplaying it. On the other hand, watch a customer play a

machine and get lucky-lucky enough to empty the machinea few times-and see what happens. The machine is takenout of service. Why? According to slot managers there's a

malfunction, and the gaming authority upholds this action.

CHEATING AGAINST MAJOR CASINOS

Cheating against major casinos normally comes from theinside. Usually it's the floor-level employees who cheat, andthey rarely cheat the player. It's the house money they'reafter. The most popular method is to work with a player act-ing as a confederate. This player will be given several advan-tages not afforded other players.

BlackiackAt blackjack, the dealer signals to the confederate what

the hole card is. This type of signal usually comes as a headnod. When it's the confederate's turn to act, the dealer willgive the signal. Chin down if the hole card is seven or higher.A head nod up, the hole card is a ten. A head nod to eitherside suggests the hole card is six or under. These head nodsare very slight and made at the precise moment the dealerand confederate make eye contact.

Other cheating methods used by dealers include makingpayoffs for more than what was bet and looking the otherway if the confederate player caps the bet on hands of 21.,20,or a good double down. If there's a good chance the player

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CASINOS, CARD ROOMS, AND THE PEOPLE WHO RUN THEM

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feels a losing hand is imminent, the dealer won,t look as theplayer palms some of the chips that were placed for the bet.Once the confederate has ,on u sizable, or prearrangedamount, the chips are cashed in and the money r!1it rutl. ut,designated meeting place.

.fuy.rrq a. player -or" th:l'rl;at he,s entitled is a popularmethod of cheating against the house at craps. Leaving a betwhen it should have been taken down and paying ofi%., tt.fly" are two more,popurar methods. There u.u Lrrry ott u,ways to cheat the house, but these are the hardest tJ aetectand are the most profitable. paying off more ,nr., *tutlU",,:1l]:Tiig losing bets on the"tabje is easy for a deater andconrederate, especially in a fast_moving game. paying off ,,onthe fly" takes the cooperation of the boxman, dealers, and aconfederate. This type of maneuver is extremely profitable.

.Betting on the-fly-is primarily "r"a where there is littleactivity (head-to-heaA wittr the house is the o.,ty *uy _ortdealers will get involved with this cheat). A full table withloud and active players will also work. Orrir.,fin";;;;, ,confederat-" pl?y"r will throw a bet on the table, but won,tsay a word. When the dice have landed, the deaier *ifi puy

3ff as.,f,f the player had called th" ;;;;;;il;;'rilii",

Surveillance can't hear what,s being said at the table ,nJ .u,only assume the dealers are pryi"giiion a legitimate bet.

DEALERS VS. PI.AYERS

.. Although most dea.lers give the gambler a fair shake,there are some who don,t, whlch;rkd this method of cheat_ing worth mentioning. I know of craps dealers *f,o-Urrgl_b_ol,

.h:,uting a gamb-ler who fails ;iip This type oi1t "r,_rng usually comes asa short payoff. Foiexampfl, , pfuy.i i,supposed to be paid $250 and tire dealer pays'$zzs.i;ih",

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ITHE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

method is to delay calling out the call bet or not calling thebet at all. If the player would have won and asked to be paid,the dealer says, "it was no bet, you were too late," or "I'msorry, I didn't hear you," If the player would lose the bet, thedealer "hears" the call and takes the money down. In almostall cases when the player beefs, the boxman will back thedealer. Dealers who do this contend that it's proper conductsince casinos pay minimum wage and they depend on thegenerosity of players to make a decent living. Some dealerseven feel it's an obligation of the player to tip. It isn't. There'sno excuse for this type of behavior, and if you come across it,don't hesitate to report it to the casino manager. Bypass thepit boss; he may approve of such actions.

SMALT CASINOS

Small casinos on roads leading to major gaming cities aremore apt to cheat in one form or another, from the dealersright up to the owners. The reason is survival. Licenses foroperating a blackjack table or slot machine are just as expen-sive for a small joint as they are for a major casino. Mostsmall casinos get very little tourist traffic and aren't often vis-ited by gaming officials. When gaming officials do visit, theystick out like a sore thumb. A.y cheating practices going oncan be curtailed until the officials leave.

ILLEGAL GAMBLING

Illegal gambling is an enormous industry, from bookiesand back room poker tables, to friendship bets on Sunday'sfootball game. Historians note that settlers coming over onthe Mayflower played games of chance, only to be admon-ished by their leaders. Today, every city and town in thiscountry has some form of illegal gambling. Some estimatessuggest money changing hands on illegal gambling is 10times more than money wagered legally.

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BUST OUT AND STEER JOINTS

One name given to a house that blatantly cheats is ,,bustout joint."

Bust out joints are exactly that. A gambler who warks intoone. of these places can count on leaving in a short time withnothing but his clothes. Further chapters deal with how thesejoints cheat.

The name "steer joint,,also applies to bust out joints. Theyare so named because peopre wilh huge bankrolls and a tastefor gambling are actuaily sieered towira them. Most are verysophisticated operations.lt takes time, effort, u"a .ur"f.ripiu.,-ning to get the mark headed in the right direction. The reJuk isalways the same: the mark leaves wi"th his clothes and emptypockets. It's not uncommon for the mark to leave behindexpensive pieces of jewelry as collateral for unpaid rou.t*.

'INDIAN GAMING"

Lately,Indian tribes have found that having gamingestablishments is not only legal on their land, U"t i"?f prof_itable. Many tribes are taking-advantage of gaming, *iit'r","*casinos- be_ing built all orre, the Unitei Staies. I hive

"irit"aseveral of these casinos in California, and they are nice.Treatment of customers is of the highest caliber, ur.,a in"atmosphere is friendly. I have .,"rr.i seen or heard of anycheating, and dealers are strictly monitored, at least in thecasinos I've gambled in.

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CHAPTER 2

CHEATING WITH CARDS

Just about everyone, including me, has been amazed atleast once by somebne,s ability tJmanipulate cards. It,s noteasy to work cards, but with practice juit about u"yo"" .u.master the art. Working for a clsino, a good card mJchanic isworth 10 times his.r,yeighl in gold. Woiking agui^st-a-casino,a ca_r$ sharp is trouble *itf, a cipital T.

How the average ganibleiis cheated in casinos, steerigi"l:, and private games will be covered in this cnapter.You'll also learn how an excellent card sharp can do th;-;;rr"to a casino- A professional card sharp can iheat almost any_one, including the seasoned player, dealef, and casino man_agers. The hand is definitely qri.t". than the eye.

CUTTING FOR HIGH OR LOW

. Cutting cards is an example of cheating in its simplestlo.T, yet it's very effective. iven the amateur trickster canmaKe senous money using this trick. I know, I was taken to thecleaners on at least one ociasion by someone using this trick.A slight alteration of a standird deck ot SZ fiiyi"j.*a,is all it takes. Cards altered for this con are callei ,,rtriip"ir.,,

lo*,: novelty shops sell stripper decks, but it,s "rry

Jri""gl,to alter them privately.,pirit, separate the high .'r.ar-GO,through aces) from thL low. cards (deuces thr6ugh 9s) andplace them in individual stacks.

15

:or-orlei

THE PROFESSIONAT GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

Take the stack of high cards and, gripping them firmly atthe ends, use a fine piece of sandpaper and gently sand bothsides of the cards. Be sure to grip the cards fumly during theentire sanding process. This will ensure equal and exact sand-ing of all cards.

lmportant: Only 1-/32 of an inch needs to be remoued t'rom each

side. Once the sides have been sanded, slightly round off thecorners. This will keep a professional look to the cards.

Once the high cards are completed, take the low cards,grip them firmly at the sides, and sand down both ends.Again, remove only 1 /32 of an inch from each end. The cor-ners on these cards should be rounded the same as theother cards. When completed correctly, the sanding job isunnoticeable.

When cutting for high card, gently cut by gripping thecards at the ends. This will ensure a high card draw everytime. If the game changes to low card, lightly grip the cardson the side. This will ensure a low card every time.

PRIVATE GAMES

Many people I've contacted, concerning gambling, havehad bad experiences in private card games. Private cardgames are held in homes, back rooms of bars, hotel rooms,and sometimes public transportation. Regulations are few,and conditions are ripe for cheating. Levels of cheating andmethods of cheating vary with the type and location of thegame. A neighborhood card game between people who knoweach other wouldn't usually be subject to cheating, regardlessof the gambling limit. In contrast, a nickel/dime gamebetween strangers in the back room of a bar would, at times,be subject to cheating of one form or another. Low-limitgames won't have the sophisticated cheating methods expect-ed in a high-limit game.

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SETUP GAME

_. Finding or starting a high_limit game is sometimes aneffort in itself. The most poprlu. with professional cheats is asetup game. This. type of game takes careful pta.,r.,i.,f ur,aexecution. The idear setup would be having't*o-o.'th.."

rvealthy businessmen as marks, a dealeq, t*o"ptuy"rr, ,^a ,setup man.To get this kind of game takes time. Bait has to be prantedfor the marks. A time ind prace have to be negotiatei irrut isconvenient for all the marks. When game time arrives, it,s aJefinite payday for the pros. u

The card game in the movie The Sting is an exaggeratedexample of the extent some pros will go to"form u ,"tr'p'gu..,".

FIXING THE DECK

. Marking, shuffling, and dealing cards are essential toolsior cheating in a card game. AnothZr valuable tool is gettingmarked cards into a gime so they can be shuffled ana"aeatt.If a player came to a.gamg and piaced several op"rr a".t, "fcards on the table, other playersiould become J"rpi.i"*. ffthe same player came to thu gu-" and placed ,",.JJ a".f,of cards on the tabre still in tie manufactur".,r-."[opti.,",players would think these cards were legit. Not alwavs so.Cards.marked prior-to the game .un fo8t'r, ,ir""Sti,n"ycame direct from the factory.

. .,SoT" novelty shops sei cards that have been pre_markeda.t

lhe factory. Most professional card sharp, p."?". to ^u.ttheir,own. Cards puichased at a novelty ,io." aor.,;t ,*uffymatch the looks or feer of professional cards. professionarcards are those manufactur"a Uy companies such as Bee orBicycle' Professional cheats *u.t their own cards primar,ybecause it reflects their individuar preference and it,s cheaper.

t7

ITHE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOT

Removal of GardsNOTICE; A clean and obstacle-t'ree area is required. I also

adaise wearing surgical (latex) gloaes throughout the operation.

A small letter opener is the best tool to use when remov-ing the cellophane from a new deck of cards. Carefully insertand slowly slide the opener all the way along the seam. Ifyou use extreme care, the cellophane will separate withoutbeing damaged. Slowly insert the opener and with a lightcutting action work the opener back and forth. Use slightpressure toward the opening side of the cellophane. Gentlywork the opener along the edge as the cellophane opens.

Once the seam is opened, gently hold the deck by thesides with two fingers and lightly shake the deck up anddown until the box falls from the cellophane. CAUTION: Asthe deck slides from the cellophane, don't squeeze the cellophane.

This is to preuent crimping, bending, or zorinkling the cellophane.

Using a sharp knife (preferably a draftsman's scalpel) or arazor, carefully cut inside the seam on the side of the box. Cutexactly where the flaps are glued together.

Once the side of the box is open, carefully tip the box andlet the cards slide out. The cards are new and slippery, becareful to not allow them to fall on the floor.

It is extremely important to remember the position of allcontents. All cards, including jokers and advertising para-phernalia, will have to be placed back in the box exactly as

they were taken out before the cards were altered. There are

many players who know exactly what order the cards are inwhen they are packaged at the manufacturing plant. Thecards are ready to be marked.

lmportant: lfse caution during the card-marking process. Don'thandle the cards unnecessarily. Don't bend the cards in any man-

ner. Llse surgical gloaes throughout the marking process.

Replacin$ the CardsWhen returning the cards to the box, siide them in carefully.

18

Or

CHEAT]NG WITH CARDS

l. I alsoion.

remov-y inserteam. Ifvithouta light: slightGently

15.

by theup and'ON; Aslophane.ohane.

rel) or arox. Cut

oox andrery, be

>n of all18 Para-:actly ashere arels are inrnt. The

ss. Don't't1y ffian-

There will usually be small pieces of ,,card dust,,, which lookiike lint, that fell from the box when the cards were first taken:ut. sprinkle these pieces back into the box once the cards aren. This adds even more authenticity to the cards. There willalivays be one player who'll make a comment like, ,,Hey, youcan tell these are really ne\ /." while making the comme.rt,"th"iiayg will be pointing to or playing with those pieces of ,,lint.,,

After carefully placing the cards back in the box, fold thenside portion of the side flap in. Using Elmer,s glue, spread a'"'ery thin coat on the inside flap. Allow the glue to dry for about:n'o minutes. Fold ihe outer flap onto the glued inside flap. If a:ortion of the glue squeez.es out along the edge, use a sli'ghtlyJamp cotton cloth to gently wipe the glue awiy. lmportan"t: Do-.tt

-use tissue paper or paper towels. why? The fibers might stick

:o the glue and be seen, and they tend io smea, and smidge.Place the box on the side of the newly glued flap anl bal_

:.nce a small, heavy object on the top side. Leave [he box in:his position for at least two hours.

...N:*t,-making sure the top of the box goes first, gently.lide the box back into the cell,ophane *.apper. Importint: Go."to and use caution Keep from damaging tii cellopiane in any-:anner. Should the cellophane become bent or damaged ininy way/ it's ruined.

. Carefully fold the inside portion of the cellophane flap:losed. Use a clear epoxy glue and place a few diops on thl-nside flap. TWo or three tiny drops are all that,s .,""ded; ,r-,ynore will smear the cellophane. Immediately and gently fold:he outside flap onto the inside flap. Hold the c"losed flap-lown for about 10 seconds

_ Wlren completed, the box should look exactly like it came:rom the factory and is ready to be introduced inio a game.

INTRODUCING MARKED CARDS INTO A GAME

One way to introduce marked decks into a game is to:arefullv.

19

rTHE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

bring them to the game and set them on the table. Do thisprior to any games getting started. "I just stopped by thestore and picked up a few decks in case we need them," is anexample of how to let players know there are fresh cardsavailable. This method allows other players or dealers tointroduce your cards into the game themselves. Should theindividual having the marked decks be the host of the game,the cards can be placed with other fresh decks and iniro-duced as the game progresses.

True professionals have patience and sense enough not tobecome greedy. Suspicion runs deep when one player wins amajority of pots all night long. Winning a few good pots eachhour of play is more than enough to take the lion's share ofwinnings home. There are exceptions. When a setup is madeto fleece a specific mark, all is fair. The idea is to take as muchmoney as possible from the mark in the shortest time.

MARKING THE CARDS

I remember playing Old Maid with my friends as a kid.After a few sessions the cards became dog-eared, bent, andsome of the cards were torn. Everyone who belonged to thegroup knew which card was the maid. When a new memberto the group joined in, there were laughs and giggles whenthe new kid got the old maid. Card cheats like to have thesame advantage. That's knowing the identity of cards dur-ing play.

There are numerous ways to mark cards, some very effi-cient, and some not so efficient. One popular method is tomark the backs of cards so the suit and value can be identi-fied. There are manufacturers who make marked cards, pack-aged and ready to go, with a sheei of instructions telling thebuyer what to look for. Professionais like to mark their own.It's kind of a self-image thing, like signing a painting.

20

T1-- i ^

:tf::: lft

Be

-:rlLl: -__^r- - - . ri.

\(- , '":s.

': "..t11

"..: --.-. i

a_ - a: tt_-i 5

ilt

CHEATING WITH CARDS

e. Do thised by theem," is anesh cardslealers tohould thethe game,,nd intro-

rgh not to'er wins apots each; share ofr is mader as muchl.

as a kid.>ent, anded to themember

les whenhave theLrds dur-

;erv effi-rod is to,e identi-Is, pack-'liing theeir own.

The ,,rub out,, is o""r:? rx:t :.L1 methods. rt takes time,rd patience to mark cards using this technique, but itls well"' orth the effort. Some experts ruin several decks of cards::fore achieving the desired results.

Backs of cards are often eraborate, and a manufacturer,s.ientity can be determined by merely looking ;t th" ;;;rg",. -.1:.-l: !9tlg the most famoui, Bee being not f-ar behind.

i

NOTICE; KEM playing cards orc urid by most ma1o, cord" "''1s' wy card rooms choose these cards goes"beyond their ex.cer-..:t quality. KEM cards are plastic and iifficutt" to prr*,onrrtty;nage.by

-be.nding, warping, o.r getting wet. Whin bent they":.r,rn.to their original shape almost iimetliately. When KEM-.;"ds haae been altered, they- are easy to spot. It,s iery rare to see: :! ca/s u.sed in games uihrrc cheiting tactics are used.

. fn th9 first photo above,_ the sc"alpel is pointing to the:esign that will be removed. In theiotto#ing pr..3,l, ir-,"::sign has been removed.Removing a design musi be done very lightly so the area

tt:cellent tool to use for a rub out is a draftsman,s scalpel.

2t

rHE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

The design ofthe card can be

altered bylightly scratch'ing oaer aninked area.

. elued-3.rd as

::re del,,, hile:emoviiemov,:etail c

-j aqu:reir c

:;mOVU

Tht:ietho(:1\' nt:isign:'" :.riou:.oke(

Lin:in1Ove:,. ihis: ,- -Lor d,:-ior or::Per c

* -1 go.:: -rt apr.rhod

The:--=:gad::-1OVel--.. mO

s.: the t

:,:. ihe c

being rubbed will stay flat and firm and does not become

rougi. Most professional cards have a glossy-finish'-Theglos"sy finish is also removed along with the design. This

i"u.r"r a flat look and is easily detected. To replace the glossy

look, use a smail amount of clear wax shoe polish' Rub a very

small amount of polish over the dull spot. Allow the polish to

dry a few minutes, then lightly rub to a shine with a clean,

dry, cotton cloth. one application will usually bring back the

glossy look. If not, repeat the procedure.Mu.ry professionils will make slight chan'es to different

22

CHEATING W]TH CARDS

es not becomesv finish. Thee design. Thislace the glossyish. Rub a veryru the polish tor rr-ith a clean,bring back the

,es to different

''alued cards. Removal of one small design might signify the:ard as an ace. on cards manufacturea u1ini.fEr", ."il";a "r:he detail in one of th_e angel,s *1"g, could signify an ace,rr-hile the removal of thetetail in"th. u.rg"t7r-#rr.g ur-,a:emoval of the detail in the chest area could signify a king.iemoval of the d:lr1l in the angel,s _ir,g, chest area, and the

]etail on the angel,s head (maki"ng her look bald) could signi_r'- a queen. Because of the great detail manufact*".rp-t-u.. o,-reir cards, there are end"less possibilities to what desien:emoval cheats can use to identify the varue and suits

"i.;;Fr.There are many.other *uy, to mark cards "ri"g1hi,:rethod. Professionir cheats .rrl th"i, imagination to-doesign

ill:1Tl-": "l pafterns. As previousllistatJ, r.pr.rr":esrgns are trademark signatures of some pros. yeais ago,','arious pros could be linkea to the marked aurij", o.,-:ooked decks.

Line Work

_ Line work is just the opposite of rub outs. Rather thanr.move spots or designs, line work adds desig", to .urar. fo- _l]lr,t_ !-p1rly, continual experimenting with mixtures of- -ror .'ye and water w'l result in a coror eiactly matchintlhe:.-,lor on the cards. On.glossy cards, u ,u".y fine piece of sand_:rper can be usedto lightly buff the area where the design' iil go' This will alow the ink to adhere to the card. If a dulr.:ot appears after the ink has dried, the clea*f_,r"-f"firn: ethod will work to repair the dull spot.

rhe coror out works ":iir"J:[t" principle as the rub out.

-.:l:rd of removing a design by rubting ii ofl the design is'-'moved by using a- color matitring thJ coror on the ci.ds.- r.e most popular color dye is white. The same care is used to.:r th€ exact shade of.white as to get any other.oto..-O"rigr.,,' r rhe cards can be eriminated witi the white dye. white dye

g

,il

23

tTHE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

is commonplace and is found on the backs of most decks. It is ',r-he

also harder to detect. laut-ma€

Trimming ihotTrimming cards is a method used to make some of the :he c

cards look as if they were printed off the center. This work is :asilbest accomplished wiih the use of a paper cutter. Some cheatswill alter various high cards, whereas others will alter aItr of A Srl

one suit. T

Separate the cards to be identified. Trim exactly 1, /1.6 ofan inch off one side of each card. The remainder of the cardswill have both sides trimmed, each side trimmed exactly1,/32 of an inch. The end result will be that ali the cards arethe same size. The difference will be that the identifiable oneslook off-center. Many professionals will use a corner trimmer(used to trim the corners of pictures used in ID cards) to trimthe corners of all52 cards once the edges have been trimmed.

Deteetint Trimmed CardsElaborate patterns on playing cards make marking cards

easy and very difficult to detect. I know of only one suremethod to detect cards marked this way. Place the entire deckin front of you and hold down one end. While staring at thedeck, fan the other end in a riffle motion. Any motion on thedesign signals an alteration. It's the same method artists useto make cartoon characters move.

UDaubin$ ;rd c

I consider daubing a poor method of cheating, but sur- :sedprisingly enough, many cheats use this rnethod. A small arne/

sponge is saturated with colored ink. During the game the ,". rth 1

cheat will lightly press the sponge/ or a finger that has just :-"\'o p

touched the sponge, against the card. This will color-mark the ..tt. Icard so the cheat can identify it during the game. Some cheats -'.rd, Iprefer to hide the dauber in a shirt pocket for easy access ::rd c

24

CHEATING WITH CARDS

decks. It is

ome of thehis work isome cheatsalter all of

tW 7 /16 ofrf the cardsed exactlye cards aretiable oneser trimmer'ds) to trimrtrimmed.

king cards,' one sure:ntire deckring at theion on theartists use

1. but sur-l. A smallgame the

rt has justr-mark therme cheatsrSV ACCESS

',',-hen it's time to mark a card. Ink on the cheat,s fingeq, or:aube1, will be transferred to the card. It doesn,t take a rot of-nagination to realiz-e the finger method is a poor *rr-r*rru..Should someone in the gu*","oth"r than a confederate, notice-:re cards are marked, it-could spell disaster. The cheat can be=asiiy identified by the inky fingers.

A Short StoryThree-fingered willie was one such card cheat. willie,.;asn't much good at anything, which i, p.oUuffy *f.,y fr":ttempted to make his living iheating. wiilie heird oi tt,":aubing method and one eiening, d"uring ; p;k;; juro.,

't-illie decided to make a move. wliue decided to mark the:ces. The first ace was marked with the blue int WiUrc nua-'n his sponge. The second, third, and forth *"ru **t.a.hortly after. willie's operation fell into trouble soon after he:rarked the cards. the ink Willie used was Utre. ine .a.as'"''ere red. The amount of ink willie used not o,ty.r-ru.t

"a tn"

--a1ds' edges, but a portion of the backs and faces u, *"fi.)ther problems for wirtie incruded ink on his fingers ura ir-,t:rat soaked through his_shirt pocket. A couple of"the piuy"r,-.ad no sense of humor. The punishment they a".lauaiolrr"tl!i: for cheating was removal of the two fingers corr&ed'' ith ink. Prior to this incident, wilrie was just plain wilrie.

lnvisible lnkUsing invisible ink is a popular method of marking cards,'ird one I consider to be very^good. The type of invisible ink:sed for this cheat doesn,t ai*pp.u, aft&'a ,nort f".iJ of:rnqe, i,t stays on the cards permanently, is very hard'to J"i".t,','ith the naked,eye, and is found in novelty ,ior"r. ff,"i" u.":;r-o popular colors. One ink has a blue tint, the ottre, u g.een:rnt' A cheat can write the value of each card on tr-t"i. 8r.rc,rd, with the use of tinted glasses, can see the value of each::rd during play. Novelty st6res sell magic glasses that detect

25

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

the marks made by invisible ink. The truth is, there isn't anymagic to the glasses. Any red-colored lenses will detect thegreen ink, and any yellow-tinted glasses will detect the blueink. Many card rooms have totally banned the wearing ofred- or yellow-tinted glasses.

Luminous ReadersSome manufacturers of marked cards produce what is

calied luminous readers. These cards are marked with aninvisible ink at the factory. The value and suit of each individ-ual card is inlaid on its back. A11 the cheat has to do is wearred-tinted glasses and the value of each card in the deck isrevealed. Luminous readers can be purchased in most novel-ty stores. There are two ways to avoid being taken in a gameusing luminous readers, or any other game using an invisibleink. One, don't play in a game with players wearing red- oryellow-tinted glasses. TWo, if you must play, bring your owntinted glasses.

Single-Ply GardsSome hosts introduce into their game a cheap brand of

playing card that is single-ply. They are very thin, and whenthe lighting is just right, the player sitting opposite a playerusing these cards can see through and read the cards' value.This is similar to thin summer dresses some women wear.They hide their body until the sunlight hits just right, thenthe dress becomes see-through. Games that use these types ofcards are not very professional; they are used mainly for chil-dren's play.

ShadinfThere are two different types of shading. In some circles

it's marking cards with ink the same color, only a shadelighter or darker than the manufacturer's ink. This method ofmarking can be compared with ii.ne work and color out.

26

,alini=nl

,1I

1-I;

--hr

.[i

:14

--ar

tn','41

l^

:14i:r_ettaI

-rr

CHEATTNG WITH CARDS

ntanyect there bluering of

'-hat isith anrdivid-s wearleck isnovel-rgamei-isible'ed- orJ OWn

rnd ofryhenriayerr-alue.\fear., thenpes ofr chil-

:ircles,hadeLod of

"Shading,, is a term given to cards that are siightly lighteror darker than the rest oi the deck. To an amateur this type ofmarking will go completely unnoticed. The "";y ;i;;;shade cards is to put tirem on a window silr and let the sunslightly bleach the color.

A popular use of shaded cards is to identify suits. A procan shade all four suits by adding four srigiltry JIii"*",shades. shading can arso be used to"identify lrri, "i air".-ent value.

Another shading method is done accidentally by themanufacturer. On .any-Srye1 day, the batch of dye ..,u'a. it tn"card plant can differ s[gntry from another batc'h oi Jy" *ra.on a dif-{gre1t day. This meins d-ecks printed o., on" iry _uyr.ary slightly in shade from a deck irinted on anothJr day.Going to different stores and buyirig decks from the samenranufacturer is one way of finding cirds of different ,nuA"r.some professionars wili go to rtoi", i., different towns andqather severar decks. The- cards from one deck can be com-pared to cards from other decks, and so on.

sanding can be o.rr a?3;fl:5 uy ,ri.,s the example ofcards that have been rsed for a period of time. The sidesbecome dark. If one of the cards has to be taken o"i oflfuyand replaced with a new one, the white edge of the new iardrviil stand out. The edge of the new card alppea., ,, , *t,i,"line in the deck.This is the same principal cheats use when they lightlysand the edges of caids. Sinding only works on cards thathave been in play for a while ,.r? i, a practice reserved foramateurs.

Pegg,ing/Blistering

, . The terms " pegging,, and ,,biistering,, mean the samerhing.

27

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

The photo below shows a completed pegger. The diagramrepresents a card altered with a pegger. Note that the buirp isplaced just above the card value.

A dealer's identification of cards is the major advantagein this practice. As the deaier deals, he can feel the bumpswith his thumb. Depending on the placement and number ofbumps, the dealer knows the valul of the card. The dealernow has the option of dealing the card in turn or holding itback and dealing it to someone else.

GutoutsAnother method used to identify cards is caled a cut out.

This is used primarily when the dearer deals and does notplay. Tiny, thin cuts are placed on the face of the card. Justprior

-to dealing the card, the dealer can push the card out

slightly with the thumb. with the index finge4 the dearer canfeel the mark and identify the card's valuJ. Now the dearercan make the decision whether to deal the card in turn orhold it back. Knowing what each player has will allow thedealer to signal confederates.

Pegging/blistering isplacing tiny bumps oncards. Professionals usean improztised toolcalled a "pegger." Tb

make a pegger, bend asmall strip of sheetmetal in halt'. Use a

dull nail and a hammerto place an indentationin the sheet metal.

28

diagrambump is

lvantager bumpsrmber ofe dealerrlding it

cut out.oes notrd. ]ustard outrler canr dealerturn orow the

CHEATING WITH CARDS

near the edges of the cards. Even a playerence can notice this scheme

PerforatingPerforating thecards is anotheramateur cardcheat. This me_thod is similar topegging and blis_tering. Markingcards in this man_ner takes placeduring the gamerather than be_fore. Using a nee-dle or other sharoobject, the chea'tpokes tiny holeswith little experi_

Sri?qt,lg is the:,: :lf'rf,!J.1ail ro ,,crip,,

the edge of acard. This practice is easily 1"r"i."J Uy good players. Duringplay' a player will use tn.'.ag" oil #urp fingernail to slice atiny notch in the edge of u .;;. ihu"rtr.n., can be placed invarious positions to designat. tn*.rutr. of the cards.

Bending cards is, "g1

,'""if::f,*"" merhod of cheatins.Players bend a card to iaenriy ii;;;.* bend cards to forcea cut. The bend may f 1 tiii dog-gar .. a crimp in the mid_dle' A card that's bent in tri" *iair" w,r stand o,t while

lrllt-"" theptaying surface, ,"J;;,; be quire as obvious asa dog-eared bend.During a game I was playing, someone bent the ace ofspades every time a ,-,.* du.t wls introauced. It,s possible

29

rTHE PROFESSIONAT GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

the ace of spades was chosen because we were playing highcard in the hole splits the pot. Although I noticed it"rightaway, I kept quiet for two ieasons. Ond I was playing in astrange bar and with several people I didn,t know. faai rpo_\:l Yp, I might have found *yrlff in deep trouble. Second, Ididn't want to ruin a good thing for myse*. I was winning.

SHUFFTING

. To acquire a smooth riffle (shuffle), a dealer has to havehours and hours of practice. Many good casino dearers willeven practice on their days off. some dealers will practice whilewatching TV. A good dealer can practice and teep taUs on theprogram/ no problem. Some like to set up baskets and pitchcards at them while watching the program and not look at thebasket. A dealer who,s profiiient it plt.m.,g .r.a, .u., prt SZcards in a small basket with ease, andin just i fe* seconds.

A standard shuffle used by legit piofessional dealers is ariffle, riffle, strip, riffle, cut. Oo"u"properly, this method willgive cards an excellent shuffle. Next time you,re in a cardroom/ watch the dealers. you,il see the action firsthand.

False Shuffle. The object behind the farse shuffle is to make it appear anhonest shuffle is taking prace @ut realry isn't). The deller rif-fles, strips, and cuts the iards. There,s lbts of action ur-rJ nurramovement, but not one card has changed position. To theplayers, this action looks honest, and they are eager to play.. F-ulrg shuffling allows the desired cards to r-emain whe.e

the dealer wants them. Over the course of an errening,'a,excellent_ player will be

-huppy winning two or three iargepots per hour. A dealer placing winning*hands to a confeder_ate player five or six times an hou. ,.,uill

".,rrre that p*r*

will walk away with a majority of the money, every time.A few years ago, a few poker dealers in a malor Las Vegas

30

highrighttnaspo-nd, Io!:.

lavervill'hi-le

L the,itch

thet52

isa*'i1lard

annf-ndhe

CHEATING WITH CARDS

treange

er

tournament weroomsi**.di,.'""ry.x::11"T'Jf, #',;i,[f ,ff ,ffi 1.,ill:.,',:lld

allow players a full view of tf,. deck during rhe shuf_illf"Xi?.""11;J1,,

merhod *,, .,irua the rB ,n,rfr..rij.," i,i_

,, rh:';" ;;1:f,il:ffi?:',il,1,?,J,':",ft.;illl rn. 0",,".takes the fu' deck, splits ir i"'n"ir brings the two halvestogethel' and begins the rrffre.-imri.atu,"ty folrowing the rif_l,.i ln. dealer pirshes th" .;;i; ;li,n" *ry rhrough so rheedges of one harf extend u.yora itre othe, harf. ThJ dearer,sfingers grasp rhe exrendea eag"s ,ra purr rh.;r;;; ti.ougnthe deck' The dearer tt

"r, ..p"3is tne .irning sequence. These

Iffi:must be done quickly and ,moo*,ry"Ho,il-oii.u.ri.u

The next move is called stripping the deck. What thedeater is supposed to do ispirri;;I[;"r of cards off the decrechanging rhe posilion of tf,J*.jJ""The dealer moves his hanJs as if the cards are beingstripped, but none. of the .r.a, ,i".hanging position. Thedealer cuts the .u.:_l

tll.llr * p"rrr"^ not tobe dealt backon top. The cards are placedon top "r,r.," "in"rl, ,igitrv oncenter' This identifies the

"*u.t rpoi tie cut will be made- Thedealer moves his hands;;;#.","'rh" d".4 pauses, andthen cuts the deck fo. rii;i;y;ir'r";".

Had this been a_n hinest ,fr"iif" the cut would haveended up vice versa. In a card roo*^r"r,i.,g, false shuffles anddealing seconds are about u, u Jirnor-r-"st dealer can constant-ly get away with.Private or back .ogT games are another story. Thesegames aren,t monitored by-surveillu.,lu .ur.r.ras, floor men,and other dealers. Unless igr*;ffiing pluyed for extreme_ly high stakes and the.plr;;;;-;;; a- professionat deater,most games are olayed by passing the aeaf. er.f, pfry], S",,to deal in rurn una t:t-,i, rr'rril...'irr? .rio ,nrro excels.AS

31

i

THE PROFESSIONAT GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

THE PICK AND SORT

Without the use of marked cards, a dealer can't cheat,because the identity of the cards being used is not known. Atthe end of a hand the dealer will pick and sort cards layingface up, and group together the cards to be dealt to himself ora confederate. This may sound like it takes a long time, but a

pro can pick and sort in less than two seconds. Keeping thisin mind, one of the things to look for during a game is a deal-er who picks and sorts the cards before gathering themtogether for the shuffle.

The following is an example of how pick and sort works.The dealer has decided to deal himself three aces. In less thantwo seconds the dealer has found three aces, and they are onthe top of the deck.

Using the false shuffle method, the dealer can keep thethree aces on the top of the deck during the entire shuffle.The dealer begins the deal by dealing seconds, keeping thetop three cards in place.

When it's the dealer's turn to receive a card, the dealergets the top card, and dealing seconds begins again. Thisprocess is repeated twice more. When the hand is completelydealt, the dealer will have three aces.

I watched a player use a tactic that keeps dealers frompicking and sorting. When the hand was ovel and the pothad been awarded to the winner, this player would immedi-ately turn over the exposed cards and give the entire deck aquick scramble.

CUTTING THE DECK

In games using a permanent dealeq, the dealer will alwaysdo the cutting. In games where the deal is passed, the cut iscustomarily made by the player to the immediate right of thedealer. If the player to do the cutting is not a confederate, and

32

CHEATING WITH CARDS

'reat/

1. At)ingr1f orrut a

thisleal-hem

rrks.than'e on

, therff1e.

; the

:aierThisetely

rIom: potredi-:ck a

;vays.ut isrf the, and

the dealer intends to cheat, the dealer must void the cut madeby the player.

one method to "l,"itiii,'fl:;?:r",,, cut is to crimpcards. Usually the dearer will crimp thl bottom two o. ih..ecards. Once this has been.accomplished, the dealer will givethe cards one more cut. When the cards;.. p;.;;lr, rro,.,, orthe player for cutting, it's hopefur the ..i*p.J ca.Js^wiltinfluence the cut, meining the player cutting- will make thecut at the crimp.

Another method to void a cut is switching the cut. Thisslight of hand is difficult unless practiced. what the dearerwill do is pigk up the deck one haif at a time and place themtogether as if it were a genuine cut, but wilr then leive the tophalf of the deck slightly off center.As the deck is being placed togetheq, the dearer wilr sridethe little

{lnger of the aeit nana bEtween the deck halves. Asthe deck hand is raised to deal, the dealer will wrap tne fin_gers of the deck hand around the top harf of the de&. tn unesmooth motion the. fingers will pull the cards off the top ur.,aslide them under the bottom. r'rris entire motion nupfJr-,, i.,less than the brink_of an eye. professionals using tfrii tacticpractice evl1y day. ]ust a few days off from using ini, *r"."ver can spell disaster during a gime.

DEALING

once the cards have been marked and introduced into thegame/ they have to m.ake their way to the playe.s. O"uii"g i,the method to get cards to the playlrs.It can't be said enough: fo effecii,rely master the art of cheat_ing takes hours ,p9, hours of praciice. people who have

attempted to cheat using methods explained in thi; book withoutpractice, have ended up in some rather embarrassing siilatior-,;.

33

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOX

Cold DeckDealing using a cold deck is one of the slickest and best

money-making moves card cheats make. Introducing the colddeck is the highlight of a setup game, a game in which amark has been invited to play and is now about to be fleeced.A cold deck, sometimes referred to as a coolel is a deck ofcards that has been arranged prior to being introduced intothe game. The cards are fixed to give the mark a very goodhand. The only problem for the mark is that someone at thetable will have a better one. Under these circumstances theusual hand given to a mark is four of a kind. One of the con-federate players will get a straight flush. I've seen this playon several occasions. It's really something, watching the vari-ous expressions a mark makes as the hand keeps getting bet-ter and better. Many marks get so excited they can't get theirmoney in the pot fist

"rlorg-h. On occasion t(e mark"rarill get

so excited that the money he brought to the game won't beenough. At this point the mark is usually willing to sign apromissory note for more money. The real excitement comeswhen the mark finds out the hand he's holding is secondbest. The expressions, mannerisms, and crazy noises are sooutrageous it's hard to keep from laughing.

It's very easy to set up a cold deck. The most importantthing is to remember the exact position the mark will be inwhen the cold deck is introduced to the game. It would be asad evening for the person setting up the cold deck if themark got the high hand.

For the purposes of demonstrating how to fix a colddeck, we'll pretend this is a five-card draw game. A setupgame with three wealthy marks, a confederate player, andcrooked dealer. The setup man is in another room fixing thecold deck. Players one and two are marks. Player three isthe confederate, and player four is the third mark. Thedealer is player number five. The hands are: player one,aces full; player two, kings full; player three, an eight,high

34

CHEATING WITI{ CARDS

bestcoldcharced.

:k ofinto

;oodt the; thecon-playi'ari-bet-theirI get't be

8na)mes

ond'e so

lantre inbea: the

:old:tupand

;the:e isThe0ne/righ

straight flush; player four gets four jacks; and the dealerrvill have whatever is dealt.

. Counting starts.with the first player left of the dealer. Thesetup man, who is.in the other robm, win place tn" ioti,o*i.,gcards face up and on top of each ott,er,'ace, ["g, ,*. ",spades, jack, any.card, ace, king, five of spades, jack, anycarl, a9e, king, six of spades, jXck, any card. To keep themarks from thinking-rhe game is fixed, tir";;;; , .lri: *rube throw-a*u, .ridr. ftis means the next two cards theplayers get witt be^nothing ,rll'"r.n player will end updrawing two cards. After 10"no-count cards have been count-ed.out and placed on the stack, the next 10 cards will be asfollows: deuce, threg,,sev9n of spades, lack, ,"y ""__"",card, deuce, three,. eight-of spades, and any'no_iorr",tlrra.rhe remainder of the

"deck ir ptu."J on the p,e and the deckis ready. Let the game begin!

There are several -u/, u cold deck can be introduced intoihe game.One is to cut the legitimate deck, and just before the deal_er picks up the deck to deal, he sneezes loudly. n.r.ti"g i"t"a i.a:k5t pocket to get a handkercruet ifre a*ui".prltr^"ii,t"

cold deck, which ii concealed in the handkerchief. The switchis swiftly made with the old deck going into the handker_chief. Another player can also diltract the mark at that1om5nt by asking for a light, or for some other valid reason.Another method is to harie a confederate player next to thedealer hold the cotd deck. When the deatei

"if;;r ;h" ;i"y".the deck to cut, the player makes ihe switcfr. Again, ii,s agood idea to distract the mark during this procesr. ---- -' ^'

Dealing From the Bottom. Dealing from the bottom of the deck is as old as cardsthemselves. At one time it was the most popular method ofcheatingin private games. In today,s environment the use ofbottom deaiing is almost extinct. tr,i, I, because of the cut

35

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOX

card. The cut card has been introduced into card games fortwo reasons: to keep the bottom card from being exposedduring the game and to prevent the dealer from deiling f.o*the bottom. The card is usually made of a hard plastic and isthicker than the playing cards. Several manu?acturers arenow including cut cards with their new decks.

To deal from the bottom, the dealer uses the little finger ofthe dealing hand to push the bottom card forward. Ai thedealer begins to deal, the index finger of the dealing handwill pull the bottom card out. Once the card is out, the dealerwill pinch the card with the index finger and thumb andpitch it to the intended player. The entire move takes only asplit second to perform.

Dealing SecondsDealing seconds is now the most popular method of

cheating while dealing. I've heard some people mistakenlyexplain that dealing seconds was somehow piacing discardsback in the deck and dealing them out again durinf the samehand. The term "dealing seconds" comes from a deiler,s abil-ity to deal the second card in the deck as opposed to the topcard. A mechanic can deal the second card as fast and assmooth as the top card. It is almost impossible to see. Aboutthe only way to catch a pro dealing seconds is to catch themove on camera. Even then it takes a good surveillance oper_ator several runs of the tape in slow motion to catch it. Themechanic can also deal almost any card from the declg at anygiven time, in the same manner. Dealing a third, fourth, ormore card from the top is still called dealing seconds. Itwould seem reasonable that if the dealer dealt the third cardin the deck, it would be called dealing thirds, but it,s not.

One reason for dealing seconds is to give a designatedplayer cards needed to make a winning hand. It,s also usedto keep other players from getting cards needed to make awinning hand. Knowing how to deal seconds is not enough.

36

CHEATING W]TH CARDS

tmes forsxposedng fuomic and isrers are

lnger of. .\s therq hande dealermb ands only a

thod of,takenlyliscards1e samer's abil-the topand as. Aboutrtch the:e oper-it. The

" ai anyrth, orrnds. Itrd cardot..gnated;o usedmake a'nough.

A pro dealer must also have thorough knowledge of theg1*..., knowledge of the players, and complete obseivation ofwhat's happening in the gr*". A top_notch mechanic will usethe method of dearing seionds weri before ."rorii"g io a"ur-ing with marked cards, esp.ecially in a high_stuf.", g'rr,,.. fL"chance of being caught aeiting seconds is"almost ,iT, *t

"r"u,chances of getting caught with-marked cards ir ;";h hig;"r.

. .wh.". dearing r..o,-rarP*ltfiXf,n" use of marked cards, adealer has io know which cards are about to be deart. To dothis, the dealer uses a method called ,,peeking.- f""k"g i, umethod that takes place-while the game is iiprogr"rr."Or,"method of peeking is. ca,ed a "top p"eek." The d"utE, is-goingto take a look at the top card. To do this, the deri".^*ifiorcthe deck hand and Ue.na it slightly down toward the top ofthe.table. Using the rhumb of"the deafing ha;;;;h; ji,rf.,pulls the top card back just enough to expose the reft cornerof the card. After peeking, the dEaler pushes ihe card backwith the thumb. The entiie motion takis a fuaction of u-r".-ond' The dealer will sometimes take a peak at more than oneof the cards. An example would be the clealer who wants toknow what the third cird in the deck wourd be, so the dearerwould use the thumb to pull back three cards instead of one.A reason the dealer would want to know what the thirdcard might be, for example, would be if the tf,ta piaye. toreceive a card has a flush draw showing. The first ptu e. isthe dealer's confederate and.has srgnarJd n. r.'l, ,ii.iG..a.

Know-rng a flush beats a straight, tf.,"" a*f., a;;il ;;.*.+". jh: third player the card ieeded to fill the flush. Shoufdthe dealer see the third card is not the card needed to makethe flush, the dealer wilr continue without dealing u seco,d.If the dealer peeks and sees the card is one that,s ieeded. thedealer will have to take I guick peek at the second ur,J topcards' Time is limited and idealer doesn't have time t" p."t

37

rHE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

at every card, so on the rare occasion that all three cards areones that will complete the flush, the third player gets theflush. The dealer can only signal the confederate to fold.

Some dealers like what is known as a "back door peek."This is not a very good move for the simple reason it's easyfor other players to spot. The back door peek is similar inmethod to the top peek. The difference is the thumb is usedto lift the cards rather than pull them.

Player PeekMany times a dealer will want to show a confederate what

the next card will be. There are many instances when dealersand confederate players will act together in a card room gameof Texas Hold'Em, and this is probably the only cheat playerscan continually use and not get caughi doing it. The ideal situ-ation is for the confederate player to sit to the immediate rightof the deale4 if the dealer is right-handed. Slightly pulling onthe two top cards with the thumb will expose the next card tobe dealt. The second card is exposed because in card roomgames the top card is always theburn card.

SIGNATS

Signals aren't worth bothering with if they haven't beenorganized and practiced prior to a game. Signals between adealer and a player, and player to playeq, are very effective ifdone properly.

Dealer to PlayerHead nods are the best signals from a dealer to a player. It

is very rare, unprofessional, and stupid for a dealer to giveinformation by talking. Cameras watch a dealer's hands butrarely watch the dealer's head. Head nods should be quick.The signal is made only at the first point of eye contactbetween the dealer and confederate. In a poker game, it's

38

CHEATING WITH CARDS

rds areets theI

peek.",S

EASY

iilar in,S USed

e whatCealers1 gamerlayersal situ-re rightIilg oncard toi room

't been,\-een active if

aver. Itto giverds butquick.

:ontactne, it's

very easy for the dealer to see the hands of the players to theimmediate_right or immediate left. For exampte, tne player tothe immediate right of the dealer is betting u.a-u'J'rg u,though he has a flush. A head nod to a confederate couldTuu-r the player does have the flush. A sright head motion tothe left means no flush, and a head motion to the reft andright means the hand is higher than a flush. a quict neaamotion of 7/4 inch is enough. It,s almost like'u.,"rromtwitch. There are many other ways to signal and just as manydifferent meanings. Itis sometimes best to form your own byusing your imagination.

Flayer to DealerThe need for a player to signal the dealer is rather limited.

Prearranged hand:19"ul-, froir the player could designate acertain value or suit the player needs. t(e dearer.o"iJ'p""t utthe first few cards and see iidealing seconds rvouid be in order.

rhis is rhe most *Li",'r1r'"".:ii"';i" a, or poker. sisnarsare used to tell 0ne another the strength or'weaknels of:rands. There are signals to trap anothei plaver ^"a ,ig"rf,identifying the value of anothei player,s hand. nUyers?no

are confederates and who sit,,.*i toeach othe*igr,Ju.,ae,;he.table with leg .lop:, finger pokes, and elLow jabs.iVhispering is a method ,r.j by'urrlateurs and it,s easilyletected by others around the tabie.

Sometimes a player.purposely exposes cards during the:lrocess of discarding a hand. This is done to show u .oif"d-:rate player the card he or another player may need.

There are as many signals as imaginations can come up'rith' The way to use them undetecteiis to practi."iotll.,.,:r'ith a confederate. professional cheats will meet in"bath-:ooms to discuss cha,ges in signals or discuss different-.trategies during the course of the game.

39

i

I

I

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOX

BLACKJACK

If there's one game familiar to almost everyone, it's black-jack. It's popular with both men and women. There are hun-dreds of books written about how to win at blackjackhonestly, but there's no such thing as winning consistently atblackjack and doing it honestly. The bottom line is, there areonly ways to increase the odds of not losing as much. There isno sure system that will win at any game where the math-ematical odds are in the house's favor. NONE! It's impossi-ble. Las Vegas has spent untold millions in advertising,brainwashing the public with pictures of people winningagainst the odds. Hollywood does its part by making movieswhere the entire plot centers around someone beating thesystem. In reality, it can't be done. There are some peoplewho do walk away with winnings. The only true winners Iknow of are those players who are lucky enough to win thefirst time and never play again.

A Short StoryI've told this story on myself numerous times. Luck was

smiling on me that day, or I would have spent time in jail.While living in Las Vegas, two associates and i decided to gogambling together. We went to a casino called Foxy'sFirehouse, a place no longer in operation that *ur ,.ros ih"street fuom ihe Sahara. Our luck was excellent, and we wereall betting the lirnit, which \vas a whopping $25 a hand. Onthis one particular hand, an associate and I both had handstotaling 15 (a face card and a five). As the dealer turned to thefirst player, rny friend turned and whispeted, "Let's slvitchcards." Without hesitation we did it: we slid each other acard. The dealer caught us and immediately began bellowingfor the floor man. The floor man arrived and was told whathappened. Of course we both denied any such action tookplace. The floor man instructed the dealer to turn over our

40

CHEATING WITH CARDS

s black-re hun-rckjackentiy atrere arefhere is: math-lpossi-rtising,'inningmoviesing thepeoplenners I,vin the

ck wasin jail.dtogoFoxy's'oss the-e werend. Onhands

I to theslvitchrther a

lowingC what,n took-er our

:r1q: To everyone,s surprise, especially us, we were bothholding hands totaling ts 1we haa'switched fives;. rr,. noo.man shook his head and walked away.

rhere's been lots .r";li*:;i#,L"r, card counters, casi-nos banning card counters, and card counters suing casinosover being ejected. It's nothing more than another ,&.rr,. uycasinos, making people think there really is a system io *ir_,.All counting cards d-oes for the player is increase the chancesof getting a winning hand and lJwe.ing the odds for thehouse. No matter whit happ.r-,r, ur-,J no matter how much issliced off the house,s odds, itr. frorr" always has the *irri"gpercentage over the long run.Counting cards wolks this way. Concentrating on thegam: and keeping track of the .uid, atready ,rl?J, ,r,.counter has a good idea of what cards u." i"It i*ii"l..rIf a number of low cards have been played, the deck wiilbedch.in high cards.. This gives tn" .orr-,t"r a better chanceoj beatil8 or tying the deaier. This is a very simplified ver_sion of how counting works, but it,s a good iifrrirrti"*.This is,what peopre who b"rierre in card corrnters fail to teityou. The counter may know there are lots of trigh or towcards left to be played but doesn,t know the order in whichthey will come. Unless the counter has X_rav vision, it stillspells "loser."

The house has.various options to offset the meageradvantage the counter llr.oeating t"; ,h" ,l";:;;ffii"gfour decks of cards is- a big o"". Wi"r" single ciecks are used,the house can have the dfaler shuffle aftei.ru.y frr"a. ift,method not onlv stops a counter from having ui udrr;rug.,but increases the odds for th; hil;. Aguir, the idea that cardcounting is a surefire way to beat the frouse, is nothing morethan a myth.

4A

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

Top Card Peeks and Dealer GheatsTo say this cheat works well in blackjack games would be

an understatement. This is the Cadillac of blackjack cheating,the nut crusheq, and the blackjack cheat most feared by a casi-no. For a confederate player and a cheating dealeq, nothingcan stand in the way of making money except getting caught.It is almost impossible to get caught at this cheat, when it'sdone right.

To make this cheat work, the dealer has to be proficient indealing seconds, peeking, and signaling to the confederateplayer. The main reason this cheat works so well is that casi-nos are now dealing players' cards face up. This is to keepplayers from touching the cards, but knowing the players'card count is what makes this cheat work.

The ideal place for the confederate to sit is third base (lastplayer to act). This gives the dealer ample opportunity topeek at various cards before dealing to the confederate. Whenit becomes the confederate's turn to act, all a confederate hasto do is watch for head signals from the dealer. Through headsignals the dealer is going to tell the ptrayer to either take a hitor stand. The dealer knows what the player's total is, and thedealer knows what the next two or three cards are in thedeck. If the player has 12, and the dealer's second card is a 9,the dealer deals a second and, bingo, the player has 21.Another scenario wouid be the player having a count of 10and the dealer knows his count is iess than 17. The dealer willsignal the player to double down. No matter what the playercatches, the dealer will deal himself a busting hand.

In many cases the dealer knows where a 10-count card orace is in the deck. On the first round the confederate catches a10. The next card the player catches is an ace. Just 20 minutesat a $100-and-up table spells an easy 10- or 20-thousand-dol-lar winnel, and if you can believe it, this cheat gets even bet-ter. This cheat can only take place if the dealer is dealing fromthe hand. A shoe nullifies this cheat. Guess where it's com-

42

CHEATING WITH CARDS

'ould beheating,r- a casi-nothingcaught.

-hen it's

icient inederaterat casi-io keep:layers'

ase (lastinity to:. trVhenrate has

3h headke a hitand the: in theCisa9,has 21.rt of 10,ler will, player

card orrtches a

ninutesnd-doi-en bet-rg fromS COM-

mon to see a dealer dealing from the hand. you,re right: the$100 and higher tables.

palmins cards ii, bh.:k?jH::*" used to be an effectiveway for players to cheat *,e r,oule. roauy, ,.,or.,u J ir.,"^iujo.establishments I klow of allow ptuy.., to touch the cards; thedealer does it all. To cheat by p;l"ii;g cards, a playerwouldhave to be in a orivate gu^i,;; i;; imaller .uri,o allowingplaye-rs to Ioolg'hota, an"d *oiil, *lih the cards.Ygrt private games use standard playing cards manufac_tured by Bicycle or Bee, which.;l; eas,y obtained at moststores. Prior to attending a private gu*. a sharp will openseveral decks of cards irom differEnt manufacturers andremove the face cards and aces. These are what the cheat w,rtake to the_ game. yporl ur.i"uf, tn. cheat will notice whattype of cards are O"rlr used and .ur", ptu.. the proper .r.a, i.,the desired pocket, sletve, or other co'mfortable hiding place.At various times during tne course of the game, tfie sharpcan palm an undesired cari u"a r"prr.. it with a card neededto make 20 or 21.

, .ilpqrrg and p,*i.,gffitl$o ," be an effective wav robeat the house. The samJtning applie;;dp;il'r:,;;k ,"palming. Players, hands rr.",iuiJ*.i r.,.u, the chips or cardsonce the dealer begrns to deal. tn p.ir.ai" games where playersare allowed to hold-their cards, .*rr"-r and palming are veryeffective ways to increase or decr"ise the original bet.Once the player has looked at tf,e hana, a decision can bemade to cup or palm the chips. Ilthe player had a solid 2Othe correct action would be to cap tt "

U"t (add more chips tothe bet). To do this, a pllr-er pri"i, A; .ilprl" o" ,oJ"o?odeposits them on top of in. t"t ,r ttr" cards are praced backon the table.

43

tTHE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

This action is one complete, fast, and fluid motion.Should the player see the hand being a possible lose4, theplayer can take the opposite action and remove chips fromthe original bet. To do this, the player places the cards next tothe bet. Immediately after releasing- the cards, the playerpalms a portion of the chips as the hand passes over the bet.

The best move on a poker pot by a dealer is palmingchips from the pot. When all the bets are placed, the dealeiwill drag all the money into the center of the table. As this isbeing done, the dealer can palm several chips and depositthem on his own stack.

These actions should be practiced before attempting themd.uring ac_tual play. A mistake while performing this type ofcheat could spell disaster.

Dealing SecondsDealing seconds works well in blackjack. A dealer can

give a confederate blackjack several times in 20 minutes.(Twenty minutes is the standard period of time a dealer willdeal at any table.) Dealing seconds in blackjack uses the samemethods explained earlier in the chapter.

Some players who are in with dealers follow the dealer todifferent tables. This practice has to be done with caution. pitbosses observe players who travel about. It,s wise to follow adealer to every other table.

POKER

The term " fottt flusher" is said to have originated frompoker. To many people it means a cheat or swindler. In pokeq,it's a player who draws to a four-card flush and doesn,tcatch. The card caught is the same color as the four-flush suit,such as a player drawing to four clubs receiving a spadeinstead of the needed club. When it,s time to sho* the besthand, this player might say, "I got a flush.,, In many cases the

44

CHEATING WITH CARDS

lotion.;e{, the)s fromnext toplayere bet.llmingdealer

; this isieposit

g themype of

er cannutes.er willI Same

aler tocn. PitIlow a

i frompoke4lesn'th suit;padee bestes the

other players throw in their hands, not even looking at theflush. This is what the cheat i, fu.,f.ir.,g on. In som-" .uru,other players may want to see it. If that happens, the cheatwill lay down thl hand *irh;ii four clubs showing and aportion of the fifth card, the spadf which will be revealedjust enough to allow the players';;. that it,s a black card. Ifno one questions the flush, ihe cheat gets the pot_ Ii , fiuy".challenges the flush ana mates inl .r,"ut spread the iards,revealing the spade, the cheat.u, ,uy, "Wh;,f tn""ghtih"aa flush. Sorry.,,

sp ra shin g,n" p g::'i:TlfJ.[ ""?,*, ", p ra yers, rromneighbors playing Friday.nignt pot*i to high_stakes games.Lard rooms have u ,p".ifi. iut"'r"ja.aing ini, p.r.ri?.,r.adealers who have t

.q_",,iti;;;#;i""1.[:fr fl #:,r.:,*:",,I""',::;lmtfthe sharp will toss chips into the ce;ter of the pot and say,::11 :", tfir ngtll,itis anybodyl, sr"r, exactly how manychrps were tossed into-the pot. li tnJUet was S1-0, tf," piuy",could have tossed

1" $I, a'player *ho ao., this should bepolitely warned and told th; piop.; iuy is to prace the betfe,lwee1.his chips and the p"r.'fni, *uy .r.ryone at the tablecan see the bet. If the practlce continuei, tn. pfuy., ,f.,""f,a U"asked to leave the game.

45

r

CHAPTER 3

SIOT TYIAGHINES

- Slots are popular {9r many reasons, but one that keepsthem truly popular is the size'of if,"i, ;u.tpots. Any time ofthe day, a person can walk into a L* VJ;;;:;;J,d i,rrr,few coins in their pocket and in *i.rt", become a million_aire. No other game of chance i" ,f," *o.ld-gives a player theopportunity to win millions with a bet ot a tew nickels.For the casino industry, ,fot *r.tines are aoufie_eageaswords. On one side, slots i." tf,"i. U.ead and butter. On theothet, slots are the easiest and most p.ofituble for cheats. The

li:g-"_',_,:'se.s report"d bt ;;i;;;." from slot machine,t-t1T The biggest reporteh loss I ru.u, was a srot scam thatrnvolved a team of cheats beating *re staraust out of millionsof dollars. All slot scams of this"size have one thing in com_mon: there has to be someone on the inside providing help tosomeone on the outside. I,m not saying there aren,t methodsof cheating done by scam artists on their own, but the largestand most damaaing- losses ,"

" .rrm are carried out withinside h-erp' rn ttiir lr"ropt* r;ll;;j;il how r know firsrhandabout slot cheating scams and one in particular that has agood chance of stiligoing on today. - "

ONE.ARTYIED BANDITS

There are countless stories on how slot machines got thename "one-armed bandits.,, 8""" aiCupone is credited with

47

this one. According to this particular story, Al and a few ofhis associates were pracing slot machinls in the MineoraHotel, a hotel on the chain oi lakes in Lake County, Ilinois. Itwas during a conversation at the bar when one ofil,s associ-ates made a comment: "Look at those machines. They looklike a bunch of bandits with one arm, backea up aga#ri tnuwall waiting to take on the world.,, It was Al who" laughedthe loudest and said, "ya, that,s what they are all .igni,?."_armed bandits."

Slot machines have made some major advancementssince the days of Al Cap-one. ]oday, machines are run bycomputer chips. Freewheeling slots are almost obsorete. withthe introduction of electronic and computer_generatedmachines, a new breed of slot cheat has emeiged.

RULES TO IIVE BY

Professional slot cheats who are rarery if ever caught fol-low a few simple rules and never break them.

1. Don't be greedy. Less now means more over the longrun.Don't stick around longer than necessary. Collect yourwinnings from the tray and leave. Only go to the casi_no cage or bartender to cash out when i-t,s absolutelynecessary.Don't take unnecessary risks. It,s better to leave themachine with credits on it than stick around and getcaught. If someone is continuously watching or win_dering by, leave.Keep everything a secret. Never brag to anyone aboutany part of the operation. Only thosb directlyinvolved should have any knowledge or discussionabout the operation.

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

5. Spend time where the scam is to take place. Look

48

nJ.

4.

,w ofteolaris. It;soci-lookt theghedone-

entsnbywithated

fol-

SLOT MACHINES

I

f

I

;

i

around and watch the employees, look for cameras,and watch as the mechanic'fixes a machine. Note whattakes place. Does the machine sound an alarm whenit's opened, or does a light on top of the _u.f,i.,e Aurf,on and off? Look for a-,,blind,, irea. (Every casino orbar has machines that are difficult to watch.)6. If a particular casino becomes an easy mark, check theshift schedules. Many professionals will hit an easymark three times in one day, once on

"u.n,niirl-' --""

7. Treat these scams as a fuli_time iob so that you willgain an air of professionalism sooner.

THE FIRST SLOT CHEATING

According to slot machine history, the first slot machinewas invented by a man named Charl-ey Fey. In the late 1g00she introduced a machine i" u Su. frurrcisco bar. It would lineup various symbols, but the payoff wasn,t in coins. Instead itallowed the winner to seleit a free drink. rt *ur.Ji L.rgbefore someone figured out a way to cheat. fnis particutarmachine didn't have glass covering the reels. When the bar_tender was busy or looking the othJr way, all the cheat had to1o

*T use a finger and st6p the reels on a winning combina_tion. Soon, machines were altered to pay coins instead ofdrinks, and glass was placed over the reels.

No sooner than the *r::t'*lrtolaced over the reers thansomeone devised the cheating *"ihod known u, ,,diiilir.,o,,The cheat would drill small toles through the metal .rri?gjust under the glass in each of the three windows. The cheatwould poke a small, stiff wire through

"u.t, .,"*ty'a.iff"a

hole and-stop each reel on a winning'combination. To keepowners, bartenderr, ul-d other patrins f.om .,oiici"S ih;holes, some cheats would rs".olo."Jputty to close the holes,

49

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

PAYOFF

SYMBOLWINDOWS

HOPPERAREA

INSIDEMACHINE

HANDLE

/

WINNINGCOIN

PAYOFF

TRAY

The aboae diagram represents an anerage slot machine and some of its moreimportant parts.

50

SIOT MACHINES

PROGRESSIVE. jACKPOT

\!INDOW

PAYOFF

. SYMBOLWINDOWS

HOPPER

AREAINSIDEr\4ACHINE

)

L,,*

?

then return anotfl 9uy

,19 repeat the operation. Drilling isstill in use on a much. smrtte, J.J", usually in small out_of_the-way praces stilr using rr"u*n.uri.,g slots. In places wherethese machines are ,founi, arifii"j t rs been made easy with

:}iilff1rr,on of battery_poweredodritrs and extremely good

"._ Alo,h:r popurar Tj!:"#liuruns slots is spooning.5pooning is easy and fast. The cheai shoves a long-handled,spoonJooking device up rhe coin pay-on srot, t ipfin"giil"'r"rru.holding coinJ in the coin shoot. i#s action rereases the coinshr: rl"_qry. The onty drawbu.kto;ru, merhod is rhe machineonly holds a smallamor"t of .oi.,, ir.,n" shoot. The cheat hasto visit several machines before r";ki;g a decent profit.

SLOT PARADISE

Las Vegas is the srot cheat's Mecca. professionar cheatscan hit a different slot machi"" ;;;;y day of the week forover a year and never set foot in the same place twice. Thosesame cheats could start over the next year and hit the sameplaces agairy this time o" u aff"r"* i,if,. Almost every casi_no, bal, motel, hotel, and restau.r"itu"" ,nr""'riiirJ if,r,means the same cheats could continue for ttrree yllr, ,"anever see the same employees twice.

THE STRING AND THE GOIN

.Pol', la-ugh at this_next scam, but the string on the coinmethod.really works. Earlier .f,"ut, *orld drill a hole in acoin and tie a string to it.This works well, but is very slow. Getting maximum pay_off requires the coin be rowered i"to *r. machine until a clickis heard, then pulled almost rff ,n. _ly out and lowered into

51

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBTER'S HANDBOOT(

l

STRING APPROXIMATELY 8"

NOTE: CIRCUMFER-ENCE OF HANDLE CI'NOT BE MORE THAI.THE THICKNESS OF

THE COIN

the machine again until another click is heard. This must berepeated as often as it takes to meet the machine,s maximumcoin limit. To speed up this process, cheats replace the stringwith a handle.

This allows the coin to be forced up and down in the slotrapidly. This is another cheat that should be reserved for out-of-the-way casinos and bars. Major casinos have surveillancecameras that catch this type of operation easily.

52

SIOT MACHINES

TE: CIRCUMFER.CE OF HANDLE CI'T BE MORE THA\E THICKNESS OFE COIN

lust betximume string

r the slotfor out-

,-eillance

THE RATCHET METHOD

The ratchet method is another scheme that works we, onfreewheeling machines. After pil.i;; a coin in the machine,the,cheat puils the handle rrJ-rf-r",-,t, the feel of the firstclick. Then, with a powerful p"ff, tt e cheat rams the handledown. It's common to repeat ihir'r"rr..ul times before break_ing the catch on the insiie handle mechanism. This catch iswhat locks the handle in place prlo, to each play. Once thecatch is broken, the handle ca, bi frir"a witho,urrisi"f ."i"r.P^rofessionals. will play the U.ot#,"uchine just long enoughto win a few hundred dollars, then leave.

RIIYTHM METHOD

For a short oeriod, cheats used what was known as the"rhythm method.,, This type "f

.f,"l, ras exclusively used onmachines with timins. q3-ri, ny ma.ipulufi;il;J#lllrn"cheat could figure ortite

"*rit ti_"ih" ro.[i.,g pr*l""rra::l."rr,: and stop the reels. This knowt"age allowed the cheatto further manipulate the handre and force the reels to fa, ona winning combination. Casinos u".ur.,. wise to this methodand slot machine companies added a timing device thatwould alternate the times the l0cking pins would rerease andstop the reels.

JUST TAKE THE WHOLE THING

. Probably the boldest move I,ve ever heard of was a teamof slot cheats who went to a smaller casino just off tne VegrsStrip' TWo of the men went inside u"a ur,otrlJ"ur.i."i "1loup truck to the enrrance. The moment the;;;;i,'.*"alin"two inside men wenr to a maching by th" ;;;;, iliJd;; ;p,and carried it to the truck. After riiJi"g the machine into thebed of the truck, the two hopped in tie bed next to it. Off

53

i

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

they went, and to this day I've never heard of these menbeing caught.

LOCK PICKING

A good lock picker can make excellent money pickinglocks on slot machines. This, too, should be reserved forsmall, out-of-the-way casinos and bars. Larger casinos havealarms that sound when machines are opened, but smallerplaces rarely do. A professional cheat will sit and watch acasino's operation for extended periods of time, taking noteson how the machines open, if there are any alarms, and whodoes the mechanical work. Many small places, especiallybars, have contracts with slot repair companies. If a machineneeds repaiq, a call has to be placed to the repair company. lttakes anywhere from a half hour to several hours for themechanic to arrive. This window of time makes it easy for acheat to pick the lock, open the machine, and empty the hop-per. (The hopper holds the coins and can be accessed fromthe open door.) Quarter machines hold an average of $300 incoins. A dollar machine will hold around 91,200. It's difficultleaving with a large amount of coins all at once. A favoritemethod to remedy this problem is to use a female accomplice.Her job is to carry a large, heavy-duty purse and stand nextto the player while he pretends to play. Little by little, theplayer places coins in the accomplice's purse. Standing nextto the playeq, the accomplice also serves as a lookout. Usuallythe accomplice will make several trips to their car. Each trip isto empty the bag into a box concealed in the trunk. Mostcheats who pick locks and open the machines shy away fromsetting the machine on winning combinations, although it'seasy to do and empties the machine faster. Why wouldn't acheat want to empty the machine faster? Each time a winningcombination comes up, bells ring. The bigger the jackpot, thelonger the bells ring. People get curious when bells ring for

54

SLOT MACHINES

lese men

r picking:rved fornos havet smallerwatch a

ing notesand whospeciallymachinenpany. lts for theasy for athe hop-;ed fromf 5300 indifficultfavorite

omplice.rnd nextittle, theing nextUsuaily:h trip isk. Mostay from,ugh it'suldn't a,vinningpot, thering for

extended periods of time and will investigate. One thing acheat doesn't want is someone i""urtigffi;r;;;"r;iil".It's much safer to empty the machine a little at a time. This isanother example whergless ends up biing*orr.

SLUGS

, Using slugs is another easy way to cheat machines. Thecheapest slugs are lead, which it on" ,i-. *"." widely used.There's one drawback to using feai sfugs,';;#; il ;i.,weight. It takes some super-nea[r-auty pants to carry a pocketload of Iead slugs. Tor^V,5opp"i ;i;;, ".. the most popular.They are easv to mate ana #"igt ah;';*. as coins. The onrydrawback is lhat coDper coins ai more expensive to produce.Professional cfieats use caution when using slugs. As

€ TRIP LEVER WHICH RELEASESCOINS INTO HOPPER

55

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOI(

coins are played, they are held in a coin shoot. As each coin isplaced in the slot, the last coin in the shoot is pushed out andfalls into the hopper. If slugs are used, they will be in the coinshoot until a series of genuine coins are deposited and havepushed all slugs into the hopper. Professionals who knowthis will immediately walk out of the building if the machinebecomes stuck while using slugs. Professionals will also pickup their winnings and leave if slugs begin dropping into thecoin tray.

Several foreign countries mint coins similar in size to U.S.coins. These work just as well and are often cheaper than cop-per slugs.

INSIDE OPERATIONS

As mentioned earlier, casinos fear inside operationsbecause they just can't keep an eye on all employees all thetime. Employees working with confederates to cheat a casinocan break the bank. What causes most inside scams to becomedetected and fail is greed. Inside operations are almost impos-sible to detect. When professional thieves are patient indscam a little at a time, their operations last for years.

THE IONG HAUL

Long-range planning has become popular with big-timeslot cheats. These cheats form organizations. Several memberswill attend slot mechanic school and learn to repair slotmachines. Good slot mechanics can find work anywhere inthe world where there are slot machines. Schooling takesabout three months. After graduation, schools find jobs fortheir graduates. During the apprenticeship, apprentices willpick up on different methods of cheating. Excellent methodson cheating slot machines are common shop talk among jour-neyman mechanics. All apprentices have to do is watch and

56

1COln rS

out andthe coinrd haveo knownachinelso pickinto the

r to U.S.tan coP-

rations; all ther casinobecomeimpos-

:nt and

rig-timeLembers

air slot'here ing takesiobs forces willrethodsrg jour-tch and

SIOT MACH!NES

listen. After a year or two of working as apprentice mechanics,organization members will begin applyinglo other casinos forwork- They will only accept a job *t"* they wilr be workingtogetheq, which is fairly easy. once they stirt work togethe4,the sky is the limit.and witj stay that way if they doi,t getgregdy: Some organizations have found that moving to a newcasino location every few years is to their advantagel

FAKE JACKPOTS

. .O.. inside job, which worked great for several years, wasa fake jackpot payoff scam. It would probably be in operationtoday if it wasn't for one member losing his cool. Heihoughthe was short-changed-on a payoff he received. Instead of tiy_ing to work it out with the other members, he went to gam_ing authorities and spilled the beans.

. The,organization consisted of five people: a slot mechan_ic, slot floor mary slot change person, i seiurity officeq, and aconfederate

-player. The- casino s procedure for a jackpot pay_

off over $300 required that the firit four be present auring tnepayoff. The casino's idea was to have four employees.urlo._sible for signing 9ff on such payoffs, and doing so would nul_lify any chance of cheating.

The confederate would enter the casino and pick amachine with a_payoff between g1,100 and $1,200, sit'down,and begin play. Picking a machine with a payoff of this valueIlans maximum payoff without a recordbeing made to theIRS, and a record of the player,s name would ilso be avoid_ed. security officers in thiJ casino had several duties. onewas- helping in the surveillance room. During the period sur_veillance was watching the casino away from th! machine,the security officer in on the scam would come out on thefloor-and signal the floor man that it was all right to goahead. The floor man would signal the change peiror, undthe change person would signal the mechanic]In a matier of

57

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOX

two minutes, all five participants wourd be at the machine.The floor man and securityofficer would go to the casinocashieq, sign the necessary forms, and pick .ri tt. money. Themechanic would reset the progressive lactpbt, sign the'sign_off card inside the machine, ind the ihange p"iro., *oitaTuf" the cash-payoff to the confederate. Uvelyone performedtheir duty and no one else in the casino wai the wiser. Thistook place an average of 3 times a night. At the end of theirshift, the inside members of the org-anization would meetwith the confederate at a local bar and'split the money.

When casino managers, gaming ofiicials, and the policefinished their investigation, they est-imated this one orginiza-tion had taken the casino for approximately g2,145,00dover a2 1/-2-year period. Divide tnii by five, ind each membermade $429,000. That comes out to $g,aOO a week.

WORKING TOGETHER

Some bartenders in Las Vegas and the contractedmechanic working for the bar work together on a scam.During early morning hours on weekday"s, when the bar isempty, the mechanic will casually stop by for a visit. Themechanic has keys for every machine irrthe bar. Together thebartender and mecharyc pick out the best machinE, usuallywith the highest payolf. Using the key, the mechanic opens itand forces the winning jackpot combination to .o*. ,p.Jackpots,on progressive bar machines can run in the highthousands. The mechanic leaves immediately and the bar-tender calls the coin company who owns the machine. Theyin turn send a representative to pay the bartender. Becausemost bars allow their employeeJto pray the machines, thisdoesn't come under suspiclon

CHEAT THE CUSTOMERS

There was a bar owner who attracted customers to his bar

58

il

SLOT MACHTNES

nachine.3 casinoney. Thehe sign-r wouldrformed;er. Thisof theirld meet

e police:ganiza-J over anember

:ractedr scam.: bar is;it. Theirer theusuallyrpens itme up.re highhe bar-:. Theyiecause

es, this

because of large- slot machine jackpots. He owned hismachines and did his own mechanical work. He fixed hisprogressive machines so it was impossible for a customer tohit the jackpot. When a machine ,"i.h.d a large ,*o""i, ,"athere were no customers, he wourd ret his bartender go home.once the bar was completety empty, h. ;;;l;,;;1t"'iu.r_pot combination to appear on the machine. Wh";;.;riJr,u.did come in, or -hun his relief bartender arrived, themachine would st,l be locked on the jackpot. This wouldserve as proof that someone reauy hit it. He would tell hiscustomers and bartender that it was a tourist who just hap_pened by and hit it.

Owners of a bar close to the University of Nevada used asimilar scam' The owners owned their machines and set themachines so that orogressive jackpots were practically impos_sible to hit' Most of Ihe custo*"i, *"r" co,ege students, sothe bar was usually empty in the early *Irninf f,orrr.During periods when the bar was empty, the owners wouldreset the progressive payoff back to iis beginni.,j. itur"cheats went so far as to post a ,,winners list,, and would usefake names for winners. 'io keep the students interestea, tt "r"were incentives such as drawings for rarge ."rrr f.L],.^ro.each hour of p_lay a player *oirta receive a ticket for thedrawing' The drawing wouldn't take place until all ti.tut,

:::: giIT.r*,ry. The last ticket was alway, gir"., ,*uyrvnen the bar was empty. posted rules stated the d"rawing wasto take place immediitety after the last ticket was given iway.When customers arrived posted as the winner would be thename of someone no one knew.

A PERSOilAt EXPERIENCE

Most professionally organized slot scams involve veryfew people. For obviom r.uior,r lesris bette4 but occasionar_ly there's an exception to the rule.his bar

59

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBTER'S HANDBOOK

In L975,I met and became friends with two slot mechan-ics who were employed by a major strip casino. We hadknown each other for about three years when one day one ofthem approached me, "We stumbled on a way to makemachines pay off until they empty," he said. "The casino,gaming, or anyone else will never figure out how we do it.Even if they do, it can be traced to an honest mistake in set-ting up the machine." I was asked if I wanted to try it. I did-n't have much to do at the time so I agreed to try it. The planwas for me to come to the casino at a prearranged time. Uponarrival I would go directly to one of several bars and wait.They would find me. One of them would pass by the bar andcatch my eye. If I saw him nod yes, I would get up from thebar and follow him, at a distance. If the signal was no, I coulddo what I wanted the rest of the evening; the deal was off.

When the deal was on, I would follow the mechanicthrough the casino, sometimes for a half hour. He wouldfinally take me past a series of slot machines and would cometo the other mechanic, who was working on a machine. Iwould stop and begin playing the machine next to themechanic. When I began play, the mechanic would close thedoor to his machine and leave. I would immediately moveover and begin playing that machine. It was incredible:.about every third or fourth pull, I'd hit a payoff. These partic-ular machines were dollar machines and the payoffJ werebetween $20 and a $100 each time. It would take about a halfhour to empty the machine. The floor man, who wasn,t in onthe scam, would come to the machine and authorize themachine to be filied. I would repeat the operation once themachine was filled. When the machine emptied again, thefloor man would come over and authorize another fin. efterthe machine was empty for the third time, the floor manmarked the machine out of service, and I was politely askedto play another machine. This was standard operating proce-dure, but instead of playing another machine I would leave

60

SIOT MACH]NES

mechan-We hadry one ofto makel casino,ve do it..e in set-it. I did-lhe planre. Uponnd wait.bar androm the, I could; off.echanicr wouldld comechine. It to thelose thev moveedible:.: partic-fs werert a half1t in on'ize thence thelin, thell. Afteror many asked

i Proce-d leave

and go home. In all I would take about $3,000 out of themachine. I would do this an average of twice u *l"f u.,a ,n.*?l"I was split three ways. On occasion, this scam waspulled twice in the same evening.Mnnings taken from a rn"".hi.ru each time were smallpayoffs. Even though the total amount was over 91,200, therewouldn't be a recoid to the IRS or a record of my na-me in acasino log.I came to find out later that there were at least 10 of usacting as confederates. I worked this scam for armost twoyears. This means approximately g5,000,000 was taken, justduring rhe period I-was inrotrlal 6r,e duy r ** i"ia tn"operation was coming to a halt: one of the *".hu.ri.r'*r,goilg to retire, at age 31.

., sgvgral years laier I had a conversation with the mechanicthat didn't retire. During tn".or.,rr.rrltion I found out that hetrained three other mecf,anics how to ,,fix,, machi^"r. ft "y

i.,turn went on to different casinos, so who knows no* _u^ymechanics they,ve trained. To this day, no one I,ve talked tohas ever heard of anyone being .r"jit in ihis scam, and it,svery possible it continues to thil daylTryilq to keep employees from stealing under circum_stances like this, one caiino in Las Vegas" nu" iorUiiaur.,emptoyees of certain d epartment, Iro# *;.;il; l"r,nemployees of other

_depaitments. The Imperial palace hasgone to the point of selting rules gover.,i.g the dating ofits employees.

COMPUTER.RUN SLOTS

^ - It takes the help of someone on the inside to effectivelyscam a modern computer slot machine. persons involved inthese scams have stited, ,,The more iechnical the machinesare made, the easier theyare to set up for a scam operation.,,In one such operition, u *".hu.,ic in a

"iu;oi r,otur

61

.l

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOX

designed a remote-controlled box. The box contained a com-puter chip comparable to the one running the machine. Thedifference between the authorized chip and the imported chipwas the imported chip was programmed to hit the jackpot.The imported chip was placed in a box controlled remoiely,and when activated would bypass the legitimate chip. Thiswould force the winning jackpot combination to appear.

One day, the mechanic was in the slot repair departmentplacing the box in a replacement machine. At the same time, aconfederate entered the casino and began playing a predesig-nated machine. The confederate brought with him a specialcoin designed to jam the machine. When the machine jammedthe confederate player complained to the floor man, who inturn called the mechanic. The mechanic arrived to investigateand, after careful examination, placed the machine out of ser-vice. He told the floor man that the machine needed majorrepairs and would have to be replaced. The mechanic left andreturned with the machine containing the remote-controlledbox. The moment the mechanic finished replacing themachine and closed the doof, the confederate began playingit. In his pocket the confederate carried the control box. About10 minutes into play the confederate pushed the control boxbutton. Like magic, the four sevens lined up on the bottomline for the progressive jackpot win, which was $175,000.When a jackpot of this size is hit, there are several steps a casi-no takes before the jackpot is paid. One of those steps is tohave the mechanic inspect the machine for any malfunction orcheating devices. Once the mechanic signs off that themachine was legit, the rest is history.

VIDEO SLOTS

One of the easiest methods of cheating a video gamingmachine is the use of a "zapper." These zappers are known asstun guns, the ones advertised to stop an attacker in his tracks

62I

lI

i

SLOT MACHINES

a com-ne. Theed chipackpot.motely,p. Thisr.

utmenttime, aedesig-specialrmmedwho in:stigateof ser-

I majoreft andrtrolledng therlayingAbout

rol boxrottomi5,000.a casi-

rs is totion orat the

amlng)wn astracks

with a shock of severar hundred thousand volts, and are avail-able through catalogs advertising articles for self_defense.Video machines are design""d to trbrfrt" *i^Jr,j, *nu,the player hits winnirrg .oribi.,ations. Tabulated w-inningsare noted on the screen under the heading "...ai;.) Fo,example, if a player hits a wiTing combinatYo"-if,"lfry, +ocoins, under the heading credits, tf,e machine will airff"y tn"number 40. If the prayei placed another series of coins in themachine and was to hii another 40 credits, the machinewould taburate another 40 and display g0 credits. It,s duringthe period the machine is tabulating credits that the ,upp",

1vorks.. Giving the machine a shot fr"om the str., gr.t, f"Jt o"the- edge, will disrupt the tabulating process. The machinewill continue addingcredits past the ioint it was r,rppor"a tostop' Most machines have a built-in safety system iriJ u"to-matically stops the machine at 500 credits, no matter whath-appens. Then the machine runs through its progru*; to seeif it should still be adding additionar credits. Because thereisn't a winning combinati-on that warrants more credits, thecalculator stops and no more credits are added. atay can con-tinue. When another winning combinatio., upp""., and themachine starts adding credits,-another shot rro." tt

" ,i;;gr"will run up another 500 credits. To avoid problems u.,a'tn"possibility of getting caught, most professionals who use thismethod stop at this point, gather iheir winnings, and go toanother bar or small casino io repeat the operation. On a dol_lar machine, winnings for one is-minute session would be

lPRrofpately $1,000. If a cheat felt like making a night of tt,it wouldn't be difficult to hit 20 machines.

A DOWN SIDE TO SLOT SGAMS

, Besides getting caught and sent to jail, there are otheroown sides to slot scams. These can be on the more seri_ous side.

63

THE PROFESSIONAT GAMBLER'S HANDBOOX

- Je_ars ago, I was introduced to a man at the Red Fez bar, a

local hangout just north of the Sahara Hotel on Las VegasBoulevard. It turned out this individual had helped inventthe,inner workings of video slot machines. Overihe years Ihad many conversations with him and never got the impres_sion that he was dishonest. At one point, this rilan began'pro_ducing computer chips for a majoi Video Machine irpp'ti...Tfgse chips altered the payoff so that it was virtually #por_sible to hit a royal flush. Later, the computer genius beganfeeling guilty and reported the operation to gaming officijs.

Llltimately, the video company was shut down uid th" o*r,_ers arrested. For all his troubles, my friend was shot to death inhis drivewayby aman hired by the video company owners.

64

:ezbar, als Vegasd invente years I'impres-8an pro-supplier.r impos-rs beganfficials.the own-death inlers.

CHAPTER 4

GHEATING AT GRAPS

For more than 2,000 years, many sharp minds of theworld have tried to. formulate systems to beat the crapsgames. The problem is, there *ur., t any, there isn,t any, andthere will never be any system to legitimately beat a crapsgame. I know two ways to win at craps. The first is beingextremely lucky the first,time playing, and then ,r"rru. Orrr_ing again. The other. is cheating. 'Si;:" I have absolutely noexpertise with luck, I,m going to.-tett yo" rUo"i.n"u"tilg.',

A TITTLE DICE HISTORY

Dice have been around for some time. Dice, similar tothose used in today,s ..up gu*"r, nrrr. been found inlgyptian tombs. Thii meanr aL. narre ueen around at reast2'500 years' Archaeorogists have unearthed dice that .i*.ryshow signs of alteratiois used to .n.rt. This mean, .t urii.,gat dice has been around for at teast i,SOO years. penalties forgetting caught cheating during tf,rt p..iod are hard to imag_ine. Those people had fretty hXrsh pJ.,utti", fo. ri"riir.,gl'ilrfof bread.

There are numerous stories connected with where and11ho

s-t1led_craps in America. So*u ,uy New Orleans, othersNew York, Detroit, and san 'ra.rcisco.

wherever it started,it's one of America,s most popular gambling gr_., il; "

65

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOX

WHAT IS CRAPS?

NOTICE: To a beginner, casino craps is sometimes difficult tounderstand. Those wha are interested in all the mechnnics of ihe crrpsgame should read material and batr<s specificnily designed to ieach craps.In this xgment, the authar giaes only abrief o;*i*, of the craps game.Thoslwhoknun the gamewillwant topriorn this section.

There are many versions of dice throwing. The crapsgame outlined here is typical of casino craps. Iniome circles,it's called "bank craps."

The game starts with the players placing bets on thecome, don't come, pass, or don,f pus, li.,er."ff," shooterthrows the dice and the action begins-.

The pass line. Whenbetting on the pass line and the shoot_er throws a seven or eleven on the firit roll, you win. (This iscalled a natural win.) Throwing a fout, five six, eight, .,inu, o,ten on the first roll is caled the point. pass line beL win it ona s-ubsequent roll, the shooter repeats the point numberbefore rolling a seven. If the shootei craps on the first roll (atwo, three, or twelve), pass line bets lose, but the shooter mayshoot again. As long as the shooter throws natural winnersand winning points, the shooter can keep throwing the dice.Making a point and then-tlrowing u ,",o"r, before"repeatingthe number is a loser and the shooter must pass the dice tothe next player.

- Don't pass line. This is the opposite of the pass line. If theshooter throws craps on the first roll, the don'i pass bets win.If, on the first roll, the shooter throws a seven or eleven thedo1't pass bets lose. If the shooter makes a point numberand then throws a seven before repeating the pbint, the don,tpass line wins. of course, the don't piss line loses if theshooter makes a point and then repeats the point beforethrowing a seven.

Come line. Bets on the come line are placed once the pointnumber is made. If the shooter rolls a seven or eleven, .o.rra

66

ifficult tothe craps

rch craps.

lW game.

re craps: circles,

; on theshooter

e shoot-(This isnine, orin if, onnumber;t roll (arter maywinnershe dice.:peatingdice to

e. If theets win.ven thenumberre don'ts if thebefore

re pointn/ come

CHEATING AT CRAPS

bets win. If the shooterrolls craps, the comebets lose. If the shooterrolls a number, thecome bet is placed onthe front line (see dia-gram). That bet staysthere until either thatparticular number isrolled again, which isa winne4, or a seven isrolled, which is a loser.

Don't come line.This is the opposite ofthe come line bet. Likethe come bet, thedon't come is bet aftera point number ismade. If, on the nextroll after the bet, theshooter throws craps,the don't come 6etimmediately wins. Ifthe shooter throws aseven/ the don't comebet immediately loses.If a number is rolled,the don't come bet isplaced on the backline (see diagram) andstays there until theshooter throws eithera seven or the number.If a seven comes first,the don't come bet

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67

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

wins, if the number is rolled before a seven, the don,t comebet loses.

These are just the basic and most popular bets made on acraps table. There are at least 12 more ways to place bets,including laking and laying odds, buying bets, plicing bets,hard-way bets, field bets, any craps, any seven, aces onlycraps, sixes only craps, ace-deuce craps, eleven, and horn bets.

Most casinos place limits on each individual bet. TheHorseshoe Club in downtown Las Vegas is one of the onlycasinos I know of that has a continuously standing no-limitbet on craps. If a shooter wants to bring a million dollars andplace it on one roll, he can have at it.

CHEATING

_ Hollywood's account of dice games has made many peo-ple believe cheating at dice is something it,s not. Crbokeddice will not come up on the same numbei or the number theshooter wants every time the dice are thrown. Altering dice,gaffing a table, or making illegal throws change the oids ofcertain numbers appearing. Craps is a game played on math_ematical percentages. Over an extended period, in a legiti-mate game, the odds will be correct. The seven will come upmore often, and the two and twelve will come up the least.

In legitimate games, there's only one *ay to make thetwo or twelve. There are six different ways a seven can be*ugg.Altering dice will change these odds dramatically.

Usually, altered dice will allow some numbers to ipp"u,more often than the seven. sometimes, if the dice are aiteredaccordingly, the seven will appear more often than it should.over the long run the cheater will eventually win against thelegitimate player or house, or vice versa. in extreme cases,such as bust out joints, odds are changed so drastically thatthe long run becomes a very short walk.

68

on't come

nade on a,lace bets,rcing bets,aces onlyhorn bets.bet. The

f the only3 noJimitrllars and

rany peo-Crooked

Lmber thering dice,r odds ofon math-a legiti-

come upleast.

nake then can berlly.c appeare alteredt should.ainst thele cases/ally that

HOUSE PROCEDURES CONCERNTNG CHEATS

orr"ar]Tl.il?;:;rr,"" uses the same basic. operatins proce_

ilffi #:,. # ::lli,?;T "I[Tf i fo,lffi I g m:mt *:cerning these rures. one o] these ruies .or."*rihe handring ofsuspected cheats. These rules are strictry f"il";;J.^il|ty"",fluctuating from those rules-are ,rr;liy out of a job.If there's suspicion of cheating, ,",1.," of thJ employees areto make gestures or comments aiousrng suspicions of otherplayers. If a dealer;.lorTrrl, "; ;;, ;;r, suspects a player ofcheating, each notifies the

"in.'. i.l confidentiar manner.Final decisions on how to d"r';iihi;e situation rest with thepit boss' It's his determination to cali-surveirance, security, orLolh;.rhu.

enrire episode i, tu,",Jf"Jii p.iuate. If it,s decidedcheating is taking place, the suspect.a,pf"f., J rpp-r.ir"aby casino security ind politefy u'rtuJ'to step away from thetable. Casinos have founa it #;;;ch rvorks best for tworeasons. One, anv conversation is not heard by other;i;y;r,Two, it keeps from emba.rurrirj-in" ,rrpect"d cheat anddecreases the odds of an u.g;;8";.'b..urionrur^u.Jg"_ment will wait for the cheat tJl"rr" tfr. t"Uf. ,"iin"" I"1;*him. This avoids ogll: ryip_*l"r'prrr".r. r know people

il#,;,,1:,S#;.;ry,mj ;; "k rrH In.;,, especiarry ii,d;

CHEATING AT CRAPS

THE BIGGEST CON

I call this the biggest con because it,s the only one I knowthat major casinos, i*uff houses. una irr, out joints use, butare rarely suspected of.This con uses a confederate working for the house.During periods of heavy betti";;;;.i u, weekends or hori_days, the house olayer.ii on dut!. O..urlonrUy, such as whena high roller is taking the housJfo. u Lu;o.loss, this speciar

69

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOX

player is called into action. some casinos will give the housecheat a high line of credit. This allows them Io approach ag1T. and order playing checks like a bona fide hi[h roller.This method also keeps employees who aren,t suplosed toknow from knowing.

.-Jh. house player has several duties. Occasionally, the jobwill consist of being obnoxious and irritating the targetedplayer. Irritating a player works. An irritatel ptayer"wittr1"1"y winnings will bet more and make more high_iirk b.tr.Other times, the house player will enter u gu-e and intro_duce crooked dice. If the house player is catfuht by someonenot tipped off to the con, the player will be app.oaihed in thesame manner explained in standard house procedures.

THE DICE

The primary difference between dice today and thosemade thousands of years ago is today,s dice are usually madeof plastic.Egyptians used dice made of ivory or bone.

Each die has six numbered sides, numbers represented bydots. Casino dice are usually clear red plastic ,.,d hu.r" whitedots, while board games, bar games, and some sawdust jointsgenerally use white dice with black dots. Numbers are onethrough six and placed on each die so that adding up oppo_site sides will total seven. For example, if the onJ ir'orr'top,the six will be on the bottom.

This is important. Many altered dice will have identicalnumbers on either_ side. Examining the dice and quicklyadding up both sides will determine whether the dice areIegit or fake.

_ Erlh side is perfectly square. A representative for the BudJones Company, manufacturer and iupplier of casino dice,gave me the following information.

. .Tt ryidjh, helsht, and depth of each die are exactly 3 / 4inch. Each dot is drilled to a depth of 1/50th of an inc(. The

70

CHEATING AT CRAPS

o"**proach agh roller.posed to

g, the jobtargetedrer withisk bets.rd intro-;omeone:d in thet.

d thosely made

nted by'e whitest jointsare one) opPo-on top,

lenticalluicklylice are

he Budo dice,

tlyS/4:h. The

SQUARE/RAZOR EDGE

FEATHERED EDGE

ROUND EDGE

Priaate games and board. games,such as Monopoly, use fealher_ andround-edged dice.

weight of the paint used tomake the white dot weighsthe same as the plastic driiledaway for each abt. fne edgeson casino dice are perfecilysquare/ which gives them th-ename razor dice. There areseveral other styles of dice,such as feather_edged andround-edged.

ATLEY CRAPS

In a typical alley game (Isay typical because there aremany variations) the shooterwill put up a predeterminedamount of monev. One or moreplayers will take a piece of thebet. An example would be theshooter placing S1,000 on thefloor.

_One pla-r-er might hollerolut, "I fade five hundred,,, andwill place 5500 down on thefloor. Another two playersmight fade trvo_fifty^apiece,making up ihe entire ltrousana.If the shooter wins, he wins thee-ntirg pot. If the shooter loses,the players take their share ouiof the shooter,s thousand.Meanwhile, other players arepaying each other bff-on sidebets. A typical side bet wouldbe, "l bet a hundred the shoot_er craps on the next roll. Any

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THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

takers?" Another player might take all or part of the hundred.Sometimes the bettors will give odds between each other.

Alley games lend themselves very easily to cheating. Ihaven't known many that didn't.

DOUBTE.TEAMING

Double-teaming is a popular way to get a fixed gamestarted. Sports stadiums are the most noted for this. Two con-federates will start a game in a bathroom. It never fails: some-one will come along and want to get in. Usually, in a fewminutes, there are five or six players. The two original play-ers use various methods of cheating and, before one or twoinnings of the ball game have passed, the marks are out a sig-nificant amount of cash. I've seen it happen where one guy issent to get hot dogs and beer for the whole gang. After stop-ping off at the john to relieve himself and wash his hands, hefinds himself caught up in a dice game. Broke and totallyupset with himself, he has to go back to his hungry friends.To save face he has to come up with a lame excuse like theline was too long, or he forgot to bring his wallet.

TABLE CRAPS

Other than a few rules and principles of the game, alleycraps and table craps are as different as night and day. For theswindler, alley games provide a wealth of opportunities tocheat, but table games make cheating difficult. Table layoutsmay differ from casino to casino, but the odds and types ofbets are standard. Foreign countries use similar styles but lay-outs and types of bets differ from the American game.

THE DICE

The perfect set of dice to cheat with would be one die hav-ing all ones and the other having all sixes. I know several dice

72

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CHEATING AT CRAPS

hundred.ther.reating. I

ed gamefwo con--ls: some-in a fewnal play-e or tworut a sig-re guy ister stop-ands, heI totallyfriends.like the

re, ailey. For therities tolayoutsivpes ofbut lay-

lie hav-ral dice

players who have dreams.of rolling dice rike that, but to actuar-ly cheat with sometru"g trrrt-ob;|rr *orta be a bit excessive.Craps is one of the faltest_rnovi"g gu_Ufing games around.The speed of the game is what ujtS*, cheats to easily usealtered dice. A Dro can enter altered dice f";;;;;n"ir]rrrcthem out, and ihrow the legiti;"i" Jl.. agairy then repeat theprocess several more times without anyone noticing.

Alrered dice that nr"""J;;t1i.." ai*urent numbers arecalled "busters.,, The three ,ir.rltu., are duplicated andplaced on opposite sides of each otn"r. One popular set ofnumbers is two, three, and six. pori-firr", six, eight, nine, andtwelve are the only numb".s ttui cun u" .o,,"8-rrirf in"r"dice' The important thing ir irrut it s rmpossible to rolr aseven. Another nopularuEt of numbers for busters is one,three, and five. r*o, f:y ,*;igil, and ten are the ontyffiilTT#:::ilX." roued with thJse'dice. eg"l", it,, *0",_

Pros will usually.wait until a point is made before intro_ducing busters into the game, tn"l tt,ey play the busters forseveral passes and switlh the legitimate dice back into thegame/ letting the game take its.o"".r.. During;;;;;"*& ,pro can enter and take out busters several tfmes, whicfr ismore than enough to make a decent profit. Another scenariotor pros is to bet small while oit..'pfuu.r, ur.-rf.,o"*r.When it's their turn at the dice, a comment such as, ,,I onlyjfllTy",:hen r throw rhe dice,,, wiliue f"f;;;J;y, ,"u

L oa d ed ai." u.itof,"d*,,fi:J :l3t? ",,

dice arterations,being referred to in countless movies and sayings. Loads arethe prime example of,beating oJj, o"., the long run. I,vetalked to people and listenei ," ",n..s who are under the

73

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THE PROFESSIONAT GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

impression that loaded dice will land and come up on thesame numbers every throw. Not so. The idea behind loadeddice is to increase the odds of certain numbers appearingmore often during the game. Loading the number four onboth dice is popular. By doing this, the three will appear moreoften and the chances of hitting the six are excellent. Bettingthe six on the front line and hard way are now profitable bets.A good way to tell if the shooter is using loads is by watchinghis bets. Waiting until it's his turn to shoot to place heavy betson the six and six the hard way is a good indication.

Space-Age TechUntil recently, transparent dice in casinos were impossible

to load without being easily detected. Before space-age technol-ogy, loading dice was reserved for white or bone-colored dice.The arrival of space-age technology has changed that. Recently,a scientist took an element named Rutherfordium and mixed itwith white paint, then used the mixture to paint white dots ondice. The element Rutherfordium, which is much heavier thanlead, worked much better than the old lead method. This exper-iment has opened the door for cheats to load transparent casinodice and it's almost impossible to detect.

Lead and SteelFor those who aren't scientists, the old method still works

well for nontransparent dice. These dice are used primarily inprivate games. To make loaded dice the old-fashioned way,drill holes approximately 1/4 of an inch deep through all thedots on the side of the die to be loaded. Fill the holes, almostto ihe top, with No. g lead from a shotgun shell. To keep thelead in place, drop one drop of epoxy glue in each hole andlet the dice sit overnight.

Once the glue has dried, repaint the holes by droppingone drop of paint at a time in each hole. Dropping smalldrops at a time will allow each drop to settle into the concave

74

CHEATING AT CRAPS

p on theI loadedrpearingfour on

lar more. Bettingrble bets.vatching'avy bets

rpossibletechnol-red dice.Recently,mixed it'dots onier thanis exper-rt casino

il worksrarily ined way,h all the, almostreep therole and

roppingg smallCONC VE

appearance all the other dots have. Some holes may needmore paint after the first application has dried.

If the dice being loaded have dots that are smooth andlevel with the die surface, ret the paint dry rock hard. Use thefine side of an emery board to smooih out any bulges.Ruabing a soft cloth over the sanded area wilr bring uait ashine to the entire die.

- Tl: best paint to use is the glossy model airplane paintfound in hardware stores and hobby rhopr.

Face YYork

-- SllIi"g part of the face (on one or more sides of a die) is

called "face work., F3:" work keeps the dice from stoppingon a particular side. The number i cheat wants to show upmore often will be the face that's shaved. For instance, if thefaces of the number four and five were slightly shaved, thedice would keep rolling past the four and five. This meansthe four and five have a better chance of ending rrp o., top.

shaving the faces off dice is not easy if the"reiult is io beprofessional looking..The-most popular method is to wrapthe die in paper, leaving the side to be shaved exposed, andplacing it in a vise. The tool of choice is a belt sinder withv.e{f.fi1e sandpaper. Sand off the face at a slight angle using asteady hand.

Edge WorkThis is the same principle as face work, except the edges of

the dice are sanded down instead of the face. Unress thepiayerscan't see well or are too drunk to care, this is a poor p.u.U.".

Magnetic LoadsIf there was an award for the greatest dice_cheating

method in the world, this would win Erst place. I,ve seen thiswork and I was in total amazement the entire time.

Years ago, this method of cheating used dice loaded with

75

THE PROFESSlONAI. GAMBLER'S HANDBOOX

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The diagram shouts the slight angle the dice shourd be shat:ed. once the face issanded, some of the dots will be completely remoaed and others partially remozted.To repair the missing and partiaily remoied dots, reaoe the die in the oise. use adrill with a high-speed steel 9/64-inch bit and make new hores for the paint.

Paint.the new holes using the same color as the original paint. The ideal paint ismodel airplane paint.

steel. The table would be fitted with electromagnets at eachend. As the dice passed over the magnet, the bolman woulduse the necessary juice by lowering oi raising a lever in orderto stop the dice on the number the dice were designed fo1, theusual number being seven.

Today, this cheat has been upgraded with the introduc_tion of Rutherfordium, which can be hard to find. Using paintmixed with this element, you only have to paint the dlis onone side of the dice. The grip that can be piaced on the diceusing this paint mixture is incredible. To diiplay the poweq, adealer threw the dice full length of the table. The dice were atleast five inches off the table when the power was turned up

76

CHEATING AT CRAPS

e Jace is

ly remoaeil.'ise. Use anint.

al paint is

s at eachm would'in orderd fof, the

ntroduc-ing paintrdots onthe dice

poweI, aI were atrned up

full force' The dice were sucked flat against the felt. In anoth-er demonstration the dice were allowed to land u.,a riop o,their own. The numbers were a firre, a two, and a three. Themagnet was turned on and the dice frippei orre, to a-si* ar-,aone. It was an amazing sight.

An Amusing!StoryAn associate of mine who is noted as one of the best crapsdealers around, told me of a time he was working u pri*.rt. gu*".The house was using magnetic roads. The handr-e, io. i.r.."'rrirrgthe magnets' power were to the left and right of the boxman.The star of this story, the shootel was a high roller anddidn't mind letting everyone know his importance. Drapedoff his left arm *ui a knock-out of a woman and the shooterwas making every effort to impress her.The shooter, who was standing to the far left of the dealeq,had just thrown the dice. a "",iU", came up and players

Yj|e^ T8,:ning.to place their back and front line bets. Theoearer to the right was having difficulty arrangin! "-u"t. rohelp speed- things up, the boiman ,tooa up and leaned outover the table to help. As he did this his suit pocket caughtthe left magnet handle and pulled ii stralght up, straight up

|,"t"g full power. The moment tnl, *u, happening, Mr.Shooter was bending over to ptace u field bet, which wasunfortunate. How my friend'explained it to'me *ur,, ,,Ithought it was a giant iat, and- it jtrinped off this g"y, h.;a."In reality it was i toupee, and it'shoi off the shooter,s headand stuck right to the felt. Apparently the shooter ;", ;;;rgsome kind of metal clips to keep his wig fastened to his rearhair. Fortunately for thi boxmari n"1u*"*f,at hal t rpp"""Oand turned off the juice before the shooter reached for thewig. Everyone, including the shooter,s girlfriend, furgh"a rohard that the game stopped for a good five minutes. Theshooter picked up his wig, a.inl9 ar,d"mo.,ey and left.

77

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BevelsBevels are dice sanded so that one or more sides are

slightly rounder than the flat sides. Bevels will usually landon the flat edge.

IMPORThNT: When sanding dice, alzoays use fine sandpa_peL use soft strokes, and don't sand off too much at once. An a'utobuffing compound and soft, clean rag (old T-shirt) will buff outsmall scratches.

FlatsDice shaved or sanded on opposite sides are called flats.

These dice will land on numbers that have the opposite sidesshaved more often than sides that are not altered.

- Throwing flats can be compared to throwing a red fire_place brick. It almost always lands on one of the ldng sides.

The Six-AceA common style of flat is called the six-ace. These dice

have been sanded on the one and six. The odds are greaterthat a six or ace will come up. This method produceJ moresevens/ which would be more of a house cheat than a playercheat.

THE PROFESSIONAT GAMBTER'S HANDBOOK

Hat FieldA popular cheat for the player is called a,,flat field,,, flat

because of the shaved or sanded sides, field because the sidesthat are shaved favor field numbers being rolled more thansevens. To properly shave dice to favor certain numbers, eachdie must have different sides shaved. An example would beone die having the one and six shaved and the other die hav-ing the three and four shaved. This will favor numbers four,nine, and ten being rolled, all field numbers.

MissesDice altered to roll odd numbers only are called ,,misses.,,

78

CHEATING AT CRAPS

sides arerally land

e sandpa-'. An autoI buff out

led flats.;ite sides

red fire-sides.

ese dicegreater

es moret player

ld," flat i

te sides I

re than t',

:s, eachruld beie hav-rs fout

BEVELED EDGES These are usually used

*---- -'---.- by the house and placed----_\ into play if the shooter

rolls an even-numberedpoint. The altered diceare_ on the same principleas busters, the differencebeing each die has a dif-ferent set of three num-bers. One die will haveduplicate ones, threes,and fives, while the otherdie will have duplicatetwos, fours, and sixes.

This makes it impossi-ble for the shooter to rollan even number and means a seven will come Uefo.e it eshooter can make the point, and so loses.

THROWING DICE

some craps cheaters depend on their ab,ity to contror thedice and don't alter dice ai all. rt ose**r,"o il; piri# ,".some time will agree that attempting to cheat at aiie i"itt ortaltering the dice or.table i, u*t'.e*Ety aifficutt. f ,gr"";lrtthere are some excellent shooter, *t o'.r., make dice dance totheir music.Dice thrown legitimately will go through the air in a bar_rel roll motion. Tlis type ,"otio.'uriows the dice to hit thebackboard and land on the trur" .u"atLty. ro nurtiry tt

" ,r"-dom roll and create odds in ttre shooiers favoq, there are sev-eral methods professionals will use.

There are things o"ri1:*:tilrtkens that cackre. Craps

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THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOX

cheats cackle dice. Every controlled shot a cheat uses startswith cackling the dice. cackling is the shaking of dice togeth-er in a closed hand that is just open enough to make the-dicestrike each other but not change positions.

The Muff ShotThis is the cheat's nightmare. Nothing causes cord sweats

and bad dreams more than the muff shot. rhis shot has costsome cheats a trip to the hospital or at best a few lumps onthe head. As the shooter thro*s the dice, three or four dice flyacross the table instead of two. What,s happened is, thLshooter lost sight of what he was doing and nbt only threwthe legitimate dice, but the gaffed dice as well. There,s nodoubt this will bring suspicious rooks from other players.Most of the time there will be a break in the game to inipectthe dice and have a " talk" with the shooter.

Pillow ThrowA controlled throw that goes softly into the air and lands

directly in the crack between the table fert and backboard is apillow throw. This throw has to be practiced for hours on adaily basis. The object of throwing dice like this is to give theshooter better control over which numbers come ,pl Whu,the dice land exactly right, they pop out and land just as theyhit. Because this shot is so diffiiuli to execute properly on aregular basis, it's rarely used.

Whip ShotThe whip shot is reserved for tables that have a back_

board with a flat section near the felt, or back room gamesusing a flat backboard or wall. without a section of flat back-board, this shot and many others are nullified by the protrud-ing rubber diamonds found on casino tables.

There are several interpretations of the whip shot, but theone most used is this. The shooter will line the dice side by

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CHEATING AT CRAPS

ISCS StArtSce togeth-e the dice

,ld sweatst has costlumps onrr dice flyld is, therly threwhere's noplayers.

o inspect

nd lands,oard is a

'urs on agive the

p. When,t as theyrrly on a

a back-n gameslat back-protrud-

, but theside by

side with the number the shooter wants to come up on top.Picking the dice up by the sides and rapidly throwing themwith a whipping motion nullifies the barrei roll moti"on. Tomake this action work the dice have to hit the lower-flat por-tion of the backbo-ard. Back room games using a wail ftr abackboard are perfect for the whip lhot. The dice hit flat andbounce back to the tabre. This increases the chances of thedice coming up on the number the shooier wants.

Skid (Slide) Shotskid shots are reserved for back room games only because

casinos would allow the shooter to thrJw a skid'shot justonce..Throwing a skid shot at a casino table will get a p6fte-warning from the boxman. If the shooter does it u[ui.,, ii willbe the shooter's last throw for the evening. The skif, is simpte.lnlgngofer places the dice in one hand, c"upping or" ai.iitnthe little finger and allowing the other die to iestlbove it.

A sidearm throwing motion with the hand allows the die,{tppea by the small finge4 to skid across the surface neverchanging the position of the number. The other die topplesthrough the air as it is supposed to.

The Pinch. Ki]ling the roll of one die is the object behind the pinch

shot. Place the dice on top of each othei. The desired ,,r*b".will be 9n tlp of the bottom die. When ready to roll, theshooter holds the dice, one on top of the other, and tossesfhel in the air together, as in a pitto* shot. When the diceland,- the top die will pinch the bottom die to the table, forc_ing the bottom die to stay. The top die rvill continue to roil.shooters usually use this shot to ivoid the seven. when theone is placed as the number to hit, it decreases the chancesfor a seven considerably. The only number on the other die tomake a seven is the six. This is ashot that's arso reserved forprivate games.

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THE PROFESS]ONAT GAMBTER'S HANDBOOK

Blanket Rott,nt:l:.O.obably the easiest cheat to perform in a craps

game. Military personnel, college students, and sometimesprison inmates use their beds to play dice. To throw continu_ous numbers and rarely throw aieven, pick the dice up sideby side with the ones touching ones orii*es touching sixes,and toss them outward. The dice roll forward on the Ihnketan-d appear to be rolling legitimately. Blankets kill the barrerroll effect and the dice uJualty rott exactry as they werethrown. Sevens are rarely rolled using this meihod.

Tb perform the skid shot, the shooter praces the clice in one hand, cupping one diewith the little t'inger and allousing the other die to rest aboue it.

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CHEATING AT CRAPS

r a crapsmetimescontinu-:up side.rg sixes/blanket

te barrel3y were

TWO CONFEDERATES

A good method for attacking a house is two players,wolkinq together. one confederatJ wir enter the house andbegin play. A few moments rater the other r"ili;oi"1, tn"same game. Designated beforehand, one wi, c'onirot tr,"altered dice and bet conservatively. ihe other w,r do the seri-ous gambling' There are two main objectives to ttris pru.,-. o.,"is to. take suspicion off the shooter ind the other is to havemost of the attention focused on the heavy Uuitir.,"s. ft,,human nature to. watch uig play. rni, uilo#rin"li""or.,ample opportunities to switltr diie, conkol shots, and makevarious other moves to protect the partner.

TRIAT RUN

..,It's as- simple as it sounds. Clever cheats enter a gamewith caution. One move that keeps many cheats out of trou_ble is the trial run. The cheat will'rut. tn. use of artered diceand make unusual moves and hanJ controt gestures. A, thisaction is to see if anyone is paying attention. If the cheat isstopped and questioned abolt ihe"suspicious activity. ntth-ing happens because everything is legrt. This tells the cheatthere is little chance of puliing o'ff u"yihi"g i" thi;g;r"" ""ahe will leave after a fe# rous] If no 'one is paying attention,it's a good bet the game is ripe for cheating.

TABLES

.C,a9ino_1nd high-limit private games are usually playedon tables. These tables .o..,. in ,rarious shapes ,rra Jirlr, rU.,t

the standard table is approximul"tylz ru.i tonj u.,J +'i."t::1";,I:ii._"en players can stand comfortably ,i, irUf" if,i,sLZe. L ve seen as many as 20 players gathered around a casi_no table when the dice are hot. In c"ases like this, it,s not

one die

83

i

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOT(

unusual for players to get hot at each other as the actionincreases. On occasion, a little pushing and shoving happens.

Layouts differ from one house to another, but the stan-dard appearance and number sequence are usually identical(see craps table diagram).

Anywhere GamesIn the back room, bathroom, alley, barroom, home, and

work, and many other places, use of a standard table isnonexistent. Avid craps shooters will use anything possiblejust to get a game going. The most popular area is a wall andfloor. Any wall connected to any floor. Such games are wherecheats excel and the most flagrant cheating I've ever seenhappens in alley and back room games. Games of this natureare sometimes dangerous for the novice or not-so-street-smart player. It's unfortunate, but I've seen knifings andshootings during games of this type.

A Short StoryCames are sometimes played in the strangest places. I've

seen garnes played in the sand on Venice Beach, California,and on a fire escape Ianding in a hotel in Daytona Beach,Florida. The strangest game I've ever seen, though, was inthe bathroom of a bar in Mineral Wells, Texas. A group oflocal Texans were trying to fleece a few of the helicoptertrainees from Fort Wolters. The bathroom wasn't in the bar,but in a building out back. A local man laid a piece of ply-wood on the floor. It had been cut so it would slide intotheurinal and cover the drain. The dice were thrown against theinside portion of the urinal and would end up landing onthe plywood. As time went on, most of the players becamedrunk. Shooters were throwing the dice in all different man-ners. A favoriie became throwing the dice hard into one lipof the urinal and counting the number of times the dicewould ricochet before failing to the plywood. The dice had

84

CHEATING AT CRAPS

he actionhappens.the stan-

'identical

ome, andI table isI possibleL rvall andare where3ver seenris natureso-street-ings and

iaces. I've.alifornia,ra Beach,h, was ingroup of.elicoptern the bar,:e of ply-e into the

Sainst thending ons became:ent man-o one lipthe dicedice had

become chipped and the edges knocked off from bangingaround the porcelain urinal.

The money being bet wasn't small change for a bar game.At one point there was approximately $5,000 going eithu.way. On what turned out to be the last shot of the &ening,the shooter wound up and threw the dice as hard as he could.The dice bounced once and one die shot straight downthrough a crack between the plywood and the back of the uri-nal. When the plywood was pulled back, the die was gone,apparently down the drain. This being the only pair oi dicewilhin 100 miles, an argument folliwed. TLe argumentended in a blow-out fight. The aftermath included three play-ers going to the hospital, two going to jail, and the almostcomplete destruction of the outhouse.

More on Magnetized TablesMagnetized tables are used together with loaded dice.

Some houses use elaborate methods. Others use shoddy,run-down tables and could care less, as long as it works. Foryears a major Las Vegas casino used the most elaboratemethod I've been told about, not in the regular casino sec-tion, but,upstairs in a private room. These areas of gambiingare rarely seen by gaming officials and sometimes theCaming Commission doesn't know thev exist. In this case,electromagnets were placed along the backboards at boihends, with one in the center. These series of magnets werecontrolled by the boxman, with controls recessed into theunderiying edge of the table.

- According to my source, one who helped design the table,

olly a handful of people, including uppei.rlu.,ag"*ent, knewabout the magnets. None of the deaiers and only two of theb-oxmen were privy to this knowledge. Everyone else on thefloor level was completely unaware. Dice ior these gameswere altered at a manufacturing plant and would be deliveredto the casino in person. My source, who also worked the table

85

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBTER'S HANDBOOK

as a boxman, told me stories of high rollers being fleeced outof millions. The favorites of this casino were former oil barons,who had millions before the price of oil dropped.

There's always some skepticism when stories like this aretold, but I've seen some of these fleecing jobs take place.There are many high rollers who play in the regular iasinoareas. These players usually want two things: playing at atable that's sure to be on the level, and playing to a crowd.There are many high rollers who get a high on knowing theiraction is attracting lots of spectators. A majority of big shoot-ers like privacy and like to shoot with players on theirincome level. For this reason casinos have VIP areas, out-of-the-way action that makes the high roller easy to fleece.

In houses that have few professional resources to drawfrom, the tables set up for cheating have much to be desired.I've seen some with wires hanging underneath the table andothers that sag where the weight of the magnet has warpedthe plywood. In one case the magnet gave off a slight humwhen it was in use. It's hard to believe, but there are lots ofgamblers who get so wrapped up in the game that a bombcould go off and wouldn't phase them, so a little hum fromthe table is nothing.

Another Short StoryIt was late on a weekend night, and this particular strip

casino was packed with one game in particular running hot. Iwas playing at a table with light action. Another player and Iwere discussing the big action when we noticed a player atthe big game drop to the floor. He just laid there. From ourangle we could see the dealer point in the direction of thedowned player as he was talking to the boxman. The pit bosswas summoned and he looked in the direction of the downedplayer, then he went to the phone and appeared to call forhelp. All this time, players were hollering and yelling, and noone was paying attention to the downed player. Security offi-

86

CHEATING AT CRAPS

eeced outril barons,

:e this areke place.ar casinoving at aa crowd.ring theirrig shoot-on theirs, out-of-ce.to draw

r desired.:able and; warpedght humre lots of:a bombum from

rlar stripmg hot. I/er and Irlayer atrom our,n of thepit bossdownedr call for; and nority offi-

cers finally arrived and examined the player. After a brief dis-cussion, the security guards moved the slricken player underthe craps table so-that the game could .o.rd.rr".'W'fr"" pu.r_medics arrived, prayers to either side of the downeJ-piuy".moved.just enough for the medics to pull the playei frbmunder the table. Resuscitation began in ihe aiste iigrit behindthe players. Not once did the ga;e slow down. errJry once ina while a player would turn and look down, bui the bigaction continued. After the man was taken away o., u ,t .t.h-e{, there was pushing an9 shoving between a cbuple of play_ers jockeying for the newly created place at the table.

rhe absen.u or 3#iHit-IHff1",,,.u".s gives a dis-tinct advantage to the house. especially whenlt,, , setupgame with wealthy marks. I don,t kntw the psychologybehind such action, but it never fails. When *"ifti_,y _urt,gather at a craps game, they seem obliged to bet in" fi"taand hard ways. Not just wlih little bets, but with monsterbets as though they want to get even for a lifetime of losseson one roll.

The usual numbers for betting the field are two, three,five, nine, ten, elevery and twelve. ih"r" numbers are printedon the layout, usually in a boxed in section.

- A person would think seven numbers out of twelveshould b-e Sasy to hit. Not really. Now take two numbersaway and the odds become even more difficult. Five and nine11,th".^9st-popular numbers to omit. On major casinotables the field numbers two and twerve will pJy ao"H".This is definitely not true in bust out games.

Padded TabtesPadding the tables is not a common type of table gaff. In

small houses or setup games, tables wili irave one eid andbackboard padded di-fferently than the rest of the table. The

87

n,

I

THE PROFESSIONAT GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

only purpose this method serves is for a house player whothrows controlled shots.

OTHER DICE GAMES

There are several other dice games that are populaq, includ-ing dice cups, cages, boxes, and various styles of dice. Theseand other games of chance are covered in different chapters.

88

CHAPTER 5

,'er who

includ-:. These)ters.

CARNIVAL GATUES

Have you ever been to a carnival and wished just oncethat you were the one walking u.or.a with an armload oftop prizes? Or, are.you fairly"goJ ut winning prizes andwant to know how to cut your"costs? If yo.,. ufiri"..i, y"r,read on. you,re going to learn *nl.n games to plav and

X#:m:s to sLv awav rrom, ,"J i,3;';; t,"t5'tli" uis

There are more than 50 games regularly played at vari_ous carnivals. This chapteitouches on some of the morepopular games.

IMPORTANT

Cheating by carnies has been reduced over the years, pri_marily due to law enforcement ,rrJ-uru..ness of the generalpublic. This doesn,t mean cfreatinjis nonexistent, only doneless frequently.

HANKY PANI(S

Hanky panks is a name given to carnival games that givegri-zes to every player, each iim-e tf," piuy", attempts to win amain prize. The prizes are usually worthless.

89

I

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

TRADE.UPS

- Tiade-up games are usually the most expensive games toplay in the long run. These are the games t-hat use t"h. py.u_mid method of winning a top prize. This method is poplhramong carnies because the first few prizes are usually worthpennies and keep the lucky player interested enough to con_tinue. playing. A typical trade-up game will requiri a playerto win three small prizes, which can be redeemed for onemedium prize. To win the large prize, the player must winand then trade in two medium prizes, which- mearrs the play_er must win six small prizes to win a large. Some games harea grand prize that requires a player to have two large prizesto. trade for the grand prize. This would require a player towin at least 12 small prizes to get the grand prize. Rireiy willthe grand prize be worth more than the cost of tZ .hu.r."r.

GROUP GAMES

These are the games played against other players.Examples are the water gun game, raie horse gu*"j and pinball game. These are also fun for children and p-arents, justiorthe sake of competition. At best, winning a mijor prize is dif-frcult and expensive. These are also ga*es ttrit aie easy andfavorites of carnies to gaff.

GAMES OF CHANCE

These are the toughest and most often gaffed games onthe midway. The string pull, duck pond, rizzle dizzle, andthe mouse game are all examples oi games of chance. It is afluke, and I'm not exaggerating when I say this, for a playerto win- at these games. The only people I have personaliy wit-nessed winning at one of these games is a coniederate. ir youhave ever won at one, consider yourself extremely lucky.

90

CARNIVAT GAMES

GAMES OF SKILTl games tothe pyra-

is popularrlly worthgh to con-: a playerd for onemust winthe play-

mes have:ge prizesplayer toarely willances.

players., and pins, just forze is dif-easy and

ames on:zle, ande. Itisaa playerally wit-e. If youky

These are the gr*-:: that bring the big prizes: the stuffedanimals and iewerry.. winning coisistentry at games of skilrtakes practice. Knowing how"to ptry U.foruhand can cut theodds down considera!"ff. U.1"r1ly,'prr.ti.u and knowledgewill produce a major win on the first'or second try.Don't be conlused with gu_". of skill ,.ia guro", of"looks like skill.,, goog .rur"pf,i oigu*u, that look as if skillis involved are basketball sei rp the'bottle, dart throwg ringa prize, and swing ball. These games are made to look likegames of skill but aren't even clo"se. racn uses ta*r.ffi"i,y,laws of physics, and other,""itlA, t *urc the game almostimpossible to win without h"rp;; the carnies. I put thebasketball game in this .rt"goi, iLrr" the carnies add somany variables to-the game-imaller hoops, diff-inisireballs, balls with differ*ilreiqni, hi;h"r"or tower hoops, benthoops, and distance to.the ioop.Tn";;;;il;;Iilirrrrabout these games, only luck.

- -r' ^

GOVER THE SPOT

, lhis is the game to_ ptay if you want to win on the firsttry almost every time. Iis tt. o"ty game I know of that w,lproduce a win each.time it's ptay'edllr r *u.rt to iiir'rr[) a"r,with stuffed anim,als, o;, *1it.tf -impress

a particular per_

il?.:ntr is where I go. The trick is in'knowing exactly what

NOTICE; If, after rya(iy7 and practicing the method outlinedand diagram*ia, iou yna it'iiLprrlriiir"'i" win, it,s most probablethe ga.me ilVffed. D1n_ot contin'u, ptoyirg at this particular game.The object of this game is to ctvir a spot painted on aboard with five circular discs. These boirds ur" .rrrrttyremovable. where carnies are crooked, the board, *1,r,ilrg*spots can be easily exchanged for the ones with legitimate

91

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOX

I

NOTE: DRAWING NOT TOSCALE. FOR DEMONSTRATIONPURPOSES ONLY.

IMAGINARY ONE THIRDLINE OF DISC 1

IMAGINARY CENTER LINE

IMAGINARY CENTERLINE OF DISC 1

ln your mind, diuide the first disc into two diJt'erent parts, center and one-third,then mentally diride the second disc in harf. fhis is where the next disc must fall.

NOTE: DRAWING ir

Nor ro scALE. CDEMONSTRATIC."

PURPOSES ONT.

IMAGINARYCENTER LINEOF DISC 2

The rest of the discs will fatt in the same manner as disc two. Being as exact aspossible each time zuill allow a margin of error zohen placing the lit disc. rtsounds harder than it is. After the first few tries, it becomei rather easy.

92i

\ DISK 2

INTERSECT-

ING SPOT OFBOTH DISCS

z|'-

CARNIVAL GAMES

ENTER LINE

I one-third,bc must fall.

IARY CENTEROF DISC 1

s exact as

lisc. ltsu.

NOTE: DRAWINGNOT TO SCALE. =MDEMONSTRATIO"PURPOSES ONL\

NOTE: DOLLS TO THE BACK WILL BE THE ONLYDOLLS THAT WILL FALL OFF AND BE COUNTED.

THROWING AREA

Dolls p.laced tozoard the front are almost impossibre to knock completely ot'f. Theones placed toward the back will automatically t'ail an the way off whei iiockedoaer,

spots. This is rare, but if it happens you will know on the firsttry. Games that are consistently legit will have dots paintedon the permanently stationed "rail,, separating the operatorfrom the player.

The secret of this game is placing the fust disc. placementis-im_portant. By not placing it correctly, the player cannotwin. If placed correctly, it's almost impossible to toie.

The first disc must be placed exactly half in and half out.By pretending to cut the disc in half, place the disc over thedot where the halfway points touch the edge of the dot.

I(NOCK DOWN DOLL GAME

Some games use catlike figures, some use dolls, but theobject is stiil the same-knock down three figures and win aprize. Most games rule the doll has to fall completely off therack. There are several methods to use to increise your oddsof winning.

Look at the placement of each doll. It,s sometimes diffi-

AERIAL VIEW OF RACK

93

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

Hit the doll right where the,bottom of the chin wourd be. This is just abore thecenter of graaity for the dolt.

i

t 94

CARNIVAT GAMES

SWEET

SPOT

cult to see, but looking hard enough will tell you which dollsare placed forward and which are srightly to ihe back of therack._Dolls placed toward the front aie aimost impossible toknock completely off. The ones placed toward the back willautomatically fall all the way off when knocked over.

The second advantage is to hit the doll right where thebottom of the chin would be. This is just above the center ofgravity for the doll.

Lastly, accuracy is the key. A medium throw will knock thedoll down every time it's hit above the belry. A hard throwreduces the accuracy and has no advantage. Occasionally, ahard throw will either spin the doll or knock it flat.

Throwing a ball takes some skill and a win isn,t guaran_teed every time, but knowing what to throw at will i-r.."rr"your odds of winning.

MIIK BOTTLE THROW

This game uses skill, luck, and honesty from the operator.It's simple: hit directly in the center of the three botties and

i).\

i

:r\

JS

-\-1I)f

THROWING AREA

tD c)POSSIBLE

O,'e the

IMPOSSIBLE

AERIAL VIEW OF BOTTLE PLACEMENT

95

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOX

they all go over. If the operator places one of the lower bottlesslightly ahead of the other, it's almost impossible to knock'em all down. Look at the bottles before throwing. If theyaren't evenly placed on the bottom, ask the operator tostraighten them out. This increases your chanceJ consider-ably, but you still have to hit the bottles.

OTHER TIP OVER GAMES

There are many games that require tipping over objects towin. In almost all cases, skill and practice are the only thingsneeded to wiry if the game is legit. Many games can be set upin your own back yard where practicing is free.

Careful observation of doll and bottle placement is essen-tial. If any of the objects are placed out of [ne, the game can,tbe won and there's no sense in playing if the ope.ator won,tstraighten them out.

SHOOTING GATLERIES

There's a reason many shooting galleries offer expensiveprizes to winners: it's almost impossible to win. Gaffs such asbending the barrel, tweaking the sights, using graphite bul-lets instead of lead, oversized stars, small powder l,oads, andmany more tricks, make this game worthless to play. If youdon't like money, play this game.

96

CHAPTER 6

er bottlesto knock3. If theyerator to:onsider-

:bjects toly thingsbe set up

is essen-.me can'tor won't

(Pensrve; such ashite bul-ads, andv. If you

STREET CONS AND OTHERGHEATING TYIETHODS

Con games come in many shapes and forms. Some arebig, elaborate, and time_consuminj. Otn.., uru lr,"*puririrr.and quick. Although the big .o,i"up large profitJ i., ,t.end, there are shori cons thaf produce iubsiintiar prtnir. lr,today's world, con artists have become so sophisticated andsharp, many marks are unawar" tt "y,rr"

been taken longafter the con is over.

ANSWERING SERVICES

One of the most important tools offered a con man todayis the use of an answering service. To apply for a service iseasy. Many answering seivices will accept a money orderpayment through the mail. In most cases tirere,s no c,ontract,so personal contact by the con and the answering service isavoided. If an answering service demands pry.rr".,"t;;;;;."or a contract, the con can call another. Theie ire plenty.i" in.yellow pages.

THE PIGEON DROP

This is one of the oldest ploys around. It doesn,t take muchtime or effort to oull ,-fi !", ihe pigeon drop can U" *tt ",lucrative. Police .eco.ds show rrLir.f, as several hundredthousand dollars has changed hands i" Lr," pigeon drop con.

97

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER,S HANDBOOX

There are numerous variations and ploys used for apigeon drop, but the foilowing is my favorite ana uses wtrat rcall the peek in the poke meth"od.

-,-.1J^rq::l.g1l requires the use of at least two inside peo_ple: the scout/worker and the con man. The scout acts as alookout for potential. marks. It,s easy to spot a pigeon. He,sthe person meandering around, acting ui if tf,".J isn,t anydirection-or special prripos" to his destination, or as thoughhe has a..lot of spare time on his hands. people *t" ,.ir"awalk with an air of purpose should be left ,fi".. ff,"r" Vpesof people are fairly sure of themselves and are difficult to con.Lrnce a mark is spotted by the scout, the con man will be sig_naled and the con is on.

The con man will approach the mark and say somethinglike, "Did you see whai I found rijnt in front of us?,, It,simportant to use the term "us." This inakes the mark feel likehe is part of the ,,frnd..,, The con man gives the mark a fuickpeek at the wallet (a peek in the pofe), which .o.,iui'.,, u$1,000 bill in front and a $1,000 Uifi in back. In between arebrand new $1 bills. The con man states there,s ut f"rri gib,OOO

or $30,000 in the wallet. Further inspection proves there Ln,tany identification. The con *u., u.t, as though he is honestand wants to return the money, but is willingio ,pfii1t" i"ashould they not be abre to find the rightful"owner. ir," .o.,man then takes the mark for a walk o"-Ine pretense or nrai.,gan attorney. "I see someone there who looks like an uit**y fmet in court once,,, is a typical comment the con will make ashe points to someone o^ th" street. The attorney turns out tobe none other than the scout. The attorney takes a look at thewallet and seems to count the money. To everyon.{r"ipiir",the,attorney says there,s at least $1O,OOO in the wallet andconfirms there is no identification. He now says he can han_dle the matter and assure-s both parties there shourdn,t b";"yproblem for them to split the profits in about m aays. fomake sure everything ii handled right, everyone will need to

98

STREET CONS AND OTHER CHEATING METHODS

lforawhat I

le peo-:ts as ar. He'sr't anyhough.ct and: typesto con.be sig-

ething?" rt'sel likequickains aln are20,000

e isn'troneste find.e conndingarey Irke asrut toat theprise,t andhan-

e anys. Toed to

go to his office and sign the.necessary papers. Along the way,the con suggests to the mark that he tuy his intere# The consays, in effect, he doesn,t want to wait i0 days for the mtneyand offers to sell his share for 95,000. That wiil leave the markthinking he will be gerting the whole $40,000 fri , gi,OOOinvestment. One con man I interviewed said he gets morethan 80 percent of his marks to pay off.

pon't lurgtt this con takes-piace often and con men aregetting rich pulling it off.

THREE€ARD MONTE

- This_ was my first big lesson at being taken by con artists.I was 19 and in theirmy stationed at Fort Devens,Massachusetts. Previors ,rr.r-"rs working in carnivals a.,awatching carnies fleece people didn,t teach me as much as Ithought. I was with tw-o uir.,y buddies on my firsi t.ip toNew York C_ity. We had just airived by train and decided towalk around. A few blocks from the slation we saw u grorpof people gathered around a man standing at a small foja_rpcard table (today,s mobs use cardboard i'oxes). o".ia1r[ toinvestigate, we watched as he manipulated the cards. ,,Fi.kthe queen," he said. A man threw a $5 biil on the table andpointed to a card. "Sorry, wrong card.,,,said the dealer as heturned the card over. I watched intently as he did it again andagain. Almost every time, I picked the right card in riy n"aa.My buddies and I were getiing eager to get in the game. TornuIu, a long story longer, we-got"our wIsh. Orr.

""uge..r"rsended up getting us broke, two-blocks from the train"station,1"9-r,ot-1 pjnny to our names. It was the end of my fi.rt i.ipto New York.

The deale4 known as a tosser, manipulates three playingcards, then stops to ask, ,,Who wanti to pick the'laiy?;Anyone in view can throw-money on the table ana attempi topick the queen. Today, the bet is usually between $ZO and$SO.

99

THE PROFESSIONAT GAMBLER'S HANDBOOI(

The object of three-card monte is to pick the queen. The other two cards can be anydenomination. The following diagram shows what the cards look rike. Notice eachcard is bent long ways. This is done Jor easy handling by the tosser.

If no one steps up to pick a card, a shill steps iry makes thebet, and usually picks the queen. This move entices others totake a chance. Another m"ihod to entice marks to lay io*r,money is to offer twice the bet for picking the queen.

- Years ago, the grTg was played on-small, cheap, break_down tables. These tabres .ortd

-be broken down u.rd tru.rr-

ported to another location in a matter of seconds shouldtrouble arise. Today, the mobs use cardboard boxes, whichcan simply be abandoned right on the spot shoulj poHce31-"" or a fight between the mark and the tosser break out.Mobs have several lookouts to watch for police. If th; tosserhears one of the lookouts holler something like "break it upi,the game stops immediately. Everyone involved in the scamgoes in different directions and meets again at another prede-termined location.

There are several ways tossers manipulate cards, but thefollowing method is most widely used. In a series of swifthand motions, the tosser picks thecards up two at a time (one

100

STREET CONS AI{D OTHER CHEATING METHODS

rds can be any'. Notice each

makes thes others tolay down

l.ap, break-and trans-Cs should:es, whichrld policebreak out.the tosser:ak it up,"the scam

rer prede-

s, but thes of swifttime (one

in each hand) and moves the cards over one anotheq, droppingthem back on the table. The hand is quicker than the

"y"'urdwhat the mark thinks he sees is not what is happening. Thetosser appears to drop the queen in one spot, buf,throwi,, thequeen to the location everyone thinks is going to be occupiedby one of the other cards. In anothe. *ore thi tosser upp.urtto transfer two cards, but only makes hand moves and r"r"ittru.card changes locations. (See Chapter 2; false shuffle.)

Just as the mark thinks all is lost, the tosser adds anothertrick to the game, which leads the mark to think he can't lose."Accidentally" bending the edge of the queen, the tosserworks the cards back and forth. During the rotating process,the tosser bends the queen's edge back to normal and bendsthe edge on one of the other cirds. The prospective markthinks he has an inside track to a win and picks the card withthe bent edge. Wrong move.

some tossers are skilled in magic and use other slight ofhand tricks. Most always, tossers use hands_o., *"Ihod,along with fast card manipulating. A thought to remember is,even if the game were totally legit, a playei has only a 33 per_cent chance of being right. The odds ire extremety nign in ttretosser's favor no matter what. Three-card *o.[" is"a gamethe mark can never win at.

OBITUARY CON

This is one of the slickest cons going, but it takes advan-tage of people who are in the middle of bereavement.

The con man looks through obituaries and finds the nameand address of an apparently wealthy and newly widowedwoman. Dressing the part, the con man approaches thewidow at home and claims to be a private leweiry maker. Hehas with him an expensive gift, which was to be presented toher from her late husband, but the gift hasn't been completelypaid for. If the widow bites and pays the entire balanie due,

101

THE PROFESSIONAT GAMBIER'S HANDBOOK

the con man takes it and leaves. If the widow balks at thehigher price, the con man states that out of his own embar-rassment and grief for the departed, an exception can bemade to accept the actual cost of the gift, whrch is slightlylower than the first price. In all likeliliood, the widow"willopen the box and {nd a fine piece of jewelry, which is reallyfake gems in a gold setting. Ifs also doubtful the widow willever have the jewelry appraised.

TRANSPORTATION CON

This con uses a mailing list provided by a mailing listcgmpalyt which gives the names and home phone.rr.ib".,of wealthy executives. The con calls the hbme telephonenumber during the day and asks to speak to the wife. lf hereaches the wife, the con man states he is with a prize awardcompany and her name was drawn as the grand prize winnerin a random drawing. Her prize is a ne* Meriedes and isready to be shipped to her house if she accepts. Before thatcan be done, she must send the transportation charges, whichcome to $544.76. The money has to be sent by West"ern Unionto a central distribution point in Las Vegis, Nevada. Thesending instructions state the money is Io be paid to anycompany representative of THE AMERICAN ?RIZE ANDDISTRIBUTION coMPANy. The representative has to have apas-sword, and a password is made up between the con manand the person sending the money. Acompany ID and pass_word is all the con man needs to get the cish.'In ^r.y.ur",knowing the password is enough, Uut an ID is easily made,complete with the representative,s picture, just in case.

If the lady balks at sending the money by saying, ,,I needmore time," or "I'd like to speak to my husband i=irst,,, thecon man tells her she needs to make up her mind in the nextfew minutes or the next person on the list will be contacted.That is usually enough to do the trick.

1.o2

STREET CONS AND OTHER CHEATING METHODS

ks at then embar-n can be; slightlyIow willis reallylow will

ling listLumbersephonefe. If he: awardwinnerand is

rre that, whichUnion

.a. Theto any:ANDhave an manI pass-/ casesmade,

I need," thee nextacted.

RENTAL CON

, ..Ihir_,ype of con takes time, up_front money, and salesability' First, the con opens an offiie. Rarery wilr a con manget a business ricense btcause the doors are going to crose inabout three weeks. Renting nice-offi ce furniiure-and-eluip-ment is importantlo , sr.c;rrful operation. Cheap ur,alnoa_d_y_ surroundings turn off prospective marks. ffiri.,g usecretary who wilr-'rot be privy to iny details

"rit" opu*aio^is also important. Her duiy ir to t"tl phone .utt, u.,i s"t rpoff,ic.e appointments. Empioy""r oi-.on operations who arenot in on the con,are alwayi paid in cash. If u*pty"., urtyhv, I simple expranation tirriu"

".ror was made in the com-pany's accounting and hanking area and payroll checks willbe available in tivo or three #eeks will suffice. Employees

[?::ir,J a kind and courteous manner wiil act accordingly

.Advertising is, the key to this business. placing an ad inrental listings looking foi renters to rent a ,,servant,s quar_ters"-type house on a celebrity or-wJ"J,i,_";;Jr;;#;",,property is one method. In exchange for to* .".,i,-tt,uprospective renters will be obligated to watch the main houseand make sure themaintenancE p;;pi. do their *ort. at.,gl,Irjrh

th: rental property, the renters ririll hrr,. .;*pl;i; "rl "fthe pool, tennis court, weight room, ,.,d ,o o.r.

To start the deal, thepiospective renters must pay a non_refundable credit check rle of $tt.;; In one or two days aphone call is placed to the pr;;p*i;e renters and they aretold they have been accepted'and must come in with first andlast months' rent in cash and ,ig" ih;i;rse. The move_in datewill be in approximately five to"sixweetcs.

,.^^ ln-" rental property is not shown Uu.rtrr" the people rent_mg the properry wantcomplete privacy and anony*it;;o.to the actual move-in date. the o*".rr-*ifl be happy tJ j".o_

rate the rental any way the renrers wish. Th. p;;rp".ii.,"

103

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

renters are shown a map of the general area and given adescription of the property. In about three weeks' tiire thistype of con can net the operators a few hundred thousanddollars. Cons of this type are located in the ,,high_rent,,

dis_trict of cities like Los Angeles, Miami, and New y6rk.

Another version of this scam advertises for people whowant to work out of town as caretakers of a riuge estate.Because of the personal property value and other fie things,a deposit of several thousand dollars must be made. Thedeposit will be refunded at the termination of employment.

EMPLOYMENT CON #17

con is easy and doesn't take a lot of front money. Nooffice space, secretary or office equipment is needed.Advertising in the newspaper under , t

"tp wanted,,, the con

asks for people who want to work at hbme and use theirhome as a distribution center. The con hires an answering ser-vice to take answers to the want ad. when contactin! themark, the con man states he is the owner of a new salesiom_pany selling discount merchandise. To keep costs down, thecompany is not leasing huge office and warehouse space.What is needed are people who are willing to use ih"i.garages as warehouse space and receive shipments from UpS.Company salespersons will come to the houie and pick up themerchandise for delivery to customers. All the mart has to dois open the boxes, check invoices, and make sure the items onthe invoices are actually in the boxes. No sales, answeringpho.": calls, or any other office duties. For doing this, themark is promised a salary mortgage note payment] and pay_ment of utilities. The mark is again assured ihat this ls a uigsav-i1gs to the company because the leasing of a warehouseand_hiring extra employees would be far more expensive.

If the- mark agrees, the con man makes an appointment tomeet at the mark's home. This meeting is to inspect the home

lo4

STREET CONS AND OTHER CHEATING METHODS

d given a' time thisthousand.rent" dis-

ople whoge estate.ke things,ade. Theyment.

oney. Noneeded.' the conrse theirring ser-ting theles com-,wry thel space.;e theirm UPS.i up thels to doems onweringris, theLd pay-sabig:housee.

tent tohome

ii

,I

ii

and evaluate themark*,r",,.;#.::'Xr",',i:iilr,ffi ;1,1:,"?lrd:#ii,Il:answering service.

Because the merchandise is expensive, the mark will haveto put up a security deposit. These ieposits range from a few toseveral thousand d?tJais It,s a judgm'ent made by the con manafter seeing the mark,s home;J;;;;."nt financial means.

EMPLOYMENT CON #38

This con needs the use of a ,,drop,,_typemail receivingservice. MAIL BOXES, ETC.,-is , go;d u*u^pfu. a;;;;"._ing service and newspaper advert[ement are also needed. Tomake this con *o+l tn".o., *u"

^rr, advertise in city news_papers at least 1,000 miles -away.

Most malor newspapers willplace.a "help wanted,, ad on i.;i,. This leaves the cost ofoperation to a few hundred dollars. itutionu.y with companylogo and postage stamps will incui the greatest costs.The con man adveitiru, *Ja*ia"".o.,.,.r.ul.,' "*proy_ment. All consrruction positiorrr rluuJ"d;ffi;igh irrrurrdbenefits. Send resume. heplies .o*" ir., by the hundreds. aletter is sent back to each of th" ;r;k, stating the resume hasbeen received an{.1h" *urtl, ["Jfrrr"a for the positionapplied for' The retter contains information about work invarious parts of the united states and several countries.Wage offers, health insurance, u.,J nr*"rous company bene_fits are exptained. The.con ".pil ;;;h; ;k;I#,i#:r,huge volume of replies ,"d;;;;ion needs to be madeimmediatery' An inierview must ue-set up in the next fewdays and the mark wi, be ieri""riur. to pay for traverexpenses to the interview. A promise to repay travel expensesonce the mark is hired is made.

The cost of air fare fola flight booked within two weeks of1."1-?'r".u

is.slaggering. The .;;G;;; this and will offer themark a speciar rate for airfare, hoter, and rentar car services.

105

THE PROFESSIONAT GAMBIER,S HANDBOOK

This offer will be much less than what the mark courd get andthe.con man explains this offer is through a travel ,j"iiLr"aexclusively by his company. A majority of tne marks"will senda cash money order for thespeciafrate immediately.

LEGAL EAGTE HOUSE CALI SCAM

The cost of attorney's fees have risen to the point thatmany people are turning to a paralegal for help on matterssuch as simple divorce, binkruptcy, aid other

"i.o*pii.rt"amatters that don't need the e*pe.rsire advise of an attorney.An advertisement is placed in a local paperctrti"f u "".ylow.fee. forlegal help onihese matters. a co.,tact phoie num_

ber is listed in the ad, which is an answering service. The adfurther states the pararegar wil visit the hoire, so there,s noneed for the mark to trivel, possibly miss work, or need ababy-sitter. Meetings can ario take place in the

"rr".ir,g.Again, the only contact the mark will have with the con afterthe m_eeting is through an answering service.

When the meeting takes place,-the mark is told the casecan be handled easily-and quickly. Everything ,torlJ U"completed in a few weeks. The con bff"* to hold back on thesmall personal fee until the case is compreted. The o.rty .ortat this time will be for legal filing fees required by the courts.These costs must be paid in adiance an-d must'be made incash because the courts will not accept checks. The feesrequired are in the $200 to $300 range. Cons make an averageof 15 house.calls per day. In threeiveeks, time, a ,i"gl;^;""man can make $60,000 without much effort.

DIRTY CLOTHES CON

This con seems like a small, two_bit con, but over a periodof a few months it will net the con artist a sizable amount ofcash. The con man goes to a printer and has upp.o*i.rrrt"ty

106

1I

l,i

il

ll

1l

l

il

fi

Illi'

i

STREET CONS AND OTHER CHEATING MSTHODS

rld get andrgent useds will send

ooint that,n mattersmplicatedttorney.Lng a veryone num-'e. The ad:here's norr need aevening.con after

the caserould be:k on thernly costLe courts.made inIhe feesaverage

ngle con

r periodrount of:imately

500 blank receipts printed.with the logo name, and telephonenumber of a dry cleaner in a nearby city. Going to a Iibrarythe con man makes a list of pricey'restaurants from out-of-state phone books. The con man sends a retter to "r.r,-or

*,urestaurants stating that he and his wife had dinner in"..*Tl" visiting theii city on business. During tne ainner, tfrewaiter spilled coffee on both the con man and his wife. The1.^r.l*

further explains that the burns received from the hotcofree were uncomfortabre but not worth getting an attorneyinvolved. The reason for the letter is to be reimbursed for thecleaning of a three-piece suit and cocktail dress. Enclosedwith the letter will be a receipt from the ary ctei.re, fo.around 920.Most restaurants will automatically send a check for theamount without question.

AUTO SALES CON

It's one of the slickest cons lately and what makes itworse is, if the con man is caught, ih"ru ur" ,,o c.i*inalcharges filed. Only a civil suit by tt" ,.urt, .u. Uu U.offi.The con man rents an office with parking forupfir""i_mately 20 cars. He furnishes the office ind hir:es a secretary.After hooki.Q rp all the utilities, the next step is to place twoads in several newspapers from the surrounding area. Onead states the con min will take over payments on automo_bile loans. The ad is directed at peopte #ho want t" tui-ortof a car loan and save their cred'it. ih"ru are a multitude ofpeople who are having trouble making auto payments andwould like to get out o? making them. i., ,p".iutiur"r, ifif,"lar.is an expensive sports cu4, the .o., rnu. offers u pay_errtto the owner.

The number two ad states the con man has cars for lease.No credit check and low down payment is the meat of the ad."Drive away in a new Corvette ioluy.-"

107

l

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER,S HANDBOOX

Once the lease agreement is signed and a down paymentof around $1,500 is made, the mari drives off in a nice auto_mobile. Payments,under these tvpe leases are usually madeweekly; rarely will the payments'go in monthly intervals. Apayment made one day late is .uri" for immed'irtu ,"porr.r_sion' Leased vehicles ire under a different set of rules frompurchase agreements in most states. To further the income oflht:-o^q"..1aion, payments the mark must make ur" rrruity$SOto $100 higher than the original note.

For the first few months, the con man makes the monthlypayment for the owlel who keeps finance companies away.The new lessee is making p"yr.r".,t, ,.,a thi.rg, "'r"

fi".. it ""llr".:o" man stops makiig payments u.,a polt"ts themoneythat's supposed to go to tn" tlu".o*prni"r. In 30 auyr, tn"finance companies itart writing the ;wners about the over-due payment. The con man salisfies the _owners by statinglT]: *:t a mix-up and the pry*"r",t has been sent. Anothertwo to four weeks go by, u.rd #h"., the owners start puttingl":t :l the.con operatibry the con man leaves town. In one:i:? $" police estimated the con made off with no less than$350,000 in cash in four months-

108

,r

Paymentnice auto-rlly madetervals. Areposses-rles fromncome ofually $50

monthlyres away.ne. Thene moneyIays, thehe over-r statingAnotherputting. In oneess than

CHAPTER 7

STAYING ONE UPON THE IRS

A few years ag,o it was easy avoiding taxes on gamblingwinnings. It didft make u.y'airr"..nce what amount waswon because casirn a m e u,, d, o. i, r' 3i.x:iil', I l"*t J::,h.: : "i: J: ".H[:1:Recording your name and sociat,".".i;;;;;;".i, oilll"u,required by law, but only if your *i"r.i"g, total over $l,ZO0for a single win at a slot i"u.ni* ur",J orr"i $1,500 fo.a iinglewin at Keno' Nine-times the bet ir ih; IRS requirement for fil-ing winnings on horse-race u"iii"g. If you win over theseamounts, you must produce p.op"". identificatio.,.li yo.,can't come up with.D. , y." ,"ri fr"l.io forfeit ,h" ;l;;"gr.Most states that have an i".o-" tax require a casino towithhold the state's share i.*uJiri.ly. The IRS allows theplayer to take a, the.winnings, bura-record is kept and mustbe reported by the winner atiax ti;;.

Don't panic. There ur" ,.r".ui *uy, to get around thisdilemma.

TIPPING

In smaller casirarmost "il;;; ** r# f:ffi""T,+t.:"#'.fffi frf,Jl]]Y-rG,,even if yor.tit u trrg. ju;kopot. A generous tip isaround 10 percent of the total ivin. r

In larger casinos, strict poricies require the floor man to

109

i

I

THE PROFESSIONAT GAMBIER'S HANDBOOX

keep a record of each win. This makes it difficult, but possi_ble. Again, tipping may save the day. Some floor men willalter an IRS form by using a fake name and social securityllTb".. It's easy to approach the floor man simply by asking,"\rVhat's it going to take to keep me from puyi"g tlxes?,, Afloor man on the take will respond with a afila'r figure. Afloor man not on the take will juit say no.

RECORD KEEPING

If you gamble often, your chances of winning a largeamount-of money are good. There are several *uy, t"o protectyourself at tax time should good fortune smile ufon you. TheIRS has a rule that says you cannot claim gambling lossesa.gainst anything buj S;ambling winnings. Th-is *"u.,f if youdidn't w_in you can't deduct iny lossei, but if you do win,any gambling losses can be deducted against those winnings.9:99 simple? It is, except for the ririger thrown in by theIRS. To deduct losses, the player must-have proof of ihoselosses. N.ot long ago, the tRS ailowed a gambler to keep per_

-sonal daily records. The IRS termed this a ,,gambling log.,,

Not anymore.The IRS will accept as proof (this is exactly as it,s written

in the-IRS manual) wagering tickets, canceled checks, creditrecords, bank withdrawals, and statements of actual win-nings or payment slips provided to you by the gamblingestablishment.

wagering tickets. These are tickets received for bets onhorses, Keno, and lotteries. To help offset winnings, lookaround-the gambling parlor. Many gamblers leavJ iosingtickets lying around. picking up these tickets and savingthem is as good as if you had mad-e the bet.

Canceled checks. Getting check-cashing privileges in a casi-no is no harder than getting a check-casning carJ at a super_market. once check-cashing privileges a.e eitablished, caih a

110

STAYING ONE UP ON THE IRS

,ut Possi-men willSecurity

v asking,AXES?,, Aigure. A

; a large: protectyou. The.g lossesrs if youdo win,innings.r by theof thoseeep Per-ng log."

writtens, creditral win-Lmbling

bets on;s, lookr losingsaving

r a casi-r suPer-, cash a

check in a casino for every penny of cash needed. Thisincludes food, hotel bills, clothing, iouvenirs, and anythingelse. Every check cashed by a caiino counts as though themoney was gambled there.

Credit records. Getting casino credit is like applying for aVISA card, application for credit must be made. ff,f pUie..a"go to the cashier and get cash once the applicauon has beenapproved. Some casinos_like to give out chips or tell you to goto a table game and let the pit boss issue credit there. To avoidthis, tell the cashier you are playlng slots. slots use cash andonce you have the cash in hand just walk out the front doorand go shopping. Every record of iredit is proof of losses.

Bank withdrawals. This refers to teller machines insidecasinos. This is the easiest method of alr. Instead of going to ateller machine at the bank, stop at a casino and uie tf,eirs.Each withdrawal from these michines is proof of gamblinglosses, even if you didn't gamble a penny.

Statements. These are receipis given at table games.Blackjack, craps, poke4 baccarat, roulette, and wheeiof for_tu_ne are prime examples. These receipts have to be asked for.Iilh u smile and gentle voice, suggesting to the pit boss ahigher amount than what was actu-aIly bei usually results ingetting what you asked for.

A True StoryAn associate of mine was a heavy horse player. He also

liked- to play Keno while watching the horse .ice results. oneday his ship came in and he woir more than 9100,000. Thiswas early November and he hadn't kept any records of bet-ting all year. In a frantic move to colleci or.i $100,000 in los_ing receipts, he began going around collecting losing horserace and Keno tickets from every casino in Vegis. In a monthand a half he had what he needed and stored them in severalshoe boxes.

A few years later he was audited by the IRS. No problem.

I.tl

THE PROFESSIONAT GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

He took the shoe boxes full of losing tickets along and pre_sented them to the auditor. Upon exlmination oflhe toiingtickets, the auditor found fooiprints on several tickets. TheIRS declined to accept any tickets as proof of gambling losses.

ta2

an*"-he losingkets. Therg losses.

GTOSSARY

ABOVE BOARD: Being honest. On the up and up. "He,s being straight,everything he does is above board." Also used to identifywinnings acasino reports to the lRS.

ACE: An excellent person..,,He's an all right guy, a real ace., A very skillfulperson or expert. "He's a rear ace at poker." The highest cariin poker.A do'ar bir. counts as one or ereven in brackjack. The number one ona die.

ACE lN THE HOLE: Having an ace dealt down in the game of stud. Havingan advantage. Having knowledge your opponent does not have. ,,1 knowI'll beat him, l,ve got an ace in the hole-"

ACE KICKER: Draw poker term. The player holds and ace along with anoth_er pair in hopes of drawing another ace.ACE TO FIVE: The rowest hand in row bar. The smarest possibre straight inpoker. The ace, deuce, trey, four, and five.ACES UP: Term used when a poker player has two palrs and one of thepairs is aces. .,l,ve got aces up."ACEY'DUCEY: Game of chance where a prayer's card must be in between two_ , cards dealt face up. Game is also known as in between and reO Ooj.ACROSS THE BOARD: Term used by horse bettors meaning to bet the sameamount on a, three praces (win, prace, and show). 'r want to bet a hun-dred across the board." (This would cost the bettor $300.)

ACT; Term use by poker dealers to remind a player it.s their tuin. ,,lt,s yourturn to act, sir.,,

ACTION: Gambring activity. Betting. Term used when a prayer wants to entera game or part of a wager. "r want a piece of that action." used to

- -_ 9e_scribe a style of gambling. ,,lt's

a good money game, lots of action.,ADDICT: A gambler who continues to ptaf tne same games over and overeven though he never wins.

ADVANCE MAN: An agent who is assigned to look for new territory and find

113

;

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBIER,S HANDBOOX

new marks. This could mean a new neighborhood, town, or state."We're getting to be well-kno*n arounO"nere; better send an advanceman to find new territory."AGENT: A person acting as a confederate in a crooked game. Also consid-ered to be an inside man or person who works together with dealersand floor men to cheat players or the house.AUBI AGENT: An operator of a crooked .urniuuigur". ls excellent atinstructing marks during the course oi,nu!uru.ALIBI sroRE: Laber for any carnivar game that Is so crooked there is nopossible chance of a mark winning.

^*,J;,i*?i:lj11lil1'l::::iy"g.g, a tabre stakes game and used by:i':I"i,yj"^l:,!",,,,nr the last or nis cnips o;;;;;r::l ;'";';;l::,bet and l'm all in."

ANCHOR or ANCHOR {l!,.f a.v9r who is ptaying tast at a btackjack table._ Also known as playing third base.ANGLE: A scheme concocted by agents, confederates, and confidence mento cheat marks out of their roney. "That rast con didn,t work too wer;let's try a new angle."ANTE: rn a poker game requiring antes, the ante is a forced bet a, prayersmake prior to any cards being dealt. The size of tne ante is ;JJ;determined by the maximumimount ot money arowed to be bet iuringthe first round of betting.AUDITION: Term used to.deicribe the tryout professional dealers gothrough to prove their skills for,

"*joyrnlrt.

BACK ALLEY: Used in reference to an illegal craps game being played out-side the rear of a business, usually u?r"rn.BACK DooR: A dishonest gambling nouse. i"rm useo in Texas Hord .Em todescribe a prayer making the blst hand on trre finar card. ,,1 had thebest hand, then he beat me at the back Ooor." fnis card is alsoreferred to as the .,river card."BACKER: Person or personsr,vho bankroll a gambling operation. ,.So, who,sbacking your action now?"BAD BEAT: A poker term used by a player who has just had a high handbeaten by a higher hand' "r ioot< a reat oao beat, had four fours and hehad four tens."BAD PAPER: Counterfeit money. .Someone put some bad paper in thegame.,BAGGAGE: A person standing around watching a game but has no money toget into the action. A person who stands l.rnO a game and begs formoney to enter the game.

I,l4

GTOSSARY

;tate.

advance

o consid-dealers

rt at

risno

d used byhat last

:k table.

)nce menloo well;

players

uallyet during

;o

/ed out-

I 'Em toJ the)

l, who's

rand

and he

he

roney togs for

ll99ED: To be caught in the.act of cheating. .,t was bagged by the cops.,BAG MAN: A person who carries gambling wr:nnings from a frouse to a dropsite. Used to describe an employee o1 a gambting syndicate whose jobit is to pick up winnings from bookies unJ o"tiu"itnlm to a orop site.BAIT: A large roll of bills used to lure a mark into a con game. Usually alarge bill surrounding several one_dollar bills.BAIL THE JACK: Earry gambring term meaning to ,,bet it ar" on a singre ro,of the dice.BANANA HEAD: A fooli_sh gambler. A buffoon ptaying in a game. ,,He,s

areal banana head."BANKABLE: A gambrer with a good reputation. one who pays back gambring

debts on time. ,.lt,s OK to loan him the money; he,s bankable." Anexcellent gambler.

BANKROLL: To finance a gambling operation. "l,ll bankroll your action..BARKER: A carnie whose main job is to entice peopte passing by to try theirluck on a game or to enter a sideshow.BAT CARRIER: A person who leads police to a gambting operation. Astoolie.BEAN(S): A poker chip. ,,1'll bet five beans., Not usually used around legalgambling houses.BEAT: The act of cheating. To win by cheating. Stealing. "l beat the markout of his money."BEAT FEET: Leave the con game as quickly as possible.BEEF: complaining, especiaily about Leinjcneateo. .l got a beef with thatguy. I think he cheated me." A criminil charge.BEEFER: A person continually complaining about being cheated. ,,That guywas a real beefer."BELIY JOINT: Usually referring to carnival games where the game operatoruses his stomach to control the wheeior other gaming Jerices.BELOW: Winnings not reported to the lRS.BENJY: A $20 bi[.BET: A wager. Money or chips placed on a game of chance. A single wagerin a pokergame. A single wageron a h-orse race. -r,il bet $20 on thefifth horse in the third race at Hollywood park."BET THE HOUSE (RENT): A term used when trying to persuade another thatthe bet about to be made is a sure thing. :you can bet the house onthis one." Used to describe a large bet. ,,1 bet the rent.,BETTTNG BL'ND: Betting on a poker hand without the benefit of rooking atany of the hole cards. "l'll bet $5 blind."BETTTNG ON THE FLy: A cheating move used in craps. This is a cail bet bya confederate and is called after the dice have landed.BEVELS: Dice being used in a craps game that have rounded edges.

115

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

BIG BLIND: The largest of blind wagers placed prior to starting a hand inTexas Hold ,Em.

BIG CON: Cheating for large amounts of money. Big cons are usuallyplanned well in advance and use several agents and a store.

BIG DICK: Craps term for the number 10. ,,Come on big dick."

BIG NICKEL: A $5OO or a $5,OOO bet, depending on th; geographicat area."l bet the big nickel on that race."BIG SL|CK: Refers to the ace and king being the two cards deart to a Hord'Em prayer. rn some poker circres, big srick refers to the ace and king

of spades only. Depending on who the professional you,re talking to atthe time, big slick is the best possible hand to have deart. other-s saytwo aces is the best.

BILK: Taking money by cheating. "r birked him out of a thousand."BILL $100. "l beat him out of a bilt.',BIRD DOG: A member of a con game who has been sent to look for more

marks. "The game is dying down. Go bird dog for a while.,BIT: Associated with small-change betting. Two bits (a quarter), four bits (a

half dollar), and six bits (75 cents). ,;l,ll bet you two bits he can,t do it.,BITE: Gamblers' term for borrowing money from someone other than a roanshark. "l put the bite on him for a hundred."BLAB: To talk to an outsider. To ruin a con game by excessive talking. ,,We

had to quit; he wouldn,t stop blabbing.;BLACK CHIP: A gaming chip worth $100.BLACKJACK (21): Name given a casino card game in which the player tries

to get as crose as possibre to 21 points without going over. The prayerwins when having a higher point value than the dealer or the dealergoes over 21. An ace and any card with the varue of ten on the first twocards.

BLACK LINING: Using a sharp instrument to make small cuts along theboarders of face cards, which can be fert by the dearer as cardl aredealt.

BLACK MONEY: Money made from illegal acts. lncludes gambling, loansharking, prostitution, and con games.

BLANK CHECK: A term used to describe a gambler who pays back largegambling loans. "He's good for it; you can give him a brank cnectl"BLEAT: To cry or comprain about being cheatedl constant compraining after

being fleeced' "Did you hear that guy breat after we took nis mon"eyz"BLOCK OUTS: Covering small white areas on the back of playing cards

using similar colored ink used by the manufacturer.BLOW: Get out. Run away from a con game, usually because the police arecoming. "Let's hurry up and brow this prace." A term used toi tosing

money. "How much did you blow last night?"

116

GLOSSARY

r hand in

ually

frical area.

to a Holdand kinglking to atthers say

or more

rur bits (aln't do it."ran a loan

ing. "We

yer triesre playerealer-' first two

I thels are

loan

largeck. "

ing aftertney?''ds

lice arersing

BLOWER: A crap shooter who puffs air into his closed fist containing thedice just prior to throwing them. sometimes a female companio-n willperform the puffing duties just for luck.

BLOWN MONEy: Money lost to gambling.BLOW OFF: Attempting to make a mark reave a game. To make a mark feer

unwanted after he has lost all his money.BLUFF: Attempting to fool other poker players into believing you have the

best hand when actually your hand is worthless.BOGUS: A crooked game. ,.They run a bogus card game." Counterfeit

money. "The cash he gave me was bogus."BOILER ROOM: An operation invorving terephone soricitation. Saresmen cal

prospective customers and offer merchandise or prizes when actuailythere aren't any.

BONES: Name given to the dice in a craps game. . Come on, roll thembones. "

BOOK (Bookie): A person who receives illegal gambling wagers. Usuallyassociated with sports and horse race betting. 'tiailed my book andplaced a bill on the Dodgers."

BOOSTERS: Employees of a big con whose actual role is very small com-pared to the all around ,,big picture."BorroM DEALER: A dearer who dears cards from the bottom of the deck.BOWL: The part of a roulette table that holds the wheel.BoX: The place at a poker table designated as the dealer.s seat. The seat

occupied by the person in charge of a craps game. A poker term usedto define one part of a dealer,s shuffle.

BOX CARS: The number 12 in craps. ,,He rolled box cars. -

BOXED CARD: A card turned face up in a deck that is about to be dealt.BoX MAN: The dearer in charge of a craps game, who is positioned at the

center of the table sitting down.BREAK lN: A term used to identifo a novice poker. blackjack, or craps deal-

er. "Give him a break, he's just a break in."

9!EAK lN HOUSE: A gambring estabrishment that hires inexperienced dearers.BREAK THE BANK: Term used by casinos when a player wins enough to

empty a slot machine. "congraturations, you broke the bank." A termused when a gambler wins more money than the house can pay.

BRICK: A die that has been altered with weights.BROADS: The three queens used primarily in three_card monte.BROAD TOSSER: The dealer handling the three queens in a three_card

monte game.BROAD TosslNG MoB: Ail the peopre connected with the operation of a

three-card monte game.BRUSH: A poker room employee whose duties include cleaning poker tables

lL7

rHE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

of unwanted debris, seating players, running chips, getting dealers,setups, and approaching persons passing the card room in an attemptto get them to play.

BUG: A device placed under a roulette wheel that keeps specific numbersfrom coming into pray. A device praced under poker or brackjack tabresin which cards are stored until they are ready to enter a game.

BUILD-UP: A speech designed specifically for a mark in orderlo get himexcited about gambling his money.

BUM MovE: A stupid or unwanted move made by a con artist that resultsin his being caught cheating or rosing the mark. "He reft the game afterthat bum move I made."

BUM STEER: Giving bad or bogus advice. Giving worthress information.Giving wrong directions. ,,He gave me a bum steer."

BUNCO: A police term describing a crooked game. "He's in charge of thebunco squad." A swindling game.

BUNDLE: A large amount of money. A term used to express a rarge ross ofmoney. "l lost a bundle last night.,'

BURN GARD: The top card used as protection from exposing cards to prayersafter each round of dealing during a hand. prior to dealing the next roundof cards, the dearer buries the burn card face down next to the muck.

BURNED: Being cheated. "Man, did I ever get burned."BURNER: Leader of a con game.BUST: Losing an entire bankroll. ,,1 got into a craps game last night and

went bust." Ending up with a total higher than 21 in a blackjack game.BUSTERS (Bust outs): Dice entered into a crap game that have been

altered so that only certain numbers will come up.BUST lN: Getting crooked dice into the game.BUsrlNG BALLS; A heavy gambrer who's beating the house out of a rarge

sum of money. "He's busting our balls." A player continually griping toa floor man about players or dealers. A floor man might reply, ,,euiibusting my balls."

BUST OUT: To go broke in a game. To cheat a player out of all his money.The final play in a con game, usually associated with a sting.

BUsr our HoUSE: A gambring estabrishment that uses cheating methods.BUsr our MAN: A dearer skiiled in getting crooked dice into u .iap, guru.BUTTON GAME: The arrival of fake police. Through no fault of his own, the

mark is allowed to escape thinking he was lucky to get away.BUY lN: The minimum amount of money needed to enter a poker game.

C-NOTE: A $100 bitt.cAcl(LE BLADDER: A balloon filled with animat blood that bursts during a

118

GTOSSARY

)rs'ttempt

lberstables

rim

sultse after

n.

the

ss of

rlayers

roundck.

rd

ame.

mock knife or gunfight. This is used to scare off a mark and make himfeel lucky he escaped uninjured.

cAcrLE THE D!GE: Making the dice crick together but not alowing them tochange positions in the hand prior to rolling them.

CAGE: The casino cashier. A casino change oootn. tne area of a casinothat contains the casino vault.

CALL: Placing a poker bet that is exactly the same size bet of another play-er. "l call.'

CALL BET: Verbal announcement of a bet made by a craps player.CANDLE: The name given a light on top of a slot machine.GANE: Term given the stick used by a craps dealer to collect the dice ormove the dice about the table.CAPPER: A carnival helper.CAPPING: A term used primarily in blackjack or craps that means a player

has added chips to a bet after the cards have been deart. .,After he

looked at his cards, I saw him cap his bet.,CARD SHARP: An excellent card player. A professional card player who

uses unethical means to win.CARD TEAM: Two or more prayers in the same game acting as confederates.CARNIES: Carnival employees.GARNIvAL: An estabrished schedure of amusement. A wandering venture

offering amusement and exhibits.CASE CARD: The fourth card of one numericar varue to be deart, with the

other three exposed to the view of ail prayers. Usuaily used to definethe case ace. "The other three aces were out; I was surprised when Icaught the case ace."

CASE NOTE: A $1 biil.CASE OUT: To share gambling winnings with others.CASH lN: Quitting a game and redeeming chips for cash. .l

decided to cash in."CASH OUT: Quitting a game and redeeming chips for cash.

going to cash out.'CASINO HOST: in charge of welcoming casino guests. Duties include

acquainting new guests with casino games, policies, shows, and otherentertainment.

CHANGE: cash. winnings. "That was some nice piece of change r made today."CHART: A log horse race bettors make to keep track of a horse or jockey,s

past performance.cHEcK coPPER: A prayer who uses a sticky substance in his hand to stear

chips from the pot or from another player's stack.CHECKS: The gambring term for poker chips. This term appries to a, other

games using chips instead of cash.

rgerg toit

ey.

ods.ame.the

had enough so I

"l quit; I'm

ta

119

ITHE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

cHEESE lr: Term used to warn others in a con game that the authoritieshave arrived. "Cheese itl"

cHlcKEN FEED: Term used to describe a row-rimit game. Smail winnings."What I won today is chicken feed compared to what I usually winl

cHINESE STRAIGHT: A worthress poker hand. Usuaily describes a four-cardstraight with the card needed being on the inside. Example: four, six,seven, eight. The card needed is the five.

CHIPPY: A very poor player.CHISEL: To cheat. "l'll chisel him out of his money."CHUMP: A carnivar term for idiot. Loser at ail carnivar games. spends ail

available money on carnival games but rarely wins anything.GLAIM AGENT: A horse bettor who continuaily craims to have picked a win-

ning horse but can't seem to find the ticket.CLASS ACT: A gambler who acts like a gentleman and is a generous tipper.

"He's a class act." Same as being ,,first class."CLEANED OUT: Lost all available money to gambling. Broke because of

gambling. "Bad day; I'm cleaned out."CLEM: A serious disagreement between carnivar peopre. signar between

carnival people to be ready for a fight with an angry mob of townspeo_ple. "We got a clem on our hands!"

CLIP: To cheat. "We clipped him.,cLlP JOINT: A crooked gambring estabrishment. "The Harbor Oub is a crip

joint. "

CTOSE OUT: Keeping a prospective player from placing a bet. Not allowing aperson to get close to the game. Used primarily to keep unwanted peeple away from a three-card monte game.

clour: Having infruence with porice or other officiars. "He's got a rot ofclout downtown.'

CLUB: A gambling house. "See ya over at the crub." Suit in a deck of cards."l need the seven of clubs for my straight flush."

COLD CASH: Currency. Real money. No checks or l.O.Us. ,.1 beat you fair; I

want to be paid in cold cash."coLD DECK: A deck that has been arranged prior to being introduced into a

game. Usually rigged to give a mark a very high hand, but giving a con_federate a higher hand.

coLD DECKER: A person who cheats, ries, and is crooked when it comes togambling matters. Not necessariry a person who sets up cold decks.

co[D HAUL: To cheat someone out of a[ their avairabre cash or varuabres."l gave him the cold haul."

coMlNG CLEAN: Teiling the authorities everything about an operation dur-ing questioning. "By coming clean they promised not to throw me injail. "

120

GTOSSARY

'ities

ings.in.'lur-card', six,

s all

a win-

tipper.

of

)en

,peo-

r clip

wing aI pee

rf

;ards.

lir; I

nto acon-

es toS,

les.

lur-'l

COMP: Short for complimentary. A gift for doing business in a gamblingestablishment. Free meals, lodging, or sniv tickets given In uppr"-"iu_tion. In some cases airfare, lodging, and meals will be provid"i fr"u,for a future return. ,.After

a tew nou-is of gambling, the iloor man gaveus a comp to dinner."

CON: Abbreviation for confidence man. ,.He,"The game was a con." A plan to cheat.of their money. "

s a con man." A crooked game."This game will con them out

CON ARTIST: A person who is excellent at cheating others out of money."Joe's a great con artist."CONFIDENCE GAME: A con that usually takes time to pull off. The con

^^_.1ti:t must first gain complete trust of the intended mark.coN GAME: A game designed specifically for cneaUng others out of theirmoney.

CON JOB: The art of selling a crooked game to a mark.CON MAN: A swindler. A person who chieats. A person who designs andplans games to cheat people out of their money.CONVICT: Carnival word for Zebra.COME OUT ROLL: First roll of the dice prior to a point being made.COME THROUGH: A mark that refuses to leave, complains, and demandshis losses returned.CONNECTIONS: Knowing.people who are in high places of gaming or lawenforcement who wi, arow a crooked guri'u to run smoothry. ,,We won,thave any problem running the con herJ; t,ve got connections.,COOKING THE BOOKS: Falsifying income records to avoid paying taxes.lllegar bookkeeping. Burning evidence of book making, oi oI-.,",. irr"guractivity just prior to a raid.COOLER: A deck of cards prearranged to give a mark a very high hand, butthe confederate will have a Oetler nan-0.GOOL OUT: Calming down an irate mark.COOPERATIVE ARREST: An arrangement between potice and operators ofan irregar house to have some of the operators arrested. Usuaily doneto please compraining townspeopre. Arso done in front of a mark tofrighten him into leaving without causing trouble or complaining toauthorities.coPPER: Betting against the odds. To prace a bet in opposition to someoneelse who is an expert.COPPER A TIP: Betting against very strong odds. Betting against exception_ally good advice.COPPER-HEARTED: Untrustworthy person. Someone likely to turn you in toauthorities. ,,Don't trust her, she,s copper_hearted."COWBOY: A player who plays fast and out of control.

12l

-lIHE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER,S HANDBOOX

CRACKDOWN: A period of time police or officials put a temporary stop togambring activities. Usuary just prior to an erection as proof io a com-munity a good job is being done.CRAP: in a craps game, the numbers two, three, and twelve. Unsavory

residue.CRAPS: A game of chance determined by the throwing of dice. A banking

dice game.CREEPER: A carnival wheel rigged for cheating.CREEP JOINT: A gambling house that perioOiclatty changes locations toavoid being detected by authorities..RIMP: A bend down the center of a card. A bend on cards, such as a dog-ear' Usuary associated with the bends on cards used in three-card

monte.CROAKER: Carnies, word for a doctor. ,,1,m not feeling too good. Take me totown to see the croaker."CROOKED: To be dishonest. A thief. Unscrupulous. ,.He,s as crooked as adog's hind leg."CROSS: Making a mark feel as though he,s part of the con when really he,sthe patsy.CROSS ROADER: A person excellent at cheating stot machines.CUT AND RUN: Stop the con and leave immediatety, usually just prior to araid. "The cops are coming, cut and run!"CUT CARD: Usually a colored plastic card offered to a player to cut thedeck(s) in a blackjack game. ln poker it,s a thick plastic card that staysat the bottom of the deck during the entire hand. This protects the bot-tom card from being exposed and makes it extremely difficult for thedealer to deal from the bottom of the deck.CUT lN: A demand to be given a share of gambling or con game profits.

Usua[y done with a strong-arm attitude. "you've been working my terri-tory, I want a piece of the action you made last night."CUT OUT: Purposely keeping a memblr of the con from receiving their fairshare. "l didn't like his attitude, so I cut out part of his share.,.UTTHROAT: A disreputabre person who goes after marks and anyone ersein a rough or vicious manner. A gambier with very few scruples anddoesn't care who knows. Not to be admired.CUTTING THE CARDS: Separating a deck of cards, then placing the part

that was on the bottom on top.CUTTING UP THE SCORE: Splitting the winnings made from a con opera-tion.CUT UP OLD SCORES: Con men getting together to reminisce about oldscores and con games.

t22

GTOSSARY

stop toI a com-

tory

lnking

ito

s a dog-;ard

ie me to

Jasa

rlly he's

rto a

1e

t staysre bot-the

S., terri-

'fair

r elsed

rrt

'+

J

D: A $1 biil.

?lY_Bllc, Using cotored ink to mark cards during ptay.DEADHEAD: A player.o-r mark with very little money. ,.Bust him out quick,he's a deadhead." A low-limit p[V"r."

-'DEAD MAN'S HAND: l*:lL"l* O"..nOi"e two patrs, aces and eights. tt,srumored that Witd Bi, Hickock was t<itied during a prk;;";;";no,n,.is the hand he was hotding at the ti;;.

-DEALER: A person provided O,V tn" nor.u io O"uf poker, craps, baccarat,roulette, and any other house guru.. inloreign casinos and Americancasinos requiring prayers to *u-u,. rormai attire, the dearer is known as__-.a "croupier" (pronounced crew_peea).DECK: A comptete set of 52 .tunO"iJ pflying cards.DESPERADO: A person who gambtes f;r;;;" than he can afford. One deepin gambling debt. A pooirirtn a fo", ,on"y. A person who wishes notto pay back gambling debts and sXips town when asked to pay.DEUCE: Any of the four cards in a deck *itn tnu numericar varue of two."l've got three deuces..DEUCER: A $2 biil. ,,,'ll"l a deu.cer., Usuaily used around racetracks.DICE CAppER: A person who makes foaOeO Oice. A person who usesloaded dice.DIE: One of a pair of dice.DIME: A $1,OOO bet. .,l,ll place a dime on number five in the fifth.,:!y: 9!9ppER: A potice informant. o

"i i""i" to officiats.DIME NOTE: A $10 biil.

DIPSY DOODLE: A fraud. A fixed prizefight. A con artist. .He,s a dipsy doodle.,DIRW POOL A term used for unOernInJeO or'cneating types of play. ,,Don,t

__^try.t him, he plays dirty pool."DoG: A gambler who gives up play easiry. A scared prayer. ,Look at him, heplays like a dog."DOG-EARED: Term given to a card that has been bent or creased on one ormore of its corners_ Worn-out o, Ourug"O .ards. "Get a new deck and_ ^ q"t rid of those dog_eared cards."DOUBLE-CROSS: The

"it of making a mark feet tike he is part of the planwhen actually he is the one ber:ng tuLun.-iur" as cross. ,.The con

_ -_.!ame off great; we double_cro.rJO nir."

--DOUBLE DEAL: Dearing two cards inst"al oi one. rn a regitimate card game

lff.;] Hr:1], end in a misdear

", *irr r,iri'in" prayei,s nrro i"""iii.,e

P9llBtE F|VE: A die that has two fives instead of one.DOUBLE SAWBUCK: A $2O biil.DOWN AND DIRTy: Remark made by back room dealers as the last card ofa stud game is deatt. ,,Here,s

the last .uiJ, oo*n and dirty.,

t,23

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBIER,S HANDBOOK

l!f9: To remove chips from a bet once the cards have been dealt.DRA* P.KER: A poker game involving the discard of unwanted cards anddrawing a rike amount from the unused portion of the deck. once avery popular game but has lost its appeal.DRILL: The process of driring hores in diie for the purpose of weighing

them down. Drilling small holes in slot machines to control the reels.DROP: The portion of a pot taken as the house cut. This money is usuaryplaced in a slot in the table next to the dealer, which drops into alocked receptacre. Houses use this term when rerating to the amountof money made during a shift or 24-hour period. ,,Lasinight,s drop was10 grand." A term given a location where gambling proceeds aredeposited. rn srot terms it's coilecting ani counting srot machine rev-enues.

DROP SHOT: A trick used to control the dice while being thrown.DRUG STORE RACE: A horse race in which one of the horses has beengiven drugs prior to racing.DRY: No money. ,,1 can,t play, l,m dry."DUKE: The art of short-changing a mark, usually by palming a coin or hold-_.._jlq:r, a biil during a cash exchange.DUMPER: A gambrer who gambres in ai irregurar fashion. Gambres with noapparent idea of what he's doing.DUMP SHOT: A trick used to hold ort di"" that should have gone back intoa dice cup. Usually used in tavern games that use a dicJ cup unO fir"or six dice.

EAR: Putting a bend or crimp on the corner of a card so it can be easiry__ -

identified during a game. ,,There,s an ear on the ace of spades.,

EASY MARK: A person who is easily persuaded to play a con game or gam_ble in a game he has no chance of winning. ,,Get 'nim into"the gami;

he's an easy mark."EDGE WORK: Cutting or sanding the edges of dice or cards.EGG: A term given an easy mark. ,,1 ptayeO nim last night; he,s a real egg.,EIGHT BALL: An idiot at gambling. A buifoon of a gambler. House employ_ees are constantry tarking about him behind r"Lis back ano taugnin! ithis manners.EIGHTER FROM DECATUR: phrase used by a craps shooterjust prior torolling the dice when the number he nleds to win is eight. ,.Come

oneighter from Decatur.,EIGHTY-FIVE: One step short of being eighty-sixed (from cards passed outby a Las Vegas bartender).EIGHTY-SIXED: To be thrown out of a gambling establishment and told

424

tt.

rrds and)nce a

Ihinge reels.usually

toaamountdrop wastreine rev-

)een

or hold-

with no

ack intond five

rsily

or gam-?me;

I egg."rploy-

ng at

.toeon

d out

d

GLOSSARY

never to return. "He can,t come in here, he,s been eighty_sixed., (Fromthe 86th Law of the Nevada ReviseJ Siatutes.)EVEN SpLrrrERS: Dice that have oeen arteieo so that onry even numberswill come up after being rolled. fr,"ru Ji,game after a point has been made.

:e are usually brought into a

FADE: Covering another player,s action in a cr

FAIRBANK (Fairbanking): cr,eaiing-so i." ,urn wins, which in turn buirdsthe mark's confidence and mJkes nim teet that he has a rear chance ofwinning big.FALSE CUT: An action by a dealer that leads the players to believe the

::ij:l:;: been cut when they actualy haven.t. Used primarity with a

FAST coMpANy: Gambring with excerent professionar gambrers. ,,He rikesto gamble in fast company."

FEVER: The number five in craps. ,.Come on lifile fever. "F,ELD SpLrrrERS: Dice that have oeen attereo so when rored wirr rarerycome up as field numbers. (Field numbers are usually two, three, four,

_-- _ nln", ten, eleven, and twelve.)

FILL: Repracing chips in the dearei's box which were previousry purchasedby players.FIN: A 95 bil.FINGER: Pointing out or telling on a person or house running a crookedgame' usua'yto porice or persons of authoritv. 'r caugh"t nir.r,"uting,_ so I fingered him to the police."FlRsr BASE pEAK: A prayer who sits to the reft of a brackjack dearer andpositions himserf to easiry peak at the oearer.s hore card.FtRsT oF MAy: Carnivat term for

" nJ;;;;;ee. _you

can te, he,s a firstof May because he doesn't xno* *nut iJ'. ooing. - start of carnivarseason.FIVE SpOT: A $5 bi[.FIX: Manipurating a game' A con. A bribe to porice or others in authority.FIXER: An agent who has connections in city hall. A person who pays offi-

ffi:*[:: the other wav during a con operation. A rawyer l"**.,

FIX rs oN: phrase used when it is arr right to proceed with a con or crookedgame. "lt's OK boys, go ahead, the fix is'on.-FIASH: Expensive prizes displayeO ny carnies io uttru"t customers. These_ types of prizes are very rarely won.FLAT: A carnival card game played for money, not prizes.

125

i

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER,S HANDBOOK

FIATS: Dice that have been shaved on one or more sides.FLEECED: A term used when describing a mark who has been taken for arlthe money he has. "we didn't justlake him, we freeced him."FLIMFLAM: All types of cons or dishonest games played for money.FLIMFLAM MAN: A person who flim flams.FLOATING CRAp GAME: A craps game that moves at regular intervals tokeep from being detected by porice or other officiars. Locations of eachgame are usually phoned to prospective customers just prior to opening.FLOOR MAN: A person emproyed by the house whose duties usuary incrudethe supervision of dearers and making decisions concerning gun',irur.'play or mistakes by a dealer.FLUS-H: To have a large amount of money on one,s person. .,How you doingfor cash?" ,,1'm flush."FOLD: Term used by a poker player to inform the other players he no longerwishes to pray his hand. "r ford." A prayer turning att oi nis face-up cardsface down has forded his hand. .,totwisrring to cat a bet or a raise.FOUR BITS: S0 cents.FOUR FLUSHER: Term given a cheat who tries to pass off four cards of onesuit as a five-card flush.FREEWHEEUNG: Term given order type srot machines whose reers turnedfreely untir the machine's timing mechanism rereases pins to stop thereels.FRETS: The metal fins separating the numbers on a roulette wheel. Thesehold the ball once the ball drops.FRONT MAN: A person who bankrolls a gambling operation.FUR FLY: Making a commotion to distraJt bystanders who appear to becatching on to the con.

G-NOTE: A $1,000 biil.GAFF: A gambling device rigged to cheat. Usually rigged so the customer

never wins. To shortchange.GAFFER: A con who operates bogus slot machines.GAMBLER: A person who wagers money or varuabres on events with noknown outcome. Taking ,nn"""r"uiy risks. Risking money on gurls otchance.GEEK: A carnival employee who uses despicable acts to entertain cus-tomers. Usually a grotesque-looking person. ,,Our geek swallows livebats."GEORGE: A word used by one dealer to another to identify a person who is

^__-?.?:g tlpper. "Take good care of him, he,s a George.;

GETAWAY DAY: The final day of horse racing for the season.

t26

GTOSSARY

all 9lEllltcr Gathering cards together in preparation for deating seconds.GO FOR THE MONEy: phrase used when it;s-att rignt to proceed with a con.- _ "Everything is in place, go for the money.,GOING LIGHT: Calling a poker bet and not having enough money on thetabre to do so. Not having enough money to cail a bet but wish to havethe pravers take a marker. "t'ttcattthe b;t but'm going rigni$io."GOID BICKER: Someone who is a cheat, liar, trickster, and operator of congames.GO SOUTH: Taking money, cards, dice, or other gambling devices off thetable. To leave town in a hurry. Go into hiding. .,The cops are foof<ing foryou, better go south for a while."GRAB JOINT: A carnival booth that sells toys, prizes, food, souvenirs, andother items.GRAND: $1,000. "l'm stuck in the game for a grand."GREASE: Money used to bribe poliJe or otheiofflcials.GREEN CHlp: A gaming token worth g25.GREYHOUND: A carnival employee who is proficient at fast-talking cus-_ tomers into spending their money.

9!![r Taking money dishonesfly.GRIFTER: One who grafts. A p"rson tifled a grifter is one who dishonesfly_ takes money from marks but n"r", ,"ui violence.GRINDER: A carnival emproyee whose main duty is to entice customers into-_^llgying

midway games, using a hard sell method.GROUCH: A bag, usually leather,iarried by carnival employees that con_tains money and other valuables.GYP JOINT: A house that uses cheating methods.

HALF A BILL: A $50 bi[.HALF A YARD: A $50 biil.HAND: One comprete game or round of poker. one round or dear of brack-jack. Each game, round, or deal is over when all money due players hasbeen awarded.HANDBOOK: A bookie joint. A house where illegal sports and race wagersare made.HANDIE: Cash taken in for an illegal gaming operation and tabulated on a.. - -.911vluris.

"Today,s handte *u"10 gri'n0."HANG THE F.-AG: A signar used by cons ti *ain others that security is tight.Signaling others that officials not on the take are in the area.HANKY PANK(S): An inexpensive carnivar game. one that usuary ends witheach player winning a cheap prize. Games that require a number ofcheap prizes to be accumulated and then traded for bigger prizes.

ach

ring.lude)rs'

ing

errds

ne

le

127

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

HANKY PANXY: Term given almost any type of con. ,,Those guys got somereal hanky panky going on.,

HARD CASH: Real money. Currency. Same as cold cash" No checks or l.O.U.s.HARD'wAY: A craps term meaning each die has identicar numbers to totar a

pass number of four, six, eight, or ten. Two deuces equal a hard_wayfour. Two treys equar a hard-way six. Two fours equar a hard-way eight.Two fives equal a hard-way ten.

HATCHET MEN: Musclemen hired to intimidate people operating a rivalgaming or con operation. persons hired to destroy property owned byrival gaming or con operators. rn more serious situations, these peopreare called upon to assassinate rival operators.

HEAD TO HEAD: ln poker it's two players betting against each other. lnblackjack it's one player against the dealer.

HEAT: Police, security, gaming officials, or other authorities.HEAVY DECK: A deck of cards containing more than the customary 52.HEAVY MONEY: Large amounts of cash. A big game with players having

large sums of money. ,.The game's got heavy money.,HEDGE (Hedging): Generally associated with sports betting, it,s placing

wagers on opposite teams arready bet on to defray possibre rosses dueto several different changes, such as point spreads, key injuries toplayers, player trades, weather conditions, and so on. Bets made byone bookie to another to offset posslble losses.

HEEL: A jerk. Usually used by a female gambler to describe an unsavory ora not so tactful male gambler.

HIGH ROLLER: A gambler who bets large sums of money. One who bets thelimit. A gambler who, while not gambling, treats friends and associatesto fine dinners and shows.

HIPPOED: Having been swindred. "rjust got hippoed." short for hippopotamus.HIT: Blackjack term meaning to take an additional card in an attempt to

improve the hand.HITS: Altered dice.HOLDING THE BAG: Manipulating a mark so he will take the blame for a

raided con game. "We left him holding the bag., Fooling another gam_bler into taking all the losses.

HOLD our: A con who cheats other cons out of their true share of winningsearned in a con operation. A card removed from a deck by a dearer soit cannot be used in play.

H0LD our sHoE: A brackjack shoe that has been artered so the dearer caneasily deal seconds or withhold certain cards from play.

HOLD our rABLE: A gaming tabre that has been designed to hide cardsbeing withheld by the dearer. Dearers can arso easiry re-enter cardswithheld to keep from being detected.

L28

;ome

0.U.s.total aray)ight.

rl

Jbveople

'I

e

es due)ly

yor

; theates

mus.,

I

m-

ngsSO

can

GLOSSARY

HoLE cARD(s): The card a blackjack dearer dears himserf face down. cardsthat have been dealt face down to ptayers in a poker game.HOOK: The act of bringing.a mark into u gir". ,,See the guy in the blueshirt and brown hat? Hook him."HOPPER: A tub, shaped like a bowl that holds coins in a slot machine.coins are dispensed from the nopp",. *n", winnings are more than theamount of coins being held in the shoot. When hoppers are futt oicoins, coins spi, over and fa, into a hording pan under the machine.HORSES: A pair of altered dice.HOSE.(Hosed, Hoser): A deceitfur person. one who cheats. ,,watch

out forhim; he's a hoser." Getting hosed is to le seriously beaten at gam_bling. ,,1 took a hosing lasinight."HOT COME ON: A con operation where the mark knows instantly he,s beencheated.Hor HousE: A gambling house being watched by police or other officiars.Hor SC,RE: Having taken money trJ, u ,urx who comprained about beingcheated during the con.HOUSE: Any establishment.used for gambling purposes. lncludes majorcasinos as well as back room ofierationf.HUSH MONEy: Money qSid-t_o ,or"lnu to HJep quiet about their knowt-edge of illegal activity..MoleV paid to t"up'ror"one from going to theauthorities with incriminating information.'HUSTLER: A professional con mJn. erp"ri oiiiiuro ptayer who ptays justgood enough to win.HYPE: A con man's verbar buirdup of a scam. promoting a confidence gameusing exaggerated tales.

IDIOT CON: A con game that takes little effort and not much thought.lN CAHOOTS: A very western term for O"irj:iroio". on a con. ,,1,m incahoots with the house."

lN PLAY: Money placed that allows the player action in the game. When adealer declares, ,,Bet!".Money bet;";1;" before it starts, usualtyassociated with craps. ln roulette, monei placeO prior to the ball dropping. ln Big Six, money placed prior to tn! wneet spinning.lNslDE MAN: Someone working inside a nouse wno is wilring to offer servicesto pull a con. This type of person is needed in order to pull a con on majorcasinos' The inside men usuary incrude floor men and security personner.lN THE BAG: phrase used when the fix is ;;. E".y con. .Don,t worry, it,s in thebag."

lN TH.E CHIPS: Having won a large amount of money. "ljust took him forfive grand; l,m in the chips."

129

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBTER'S HANDBOOK

JACK: Money. "No problem getting into the big game, I,ve got plenty of jack.,JAcKPor: A large win. "r hit the jackpot this iime. " The rargest prize on a

particular slot machine. Top prize.JAY: An easy mark. someone who gives up money easiry. A roser who does-

n't complain.JoGGING: Marking the place in a deck the dealer wants to start the shuffle

or deal.JOINT: A gambling house. ,,1 hear Joe's opening up a new joint."JOSTLE: Picking pockets in carnival crowds.JUICE: Loan money interest paid to a loan shark. .,The juice on my loan is

50 a week." personaily knowing someone in a position of high authorityat a gambling house. "l got juice at the Mirage.,

JUI.E J,INT: A gambring house that uses loaded dice and a magnet to con-trol the rolls of the dice.

JUICE MAN; someone who coilects interest money due for roan sharks."He's late on his payment; send the juice man to see him.,

KANGAROO GOURT: A false court that has been readily assembled to playheavy fines on carnivar peopre. A court of serf-appointed citizens whoprosecute and fine without due process of law.

KIGKBACK: Pay off to someone as a reward for sending a mark into agame. Baiting a mark to return by giving back some of the money helost. "He'rr have rots more money tomorrow; kick back a few bucks."Money paid to rocar officiars for looking the other way after the con isover.

KILLING: Term used to define a large amount of money made quickly. ,.1

made a killing this afternoon."KNOCKING A MARK: informing a mark he has been taken.KNocK oUT: A term used to identiry a crooked dearer or house who has

swindled a mark out of every penny the mark had on him. .,The guy;sgot no mercy; he's a knock out." Term whispered to a oeater wnen it'sall right to go ahead and bust a mark out.

LARRY: Worthless carnivar prizes. cheap or worthress merchandisesold on the carnival midway. ,.He's got Larry on the shelf.".{]:_C1aOs term for wager. ,.t'll tay 10 on the hard eight."LAY DOWN: A bet in craps or blackjack.LAY OFF: Wager money one bookie passes on to another to reduce possibre

losses. "l had to lay off 50 Gs when the spread changed on Chicago.,

130

rfjack.'ona

c does-

shuffle

ran ts

uthority

to con-

ks.

o play

who

a

rheks. "

rn is

'l

ras

JY'S

n it's

ssibletgo."

LAY OUT: Term given the numbered felt covering on a craps table.LEAD JOINT: carnival games that use firearms in the contest. A shootino

gallery.LEAK: A poor move by a con man usually ending in the mark spotting the

con game. "There was a leak, that,s why the mark took off.,,LEECH: A gambler regularly asking fo*on"y o,. favors with the idea it never

has to be paid back. .,Who,s he leaching off now?,,

LEFT HOLDING THE BAG: See ,,hotding tn" Oug.,LEG MAN: A carnivar emproyee whose main duties are to run errands for

other carnival employees. ..Send the leg man for coffee."LEGIT: An honest game, house, or any otnei type of operation that is

straight. Short for legitimate. ,. He's an OK dealer; he,s legit."LET lr RIDE: craps term meaning to repray the originar bet anJprior win-

nings.LEVEL: Same as regit. "He's on the rever." Making a true statement. ,.This

story is on the level.,LIFT: To steal. Picking someone's pocket. "He can rift a wailet better than

anyone. "LIMIT: The maximum amount allowed on one bet against the house.LINE: odds given on sports and race betting. .,what,s the rine on Denver

today?"tlNE MACHINE: A slot machine with more than one payoff line.LlrrLE JoE FR,M KoKoMo: crap term for the point of four. "come on rit e

Joe from Kokomo."LIVE ONE: A gambler or mark looking very excited about entering a game.

"Here comes a live one."

GTOSSARY

LIZARD: A slow racehorse. A sick or poor quality racehorse. "You gonna beton that lizard again?"

LOAD: Weights placed in dice to make them roll inthem.

LOADED DlcE: Dice that have been artered with weights. "The way the dicekept coming up sevens, I think they were loaded."

LOAN SHARK: Person who roans money for high interest. rnterest is usuailydue weekly. Rates are usually between fivL percent and ten percent/week. lnterest due on this type of loan is called a "vig."

LocK: Having rittre chance of rosing. "r've got a rock on this game." Havinglittle doubt about a win.

LONG SHOT: A racehorse given big odds against winning. A bet placed on ahorse with big odds. ,,1'm bettingthe long shot in the eighth.,

LosER: A gambrer who rarery has a winning diy. one not usJd to winningways. An easy mark. "He's such a loser, only blind luck will make him awinner."

favor of whoever loaded

131

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

LOSTNG STREAK: A period of severar days or weeks without a winning day."l hope things get better, I've been tn a losing streak.,

MADBALk The crystal ball used by fortune-tellers.MAN: Police or other officials. ,,Watcn

out forthe man today.,MANIPULAT0R: An expert con man who usuaily takes a[ the mark,s money.MARK: The pigeon. The center of attention in a crooked game. Easy to takemoney from. The patsy. A gambling idiot.MARKER: Casino term for loan or creOit. ,.t want a marker for 95,000.,MAX: Term used by a gambrer wishing to bet the rimit. ,,r bet the max., Thelargest amount that courd have been won on a particurar bet. ,,rgot

themax."MEAI'.KET: Used to identifo a gambrer's backer. "He,s my mear ticket.,,MECHANIC: A dealer who is an

"r-purt ut .nuuting. 'This guyls .fuuni.g ,.out; send in the mechanic." An exceilent card prayer. rs arso used inmajor casinos as identifying an expert dealer who is legit.MELTED: Big roser. Broke because orgamor;g. "They merted me rast night.,METER: Device used to keep a runnirig totaf oi slot machine payouts.

MIDWAY: The area of a carnivar where-customers are arowed to wark.Usua'y defines the area where the games and concessions are rocatecr.MISSES: Dice that have been artered tJmake sevens more often than regit-imate dice.MITT: A fortune-teller.MITT JOINT: A fortune_teller,s tent.MOB SCENE: Carnivar term for a rather rarge number of customers. ,,it wasa mob scene last night."MONEY CARD: The winning card in three_card monte. ,,All right my man, findthe money card and win the money."MONKEY: Carnival word for customer.MOOCH: A mark in a carnivar game. A person who stands and watches as acarnival barker attempts to get players for his game but does noi pf"V."l kept calling but he was nothing but a mooch." A fool. A person

always borrowing money or using others, property. ,,1 wish he,d get ajob and quit mooching off me."MOVE: Making a cheating play. .,One

move and lgot his money.,MUCK: The discards during a poker hand ano usuatty rocated to the reft ofthe dealer. ,,He,s done with his hand, muck his cards.,

MUCKER: An assistant to a rourette dearer whose duties are to stackchecks at the end of each game.MUFF: The act of dropping ane;d dice onto the table or playing area unin_tentionally.

132

GTOSSARY

day.

roney.

take

The,t the

et. "

;USn

Iht."

ted.3git-

find

SAry.

MULTIPLIER: Term given a slot machine that has various levels of payoffs.Payoffs murtipried by the number of coins praced in the machine. Two_to five-coin machines.

MURPHY: A con game where the mark thinks he's been given an enveropecontaining a large sum of cash, when actually it contiins pieces ofworthless paper.

MUSctE: Bouncers hired by con men to keep out-of-rine marks in rine."He's giving us a probrem, get some muscre." persons in a broad tossing mob who are in charge of keeping nosey bystanders away from theaction. A person who makes collections for loan sharks.

NAILED: To be caught cheating. ,,poor Louie, he got nailed by the cops lastnight. "

NATURAL: in a craps game it's the number seven or ereven when roled onthe come out roll. ,,He threw five naturals in a row."

NICKEI AND DIME JOINT: A very small gambling operation.NICKING: To make small marks in cards during play so they can be identi-

fied later in another player's hand.NOBLER: A person who drugs or injures horses or dogs prior to racing.NON-VAIUE CHECKS: Colored chips dispensed to roulette players. These_.- _,.lipr are valued by the amount the player wishes to bet.NUMBERS RACKET: A series of numbers pickeo by gambrers that are assG

ciated with the running of several horse races each day.NUTS: A three-shefied con game. Word used to identify the best possibre

hand in a Texas Hord 'Em game. "r courdn't beat him. he had the nuts.-

oDDS oN: Gambring term meaning there's a very good chance of winning a

-__ particular bet. ,.Clay is odds on favorite to win the flght."

OFF ACTION: Spoken out loudly by a craps player signaling he no longerwants his odds bet working. Usuary done when a prayer feers a Jevenis about to come out.

oN A ROLL: Having won severar times in a row. Being a consistent winnerover a period of time. ,,He,s

been on a roll for two days now.,ONE-ARMED BANDIT: A slot machine.ON THE SQUARE: Being honest. Running an honest game. ,,lt,s

a goodhouse, it's on the square.,,

oN THE TAKE: Porice or officiars who are taking bribes. "we,re gonna be oKon this one; Judge Dixon is on the take.,

OUTSIDE MAN: One who is responsible for getting a mark into a game. Alookout outside a house.

133

THE PROFESSIONAT GAMBIER'S HANDBOOK

PACKAGE: A deck of cards marked and ready to be placed in play. ,,Give thedealer this package. "

PACKING: Carrylng a handgun. .,Don't mess with him, he,s packing.PAINTER: A card dauber.PAIR: Poker term for two-of-a_kind. ,.1 have a pair of aces."PAPER: Marked cards. ,,paper,s

in the game." Counterfeit money."Someone's been buying into the game with paper."

PASS: A winning number for the shooter and players betting on the passline. The number seven or ereven on the come out roil. Dupricating thefirst number made before rolling a seven.

PASSERS: Dice altered to make more ,.numbers" than sevens.

PASS LINE: The area marked on a crap tabre where prayers prace their betsindicating they bet the shooter will pass.

PAST POST: When a player calls out a number after the dice have stoppedrolling and the dealer calls it a bet.

PATCHER: A person responsibre for making peace between a crooked carnivaroperator and rocar porice. "The heat is on; send the patcher downtown."

PAYOFF: The rocation and time money made from a con is to be sprit up."Meet at the Red Fez at 9:OO for the payoff."

PEATERS: Dice artered to repeat certain numbers more often than theyshould.

PEEK: when a dearer ailows a prayer to see the next card to be deart.PEEK AT THE POKE: Sneaking a peek into a mark,s open wallet to see how

much money he has.PEGGER: A tool used to peg cards.PEGGING: Placing small braille-like bumps on cards.PENNY PLAY: Very small wagering.PERCENTAGE: Term used by gamblers determining the odds of a certain

event happening. "what's the percentage of the seven coming out now?"PIECE OF THE ACTION: phrase used by a con man when asking ior part of

the con game. "r'd rike a piece of that action." Used by a gimbrer signi-ffing he wourd rike part of a gambring bet being offered. ,,irt tuk" hurfof that action."

PIGEON: A mark. A very easy mark.PIGEON HUSTLE: Creating a story about stolen property and then telling

the mark he can purchase it at a fraction of what it,s worth. Usuailfthere isn't any merchandise, but when there is, it,s worthless.

PILE: Large gambling winnings. .,1 won a pile last night.,,PINCHING: Taking chips from a bet after the game is in progress.PIT: Area behind crap and blackjack dealers. Area occupied by people in

charge of craps and blackjack games.PLUCKED LIKE A cHrcxEN: phrase used during a conversation between

134

GI-OSSARY

Sive the

,SS

rg the

r bets

pped

lrnivalwn."rp.

how

,w?":of

fflffi:"r","ting how weil a mark was taken. ,,We ptucked him tike a

POINT: Numbers in a craps game, when rolled on a come out roll, if dupli-cated before a seven is rolled, wins.PO|NT SHAVTNG: Usuaily assocrateo wiin proru.sionar sports. Athretes arepaid to keep the winning-score witirin

-a -predetermined margin.t"'XH'"::LD: rhe point diTrerence ei,"iuur. ror a handicai ror oetting

POKE: A mark's wallet.POKE A Trp: A come on by carnivar barkers. Usuary a free, brief peek at theaction to gain a customer's interest in seeing the whore show for theprice of admission.POKER FACE: A player who shows no emotion when holding a big hand.PoT: Money bet by poker ptayers inat ;';;;;*o in the center of the poker^^__T!t"

untit being awarded to the winrier.!9IlIo' Money. Usualy $1. "t,il o"i rir"'Joiu.our."PRESSING: Adding chips to

" O"t

"ri""O-V","'uOL ur,",. the game is inprogress' A crap term used to te, the dearer to in.r"Ir" tn" ,ize of abet before the next roll of the dice.

PRoGREsstvE

;,::1..': ""1 ,u.hi*.-*nose jackpots increase with ptay.

rimit of otnu,. ,.nu.l?l:lv :1?" tabulating a iackpot 't tn" cusioma"rv

increase untir the lll-:g l!" :?': plaving varue' rhese j"J;;i;pRop: An ",0,"r""'i,.llU:::H::f tTf Hn",. ,o ,un"

" ;;,.game look full. This type of player i. ,rrlfi, required to give up his seatwhen a customer wishes to play. S;";i;;;hired to pray por<e w tn ris own mo.; i;;

,Jff;;J? ??nii; i,iJ"r"'plays with house money). ' '

PROPOSITION: A wager. An invitation to wager. A technique used to luremarks into a game.PR,PS: Tools, equipment, furnishings, and other necessary items neededfor a sting operation.PUFFER: A craps shooter who, just prior to shooting, blows small puffs ofair into the closed hand holding the Oice. a'carnival employee whosejob is to act like a customer unO r.ningf" *iin tl".ro*O talking up thecarnivar games' A carnivar

"rproyuu"*no iurx. ao customers ind exag--

gerates the amount or size of priies to Oe won.PULLING Up: When a mark quits the ."" g"r" ".0

still has money.PUMPKIN: Small towns along a carnivat,Jroui"inu, aren,t worth stopping^..-._?t:

Jr.t passing through this pumpkin-,PUNK MAN: A carnival

"mpioyee *nor"joO'it is to train new employees,usually young boys.

tgni-

llf

135

THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

PUSHOVER: An easy mark. A person easily tricked out of their money. .,Liketaking candy from a baby; he was such a pushover."

PUT ON: A tall tale intended to attract a rnark into u .on gur".PUTTING ON THE RAISE: The art of making a mark bet more than he

intended.PUTTING ON THE SEND: The art of making a mark go home for more

money.

QUEERTNG THE BET: A phrase used to describe the actions of an outsiderwho makes a move or remark and scares the mark into leaving.

QUICK PUSH: A very easy mark. ,,lt didn't take long to bust him oul, f,"was a quick push."

RABBIT: A member of a con game who enters the game as a customer,makes several fast, winning bets, and leaves.

RACX: The box in front of a dealer containing chips or cash. A containerused to carry chips from the cashier,s .ig" to the table and vice versa."Get me a rack for my chips, I'm going nome."

RAIL BIRDS: poker game spectators.RAISE: rncreasing the size of a bet made by another prayer. ,.r,rr raise thatbet $10."RAXE: The percentage of money taken out of a poker pot by the house,

usually 5 to 10 percent.RAZZLEDAZZLE: A very crooked carnival game. Term used by con men todescribe fast tark designed to confuse marks. "r gave him rhe razzre

dazzle."READERS: Cards altered so they can be read while in another player,s

hand.REAMED: Taking a, of a customer's avairabre money by cheating. .,we real-

ly reamed him."RED BIRD: A $5 gaming chip.REPEATERS: Loaded dice. Loaded in such a manner they repeat the same

numbers often.REUBEN: carnivar word for a customer who acts rike an idiot. A smail-town

hick' Person who has no practicar sense. A buffoon gambrer. ,,Look atthat Gabriel fellow, he acts like a Reuben.,,RIDING: Making a mark feel intimidated to the point he can,t or won,t com-plain about being taken.RIFFLE: Professional term for shuffling cards.RINGER: A horse substituted for another in a stakes race. Repracing an

136

GLOSSARY

l.'Like

:sider

le

-or

r'ersa.

hat

ntoe

amateur prayer with a professionar without the knowredge of other pray-_ ers. ,,They put in a ringer.,RrNKy D,NK: rtems that ari soto or given as prizes that have ritre or novalue. ,,This

is some rinky dink stutf f won."RrP AND TEAR; Term used to describe bratant cheating by a con man whodoesn,t care who sees him doing it. ,:ini, guy,. a real rip and tear.,,R!P-OFF: Steating. A.:trllg .on gurJ. ;tnu,'gur",, a reat ripoff."ROAD HUSTLER: A traveling

"on-run.I9llj TI" throwing of diceln u ",up,

guru.ROOK: To cheat' Keeping someone'fro-m r.e-ceiving their share of winnings."They rooked me out of my share. "ROPE: Getting marksto enter a game. "Go rope some business.,RUG JotNTS: Name siven,o er;tine o;;;., that are tegit.RUSH: Used by poker playerJto

"nno-r".u an"y have had several winninghands in a row. U^s:q to announce

" LrV g""O winning session. ,,1 wason a rush all night.,, Used by superstitious players who will bet on anyhand after winning several in a row. "t;m-ptaying my rush.,

SANDTNG: Using sandpaper to shave or discoror the sides of praying cards.to"t :;.:"",

mark. An easily duped r.nurx.-n.ttng like an idiot. ,,iei sucn a

SAWDUST JOINT: Name given to a house. casino. or an) otner gamblingoperation that cheats. These operailons ar" usuaily on the move toavoid being detected by law eniorc"r"ntig"n.i"..SEAT MAN: A carnival employee pfacea in ine auoience of a sideshow. tsusua'y picked to take part in the show

"no u.,, as if he doesn,t knowwhat's happenins.

SCORE: Money maOe-from a crooked game. Money made from a legit

frT"l;Xilllllassociated with a llrge sum or monev "r scored big on

S.REEN our: To move in such a manner that the mark is unabre to view acheating move by a dealer.SETUP GAME: A gambring game set up specificary to f,eece a mark ormarks. preparations for these gur", ur" .ometimes elaborate andtime-consuming.SETUPS: cards previously used in a game that have been placed back intocorrect order and are ready to be re-entered into a game. Usuar orderis, with cards face up, spades, hearts, clubs, anO diamonds. Each suitstarting with the ace and going to Xing.

lIf_PE, Cover up a cheating ,or"]S"r""n-'ort.SHELL GAME: A game played with tnr"" ,fruf I und a ball called a pea.

eal

NN

at

137

THE PROFESSlONAL GAMBLER,S HANDBOOX

SHI[[: A person hired by a card room to play poker. Exact duties as a propexcept a shill uses house money to play.SHOE: A box used to hold cards to b; de;liin blackjack and baccarat. Theusuar amount of cards is four decks. Some shoes have more or ress.sHoE rN; A horse that wilr win a race ano was determined to do so prior torace time.

:I99]ER, The craps ptayer whose turn it is to throw the dice.SHOOTING GALIERy: A carnival midway gu.L ,.ing firearms to shoot atmoving and stationary targets tor [rizes.sHoor rHE woRKS: Betting iiart. r-eavin! entire winnings on the crap tabrefor one final roll. ,,Shoot the works."

SHORT CON: A con short in duration.SHORT CAKE: Shorting other cons out of their share of the take.SHORTCHANGE ARTIST: A carnival urptoy"" urpert in the art of short_changing customers. Usually operates in carnival midways.SHORT SHOE: A dearing shoe with ress than the required amount of cards.SHOT: A crooked move intendeO tor a mart<. ,lt tooL u shot at him., A betagainstthe house. "r took a shot at'em in the fifth race at Horywood.,,sHOVE: Passing off counterfeit currency. Getting counterfeit money into agame.

SHUFFLE: Mixing a deck of cards prior to dealing. Riffle. A professionaldealer will use a series of actions to .orpt"t" u ,nrfff". n,

"ru.nlf"-_-_ *9rld be to riffle, riffle, strip the deck, riffte, and then cut.SHY: Short for shylock.

SHYLOCK: A loan shark- A person who loans gamblers money for a veryhigh rate of interestslDE POT: A separate pot that is made after one or more prayers have runout of money during a hand. The player unable to bet is

"f igibf" i* tnucenter pot onry. onry those prayers continuing the betting J*

"rigiot" ro,.both pots.

SIX BITS: 75 cents.slX cAT: A carnival con game involving the throwing of baseballs at stuffedcats.sKlM: Stealing gaming profits prior to paying any bills, usually to avoid pay-ing taxes.SLEEPER: A bet left on a gaming table. A confederate,s bet that is purpose-ly left on the table by a dealer.

lll95,1 :n"re of the gambting profits. ,,t want my stice.,SLIDE SHOT: A dice throw used to give the thrower and advantage.:yL* POTATOES: Very sma, *ug"ri. ,,*,eV

were only betring sma, potatoes.,SNAKE BIT: Term used by gambl-ers *no nuu" O""n on a losing streak. ,,1

can't seem to win at anything lately, must be snake bit.,,

138

GLOSSARY

a prop

ft. Theless.

'rior to

)t at

rp table

SNAKE EYES: Both dice coming up aces. The number two in craps. ,,Hecrapped out with snake eyes."

SNOWBALIS: Dice altered to have only the numbers four, five, and six.SOFT AGTION: An easy mark. Using cash in place of chips during a game.SPIEL: A story made up to entice a mark into a con game. A prearranged

story to tell authorities should they ask questions.sPILL: Making the disastrous move of dropping more than two dice on the

table. "Joe's in trouble, made a spill last nignt at the club."SPLASH MOVE: Making a fake cheating move in order see if anyone is pay-

ing attention. Same as test shot.sPooNlNG: The use of a spoon-rooking device to trip the rever inside a srot

machine, thereby releasing any coins in the coin shoot.sPorrER: Person who rooks for dearers who are inexperienced in attempts

to easily cheat the casino.SPRING: A very large wager.SQUAT: Money made from carnival con games.SQUEALER: A mark who gets excited enougn to hop up and down and

scream when he thinks he's about to win. A person who informs poriceor other officials about illegal gambling or con operations.

srAcKED DEGK: A deck of cards that are irranged prior to being praced ina game and when dealt will result in a win for a designated ltuy"r.STAKES: Gambling prize. Horse race winnings. poker pot.

STALL: Slowing down the action of u "on

grr" to give other marks achance to join in.

srAND: Blackjack term meaning no more cards. A decision by the prayer notto take additional cards. ,.Want a hit? No. I stand.-

STEER: The art of moving marks into a crooked game.srEER JotNT: A house where marks are sent to become invorved in a

crooked game.STICK: A player who is part of the crooked game. -Bob is the stick tonight."srlFF: A gambrer who doesn't tip the deareis or cocKair waitresses.srlNG: Name given a con game invorving numerous personner and usuary

nets a very large amount of money. The actuar moment a mark isrelieved of his money. police term for an undercover operation.

STRIPPER CARDS: Cards that have been srightry shaved arong the edges.STRIPPING THE DECK: Term used to describe the cutting_type action used__ by a dealer during the shuffling of cards. (See "Shuffle.")srRoNG MOVES: Artfur and exceilent moves made by a professionar con

man. "He's the best; he makes some strong moves."

!I99K: To have heavy gambting tosses. "t'm stuck three grand."STUD: Word to describe a type of poker where a specific number of cards

are dealt face down and some face up.

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139

THE PROFESSIOT{AL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

sroRE: Word for an honest as weil as dishonest gambring estabrishment. ,lhear the lmperial palace is a good store."

SURRENDER: Blackjack term. When a player is allowed to throw away anunfavorabre hand before acting. rn return the prayer is returned tiarf theoriginal bet.

S*NGER: Name given the carnivar game that invorves a ba, suspended ona rope and a bowling_type pin.

swrrcHtNc THE CUT: A term for a cheating move whire shuffring. The dearer cuts the cards but returns the cards to their original positr:on in aonehanded move prior to dealing.

TABLE STAKES: Term used in poker houses to describe money on the tabrethat is playable in the game.TAKE A BATH: Losing a large amount of money gambling. Also "took abath." "l really took a bath in the game yesterday."TAI(E A BEATTNG (TOOK): Term used to Ou.iur" a bad gambting loss. "l__ took a beating at the Horseshoe last night."TAKE OFF: A ripoff.TALE: A story given a mark to lure him into a con game.TAP CITY: Broke. No money. ,,1 took a ride to tap city."TAPPED: Broke. No money. "l can't go to the club tonight, l,m tapped."_-- Same as tap city. "l can,t go tonignt, I,m tap city."TAT: A single die that has only the numbers flve and six.

IlJr-OolD: Describing a rarge gambring ross. "They sure tattooed me rast night.,TEAR UP: The act of simurating the destruction of a mark's check whenactually it wasn't and will be cashed as soon as possible.

TELL: An accidental move by a con man that gives away the trick. pokerterm for reflex actions by a player that give away his hand. "He has adistinct tell every time he bluffs."

TEN SPOT: A $10 biil.TEST SHOT: A fake cheating move made by a con artist to see if anyone ispaying attention.TEXAS HOLD ,EM: A form of poker using multiple betting rounds and "com_

munity" cards.THIRD BASE: The rast seat to the right of the dearer in a brackjack game.

The last player to receive cards prior to the dealer in Otac[1acX.'forexample, if there are only two players at a table, the second playerwould be considered to be playing third base.

][nOW: To lose on purpose. "fney piiO me to throw the fight."TIE: When the dearer and one or more prayers have the same totar, usuaryresulting in a push.

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GLOSSARY

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TILT: A malfunction of a slot machine.TIP.FF: Advance warning to porice of a pending gambring or con operation.Squearing to the porice prior to

"nv ""tion. "we,il get them this time,_ we got the tipoff we were looking for.,

Tol(E: Gaming word for tip. "He grr"in" dearer a $1o toke."TOKES: Casino term for tips.TOP PEEK: A cheating move. When the dealer takes a look at the top card,or cards, prior to dealing to players.

I9llt!G, Palming the top cirds in a oecx prior to deating.TOTE BOARD: Brackboard.at a book-marunjopurution. The scoreboard at aracetrack that shows the odds, winneri, and other pertinent information.TRAGK: The groove on a rourette wheer where the barr rors untir the wheerstops.TURN AROUND: A move or sound made to entice a mark to either turn hishead or turn all the-way around during a cheating move.TREy: Gamblers' word for tire nrrouiir,iE".

-'TWENTY SpOT: A $20 biil.nVGBIT pLAyER: A cheap husiler. Small-time gambler.TWO BITS: 25 cents-TWO SPOT DEUCE: A $2 biil.TI^TGWAY HOUSE: A eamO1.1g house that ptays either crooked or straight,depending on the conditions.

UGIY CUSTOMER: An unruly mark. "We had to get him out of here, heturned into an ugly customer."uP GARD: rn brackjack, it's the card the dearer receives that is praced face up.

vlG: srang term for money paid as interest on a roan from a roan shark."The vig's 10 percent a week." The house cut for providing pokertables and dealers. Short for vigorish.VIGORISH: Term for money paid as interest on a loan from a loan shark.The house cut for providing poker taOies anO dealers. Also known asthe drop.VOID.THE CUT: A slight-of-hand move by the dealer to return the cards tothe originar position after another prrv", n", cut the cards.

WAD: A large roll of money, usually wrapped by a rubber band. "l blew thewhole wad."

1.4t

TI{E PROFESSIOTTAT GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK

WAU( AROUND MONEY: Term used to describe gambling money. Anamount of money a gambler feels comfortable carrying in his pocket.Pocket change. Phrase used to put down another player. "you only beta thousand? To me that's just walk around money."

ttVALI MAN: A person designated to be a lookout for police during an out-side con game. Usually associated with a back alley craps game orthreecard monte game.

WELCH: Failing to pay a gambling debt. Deny making a verbal wager whenactually one was made.

WHAMMY: A very angry mark.WHEEL HEAD: The part of the roulette wheel that spins.WHIP SHOT; A whipping motion used by a craps player to control the dice.ttvlPE: A con game in which the mark thinks the handkerchief he has is full

of money, when actually it's filled with cut up paper.WIRE: A con game involving horse race betting. This con game was the

basis for the movie "The Sting."wIRED: Poker term meaning three of a kind on the first three cards dealt to

a player. "l had aces wired."WORK lS IDWN: Crooked dice or cards are in the game. "The work is down."

YARD: $10O. "l bet a yard on the game." A $1OO biil.

1.42

t.)et

rll

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The author has approximately 40 years, experience in var_ious types of back.obm, barroori, str'eet, and organir"Jgurr,_bling. Starting around agu f f, in"-ruthor began learningabout carnival tricks and v"arious ,tr""t scams. A tou, of dutyin the armed forces-was a beginning eaucaUon in back roomand barroom gambling. Aftei disch"arge, the author workeddriving a beer truck inlake County, rttlnois. o"."l1niJf".iod the author was-introduced to, and ultimr,uiy'U".I*.e.mployed by, people in charge of various gambli'nj;;;rr_tionq_including pinball machi"ne and jukeb& op".rf;or.,.r. a,age 27 the author moved to Las Vegas, graduated from theStrip Dealers School, and began

"-[ioy^.nt dealing black_jack. Over the next several jrur* tire author rno,u"t "f todealing poker and eventually became a floor man in u *'r1o.Strip casino.

During the vegas years, the author made friends withmany people from every sector of the gaming community.ITr", friendships led to information abo"t tfr.i"a,rrt.y u.,ais the basis for much of the informatio., i., tru, book.

't. "

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