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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-X Printed in the United States of America
Published by Paladin Press, a division of Paladin 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 form without the express written permission of the publisher. ST
Neither the author nor the publisher assumes any responsibility for the use or misuse of information contained in this book. GONTENTS
crook INTRODUCTION t 1
CHAPTER 1 CASINOS, CARD ROOMS, AND THE PEOPLE WHO RUN THEM t 3
CHAPTER 2 CHEATING WITH CARDS i 15
GHAPTER 3 SLOT MACHINES t 47
CHAPTER 4 CHEATING AT CRAPS T 65
CHAPTER 5 CARNIVAL GAMES T 89
CHAPTER 6 STREET CONS AND OTHER CHEATING METHODS S 97
CHAPTER 7 STAYING ONE UP ON THE IRS t 109
GLOSSARY T 113
Y WARNING ln
This book is written for the sole purpose of entertainment and education. It is not the intention of the author to promote ato or condone cheating. Many methods described in this book chea are illegal in any legalized gambling establishment or legal- uatir ized games. Penalties for cheating vary from state to state and are i town to town. In most.cases, cheating in a legalized gaming 8am establishment is punishable as a felony. mac, som( AUTHOR'S DISCLAIMER adva have Various incidents, dates, names, and location of events k may have been altered to protect the innocent, guilty, and parti those who wish to remain anonymous. one' it's t there Peop a ver It gami state Casir cheat ing rn usual
YI INTRODUGTION
:ainment This book is written for everyone who has been cheated at one time or another Promote and for those who wish not to be his book cheated. how J 1 Gl AI RI 1 gaml has c I! but v gaml throv two I o the e; Wash oPera game Many mach Vegas to hol In 10 ye Dowr such i boost. CHAPTER 1 GASINOS, GARD ROOMS, AND THE PEOPLE WHO RUN THETVI This chapter deals primarily with bits and pieces gambling about 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" gambling of interest. I can visualize contests that involved throwing bones into a circre. "I bet six land in the circll-and two will be within a boar,s ear of the center.,, Op:"-qambling in the United States took a slow start in the., early 1800s, from New Orleans to San Francisco, and from Washington, D.C., to Toledo. As fast as casinos opened for operation, laws were introduced to make them ifielainig games of that periodwere-faro, craps, blackjack, ,"Epotur. Many establishments had slot machines. In the tgsos, pinball machines became popular They were still playing frro'ir., Lu, kFu? early in fhe 7970s. The Unionplazawas one of the last to hold a faro game. early 1930, Nevada legalized gambling, "would but it would be 10 years before casino. ga*U_ti.,g 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 itstig boost' 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 Vegas like burned to the ground and is presently a vacant lot across the CEC street from the Sahara. Although much is said about Las CASE Vegas, for many years Reno topped Las Vegas in gaming and big-l entertainment activity. At one time, Reno had the dubious A SIT distinction of being the divorce capital of the world. rolle Organized crime got its start in casino gaming in the mid- I 1940s with the opening of the Flamingo Hotel. This hotel was mak the mastermind and dream come true for the infamous the r "Brtgsy" Siegel. In its day, the Flamingo was the ultimate in exP( gambling atmosphere. As of this writing, the Hilton betr,r Corporation owns and operates the Flamingo. Rumor has it hotel Mr. Siegel built secret passages behind walls in the casino for long, his escape, should the need arise. As many know, the need Par.ir arose, but Mr. Siegel didn't make it. vour to ch DO CASINOS CHEAT? ,A of ch Of course they do. Most of the blatant cheating takes usua place in small, out-of-the-way places, and most of that cheat- the h ing is done by floor-level employees. It wouldn't be fair to most say cheating in major casinos is excessive, but the only reason for that is the Gaming Commission. An argument often used concerning whether big casinos cheat is, why? Why do they cheat when a1l the odds are in I their favor? Why do people place themselves in a position to \-egas lose their license to operate? Greed is one of many answers. Arabr Stealing just to get away with it is another. There's a saying These that answers why people in good positions cheat and steal: rr-oul "Which tastes better? A watermelon stolen from a melon There patch, or the one you had to buy in the store?" sheik chasir MAJOR CASINOS sheik greeti The operation of a major casino in today's environment is A( 4 CASINOS, CARD ROOMS, AND THE PEOPTE WHO RUN THEM Vegas l]I1u"y- other big business: almost all have stockholders, rss the CEos, a board years of directors, and so on. ago this wasnit the ut Las case. Many were run by organized crime finities or former ng and bigtime gamblersmakingerren bigger big time. In those days ubious a small-time gambler cou-ld e_njoy most oflne ambiance a high roller could: free buffets, fine shows, and inexperri,u" .oar,-r. ie mid- days .Those are gone. Corporations feei the necessity to lel was make money at every turn. Tilkets for shows u." ."pu*irr", lmous the cost. of dining is outrageous, and luxury .oo.r.,r'*a too nate in expensive for the average working .rrur,. Competition Iilton between these casino gianls is tremendous. several malor : has it hotels have built theme parks so families on vacation will no ino for longer !lp*r Las vegaibecause there's nothing for *re kids. e need Paying for these new idditions is extremery expEnsive. io ask yourself, would these expenses give management the motive to cheat now and then? Although_upper management does its share, many cases of. ch.eating take prace at th6 floor level. cheating at flo6r ierret takes usually I benefits the floor men and dealers u"[.ur"iy r,"rp, : cheat- the house. Reasons for these people cheating ,r" ,.,uir,y, Ur, fair to most often it comes down to pLin greed. reason FLEECING THE ARABS casinos ; are in I knew a dealer who worked at a major casino in Las ition to vegas who was calred on to do his handiwork whenever the 15\^/ers. Arabs came to town. I,m not_talking about the average Arab. saying These are the oil barons and .walkingtheir fairilies. Ten millioi dolars C steal: would be considered around money,, to tt melon There's joke a connected with thlse people that says ur.aruU"*. sheik and one of his wives went to an irt gallery. After pur_ c,haling several paintings valued at millio"ns sheik turned ,,Now to his wife and said, that"1a"jir.r,tin" we have the greeting cards, let's go buy some gifts.,, ment is According to this dealer and others in the know, it was 5 THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK normal practice to fleece these Arabs every time they came to rool town. They were easy pickings because they didn't seem to the care about losing, and if they did, they didn't complain. the Dealers didn't complain either, because tips were always tabl exceptional. To get away with fleecing the Arabs, the games would be in private suites. This maneuver was agreeable to deci the Arabs because they like their privacy. The suites were usually on the top floor of the hotel because the scrutiny of gaming officials is very limited under these conditions. One interesting story about a visit by these Arabs tells of an invitation made by a major hotel and casino. The invita- of tl tion included free accommodations (the entire top floor of the lVrOl hotel), free food, free shows, and just about anything else except gambling. Airfare would have been included, but the Arab dignitaries had their own planes. They came. Sheriff I Ralph Lamb, and a sizable police escort, greeted them on .iqu arrival at the Hughes private airfield. The reason for the is or police escort had nothing to do with the welcome committee: Play it was because the Arabs had brought an arsenal of weapons. duy The weapons were seized and held in safekeeping until the than Arabs departed Las Vegas. Craps, blackjack, and mini-baccarat tables were already in place when the entourage arrived. Gambling began almost A immediately. No sooner had gambling started when the is thr Arabs began complaining about the small baccarat tables. effecl The casino manager attempted to explain that it would be ously impossible to get a standard table upstairs. The Arabs became enfor enraged and complaints became threats to take their business NCSS€ elsewhere. This was a serious problem, and the casino man- to"ft ager wasn't about to lose this golden-egg-laying goose. The lresh, casino manager immediately got on the phone and called a Once local helicopter company and a building contractor. When the ihe m helicopter arrived, employees of the hotel had already carried the p a standard baccarat table into the parking lot. The summoned quit.' building contractor was almost finished cutting a hole in the the pl 6 CASINOS, CARD ROOMS, AND THE PEOPLE WHO RUN THEM rme to roof of the hotel. Minutes after arriving, the helicopter lifted ]em to the baccarat table to the top of the hotel and lowered it into ,plain. the- freshly cut hole in the ioof. Employees then carriei *," .lways table to the room where the Arabs were patiently waitine. games reported . ]t ryur this maneuver so preased ti-,. niuuit.,.y rble to decided to stay an extra week and lost an extra $50 million. ; were tiny of CHEATING tells of There are many ways to cheat. This book will cover many invita- of them, but there are several techniques I feel are morally 'of the wrong although legally right. rg else rut the Sheriff ro some ,n,, *:i"*;#;"[":ili.0, 0,,, these tech_ em on niques are. very effective. rhe ibsence oi cloiks and windows 'or the 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 pi players:, :,:^"_ : ee n g mittee: trom knowing what time of diy it is or wieth"i it,, aPons. o_. night luy is an effective way to keep them much longer rtil the than they intended. rady in As far almost as I,m concerned,TfJ;;r"rt legal cheating method is the en the use of alcohol.. Nevada haJi gu-i.g law thit ,ry, i., tables. effe5t,."it's illegal to take unfair adrrintage or allow an obvi_ ously uld be intoxicated individual to gamble.,,"Th"ru,, little, iiany, )ecame enforcement of this law. It,s u .oi.r*o., practice, and I,ve wit_ rsiness time- :.:,r:d and again a pit boss instructing a cocktail waitress man- to "freshen" ) a winning gimbler,s drink. NLt only is the drink ;e. The fresh, it usually containi more alcohol than prurio* arint s. alled a Once the winning player becomes intoxicated and loses back ren the m:ney lfte won plus, it becomes time for the pit boss to notice carried the player is intoxicated and informs the player it,s time to moned quit' This final reprimand usually comes about the same time the r in the player announces he,s tempoiarily out of money. 7 r THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK Gard Gounters but t For years casinos have allowed the public to believe anotl there's a way to beat the system. Some systems help gamblers them cut the percentage the house has on a game, but laws of casin physics (mathematics) can't be beaten over an extended per- erate, iod of time. But, casinos make a big deal of throwing out card tull o counters, players with adding machines, and other mathemat- on oI ical devices. As of this writing, some creative and space-aged gamt card counters are using small computers hidden in their cloth- Peop ing. These small devices are operated by the counter's toes. belier Laws uphold the ejection of a card counter. Here's one Four reason why. Let's say you're an average gambler with just the bt enough knowledge of blackjack to make the game fun. One day you get a streak of luck that's bigger than you ever dreamed. Every move/ unconscious or intentional, works out Sr to your advantage and you're thousands of dollars ahead. ingrer The pit boss has the right to have you taken from the table, r-ou f forcibly if necessary, to a back room where you will be grilled next t about your gambling practices. Forcing a player in these cir- \-egas cumstances to stand naked so casino authorities can check for of ad hidden devices is not unheard of. Once it's determined you \evar aren't a card countel, a feeble apology is offered and you're read r allowed to return to the table. Your hot streak is over. If you tne ol decide to stay, odds are you'll lose back every Penny you ative r were ahead, plus the money you brought with you. A There are a few casinos that don't use these tactics at all. rr-iil o Binion's Horseshoe is an example. I was living in Las Vegas .lmoul during the time the late Binny Binion took on a world famous :astic ' card counter. Binny was one of the old-time gamblers who i\'hat would let anyone take a gambling shot at him. Any time and can br any limit. The card counter always lost. Specia =pecia. Faking Winners :ted fr Another case of casinos morally cheating the public is fak- nons f, ing large winners. Sure, there are big winners at one sitting, :hese r 8 CASINOS, CARD ROOMS, AND THE PEOPIE WHO RUN THEM but they're very rare. Those who win big usually come back lieve give it back, plus whai they broughi with rblers them.f:,_h":,|ry ilg Wh-9n things get slow for the casino tusineJs, some ,vs of casinos will fake a big winner. An example is having u .o.,r.a- I per- era-te, acting as a tourist, walk into a casino with I briefcase t card tull of mo_ley (in reality it,s the casino,s money). He fuyiit uff emat- on one roll of the dice. If the gambrer loses, itis oh weli. ff ttre -aged gambler wins, it's out the dooi with the winnings. A crowd of cloth- people saw i! the news media picks up on it, ind the public 3S. believes it. sometimes the actuaibet wai a hundred thousand. s one Four hours after the fact, word by way of the grapevine just has h the bet at one million. It,s incredibie free publicit!. ' . One ever some, especially casino operators, this activity is not cheating. feel To me, and many others, it's trickery. According to Webstet plal trickery is cheating. On, am( Big Winner, Good-Bye Machine des Not once have I seen or heard of a slot machine being taken out of service because a player lost too much money playing it. On the other hand, watch a customer play a machine and get lucky-lucky enough to empty the machine met a few times-and see what happens. The machine is taken rr-he out of service. Why? According to slot managers there's a i-lr-" malfunction, and the gaming authority upholds this action. lfa! and CHEATING AGAINST MAJOR CASINOS and :oni Cheating against major casinos normally comes from the the inside. Usually it's the floor-level employees who cheat, and :onf they rarely cheat the player. It's the house money they're I after. The most popular method is to work with a player act- aclir ing as a confederate. This player will be given several advan- deal tages not afforded other players. loud conf Blackiack sav i At blackjack, the dealer signals to the confederate what cff a the hole card is. This type of signal usually comes as a head Surv nod. When it's the confederate's turn to act, the dealer will only give 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 either side suggests the hole card is six or under. These head nods are very slight and made at the precise moment the dealer A and confederate make eye contact. there Other cheating methods used by dealers include making ing I payoffs for more than what was bet and looking the other abou way if the confederate player caps the bet on hands of 21.,20, ing u or a good double down. If there's a good chance the player supp, 10 CASINOS, CARD ROOMS, AND THE PEOPLE WHO RUN THEM feels a losing heating. hand is imminent, the dealer won,t look player as the [Vebsteq, palms some of the chips that were placed for Once the the bet. confederate has ,on u sizable, or prearranged amount, the chips are cashed in and the money r!1it rutl. ut, designated meeting place. re being i money : a a. player play .fuy.rrq -or" th:l'rl;at he,s entitled is a popular method of nachine cheating against the house at craps. Leaving when it a bet is taken should have been taken down and paying ofi%., fly" are tt. here's a two more,popurar methods. There u.u ways Lrrry ott u, ction. to cheat the house, but these are the hardest and tJ aetect are the most profitable. paying off more ,nr., *tutlU",, losing bets on the"tabje is easy for a deater and conrederate,:1l]:Tiig especially in a fast_moving game. paying off ,,on the fly" takes rom the the cooperation of the boxman, dealers, confederate. and a eat, and This type of maneuver is extremely profitable. on they're .Betting the-fly-is primarily where there is little activity (head-to-heaA "r"a rver act- wittr the house is the o.,ty *uy _ort I dealers will get advan- involved with this cheat). A full table with loud and active players will also work. Orrir.,fin";;;;, confederat-" , pl?y"r will throw a bet on the table, but won,t say a word. When the dice have landed, the deaier *ifi puy te what as.,f,f the player had called th" ;;;;;;il;;'rilii", Surveillance3ff ; a head can't hear what,s being said at the table ,nJ .u, rler will only assume the dealers are pryi"giiion a legitimate bet. : higher. o either DEALERS VS. PI.AYERS ad nods Although e dealer most dea.lers give the gambler a there.. fair shake, are some who don,t, whlch;rkd this method ing worth of cheat_ making mentioning. I know of craps dealers *f,o-Urrg .h:,uting re other a gamb-ler who fails ;iip This type l_b_ol,rng usually oi1t fi 21,20, comes asa short payoff. Foiexampfl, , pfuy.i"r,_ i, e player supposed to be paid $250 and tire dealer pays'$zzs.i;ih", tl I THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK method is to delay calling out the call bet or not calling the bet 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'm sorry, I didn't hear you," If the player would lose the bet, the oul dealer "hears" the call and takes the money down. In almost all cases when the player beefs, the boxman will back the on( dealer. Dealers who do this contend that it's proper conduct not since casinos pay minimum wage and they depend on the ioir generosity of players to make a decent living. Some dealers even feel it's an the It isn't. There's obligation of player to tip. are no excuse this and come across it, for type of behavior, if you for don't hesitate to report it to the casino manager. Bypass the sot, pit boss; he may approve of such actions. nin alu SMALT CASINOS Fo( e\p Small casinos on roads leading to major gaming cities are more apt to cheat in one form or another, from the dealers right up to the owners. The reason is survival. Licenses for operating a blackjack table or slot machine are just as expen- sive for a small joint as they are for a major casino. Most small casinos get very little tourist traffic and aren't often vis- C5Lc ited by gaming officials. When gaming officials do visit, they itab stick out like a sore thumb. A.y cheating practices going on casi can be curtailed until the officials leave. s e\r Tre, ILLEGAL GAMBLING atm che Illegal gambling is an enormous industry, from bookies casi and back room poker tables, to friendship bets on Sunday's football game. Historians note that settlers coming over on the Mayflower played games of chance, only to be admon- ished by their leaders. Today, every city and town in this country has some form of illegal gambling. Some estimates suggest money changing hands on illegal gambling is 10 times more than money wagered legally. L2 cAstNos, CARD ROOMS, AND THE pEOptE WHO RuN THEM ling the BUST OUT AND >e paid, STEER JOINTS or "I'm One name given ,,bust bet, the to a house that blatantly cheats is out joint." almost Bust out joints ack the are exactly that. A gambler who warks into one. of :onduct these places can count on leaving in a short time with nothing but his on the clothes. Further chapters deal with how these joints cheat. dealers The name "steer There's joint,,also applies to bust out joints. They are so named because ross it, peopre wilh huge bankrolls and a taste for gambling are ,ass the actuaily sieered towira them. Most are very sophisticated operations.lt takes time, effort, u"a .ur"f.ripiu.,- ning to get the mark headed in the right direction. The reJuk is always the same: the mark leaves wi"th his clothes and empty pockets. It's not uncommon for the mark to leave behind ties are expensive pieces of jewelry as collateral for unpaid rou.t*. dealers rses for 'INDIAN GAMING" exPen- Lately,Indian ,. Most tribes have found that having gaming establishments :en vis- is not only legal on their land, U"t i"?f prof_ it, they itable. Many tribes are taking-advantage of gaming, *iit'r","* ring on casinos- be_ing built all orre, the Unitei Staies. I hive several these of casinos in California, and they are"irit"a nice. Treatment of customers is of the highest caliber, ur.,a in" atmosphere is friendly. I have .,"rr.i seen or heard of any cheating, and dealers are strictly monitored, at least in the ,ookies casinos I've gambled in. nday's ver on dmon- in this imates ;is10 13 ( lea at( ma "t-C ac, joit \br :,1 Jn€ age iorl mal. clea is al Som toa thro plac, CHAPTER 2 CHEATING WITH CARDS Just about everyone, including me, has been amazed at least once by somebne,s ability tJmanipulate cards. It,s easy not to work cards, but with practice juit about u"yo"" master .u. the art. Working for a clsino, a good card worth mJchanic is 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, steer and private igi"l:, 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 simplest yet it's very effective. lo.T, iven the amateur trickster can maKe senous money using this trick. I know, I was taken to the cleaners on at least one ociasion by someone using this trick. A slight alteration of a standird deck ot SZ is all fiiyi"j.*a, it takes. Cards altered for this con are callei ,,rtriip"ir.,, novelty shops sell stripper decks, but it,s Jri""gl, tolo*,: alter them privately.,pirit, separate the high"rry .'r.ar-GO, through aces) from thL low. cards (deuces thr6ugh 9s) and place them in individual stacks. 15 THE PROFESSIONAT GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK Take the stack of high cards and, gripping them firmly at the ends, use a fine piece of sandpaper and gently sand both sides of the cards. Be sure to grip the cards fumly during the entire sanding process. This will ensure equal and exact sand- eff ing of all cards. set lmportant: Only 1-/32 of an inch needs to be remoued t'rom each 3Xr side. Once the sides have been sanded, slightly round off the e corners. This will keep a professional look to the cards. :et"\- Once the high cards are completed, take the low cards, grip them firmly at the sides, and sand down both ends. :or Again, remove only 1 /32 of an inch from each end. The cor- -or ners on these cards should be rounded the same as the lei other cards. When completed correctly, the sanding job is unnoticeable. When cutting for high card, gently cut by gripping the cards at the ends. This will ensure a high card draw every time. If the game changes to low card, lightly grip the cards on the side. This will ensure a low card every time. tir PRIVATE GAMES :'ilal ra Many people I've contacted, concerning gambling, have --a r( had bad experiences in private card games. Private card :he games are held in homes, back rooms of bars, hotel rooms, .'f c and sometimes public transportation. Regulations are few, ila) and conditions are ripe for cheating. Levels of cheating and Car methods of cheating vary with the type and location of the :em game. A neighborhood card game between people who know : each other wouldn't usually be subject to cheating, regardless -:t tl of the gambling limit. In contrast, a nickel/dime game :heir between strangers in the back room of a bar would, at times, :latr be subject to cheating of one form or another. Low-limit :ard games won't have the sophisticated cheating methods expect- rlcy ed in a high-limit game. : eca 16 CHEATING WITH CARDS mlv at SETUP GAME d both ng the Finding or starting _. a high_limit game is sometimes an t sand- effort in itself. The most poprlu. with professional cheats is a setup game. This. type of game takes careful vn ench pta.,r.,i.,f ur,a execution. The idear setup would be having't*o-o.'th.." off the rvealthy businessmen as marks, a dealeq, t*o"ptuy"rr, ,^a setup man. , cards, To get this kind of game takes time. Bait has to be pranted ends. for the marks. A time ind prace have to be negotiatei irrut is 1e cor- convenient for all the marks. When gameu time arrives, it,s a as the Jefinite payday for the pros. job is The card game in the movie The Sting is an exaggerated example of the extent some pros will go to"form ng the u ,"tr'p'gu..,". every FIXING THE DECK r cards Marking, shuffling, . and dealing cards are essential tools ior cheating in a card game. AnothZr valuable tool is getting marked cards into a gime so they can be shuffled If ana"aeatt. a player came to a.gamg and piaced several op"rr have cards a".t, ; on the table, other playersiould become "f e card J"rpi.i"*. ff the same player came to thu gu-" and placed ,",.JJ a".f, rooms/ of cards on the tabre still in tie manufactur".,r-."[opti.,", 'e few, players would think these cards were legit. rg and Not alwavs so. Cards.marked prior-to the game .un fo8t'r, ,ir""Sti,n"y of the came direct from the factory. , know novelty shops sei cards that have rrdless . .,SoT" been pre_marked a.t factory. Most professional card game lhe sharp, p."?". to their,own. Cards puichased at a novelty ^u.t times, ,io." aor.,;t ,*uffy match the looks or feer of professional cards. professionar ;-limit cards are those manufactur"a Uy companies such as :xpect- Bicycle' Bee or Professional cheats *u.t their own cards primar,y because it reflects their individuar preference and it,s cheaper. t7 I THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOT Removal of Gards NOTICE; 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 insert and slowly slide the opener all the way along the seam. If you use extreme care, the cellophane will separate without being damaged. Slowly insert the opener and with a light cutting action work the opener back and forth. Use slight pressure toward the opening side of the cellophane. Gently work the opener along the edge as the cellophane opens. Once the seam is opened, gently hold the deck by the sides with two fingers and lightly shake the deck up and down until the box falls from the cellophane. CAUTION: As the 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 a razor, carefully cut inside the seam on the side of the box. Cut exactly where the flaps are glued together. Once the side of the box is open, carefully tip the box and let the cards slide out. The cards are new and slippery, be careful to not allow them to fall on the floor. It is extremely important to remember the position of all contents. 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 in when they are packaged at the manufacturing plant. The cards are ready to be marked. lmportant: lfse caution during the card-marking process. Don't handle the cards unnecessarily. Don't bend the cards in any man- ner. Llse surgical gloaes throughout the marking process. Replacin$ the Cards When returning the cards to the box, siide them in carefully. Or 18 CHEAT]NG WITH CARDS ,,card There will usually be small pieces of dust,,, which look l. also I iike lint, that fell from the box when the cards were first taken ion. :ut. sprinkle these pieces back into the box once the cards are remov- n. This adds even more authenticity to the cards. There will y insert ,,Hey, alivays be one player who'll make a comment like, you eam. If can tell these are really ne\ /." while making the comme.rt,"th" vithout iiayg will be pointing to or playing with those pieces of ,,lint.,, a light After carefully placing the cards back in the box, fold the : slight nside portion of the side flap in. Using Elmer,s glue, spread a Gently '"'ery thin coat on the inside flap. Allow the glue to dry for about 15. :n'o minutes. Fold ihe outer flap onto the glued inside flap. If a the by :ortion of the glue squeez.es out along the edge, use a sli'ghtly up and Jamp cotton cloth to gently 'ON; wipe the glue awiy. lmportan"t: Do As -.tt tissue paper or paper towels. -use why? The fibers might stick lophane. :o the glue and be seen, and they tend io smea, and smidge. ohane. Place the box on the side of the newly glued flap anl bal_ rel) or a :.nce a small, heavy object on the top side. Leave [he box in rox. Cut :his position for at least two hours. sure the top of the box goes first, gently oox and ...N:*t,-making .lide the box back into the cell,ophane *.apper. Importint: Go rery, be ."to and use caution Keep from damaging tii cellopiane in any -:anner. Should the cellophane become bent or damaged in >n of all iny way/ it's ruined. 18 Para- . Carefully fold the inside portion of the cellophane flap :actly as :losed. Use a clear epoxy glue and place a few diops on thl here are -nside flap. TWo or three tiny drops are all that,s .,""ded; ,r-,y ls are in nore will smear the cellophane. Immediately and gently fold The rnt. :he outside flap onto the inside flap. Hold the c"losed flap -lown for about 10 seconds ss. Don't Wlren completed, the box should look exactly like it came 't1y ffian- _ :rom the factory and is ready to be introduced inio a game. INTRODUCING MARKED CARDS INTO A GAME :arefullv. One way to introduce marked decks into a game is to 19 r THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK bring them to the game and set them on the table. Do this prior to any games getting started. "I just stopped by the T1 store and picked up a few decks in case we need them," is an -- i ^ example of how to let players know there are fresh cards :tf available. This method allows other players or dealers to ::: lft introduce your cards into the game themselves. Should the Be individual having the marked decks be the host of the game, -:rlLl the cards can : -__^r be placed with other fresh decks and iniro- - - - . ri. duced as the game progresses. \( True professionals have patience and sense enough not to - , '":s. become greedy. Suspicion runs deep when one player wins a majority of pots all night long. Winning a few good pots each hour of play is more than enough to take the lion's share of ': "..t11 winnings home. There are exceptions. When a setup is made "..: --.-. i to fleece a specific mark, all is fair. The idea is to take as much money as possible from the mark in the shortest time. a _ - a: tt MARKING THE CARDS _-i 5 I remember playing Old Maid with my friends as a kid. After a few sessions the cards became dog-eared, bent, and some of the cards were torn. Everyone who belonged to the group knew which card was the maid. When a new member to the group joined in, there were laughs and giggles when the new kid got the old maid. Card cheats like to have the same 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 to mark 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 the buyer what to look for. Professionais like to mark their own. It's kind of a self-image thing, like signing a painting. ilt 20 CHEATING WITH CARDS e. Do this ed by the The ,,rub out,, is o""r:? rx:t :.L1 methods. rt takes time em," is an ,rd patience to mark cards using this technique, but itls well esh cards orth the effort. "' Some experts ruin several decks of cards lealers to ::fore achieving the desired results. hould the Backs of cards are often eraborate, and a manufacturer,s the game, .ientity can be determined by merely looking ;t th" ;;;rg", ,nd intro- . -.1:.-l: i !9tlg the most famoui, Bee being not f-ar behind. NOTICE; KEM playing cards orc urid by most ma1o, cord rgh not to " "''1s' wy card rooms choose these cards goes"beyond their ex.cer- 'er wins a ..:t quality. KEM cards are plastic and iifficutt" to prr*,onrrtty pots each ;nage.by warping, -be.nding, o.r getting wet. Whin bent they ; share of ":.r,rn.to their original shape almost iimetliately. When KEM r is made -.;"ds haae been altered, they- are easy to spot. It,s iery rare to see r as much : ca/s u.sed :! in games uihrrc cheiting tactics are used. l. th9 first . fn 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 as a kid. area >ent, and ed to the member les when have the Lrds dur- ;erv effi- rod is to ,e identi- Is, pack- 'liing the eir own. tt:cellent tool to use for a rub out is a draftsman,s scalpel. 2t rHE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK . elued -3.rd as ::re del ,,, hile :emovi iemov ,:etail c -j aqu :reir c :;mOVU Tht :ietho( :1\' nt :isign: '" :.riou :.oke( The design of Lin the card can be :in1Ove altered by :,. ihis lightly scratch' : ,- -Lor d, ing oaer an inked area. :-ior or ::Per c * -1 go. :: -rt ap being rubbed will stay flat and firm and does not become r.rhod rougi. Most professional cards have a glossy-finish'-The glos"sy finish is also removed along with the design. This is easily detected. To replace the glossy i"u.r"r a flat look and The of clear wax shoe polish' Rub a very look, use a smail amount :--=:gad the dull spot. Allow the polish to small amount of polish over ::-1OVe then lightly rub to a shine with a clean, dry a few minutes, l--.. mO dry, cotton cloth. one application will usually bring back the s.: the t look. If not, repeat the procedure. glossy :,:. ihe c Mu.ry professionils will make slight chan'es to different 22 CHEATING W]TH CARDS cards. Removal ''alued of one small design might signify the :ard as an ace. on cards manufacturea u1ini.fEr", ."il";a :he detail in one of th_e angel,s *1"g, could signify an ace,"r rr-hile the removal of thetetail in"th. u.rg"t7r-#rr.g ur-,a g :emoval of the detail in the chest area could signify a king. ,il iemoval of the d:lr1l in the angel,s _ir,g, chest area, and the on the angel,s head (maki"ng ]etail her look bald) could signi_ r'- a queen. Because of the great detail manufact*".rp-t-u.. -reir cards, there o, are end"less possibilities to what desien :emoval cheats can use to identify the varue and suits There are many.other *uy, to mark cards "i.;;Fr. :rethod. Professionir cheats .rrl th"i, imagination"ri"g1hi, to-doesign pafterns. As previousllistatJ, ill:1Tl-"::esrgns "l r.pr.rr" are trademark signatures of some pros. yeais ','arious pros could ago, be linkea to the marked aurij", o., -:ooked decks. Line Work Line work is just the opposite of rub outs. Rather than r.move_ spots or designs, line work adds desig", to .urar. fo continual experimenting - _l]lr,t_ !-p1rly, with mixtures of - .'ye -ror and water w'l result in a coror eiactly matchintlhe :.-,lor on the cards. On.glossy ,u".y cards, u fine piece of sand_ :rper can be usedto lightly buff the area where the design ' iil go' This will alow the ink to .:ot adhere to the card. If a dulr es not become appears after the ink has dried, the clea*f_,r"-f"firn sv finish. The : ethod will work to repair the dull spot. e design. This lace the glossy ish. rhe coror out works Rub a very principle as the rub out. ru the of removing a ":iir"J:[t" polish to design by rubting ii ofl the design is '-'moved-.:l:rd by using r rr-ith a clean, a- color matitring thJ coror on the ci.ds. bring back the - r.e most popular color dye is white. .:r The same care is used to th€ exact shade of.white as to get any other.oto..-O"rigr.,, ' r rhe cards can be eriminated ,es to different witi the white dye. white dye 23 t THE 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 ihot Trimming 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 :asil best accomplished wiih the use of a paper cutter. Some cheats will 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 of an inch off one side of each card. The remainder of the cards will have both sides trimmed, each side trimmed exactly 1,/32 of an inch. The end result will be that ali the cards are the same size. The difference will be that the identifiable ones look off-center. Many professionals will use a corner trimmer (used to trim the corners of pictures used in ID cards) to trim the corners of all52 cards once the edges have been trimmed. Deteetint Trimmed Cards Elaborate patterns on playing cards make marking cards easy and very difficult to detect. I know of only one sure method to detect cards marked this way. Place the entire deck in front of you and hold down one end. While staring at the deck, fan the other end in a riffle motion. Any motion on the design signals an alteration. It's the same method artists use to make cartoon characters move. U Daubin$ ;rd c I consider daubing a poor method of cheating, but sur- :sed prisingly 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. I card so the cheat can identify it during the game. Some cheats -'.rd, I prefer to hide the dauber in a shirt pocket for easy access ::rd c 24 CHEATING WITH CARDS decks. It is ',',-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 ome of the -:re cards are marked, it-could spell disaster. The cheat can be his work is =asiiy identified by the inky fingers. ome cheats alter all of A Short Story Three-fingered willie was one such card ,.;asn't cheat. willie tW 7 /16 of much good at anything, which i, p.oUuffy rf *f.,y fr" the cards :ttempted to make his living iheating. wiilie heird ed exactly :aubing oi tt," method and one eiening, d"uring ; p;k;; juro., e cards are 't-illie decided to make a move. wliue decided to mark the tiable ones :ces. The first ace was marked with the blue int WiUrc nua er trimmer -'n his sponge. The second, third, and forth *"ru **t.a 'ds) to trim .hortly after. willie's operation fell into trouble soon after he rtrimmed. :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 tn" --a1ds' edges, but a portion of the backs and faces u,"a *"fi. king cards )ther problems for wirtie incruded ink on his fingers ura ir-,t ,' one sure :rat soaked through his_shirt pocket. A couple of"the :ntire -.ad piuy"r, deck no sense of humor. The punishment they a".lauaiolrr" ring at the tl!i: for cheating was removal of the two fingers corr&ed ion on the '' ith ink. Prior to this incident, wilrie was just plain wilrie. artists use lnvisible lnk Using invisible ink is a popular method of marking cards, 'ird one I consider to be very^good. The type of invisible ink but sur- :sed for this 1. cheat doesn,t ai*pp.u, aft&'a ,nort of l. A small :rnqe, f".iJ i,t stays on the cards permanently, is very hard'to J"i".t game the ,','ith the naked,eye, and is found in novelty ,ior"r. ff,"i" u." rt has just :;r-o popular colors. One ink has a blue tint, the ottre, u g.een r-mark the :rnt' A cheat can write the value of each card on tr-t"i. 8r.rc rme cheats ,rd, with the use of tinted glasses, can see the value of each rSV ACCESS ::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 any magic to the glasses. Any red-colored lenses will detect the ,1I green ink, and any yellow-tinted glasses will detect the blue 1-I; ink. Many card rooms have totally banned the wearing of --hr red- or yellow-tinted glasses. .[i Luminous Readers ,al Some manufacturers of marked cards produce what is ini calied luminous readers. These cards are marked with an =nl invisible 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 wear :14 red-tinted glasses and the value each is of card in the deck --ar revealed. Luminous readers can be purchased in most novel- tn ty stores. There are two ways to avoid being taken in a game ','41 using luminous readers, or any other game using an invisible l^ ink. One, don't play in a game with players wearing red- or :14 yellow-tinted glasses. TWo, if you must play, bring your own i:r tinted glasses. _et taI Single-Ply Gards Some hosts introduce into their game a cheap brand of playing card that is single-ply. They are very thin, and when the lighting is just right, the player sitting opposite a player using 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, then the dress becomes see-through. Games that use these types of cards are not very professional; they are used mainly for chil- dren's play. Shadinf There are two different types of shading. In some circles it's marking cards with ink the same color, only a shade lighter or darker than the manufacturer's ink. This method of marking can be compared with ii.ne work and color out. -rr 26 CHEATTNG WITH CARDS ntany "Shading,, is a term ect the given to cards that are siightly lighter or darker than the rest re blue oi the deck. To an amateur this type of marking will go ring of completely unnoticed. The ;i;;; shade cards is to put tirem on a window silr and"";y let the sun slightly bleach the color. A popular use of shaded cards is to identify suits. A pro can shade all four suits by adding four srigiltry '-hat is shades. JIii"*", ith shading can arso be used to"identify lrri, an ent value. air".- rdivid- "i Another shading s wear method is done accidentally by the manufacturer. On leck is .any-Srye1 day, the batch of dye ..,u'a. it tn" card plant can differ novel- s[gntry from another batc'h oi Jy" on a dif-{gre1t *ra. rgame day. This meins d-ecks printed o., on" iry _uy r.ary slightly in shade i-isible from a deck irinted on anothJr day. Going to different stores 'ed- or and buyirig decks from the same nranufacturer is one way J OWn of finding cirds of different ,nuA"r. some professionars wili go to rtoi", i., different towns and qather severar decks. The- cards from one deck can pared be com- to cards from other decks, and so on. rnd of ryhen sanding can riayer be o.rr a?3;fl:5 uy ,ri.,s the example of cards that have been r-alue. rsed for a period of time. The sides become dark. If one \fear. of the cards has to be taken o"i oflfuy and replaced with a new , then one, the white edge of the new iard rviil stand out. The edge pes of of the new card alppea., ,, , *t,i," line in the deck. r chil- This is the same principal cheats use when they lightly sand the edges of caids. Sinding only works on cards that have been in play for a while ,.r? i, a practice reserved amateurs. for :ircles ,hade Pegg,ing/Blistering Lod of The terms " ,,biistering,, , . pegging,, and mean the rhing. same 27 THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK The photo below shows a completed pegger. The diagram represents a card altered with a pegger. Note that the buirp is placed just above the card value. A dealer's identification of cards is the major advantage in this practice. As the deaier deals, he can feel the bumps with his thumb. Depending on the placement and number of bumps, the dealer knows the valul of the card. The dealer now has the option of dealing the card in turn or holding it back and dealing it to someone else. Gutouts Another method used to identify cards is caled a cut out. This is used primarily when the dearer deals and does not play. Tiny, thin cuts are placed on the face of the card. Just prior dealing the -to card, the dealer can push the card out slightly with the thumb. with the index finge4 the dearer can feel the mark and identify the card's valuJ. Now the dearer can make the decision whether to deal the card in turn or hold it back. Knowing what each player has will allow the dealer to signal confederates. Pegging/blistering is placing tiny bumps on cards. Professionals use an improztised tool called a "pegger." Tb make a pegger, bend a small strip of sheet metal in halt'. Use a dull nail and a hammer to place an indentation in the sheet metal. 28 CHEATING WITH CARDS diagram bump is Perforating Perforating the lvantage cards is another r bumps amateur card rmber of cheat. This me_ e dealer thod is similar to rlding it pegging and blis_ tering. Marking cards in this man_ ner takes place cut out. during the game oes not rather than be_ rd. ]ust fore. Using a nee- ard out dle or other sharo rler can object, the chea't r dealer pokes tiny holes near the edges of the cards. turn or Even a player with little experi_ ence can notice this scheme ow the is the:,: ,,crip,, Sri?qt,lg ro the edge of a card. This practice is easily:lf'rf,!J.1ail 1"r"i."J Uy good players. During play' a player will use tn.'.ag" oil #urp fingernail to slice tiny notch in the edge of a u .;;. ihu"rtr.n., can be placed various positions to in designat. tn*.rutr. of the cards. Bending cards is, ,'""if::f,*"" merhod of cheatins. Players bend a card to"g1 iaenriy ii;;;.* bend cards to a cut. The bend may force tiii dog-gar .. a crimp in the dle' A card that's bentf 1 mid_ in tri" *iair" w,r stand o,t while theptaying surface, ,"J;;,; be quire as obvious alrllt-"" dog-eared bend. as During a game I was playing, someone bent the ace spades every time a ,-,.* of du.t wls introauced. It,s possible 29 r THE PROFESSIONAT GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK the ace of spades was chosen because we were playing high card in the hole splits the pot. Although I noticed it"right away, I kept quiet for two ieasons. Ond I was playing in a strange bar and with several people I didn,t know. faai rpo_ I might Yp, have found *yrlff in deep trouble. Second, I didn't\:l want to ruin a good thing for myse*. I was winning. SHUFFTING To acquire a smooth riffle (shuffle), a dealer has to have hours. and hours of practice. Many good casino dearers will even practice on their days off. some dealers will practice while watching TV. A good dealer can practice and teep taUs on the program/ no problem. Some like to set up baskets and pitch cards at them while watching the program and not look at the basket. A dealer who,s profiiient it plt.m.,g .r.a, .u., prt SZ cards in a small basket with ease, andin just i fe* seconds. A standard shuffle used by legit piofessional dealers is a riffle, riffle, strip, riffle, cut. Oo"u"properly, this method will give cards an excellent shuffle. Next time you,re in a card room/ watch the dealers. you,il see the action firsthand. False Shuffle The object . behind the farse shuffle is to make it appear an honest shuffle is taking prace @ut realry isn't). The deller rif- fles, strips, and cuts the iards. There,s lbts of action ur-rJ nurra movement, but not one card has changed position. To the players, 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 winning two or three iarge pots -huppy per hour. A dealer placing winning*hands to a confeder_ ate player five or six times an hou. ,.,uill that p*r* will walk away with a majority of the money,".,rrre every time. A few years ago, a few poker dealers in a malor Las Vegas 30 CHEATING WITH CARDS high tournament we right roomsi**.di,.'""ry.x::11"T'Jf, ,ff tna #',;i,[f allow players a full view ,ffi 1.,ill spo- :.,',:lld of tf,. deck during rhe merhod shuf_ nd, I illf"Xi?.""11;J1,, *,, .,irua the rB ,n,rfr..rij.," i,i_ o !:. rh:';" ;;1:f,il:ffi?:',il,1,?,J,':",ft.;illl takes,, rn. 0",,". the fu' deck, splits ir i"'n"ir brings the two halves togethel' and begins the rrffre.-imri.atu,"ty dealer folrowing the rif_ lave l,.i ln. pirshes th" .;;i; ;li,n" edges of one *ry rhrough so rhe rvill harf extend u.yora itre othe, fingers grasp harf. ThJ dearer,s 'hi-le rhe exrendea eag"s ,ra purr the deck' The dearer rh.;r;;; ti.ougn L the tt ..p"3is tne "r, .irning sequence. These ,itch Iffi:must be done quickly and ,moo*,ry"Ho,il-oii.u.ri.u the The next move is called t52 stripping the deck. What deater is supposed to do ispirri;;I[;"r the changing of cards off the decre isa rhe posilion of tf,J*.jJ"" The dealer moves his hanJs *'i1l stripped, as if the cards are being ard but none. of the .r.a, dealer ,i".hanging position. The cuts the .u.:_l * p"rrr"^ on top. tll.llr not tobe dealt back The cards are placedon top center' This identifies ,igitrv on the rpoi tie"r,r.," cut "in"rl, dealer moves "*u.t will be made- The an his hands;;;#.","'rh" then cuts d".4 pauses, and nf- the deck fo. rii;i;y;ir'r";". Had this been nd a_n hinest ,fr"iif" the cut would ended up vice versa. In have he a card roo*^r"r,i.,g, false shuffles dealing seconds are and about u, u Jirnor-r-"st dealer ly get away with. can constant- tre Private an or back .ogT games are another games aren,t monitored story. These ge by-surveillu.,lu .ur.r.ras, floor and other dealers. Unless men, pluyed for ly high stakes and igr*;ffiing extreme_ er the.plr;;;;-;;; a- professionat most games are deater, olayed by passing the aeaf. er.f, pfry], to deal in rurn una t:t-,i, S",, AS rr'rril...'irr? .rio ,nrro excels. 31 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. At the end of a hand the dealer will pick and sort cards laying face up, and group together the cards to be dealt to himself or a confederate. This may sound like it takes a long time, but a pro can pick and sort in less than two seconds. Keeping this in mind, one of the things to look for during a game is a deal- er who picks and sorts the cards before gathering them together 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 than two seconds the dealer has found three aces, and they are on the top of the deck. Using the false shuffle method, the dealer can keep the three aces on the top of the deck during the entire shuffle. The dealer begins the deal by dealing seconds, keeping the top three cards in place. When it's the dealer's turn to receive a card, the dealer gets the top card, and dealing seconds begins again. This process is repeated twice more. When the hand is completely dealt, the dealer will have three aces. I watched a player use a tactic that keeps dealers from picking and sorting. When the hand was ovel and the pot i had been awarded to the winner, this player would immedi- ately turn over the exposed cards and give the entire deck a quick scramble. CUTTING THE DECK In games using a permanent dealeq, the dealer will always do the cutting. In games where the deal is passed, the cut is customarily made by the player to the immediate right of the dealer. If the player to do the cutting is not a confederate, and 32 CHEATING WITH CARDS the dealer intends to cheat, the dealer must void the cut made by the player. 'reat/ 1. At )ing one method to cut is to crimp r1f or cards. "l,"itiii,'fl:;?:r",,, Usually the dearer will crimp thl bottom two o. ih..e rut a cards. Once this has been.accomplished, the dealer will give this the cards one more cut. When the cards;.. p;.;;lr, rro,.,, leal- the or player for cutting, it's hopefur the ..i*p.J ca.Js^wilt hem influence the cut, meining the player cutting- will make the cut at the crimp. rrks. Another method to void a cut is switching the cut. This than slight of hand is difficult 'e unless practiced. what the dearer on will do is pigk up the deck one haif at a time and place them together as if it were a genuine cut, but , the wilr then leive the top half of the deck slightly off center. rff1e. As the deck is being placed togetheq, the dearer wilr sride ; the the little {lnger of the aeit nana bEtween the deck halves. As the deck hand is raised to deal, the dealer :aier will wrap tne fin_ gers of the deck hand around the top This harf of the de&. tn une smooth motion the. fingers will pull the cards off the top ur.,a etely slide them under the bottom. r'rris entire motion nupfJr-,, i., less than the brink_of an eye. professionals rIom using tfrii tactic practice evl1y day. ]ust a few days off from : pot using ini, *r"." ver can spell disaster during a gime. redi- :ck a DEALING once the cards have been marked and introduced into the game/ they have to m.ake their way to the playe.s. O"uii"g i, the method to get cards to the playlrs. ;vays It can't be said enough: fo effecii,rely master the art of cheat_ .ut is ing takes hours ,p9, hours of praciice. people who have rf the attempted to cheat using methods explained in thi; book without , and practice, have ended up in some rather embarrassing siilatior-,;. 33 THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOX Cold Deck Dealing using a cold deck is one of the slickest and best money-making moves card cheats make. Introducing the cold deck is the highlight of a setup game, a game in which a mark has been invited to play and is now about to be fleeced. A cold deck, sometimes referred to as a coolel is a deck of cards that has been arranged prior to being introduced into the game. The cards are fixed to give the mark a very good hand. The only problem for the mark is that someone at the table will have a better one. Under these circumstances the usual 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 play on 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 their money in the pot fist On occasion t(e mark"rarill get "rlorg-h. so excited that the money he brought to the game won't be enough. At this point the mark is usually willing to sign a promissory note for more money. The real excitement comes when the mark finds out the hand he's holding is second best. The expressions, mannerisms, and crazy noises are so outrageous it's hard to keep from laughing. It's very easy to set up a cold deck. The most important thing is to remember the exact position the mark will be in when the cold deck is introduced to the game. It would be a sad evening for the person setting up the cold deck if the mark got the high hand. For the purposes of demonstrating how to fix a cold deck, we'll pretend this is a five-card draw game. A setup game with three wealthy marks, a confederate player, and crooked dealer. The setup man is in another room fixing the cold deck. Players one and two are marks. Player three is the confederate, and player four is the third mark. The dealer is player number five. The hands are: player one, aces full; player two, kings full; player three, an eight,high 34 CHEATING WITI{ CARDS straight flush; player four gets best four jacks; and the dealer rvill have whatever is dealt. cold Counting starts.with cha . the first player left of the dealer. The setup man, who is.in the other robm, rced. win place tn" ioti,o*i.,g cards face up and on top of each ott,er,'ace, ["g, ,*. :k of spades, jack, any.card, ace, king, five of spades, jack, any", into carl, a9e, king, six of spades, jXck, any card. To keep the ;ood marks from thinking-rhe game is t the fixed, tir";;;; , .lri: *ru be throw-a*u, .ridr. means ; the ftis the next two cards the players get witt be^nothing con- ,rll'"r.n player will end up drawing two cards. After 10"no-count play cards have been count- ed.out and placed on the stack, i'ari- the next 10 cards will be as follows: deuce, threg,,sev9n of bet- spades, lack, ,"y card, deuce, three,. eight-of spades, ""__"", their "deck and any'no_iorr",tlrra. rhe remainder of the ir I get ptu."J on the p,e and the deck 't is ready. Let the game begin! be There are several -u/, u cold deck can be introduced 8na ihe game. into )mes One is to cut the legitimate deck, and just before ond er the deal_ picks up the deck to deal, he sneezes 'e so 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. lant is swiftly The switch made with the old deck going into the re in chief. Another handker_ player can also diltract the mark at that bea by asking 1om5nt for a light, or for some other valid reason. : the Another method is to harie a confederate player next to the dealer hold the cotd :old deck. When the deatei ;h" the deck to cut, the player makes "if;;r ;i"y". :tup ihe switcfr. Again,-' ^'ii,s a good idea to distract the mark ---- and during this procesr. ;the Dealing From :e is the Bottom Dealing from the bottom The . of the deck is as old as cards themselves. At one time it was the 0ne/ most popular method of cheatingin private games. In righ today,s environment the use of bottom 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 for two reasons: to keep the bottom card from being exposed during the game and to prevent the dealer from deiling f.o* the bottom. The card is usually made of a hard plastic and is thicker than the playing cards. Several manu?acturers are now including cut cards with their new decks. To deal from the bottom, the dealer uses the little finger of the dealing hand to push the bottom card forward. Ai the dealer begins to deal, the index finger of the dealing hand will pull the bottom card out. Once the card is out, the dealer will pinch the card with the index finger and thumb and pitch it to the intended player. The entire move takes only a split second to perform. Dealing Seconds Dealing seconds is now the most popular method of cheating while dealing. I've heard some people mistakenly explain that dealing seconds was somehow piacing discards back in the deck and dealing them out again durinf the same hand. The term "dealing seconds" comes from a deiler,s abil- ity to deal the second card in the deck as opposed to the top card. A mechanic can deal the second card as fast and as smooth as the top card. It is almost impossible to see. About the only way to catch a pro dealing seconds is to catch the move on camera. Even then it takes a good surveillance oper_ ator several runs of the tape in slow motion to catch it. The mechanic can also deal almost any card from the declg at any given time, in the same manner. Dealing a third, fourth, or more card from the top is still called dealing seconds. It would seem reasonable that if the dealer dealt the third card in the deck, it would be called dealing thirds, but it,s not. One reason for dealing seconds is to give a designated player cards needed to make a winning hand. It,s also used to keep other players from getting cards needed to make a winning hand. Knowing how to deal seconds is not enough. 36 CHEATING W]TH CARDS tmes for A pro dealer must also have thorough knowledge of the sxposed g1*..., knowledge of the players, and complete obseivation of ng fuom what's happening in the gr*". A top_notch mechanic will use ic and is the method of dearing seionds weri before ."rorii"g io a"ur- rers are ing with marked cards, esp.ecially in a high_stuf.", g'rr,,.. fL" chance of being caught aeiting seconds is"almost lnger of ,iT, *t chances of getting caught with-marked cards ir "r"u, . .\s the ;";h hig;"r. rq hand e dealer dearing r..o,-rarP*ltfiXf,n" . .wh.". use of marked cards, a mb and dealer has io know which cards are about to be deart. To do s only a this, the dealer uses a method ,,peeking.- called f""k"g i, u method that takes place-while the game is iiprogr"rr."Or," method of peeking is. ca,ed a "top p"eek." The d"utE, is-going to take a look at the top card. thod To do this, the deri".^*ifiorc of the deck hand and Ue.na it slightly ,takenly down toward the top of the.table. Using the rhumb of"the deafing ha;;;;h; ji,rf., liscards pulls the top card back just enough to expose the reft corner 1e same of the card. After peeking, the dEaler pushes ihe card back r's abil- with the thumb. The entiie motion takis a fuaction of u-r".- the top ond' The dealer will sometimes take a peak at more than one and as of the cards. An example would be the clealer who wants to . About know what the third cird in the deck wourd be, so the rtch the would dearer use the thumb to pull back three cards instead :e oper- of one. A reason the dealer would want to know what it. The the third card might be, for example, would be if the ai any tf,ta piaye. to " receive a card has a flush draw showing. The first ptu rth, or e. is the dealer's confederate and.has srgnarJd n. r.'l, ,ii.iG..a. rnds. It Know-rng a flush beats a straight, tf.,"" a*f., a;;il ;;.*. rd card third +". jh: player the card ieeded to fill the flush. Shoufd ot. the dealer see the third card is not the card needed to make .gnated the flush, the dealer wilr continue without dealing u seco,d. ;o used If the dealer peeks and sees the card is one that,s ieeded. the make a dealer will have to take guick peek at the second ur,J top 'nough. cards' I 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 are ones that will complete the flush, the third player gets the flush. 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 easy for other players to spot. The back door peek is similar in method to the top peek. The difference is the thumb is used to lift the cards rather than pull them. Player Peek Many times a dealer will want to show a confederate what the next card will be. There are many instances when dealers and confederate players will act together in a card room game of Texas Hold'Em, and this is probably the only cheat players can continually use and not get caughi doing it. The ideal situ- ation is for the confederate player to sit to the immediate right of the deale4 if the dealer is right-handed. Slightly pulling on the two top cards with the thumb will expose the next card to be dealt. The second card is exposed because in card room games the top card is always theburn card. SIGNATS Signals aren't worth bothering with if they haven't been organized and practiced prior to a game. Signals between a dealer and a player, and player to playeq, are very effective if done properly. Dealer to Player Head nods are the best signals from a dealer to a player. It is very rare, unprofessional, and stupid for a dealer to give information by talking. Cameras watch a dealer's hands but rarely watch the dealer's head. Head nods should be quick. The signal is made only at the first point of eye contact between the dealer and confederate. In a poker game, it's 38 CHEATING WITH CARDS rds are very easy for the dealer to see the hands of the players to the ets the immediate_right or immediate left. For exampte, tne player to I the immediate right of the dealer is betting u.a-u'J'rg u, peek." though he has a flush. ,S A head nod to a confederate could EASY the player does Tuu-r have the flush. A sright head motion to iilar in the left means no flush, and a head motion to the reft and ,S USed right means the hand is higher than a flush. a quict neaa motion of 7/4 inch is enough. It,s almost like'u.,"rrom twitch. There are many other ways to signal and just as many different meanings. Itis sometimes best to form your own by e what using your imagination. Cealers 1 game Flayer to Dealer rlayers The need for a player to signal the dealer is rather limited. al situ- Prearranged hand:19"ul-, froir the player could designate a re right certain value or suit the player needs. t(e dearer.o"iJ'p""t ut Iilg on the first few cards and see iidealing seconds rvouid be in order. card to i room rhis is rhe most *Li",'r1r'"".:ii"';i" a, or poker. sisnars are used to tell 0ne another the strength or'weaknels of :rands. There are signals to trap anothei plaver ,ig"rf, identifying the value of anothei ^"a 't player,s hand. nUyers?no been are confederates and who sit,,.*i toeach othe*igr,Ju.,ae, ;he.table ,\-een a with leg finger pokes, and elLow jabs. ctive iVhispering .lop:, if is a method ,r.j by'urrlateurs and it,s easily letected 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 aver. It player the card he or another player may need. to give There are as many signals as imaginations can come up rds but 'rith' The way to use them undetecteiis to practi."iotll.,., :r'ith professional quick. a confederate. cheats will meet in"bath- :ooms :ontact to discuss cha,ges in signals or discuss different ne, it's -.trategies during the course of the game. 39 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 blackjack honestly, but there's no such thing as winning consistently at blackjack and doing it honestly. The bottom line is, there are i only ways to increase the odds of not losing as much. There is I no sure system that will win at any game where the math- ematical odds are in the house's favor. NONE! It's impossi- I ble. Las Vegas has spent untold millions in advertising, brainwashing the public with pictures of people winning against the odds. Hollywood does its part by making movies where the entire plot centers around someone beating the system. In reality, it can't be done. There are some people who do walk away with winnings. The only true winners I know of are those players who are lucky enough to win the first time and never play again. A Short Story I'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 go gambling together. We went to a casino called Foxy's Firehouse, a place no longer in operation that *ur ,.ros ih" street fuom ihe Sahara. Our luck was excellent, and we were all betting the lirnit, which \vas a whopping $25 a hand. On this one particular hand, an associate and I both had hands totaling 15 (a face card and a five). As the dealer turned to the first player, rny friend turned and whispeted, "Let's slvitch cards." Without hesitation we did it: we slid each other a card. The dealer caught us and immediately began bellowing for the floor man. The floor man arrived and was told what happened. Of course we both denied any such action took place. The floor man instructed the dealer to turn over our 40 CHEATING WITH CARDS To everyone,s :r1q: surprise, especially us, we were both holding hands totaling ts 1we haa'switched fives;. s black- rr,. noo. man shook his head and walked away. re hun- rckjack entiy at rhere's been lots .r";li*:;i#,L"r, card counters, casi- rere are nos banning card counters, and card counters suing casinos fhere is over being ejected. It's nothing more than another ,&.rr,. uy : math- casinos, making people think there really is a system io *ir_,. lpossi- All counting cards d-oes for the player is increase the chances rtising, of getting a winning hand and lJwe.ing the odds for the 'inning house. No matter whit happ.r-,r, ur-,J no matter how much is movies sliced off the house,s odds, itr. frorr" always has the *irri"g ing the percentage over the long run. people Counting cards wolks this way. Concentrating nners I gam: on the and keeping track of the .uid, atready ,vin the ,rl?J, ,r,. counter has a good idea of what cards u." i"It If a number i*ii"l..r of low cards have been played, the deck bedch.in high wiil cards.. This gives tn" .orr-,t"r a better oj beatil8 chance or tying the deaier. This is a very simplified ck was sion ver_ of how counting works, but it,s a good in jail. This is,what iifrrirrti"*. peopre who b"rierre in card corrnters fail dtogo you. The to teit counter may know there are lots of trigh Foxy's cards left or tow to be played but doesn,t know the order 'oss the they in which will come. Unless the counter has X_rav vision, -e were spells "loser." it still nd. On The house has.various options to hands offset the meager advantage the counter t"; ,h" ,l";:;;ffii"g I to the four decks llr.oeating of cards is- a big o"". Wi"r" single ciecks slvitch the are used, house can have the dfaler shuffle aftei.ru.y frr"a. rther a method ift, not onlv stops a counter from having ui udrr;rug., lowing but increases the odds for th; hil;. Aguir, the idea that card C what counting is a surefire way to beat the frouse, is nothing more ,n took than a myth. -er our 4A THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK Top Card Peeks and Dealer Gheats To 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, nothing can stand in the way of making money except getting caught. It is almost impossible to get caught at this cheat, when it's done right. To make this cheat work, the dealer has to be proficient in dealing seconds, peeking, and signaling to the confederate player. The main reason this cheat works so well is that casi- nos are now dealing players' cards face up. This is to keep players 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 (last player to act). This gives the dealer ample opportunity to peek at various cards before dealing to the confederate. When it becomes the confederate's turn to act, all a confederate has to do is watch for head signals from the dealer. Through head signals the dealer is going to tell the ptrayer to either take a hit or stand. The dealer knows what the player's total is, and the dealer knows what the next two or three cards are in the deck. 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 10 and the dealer knows his count is iess than 17. The dealer will signal the player to double down. No matter what the player catches, the dealer will deal himself a busting hand. In many cases the dealer knows where a 10-count card or ace is in the deck. On the first round the confederate catches a 10. The next card the player catches is an ace. Just 20 minutes at 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 from the hand. A shoe nullifies this cheat. Guess where it's com- 42 CHEATING WITH CARDS mon to see a dealer dealing 'ould from the hand. you,re right: the be $100 and higher tables. heating, r- a casi- nothing palmins cards ii, bh.:k?jH::*" used to be an effective caught. way for players to cheat *,e -hen r,oule. roauy, ,.,or.,u J ir.,"^iujo. it's establishments I klow of allow ptuy.., to touch the cards; dealer does the it all. To cheat by p;l"ii;g cards, have a playerwould icient in to be in a orivate gu^i,;; i;; imaller .uri,o ederate playe-rs to Ioolg'hota, allowing an"d *oiil, *lih the cards. rat casi- private games Ygrt use standard playing cards manufac_ io keep tured by Bicycle or Bee, which.;l; eas,y obtained at most :layers' stores. Prior to attending a private gu*. a sharp will open several decks of cards irom differEnt manufacturers and ase (last remove the face cards and aces. These are what the cheat inity to take to the_ game. w,r yporl ur.i"uf, tn. cheat will notice what :. trVhen type of cards are O"rlr used and .ur", ptu.. the proper .r.a, i., rate has the desired pocket, sletve, or other co'mfortable hiding place. 3h head At various times during tne course of the game, tfie sharp ke a hit can palm an undesired cari u"a r"prr.. it with a card needed and the to make 20 or 21. : in the Cisa9, has 21. and p,*i.,gffitl$o , .ilpqrrg ," be an effective wav ro rt of 10 beat the house. The samJtning applie;;dp;il'r:,;;k ,ler will palming. Players, hands ," rr.",iuiJ*.i r.,.u, the chips or cards , player once the dealer begrns to deal. tn p.ir.ai" games where players are allowed to hold-their cards, .*rr"-r and palming are very card or effective ways to increase or decr"ise the original bet. rtches a Once the player has looked at tf,e hana, a decision can be ninutes made to cup or palm the chips. Ilthe player had a solid 2O nd-doi- the correct action would be to cap tt U"t (add more chips en bet- the bet). To do " to this, a pllr-er pri"i, A; .ilprl" o" ,oJ"o?o rg from deposits them on top of in. t"t ,r ttr" cards are praced S COM- on the table. back 43 t THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK This action is one complete, fast, and fluid motion. Should the player see the hand being a possible lose4, the player can take the opposite action and remove chips from the original bet. To do this, the player places the cards next to the bet. Immediately after releasing- the cards, the player palms a portion of the chips as the hand passes over the bet. The best move on a poker pot by a dealer is palming chips from the pot. When all the bets are placed, the dealei will drag all the money into the center of the table. As this is being done, the dealer can palm several chips and deposit them on his own stack. These actions should be practiced before attempting them d.uring ac_tual play. A mistake while performing this type of cheat could spell disaster. Dealing Seconds Dealing 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 will deal at any table.) Dealing seconds in blackjack uses the same methods explained earlier in the chapter. Some players who are in with dealers follow the dealer to different tables. This practice has to be done with caution. pit bosses observe players who travel about. It,s wise to follow a dealer to every other table. POKER The term " fottt flusher" is said to have originated from poker. To many people it means a cheat or swindler. In pokeq, it's a player who draws to a four-card flush and doesn,t catch. The card caught is the same color as the four-flush suit, such as a player drawing to four clubs receiving a spade instead of the needed club. When it,s time to sho* the best hand, this player might say, "I got a flush.,, In many cases the 44 CHEATING WITH CARDS lotion. other players ;e{, the throw in their hands, not even looking flush. This at the )s from is what the cheat i, fu.,f.ir.,g other on. In som-" .uru, players may want to see next to it. If that happens, the cheat will lay down thl hand *irh;ii player four clubs showing and a portion of the fifth card, e bet. the spadf which will be revealed just enough to allow the llming players';;. that it,s a black no one questions card. If dealer the flush, ihe cheat gets the pot_ challenges the Ii , fiuy". ; flush ana mates inl .r,"ut this is revealing spread the iards, ieposit the spade, the cheat.u, ,uy, "Wh;,f tn""ghtih"a a flush. Sorry.,, g them ype of sp ra shin g,n" p g::'i:TlfJ.[ ""?,*, p ra yers, rrom neighbors playing Friday.nignt pot*i ", Lard to high_stakes games. rooms have u ,p".ifi. iut"'r"ja.aing ini, p.r.ri?.,r.a dealers who have er can t nutes. .q_",,iti;;;#;i""1.[:fr fl #:,r.:,*:",,I""',::;lmtf the sharp will toss chips into er will the ce;ter of the pot and say, tfir anybodyl, I Same ::11 :", ngtll,itis sr"r, exactly how many chrps were tossed into-the pot. li tnJUet was S1-0, tf," could have tossed piuy", aler to $I, a'player *ho ao., this should politely warned and1" told be cn. Pit th; piop.; iuy is to prace the bet chips and the Ilow a fe,lwee1.his p"r.'fni, *uy .r.ryone at the table can see the bet. If the practlce continuei, tn. pfuy., ,f.,""f,a U" asked to leave the game. i from poke4 lesn't h suit ;pade e best es the 45 r CHAPTER 3 SIOT TYIAGHINES Slots are popular many reasons, them- {9r but one that keeps truly popular is the size'of if,"i, the day, ;u.tpots. Any time of a person can walk into a L* VJ;;;:;;J,d few coins in their pocket i,rrr, and in *i.rt", become a million_ aire. No other game of chance i" ,f," *o.ld-gives a player opportunity to win the millions with a bet ot a tew nickels. For the casino industry, ,fot *r.tines are aoufie_eagea swords. On one side, slots i." tf,"i. U.ead and butter. othet, slots are On the the easiest and most p.ofituble for report"d cheats. The li:g-"_',_,:'se.s bt ;;i;;;." from slot machine The biggest reporteh loss I ru.u, rnvolved,t-t1T was a srot scam that a team of cheats beating *re staraust of dollars. out of millions All slot scams of this"size have mon: one thing in com_ there has to be someone on the inside providing help to someone on the outside. I,m not saying there aren,t methods of cheating done by scam artists on their own, but the and most damaaing- largest losses ," .rrm are carried out with inside h-erp' rn ttiir lr"ropt* r;ll;;j;il" about how r know firsrhand slot cheating scams and one good - in" particular that has a chance of stiligoing on today. ONE.ARTYIED BANDITS There are countless stories on how slot machines got name "one-armed bandits.,, the 8""" aiCupone is credited with 47 THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK this one. According to this particular story, Al and a few of his associates were pracing slot machinls in the Mineora Hotel, a hotel on the chain oi lakes in Lake County, Ilinois. It was during a conversation at the bar when one ofil,s associ- ates made a comment: "Look at those machines. They look like a bunch of bandits with one arm, backea up aga#ri tnu wall waiting to take on the world.,, It was Al who" laughed the loudest and said, "ya, that,s what they are all .igni,?."_ armed bandits." Slot machines have made some major advancements since the days of Al Cap-one. ]oday, machines are run by computer chips. Freewheeling slots are almost obsorete. with the introduction of electronic and computer_generated machines, 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 long run. Don't stick around longer than necessary. Collect your winnings from the tray and leave. Only go to the casi_ no cage or bartender to cash out when i-t,s absolutely necessary. n J. Don't take unnecessary risks. It,s better to leave the machine with credits on it than stick around and get caught. If someone is continuously watching or win_ dering by, leave. 4. Keep everything a secret. Never brag to anyone about any part of the operation. Only thosb directly involved should have any knowledge or discussion about the operation. 5. Spend time where the scam is to take place. Look 48 SLOT MACHINES ,w of I around and watch the teola employees, look for cameras, f and watch as the mechanic'fixes ris. It a machine. Note what I takes place. Does the machine sound ;soci- ; an alarm when i it's opened, or does look a light on top of the _u.f,i.,e Aurf, on and off? Look for a-,,blind,, t the irea. (Every casino or bar has machines that are ghed difficult to watch.) 6. If a particular casino becomes one- an easy mark, check the shift schedules. Many professionals will hit an --""easy mark three times in ents one day, once on 7. Treat these scams "u.n,niirl-' nby as a fuli_time iob so that you will gain an air of professionalism with sooner. ated THE FIRST SLOT CHEATING According to slot machine history, the first slot machine was invented by a man named Charl-ey Fey. In the late 1g00s he introduced a machine fol- i" u Su. frurrcisco bar. It would line up various symbols, but the payoff wasn,t in coins. Instead it allowed the winner to seleit a free drink. rt before *ur.Ji L.rg someone figured out a way to cheat. fnis particutar machine didn't have glass covering the reels. When the bar_ tender was busy or looking the othJr way, all the cheat had to *T use a finger 1o and st6p the reels on a winning combina_ tion. Soon, machines were altered to pay coins instead drinks, of and glass was placed over the reels. No sooner than the *r::t'*lrtolaced over the reers than someone devised the cheating *"ihod known u, ,,diiilir.,o,, The cheat would drill small toles through the metal .rri?g just under the glass in each of the three windows. The cheat would poke a small, stiff wire through .,"*ty'a.iff"a hole and-stop each "u.t, reel on a winning'combination. To keep owners, 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 SYMBOL WINDOWS HANDLE / WINNING COIN PAYOFF TRAY HOPPER AREA INSIDE MACHINE The aboae diagram represents an anerage slot machine and some of its more important parts. 50 SIOT MACHINES then return PROGRESSIVE anotfl ,19 repeat the . jACKPOT 9uy operation. Drilling is still in use on a much. smrtte, \!INDOW J.J", usually in small out_of_ the-way praces stilr using rr"u*n.uri.,g slots. In places these machines where are arifii"j t rs been made of ,founi, easy with battery_poweredodritrs and extremely PAYOFF :}iilff1rr,on good . SYMBOL WINDOWS Alo,h:r popurar slots is spooning. 5pooning"._ is easy Tj!:"#liuruns 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 coins hr: rl"_qry. The onty drawbu.kto;ru, merhod is rhe machine only holds a smallamor"t of .oi.,, ir.,n" shoot. The cheat to visit several machines has L,,* before r";ki;g a decent profit. SLOT PARADISE Las Vegas is the srot cheat's Mecca. professionar can hit a different cheats slot machi"" ;;;;y day of the over a year and week for never set foot in the same place same cheats twice. Those could start over the next year places and hit the same agairy this time o" u aff"r"* i,if,. Almost every casi_ no, bal, motel, hotel, and restau.r"itu"" ,nr""'riiirJ ? means the same cheats if,r, could continue never for ttrree yllr, ,"a see the same employees twice. HOPPER AREA THE STRING AND THE INSIDE GOIN r\4ACHINE la-ugh at this_next scam, .Pol', but the string on the coin method.really works. Earlier .f,"ut, *orld drill a hole in a coin 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 click is heard, then pulled almost rff ,n. _ly out and lowered into 51 THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBTER'S HANDBOOT( STRING APPROXIMATELY 8" NOTE: CIRCUMFER- ENCE OF HANDLE CI' NOT BE MORE THAI. THE THICKNESS OF THE COIN l the machine again until another click is heard. This must be repeated as often as it takes to meet the machine,s maximum coin limit. To speed up this process, cheats replace the string with a handle. This allows the coin to be forced up and down in the slot rapidly. This is another cheat that should be reserved for out- of-the-way casinos and bars. Major casinos have surveillance cameras that catch this type of operation easily. 52 SIOT MACHINES THE RATCHET METHOD The ratchet method is another scheme that works we, on freewheeling machines. After pil.i;; a coin in the machine, the,cheat puils the handle rrJ-rf-r",-,t, the feel of the first click. Then, with a powerful p"ff, tt e cheat rams the handle down. It's common to repeat ihir'r"rr..ul times before ing the catch on break_ the insiie handle mechanism. This what locks the catch is handle in place prlo, to each play. catch is Once the broken, the handle ca, bi frir"a witho,urrisi"f ."i"r. P^rofessionals. will play the U.ot#,"uchine just long enough TE: to CIRCUMFER. win a few hundred dollars, then leave. CE OF HANDLE CI' T BE MORE THA\ E THICKNESS OF RIIYTHM METHOD E COIN For a short oeriod, cheats used "rhythm what was known as the method.,, This type .f,"l, ras exclusively machines used on with timins. q3-ri, ny"f ma.ipulufi;il;J#lllrn" cheat could figure ortite ti_"ih" ro.[i.,g pr*l""rra and stop the reels. "*rit ::l."rr,: This knowt"age allowed the to further manipulate cheat the handre and force the reels to a winning combination. fa, on Casinos u".ur.,. wise to this method and slot machine companies added a timing device that would alternate the times the l0cking pins would rerease stop the reels. and JUST TAKE THE WHOLE THING lust be Probably the boldest move tximum . I,ve ever heard of was a team of slot cheats who went e string to a smaller casino just off tne Vegrs Strip' TWo of the men went inside u"a ur,otrlJ"ur.i."i up truck to the enrrance. r the slot The moment the;;;;i,'.*"alin""1lo two inside men for out- wenr to a maching by th" ;;;;, ;p, and carried it to the truck. iliJd;; ,-eillance After riiJi"g the machine into the bed of the truck, the two hopped in tie bed next to it. Off 53 THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK they went, and to this day I've never heard of these men being caught. LOCK PICKING i A good lock picker can make excellent money picking locks on slot machines. This, too, should be reserved for small, out-of-the-way casinos and bars. Larger casinos have alarms that sound when machines are opened, but smaller places rarely do. A professional cheat will sit and watch a casino's operation for extended periods of time, taking notes on how the machines open, if there are any alarms, and who does the mechanical work. Many small places, especially bars, have contracts with slot repair companies. If a machine needs repaiq, a call has to be placed to the repair company. lt takes anywhere from a half hour to several hours for the mechanic to arrive. This window of time makes it easy for a cheat to pick the lock, open the machine, and empty the hop- per. (The hopper holds the coins and can be accessed from the open door.) Quarter machines hold an average of $300 in coins. A dollar machine will hold around 91,200. It's difficult leaving with a large amount of coins all at once. A favorite method to remedy this problem is to use a female accomplice. Her job is to carry a large, heavy-duty purse and stand next to the player while he pretends to play. Little by little, the player places coins in the accomplice's purse. Standing next to the playeq, the accomplice also serves as a lookout. Usually the accomplice will make several trips to their car. Each trip is to empty the bag into a box concealed in the trunk. Most cheats who pick locks and open the machines shy away from setting the machine on winning combinations, although it's easy to do and empties the machine faster. Why wouldn't a cheat want to empty the machine faster? Each time a winning combination comes up, bells ring. The bigger the jackpot, the longer the bells ring. People get curious when bells ring for 54 SLOT MACHINES lese men extended periods of time and will investigate. One thing a cheat doesn't want is someone i""urtigffi;r;;;"r;iil". It's much safer to empty the machine a little at a time. This is another example whergless ends up biing*orr. r picking SLUGS :rved for nos have Using slugs is another , easy way to cheat machines. The t smaller cheapest slugs are lead, which it on" ,i-. There's *"." widely used. watch a one drawback to using feai sfugs,';;#; il ;i., ing notes weight. It takes some super-nea[r-auty pants to carry a pocket and who load of Iead slugs. ;i;;, the most popular. specially They are easv to mateTor^V,5opp"i ".. ana #"igt ah;';*. as coins. The onry machine drawback is lhat coDper coins ai more expensive to produce. npany. lt Professional cfieats use caution when using slugs. As s for the asy for a the hop- ;ed from f 5300 in difficult favorite omplice. rnd next ittle, the ing next Usuaily :h trip is k. Most ay from ,ugh it's uldn't a ,vinning pot, the ring for € TRIP LEVER WHICH RELEASES COINS INTO HOPPER 55 THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOI( coins are played, they are held in a coin shoot. As each coin is placed in the slot, the last coin in the shoot is pushed out and falls into the hopper. If slugs are used, they will be in the coin shoot until a series of genuine coins are deposited and have pushed all slugs into the hopper. Professionals who know this will immediately walk out of the building if the machine becomes stuck while using slugs. Professionals will also pick up their winnings and leave if slugs begin dropping into the coin 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 operations because they just can't keep an eye on all employees all the time. Employees working with confederates to cheat a casino can break the bank. What causes most inside scams to become detected and fail is greed. Inside operations are almost impos- sible to detect. When professional thieves are patient ind scam a little at a time, their operations last for years. THE IONG HAUL Long-range planning has become popular with big-time slot cheats. These cheats form organizations. Several members will attend slot mechanic school and learn to repair slot machines. Good slot mechanics can find work anywhere in the world where there are slot machines. Schooling takes about three months. After graduation, schools find jobs for their graduates. During the apprenticeship, apprentices will pick up on different methods of cheating. Excellent methods on cheating slot machines are common shop talk among jour- neyman mechanics. All apprentices have to do is watch and 56 SIOT MACH!NES 1COln rS listen. After a year or two of working as apprentice mechanics, out and organization members will begin applyinglo other casinos for the coin work- They will only accept a job *t"* they wilr be working rd have togetheq, which is fairly easy. once they stirt work togethe4, o know the sky is the limit.and witj stay that way if they doi,t get nachine gregdy: Some organizations have found that moving to a new lso pick casino location every few years is to their advantagel into the FAKE JACKPOTS r to U.S. tan coP- . .O.. inside job, which worked great for several years, was a fake jackpot payoff scam. It would probably be in operation today if it wasn't for one member losing his cool. Heihought he was short-changed-on a payoff he received. Instead of tiy_ ing to work it out with the other members, he went to gam_ rations ing authorities and spilled the beans. ; all the . The,organization consisted of five people: a slot mechan_ ic, slot r casino floor mary slot change person, i seiurity officeq, and a become confederate The- casino s procedure -player. for a jackpot pay_ impos- off over $300 required that the firit four be present auring tne :nt and payoff. 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 a machine with a_payoff between g1,100 and $1,200, sit'down, rig-time and begin play. Picking a machine with a payoff of this value Lembers Ilans maximum payoff without a recordbeing made to the air slot IRS, and a record of the player,s name would ilso be avoid_ 'here in ed. security officers in thiJ casino had several duties. one g takes was- helping in the surveillance room. During the period sur_ iobs for veillance was watching the casino away from th! machine, ces will the security officer in on the scam would come out on the rethods floor-and signal the floor man that it was all right to go rg jour- ahead. The floor man would signal the change peiror, und tch and the 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 casino cashieq, sign the necessary forms, and pick .ri tt. money. The mechanic would reset the progressive lactpbt, sign the'sign_ off card inside the machine, ind the ihange p"iro., *oita Tuf" the cash-payoff to the confederate. Uvelyone performed their duty and no one else in the casino wai the wiser. This took place an average of 3 times a night. At the end of their shift, the inside members of the org-anization would meet with the confederate at a local bar and'split the money. When casino managers, gaming ofiicials, and the police finished their investigation, they est-imated this one orginiza- tion had taken the casino for approximately g2,145,00dover a 2 1/-2-year period. Divide tnii by five, ind each member made $429,000. That comes out to $g,aOO a week. WORKING TOGETHER Some bartenders in Las Vegas and the contracted mechanic working for the bar work together on a scam. During early morning hours on weekday"s, when the bar is empty, the mechanic will casually stop by for a visit. The mechanic has keys for every machine irrthe bar. Together the bartender and mecharyc pick out the best machinE, usually with the highest payolf. Using the key, the mechanic opens it and forces the winning jackpot combination to .o*. ,p. Jackpots,on progressive bar machines can run in the high thousands. The mechanic leaves immediately and the bar- tender calls the coin company who owns the machine. They in turn send a representative to pay the bartender. Because most bars allow their employeeJto pray the machines, this doesn't come under suspiclon CHEAT THE CUSTOMERS There was a bar owner who attracted customers to his bar 58 il SLOT MACHTNES nachine. because of large- slot machine jackpots. 3 casino He owned his machines and did his own mechanical ney. The work. He fixed his progressive machines so it was impossible he sign- for a customer to hit the jackpot. When a machine r would ,"i.h.d a large ,*o""i, ,"a there were no customers, he wourd rformed ret his bartender go home. once the bar was completety empty, ;er. This h. ;;;l;,;;1t"'iu.r_ pot combination to appear on the of their machine. Wh";;.;riJr,u. did come in, or -hun his relief bartender arrived, ld meet machine the would st,l be locked on the jackpot. This would serve as proof that someone reauy hit it. He would tell his e police customers and bartender that it was a tourist who just hap_ :ganiza- pened by and hit it. J over a Owners of a bar close to the University of Nevada used a nember similar scam' The owners owned their machines and set the machines so that orogressive jackpots were practically impos_ sible to hit' Most of Ihe custo*"i, *"r" co,ege the students, so bar was usually empty in the early *Irninf f,orrr. During periods when the :racted bar was empty, the owners would reset the progressive payoff r scam. back to iis beginni.,j. itur" cheats went so far as to post a ,,winners : bar is list,, and would use fake names for winners. 'io keep ;it. The the students interestea, tt were incentives such as drawings irer the for rarge ."rrr "r" each hour of p_lay a player f.L],.^ro. usually *oirta receive a ticket for the drawing' The drawing wouldn't rpens it take place until all ti.tut, The last me up. giIT.r*,ry. ticket was alway, gir"., ,*uy rvnen:::: the bar was empty. posted rules stated the d"rawing was re high to take place immediitety he bar- after the last ticket was given iway. When customers arrived :. They posted as the winner would be the name of someone iecause no one knew. es, this A PERSOilAt EXPERIENCE Most professionally organized slot scams involve very few people. For obviom r.uior,r lesris bette4 but occasionar_ ly there's an exception his bar to the rule. 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 had known each other for about three years when one day one of them approached me, "We stumbled on a way to make machines 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 plan was for me to come to the casino at a prearranged time. Upon arrival I would go directly to one of several bars and wait. They would find me. One of them would pass by the bar and catch my eye. If I saw him nod yes, I would get up from the bar and follow him, at a distance. If the signal was no, I could do what I wanted the rest of the evening; the deal was off. When the deal was on, I would follow the mechanic through the casino, sometimes for a half hour. He would finally take me past a series of slot machines and would come to the other mechanic, who was working on a machine. I would stop and begin playing the machine next to the mechanic. When I began play, the mechanic would close the door to his machine and leave. I would immediately move over 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 were between $20 and a $100 each time. It would take about a half hour to empty the machine. The floor man, who wasn,t in on the scam, would come to the machine and authorize the machine to be filied. I would repeat the operation once the machine was filled. When the machine emptied again, the floor man would come over and authorize another fin. efter the machine was empty for the third time, the floor man marked the machine out of service, and I was politely asked to play another machine. This was standard operating proce- dure, but instead of playing another machine I would leave 60 SIOT MACH]NES mechan- and go home. In all I would take about $3,000 out of the We had machine. I would do this an average of twice u *l"f u.,a ,n. ry one of *?l"I was split three ways. On occasion, this scam was to make pulled twice in the same evening. l casino, Mnnings taken from a rn"".hi.ru each time were small ve do it. payoffs. Even though the total amount was over 91,200, there .e in set- wouldn't be a recoid to the IRS or a record of my na-me it. I did- casino log. in a lhe plan I came to find out later that there were at least 10 of us re. Upon acting as confederates. I worked this scam for armost nd wait. years. This two means approximately g5,000,000 was bar and during taken, just rhe period I-was inrotrlal 6r,e duy r rom the operation ** i"ia tn" was coming to a halt: one of the *".hu.ri.r'*r, , I could goilg to retire, at age 31. ; off. sgvgral years laier ., I had a conversation with the mechanic echanic that didn't retire. During tn".or.,rr.rrltion I found out r would trained ,,fix,, that he three other mecf,anics how to machi^"r. ld come turn went on ft i., to different casinos, so who knows no* _u^y"y chine. I mechanics they,ve trained. To this day, no one I,ve talked to t to the has ever heard of anyone being .r"jit in ihis scam, and it,s lose the very possible it continues to thil dayl v move Tryilq to keep employees from stealing under edible:. stances like circum_ this, one caiino in Las Vegas" nu" : partic- emptoyees iorUiiaur., of certain d epartment, Iro# fs were *;.;il; l"r,n employees of other The Imperial palace rt a half gone to _depaitments. has the point of selting rules gover.,i.g the 1t in on its employees. dating of 'ize the nce the COMPUTER.RUN SLOTS lin, the ll. After It takes the help of someone on the inside to effectively or man scam^ - a modern computer slot machine. persons involved in y asked these scams have ,,The stited, more iechnical the machines i are made, the Proce- easier theyare to set up for a scam operation.,, d leave In one such operition, u *".hu.,ic in a r,otur "iu;oi 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. The difference between the authorized chip and the imported chip was 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. This would force the winning jackpot combination to appear. One day, the mechanic was in the slot repair department placing the box in a replacement machine. At the same time, a confederate entered the casino and began playing a predesig- nated machine. The confederate brought with him a special coin designed to jam the machine. When the machine jammed the confederate player complained to the floor man, who in turn called the mechanic. The mechanic arrived to investigate and, after careful examination, placed the machine out of ser- vice. He told the floor man that the machine needed major repairs and would have to be replaced. The mechanic left and returned with the machine containing the remote-controlled box. The moment the mechanic finished replacing the machine and closed the doof, the confederate began playing it. In his pocket the confederate carried the control box. About 10 minutes into play the confederate pushed the control box i button. Like magic, the four sevens lined up on the bottom line 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 to have the mechanic inspect the machine for any malfunction or cheating devices. Once the mechanic signs off that the machine was legit, the rest is history. VIDEO SLOTS One of the easiest methods of cheating a video gaming machine is the use of a "zapper." These zappers are known as stun guns, the ones advertised to stop an attacker in his tracks 62 I l I SLOT MACHINES a com- with a shock of severar hundred thousand volts, and are avail- ne. The able through catalogs advertising articles for self_defense. ed chip Video machines are design""d to trbrfrt" *i^Jr,j, *nu, ackpot. the player hits winnirrg .oribi.,ations. Tabulated w-innings motely, are noted on the screen under the heading "...ai;.) Fo, p. This example, if a player hits a wiTing combinatYo"-if,"lfry, +o r. coins, under the heading credits, tf,e machine will airff"y tn" utment number 40. If the prayei placed another series of coins in the time, a machine and was to hii another 40 credits, the machine edesig- would taburate another 40 and display g0 credits. It,s during special the period the machine is tabulating credits that the ,upp", rmmed Giving 1vorks.. the machine a shot fr"om the str., gr.t, o" who in the- edge, f"Jt will disrupt the tabulating process. The machine :stigate will continue addingcredits past the ioint it was r,rppor"a to of ser- stop' Most machines have a built-in safety system iriJ u"to- I major matically stops the machine at 500 credits, no matter what eft and h-appens. Then the machine runs through its progru*; to see rtrolled if it should still be adding additionar credits. Because there ng the isn't a winning combinati-on that warrants more credits, the rlaying calculator stops and no more credits are added. atay can About tinue. con- When another winning combinatio., upp""., and rol box the machine starts adding credits,-another shot rro." tt rottom will ,i;;gr" run up another 500 credits. To avoid problems" u.,a'tn" i5,000. possibility of getting caught, most professionals who use this a casi- method stop at this point, gather iheir winnings, and go to rs is to another bar or small casino io repeat the operation. On tion or a dol_ lar machine, winnings for one is-minute session at the 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 amlng Besides getting caught and sent to jail, there are other )wn as oown, sides to slot scams. These can be on the more seri_ tracks ous side. 63 THE PROFESSIONAT GAMBLER'S HANDBOOX ago, I was introduced - Je_ars to a man at the Red Fez bar, a local hangout just north of the Sahara Hotel on Las Vegas Boulevard. It turned out this individual had helped invent the,inner workings of video slot machines. Overihe years I had 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 began feeling 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 in his drivewayby aman hired by the video company owners. 64 CHAPTER 4 :ezbar, a ls Vegas GHEATING AT GRAPS d invent e years I 'impres- 8an pro- supplier. r impos- rs began fficials. the own- For more than 2,000 years, many sharp minds of the death in world have tried to. formulate systems to beat the craps lers. games. The problem is, there *ur., t any, there isn,t any, there will never and be any system to legitimately beat a game. I know craps two ways to win at craps. The first is extremely lucky being the first,time playing, and then ,r"rru. ing again. The 'Si;:" Orrr_ other. is cheating. I have absolutely expertise no 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 those used in to today,s ..up gu*"r, nrrr. been found in lgyptian tombs. Thii meanr aL. narre ueen around 2'500 years' at reast Archaeorogists have unearthed dice that .i*.ry show signs of alteratiois used to .n.rt. This mean, .t urii.,g at dice has been around for at teast i,SOO years. penalties for getting caught cheating during tf,rt p..iod are hard to imag_ ine. Those people had fretty hXrsh pJ.,utti", fo. ri"riir.,gl'ilrf of bread. There are numerous stories connected with where and s-t1led_craps in America. So*u ,uy New New11ho Orleans, others York, Detroit, and san wherever it's it started," one of America,s most popular'ra.rcisco. gambling gr_., il; 65 THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOX WHAT IS CRAPS? NOTICE: To a beginner, casino craps is sometimes difficult to understand. Those wha are interested in all the mechnnics of ihe crrps game should read material and batr 66 CHEATING AT CRAPS bets win. If the shooter rolls craps, the come )q sr o( ifficult to bets lose. If the shooter U l^u the craps rolls a number, the rch craps. come bet is placed on lW game. the front line (see dia- gram). That bet stays re craps there until either that llj : circles, particular number is o rolled again, which is U ; on the a winne4, or a seven is o .. shooter rolled, which is a loser. =S Don't come line. O' e shoot- This is the opposite of t, (This is the come line bet. Like nine, or the come bet, the in if, on don't come is bet after number pi, a point number is s+_ ;t roll (a made. If, on the next .vsU6 rter may roll after the bet, the :o winners shooter throws craps, .S^ he dice. the don't come 6et :peating immediately wins. If dice to the shooter throws a 9- seven/ the don't come *F e. If the bet immediately loses. ets win. If a number Ss- is rolled, L*S-B ven the the don't come bet is number placed on the back .:- re don't line (see diagram) and s if the stays there until the before shooter throws either a seven or the number. re point If a seven comes first, n/ come the don't come bet 67 THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK wins, if the number is rolled before a seven, the don,t come bet loses. These are just the basic and most popular bets made on a craps 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 only craps, sixes only craps, ace-deuce craps, eleven, and horn bets. Most casinos place limits on each individual bet. The Horseshoe Club in downtown Las Vegas is one of the only casinos I know of that has a continuously standing no-limit bet on craps. If a shooter wants to bring a million dollars and place 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. Crboked dice will not come up on the same numbei or the number the shooter wants every time the dice are thrown. Altering dice, gaffing a table, or making illegal throws change the oids of certain 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 up more often, and the two and twelve will come up the least. In legitimate games, there's only one *ay to make the two 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 aitered accordingly, the seven will appear more often than it should. over the long run the cheater will eventually win against the legitimate player or house, or vice versa. in extreme cases, such as bust out joints, odds are changed so drastically that the long run becomes a very short walk. 68 CHEATING AT CRAPS on't come HOUSE PROCEDURES CONCERNTNG CHEATS nade on a uses the ,lace bets, orr"ar]Tl.il?;:;rr,"" same basic. operatins proce_ rcing bets, ilffi #:,. ::lli,?;T i fo,lffi g aces only cerning # I m:mt these rures. one o] these"I[Tf *: horn bets. ruies .or."*rihe handring of suspected cheats. These bet. The rules are strictry f"il";;J.^il|ty"", fluctuating from those rules-are f the only ,rr;liy out of a job. If there's suspicion of cheating, ,",1.," of thJ employees 3 noJimit to make gestures are rllars or comments aiousrng suspicions and players. If a dealer;.lorTrrl, of other ;;, ;;r, suspects a player cheating, each notifies "; of the i.l confidentiar manner. Final decisions on how "in.'. to d"r';iihi;e situation rest with pit boss' It's his determination the to cali-surveirance, security, or enrire episode rany Lolh;.rhu. i, tu,",Jf"Jii p.iuate. If it,s peo- cheating is taking decided Crooked place, the suspect.a,pf"f., J rpp-r.ir"a by casino security ind politefy Lmber the u'rtuJ'to step away from the table. Casinos have founa ring dice, it #;;;ch rvorks best for two reasons. One, anv conversation r odds is not heard by other;i;y;r, of Two, it keeps from on math- emba.rurrirj-in" ,rrpect"d cheat decreases the odds and a legiti- of an u.g;;8";.'b..urionrur^u.Jg"_ ment will wait for the come cheat tJl"rr" tfr. t"Uf. ,"iin"" up him. This avoids ogll: I"1;* least. ryip_*l"r'prrr".r. r know people ;; "k nake the il#,;,,1:,S#;.;ry,mj rrH In.;,, especiarry ii,d; n can be rlly. THE c appear BIGGEST CON e altered I call this the biggest con t should. because it,s the only one I know that major casinos, houses. ainst the i*uff una irr, out joints use, but are rarely suspected of. le cases/ This con uses a confederate ally that 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 when a 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 house cheat a high line of credit. This allows them Io approach a g1T. and order playing checks like a bona fide hi[h roller. This method also keeps employees who aren,t suplosed to know from knowing. .-Jh. house player has several duties. Occasionally, the job will consist of being obnoxious and irritating the targeted player. Irritating a player works. An irritatel ptayer"wittr 1"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 someone not tipped off to the con, the player will be app.oaihed in the same manner explained in standard house procedures. THE DICE The primary difference between dice today and those made thousands of years ago is today,s dice are usually made of plastic.Egyptians used dice made of ivory or bone. Each die has six numbered sides, numbers represented by dots. Casino dice are usually clear red plastic ,.,d hu.r" white dots, while board games, bar games, and some sawdust joints generally use white dice with black dots. Numbers are one through 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 identical numbers on either_ side. Examining the dice and quickly adding up both sides will determine whether the dice are Iegit or fake. _ Erlh side is perfectly square. A representative for the Bud Jones Company, manufacturer and iupplier of casino dice, gave me the following information. helsht, and . .Tt ryidjh, depth of each die are exactly 3 / 4 inch. Each dot is drilled to a depth of 1/50th of an inc(. The 70 CHEATING AT CRAPS weight "**proach a of the paint used to gh roller. make the white dot weighs the same posed to as the plastic driiled away for each abt. fne edges o on g, the job casino dice are perfecily square/ targeted which gives them th-e name rer with razor dice. There are SQUARE/RAZOR EDGE several isk bets. other styles of dice, rd intro- such as feather_edged and round-edged. ;omeone :d in the t. ATLEY CRAPS C In a typical alley game (I say typical because there are many variations) the shooter d those will ly made o put up a predetermined amount of monev. One or more FEATHERED players nted by EDGE will take a piece of the bet. An example 'e white would be the shooter placing st joints S1,000 on the floor. pla-r-er are one _One might holler olut, "I fade five ) opPo- hundred,,, and will place 5500 on top, down on the o floor. Another two players might fade trvo_fifty^apiece, lentical o making up ihe entire ltrousana. luickly o If the shooter wins, he wins the lice are e-ntirg pot. If the shooter loses, ROUND EDGE the players take their share he Bud oui of the shooter,s thousand. o dice, Meanwhile, other players are paying each Priaate games and other bff-on side tlyS/4 board. games, bets. such as Monopoly, use A typical side bet would :h. The fealher_ and round-edged dice. be, "l bet a hundred the shoot_ er craps on the next roll. Any 71 T ,i I THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK l. '| l takers?" Another player might take all or part of the hundred. j I Sometimes the bettors will give odds between each other. Alley games lend themselves very easily to cheating. I haven't known many that didn't. DOUBTE.TEAMING Double-teaming is a popular way to get a fixed game started. 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 few minutes, there are five or six players. The two original play- ers use various methods of cheating and, before one or two innings of the ball game have passed, the marks are out a sig- nificant amount of cash. I've seen it happen where one guy is sent to get hot dogs and beer for the whole gang. After stop- ping off at the john to relieve himself and wash his hands, he finds himself caught up in a dice game. Broke and totally upset with himself, he has to go back to his hungry friends. To save face he has to come up with a lame excuse like the line was too long, or he forgot to bring his wallet. TABLE CRAPS Other than a few rules and principles of the game, alley craps and table craps are as different as night and day. For the swindler, alley games provide a wealth of opportunities to cheat, but table games make cheating difficult. Table layouts may differ from casino to casino, but the odds and types of bets 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 CHEATING AT CRAPS hundred. players who have dreams.of ther. rolling dice rike that, but to actuar- ly cheat with sometru"g trrrt-ob;|rr *orta reating. I Craps be a bit excessive. is one of the faltest_rnovi"g gu_Ufing The speed games around. of the game is what ujtS*, cheats altered to easily use dice. A Dro can enter altered dice f";;;;;n"ir]rrrc them out, and ihrow the legiti;"i" Jl.. agairy then repeat the process several more times ed game without anyone noticing. fwo con- some- -ls: Alrered dice that nr"""J;;t1i.." in a few called "busters.,, ai*urent numbers are nal The three ,ir.rltu., are duplicated play- placed on opposite and e or two sides of each otn"r. One popular numbers is two, set of rut three, and six. pori-firr", six, eight, a sig- twelve are the nine, and re only numb".s ttui cun u" .o,,"8-rrirf guy is dice' The important in"r" ter thing ir irrut it s rmpossible stop- seven. Another to rolr a ands, nopularuEt of numbers for he three, and five. r*o, busters is one, I totally f:y ,*;igil, and ten are the onty friends. ffiilTT#:::ilX." roued with thJse'dice. eg"l", it,, *0",_ like the Pros will usually.wait until a point is made before ducing busters into intro_ the game, tn"l tt,ey play the busters several passes and switlh for the legitimate dice back into the game/ letting the game take its.o"".r.. During;;;;;"*& pro can enter and take , re, ailey out busters several tfmes, whicfr more than enough is . For the to make a decent profit. Another tor pros is scenario rities to to bet small while oit..'pfuu.r, ur.-rf.,o"*r. When it's their turn at the ,,I layouts dice, a comment such as, only r throw ivpes of jfllTy",:hen rhe dice,,, wiliue f"f;;;J;y, ,"u but lay- L oa d ed ai." u.itof,"d*,,fi:J :l3t? dice being referred arterations, to in countless movies and ",, the prime sayings. Loads are lie hav- example of,beating oJj, o"., talked the long run. I,ve ral dice to people and listenei ," who ",n..s are under the 73 THE PROFESSIONAT GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK impression that loaded dice will land and come up on the same numbers every throw. Not so. The idea behind loaded dice is to increase the odds of certain numbers appearing more often during the game. Loading the number four on both dice is popular. By doing this, the three will appear more often and the chances of hitting the six are excellent. Betting the 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 watching his bets. Waiting until it's his turn to shoot to place heavy bets on the six and six the hard way is a good indication. Space-Age Tech Until 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 it with white paint, then used the mixture to paint white dots on dice. The element Rutherfordium, which is much heavier than lead, worked much better than the old lead method. This exper- t iment has opened the door for cheats to load transparent casino dice and it's almost impossible to detect. Lead and Steel t For those l who aren't scientists, the old method still works well for nontransparent dice. These dice are used primarily in I private games. To make loaded dice the old-fashioned way, I drill holes approximately 1/4 of an inch deep through all the dots on the side of the die to be loaded. Fill the holes, almost to ihe top, with No. g lead from a shotgun shell. To keep the lead in place, drop one drop of epoxy glue in each hole and let the dice sit overnight. Once the glue has dried, repaint the holes by dropping one drop of paint at a time in each hole. Dropping small drops at a time will allow each drop to settle into the concave 74 CHEATING AT CRAPS p on the appearance all the other dots have. Some holes may need I loaded more paint after the first application has dried. rpearing If the dice being loaded have dots that are smooth and four on level with the die surface, ret the paint dry rock hard. Use the lar more fine side of an emery board to smooih out any bulges. . Betting Ruabing a soft cloth over the sanded area wilr bring uait a rble bets. shine to the entire die. vatching - Tl: best paint to use is the glossy model airplane paint 'avy bets found in hardware stores and hobby rhopr. Face YYork SllIi"g part of the face (on one or more sides of a die) is rpossible -- called "face work., F3:" work keeps the dice from stopping technol- on a particular side. The number i cheat wants to show up red dice. more often will be the face that's shaved. For instance, if the Recently, faces of the number four and five were slightly shaved, the mixed it dice would keep rolling past the four and five. This means 'dots on the four and five have a better chance of ending rrp o., top. ier than shaving the faces off dice is not easy if the"reiult is io be is exper- professional looking..The-most popular method is to wrap rt casino the die in paper, leaving the side to be shaved exposed, and placing it in a vise. The tool of choice is a belt sinder with v.e{f.fi1e sandpaper. Sand off the face at a slight angle using a steady hand. il works rarily in Edge Work ed way, This is the same principle as face work, except the edges of h all the the dice are sanded down instead of the face. Unress thepiayers , almost can't see well or are too drunk to care, this is a poor p.u.U.". reep the role and Magnetic Loads If there was an award for the greatest dice_cheating ropping method in the world, this would win Erst place. I,ve seen this g small work and I was in total amazement the entire time. CONC VE Years ago, this method of cheating used dice loaded with 75 THE PROFESSlONAI. GAMBLER'S HANDBOOX r o o o o o The diagram shouts the slight angle the dice shourd be shat:ed. once the face is sanded, 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 a drill 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 is model airplane paint. steel. The table would be fitted with electromagnets at each end. As the dice passed over the magnet, the bolman would use the necessary juice by lowering oi raising a lever in order to stop the dice on the number the dice were designed fo1, the usual number being seven. Today, this cheat has been upgraded with the introduc_ tion of Rutherfordium, which can be hard to find. Using paint mixed with this element, you only have to paint the dlis on one side of the dice. The grip that can be piaced on the dice using this paint mixture is incredible. To diiplay the poweq, a dealer threw the dice full length of the table. The dice were at least five inches off the table when the power was turned up 76 CHEATING AT CRAPS 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. The magnet was turned on and the dice frippei orre, to a-si* ar-,a one. It was an amazing sight. An Amusing!Story An associate of mine who is noted as one of the best craps dealers 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.."'rrirrg the magnets' power were to the left and right of the boxman. The star of this story, the shootel was a high roller and didn't mind letting everyone know his importance. Draped off his left arm *ui a knock-out of a woman and the was shooter making every effort to impress her. The shooter, who e is was standing to the far left of Jace had just thrown the dealeq, ly remoaeil. the dice. a came up and players 'ise. Use a place "",iU", Yj|e^ T8,:ning.to their back and front line bets. The nint. oearer to the right was having difficulty arrangin! ro help speed- things up, the boiman "-u"t. al ,tooa up and leaned out paint is over the table to help. As he did this his suit pocket caught the left magnet handle and pulled ii stralght up, straight full power. up |,"t"g The moment tnl, *u, happening, Mr. s at each Shooter was bending over to ptace u field unfortunate. bet, which was m would How my friend'explained it to'me ,,I 'in thought it *ur,, order was a giant iat, and- it jtrinped off this g"y, h.;a." d fof, In reality the it was i toupee, and it'shoi off the shooter,s and stuck right head to the felt. Apparently the shooter ;", ;;;rg ntroduc- some kind of metal clips to keep his wig fastened to his rear ing paint hair. Fortunately for thi boxmari n"1u*"*f,at hal t rpp"""O rdots on and turned off the juice before the shooter reached for the the dice wig. Everyone, including the shooter,s girlfriend, furgh"a ro poweI, a hard that the game stopped for a good five minutes. The shooter picked I were at up his wig, a.inl9 ar,d"mo.,ey and left. rned up 77 T- # $ THE PROFESSIONAT GAMBTER'S HANDBOOK fil $ Bevels Bevels are dice sanded so that one or more sides are slightly rounder than the flat sides. Bevels will usually land on 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'uto buffing compound and soft, clean rag (old T-shirt) will buff out small scratches. Flats Dice shaved or sanded on opposite sides are called flats. These dice will land on numbers that have the opposite sides shaved 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-Ace A common style of flat is called the six-ace. These dice have been sanded on the one and six. The odds are greater that a six or ace will come up. This method produceJ more sevens/ which would be more of a house cheat than a player cheat. Hat Field A popular cheat for the player is called a,,flat field,,, flat because of the shaved or sanded sides, field because the sides that are shaved favor field numbers being rolled more than sevens. To properly shave dice to favor certain numbers, each die must have different sides shaved. An example would be one 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. Misses Dice altered to roll odd numbers only are called ,,misses.,, 78 CHEATING AT CRAPS BEVELED These are usually sides are EDGES-'---.- used rally land by the house and placed *------_\ into play if the shooter e sandpa- rolls an even-numbered '. An auto point. The altered dice I buff out o are_ on the same principle C as busters, the difference being each die has a dif- ferent set of three num- led flats. o bers. One die will have ;ite sides duplicate ones, threes, and fives, while the other red fire- o o die will have duplicate sides. twos, fours, and sixes. This makes it impossi- ble for the shooter to roll an even number and means a ese dice seven will come Uefo.e it e shooter can make the point, and greater so loses. es more THROWING t player DICE some craps cheaters depend on their ab,ity to dice contror the and don't alter dice ai all. rt ose**r,"o il; piri# ,". some time will agree ld," flat that attempting to cheat at aiie i"itt ort i altering the dice or.table te i, u*t'.e*Ety aifficutt. f ,gr"";lrt sides I there are some excellent t', shooter, *t o'.r., make dice dance re than their music. to :s, each Dice thrown legitimately ruld will go through the air in a bar_ be rel roll motion. Tlis type ie hav- ,"otio.'uriows the dice to hit the backboard and land on the trur" rs fout .u"atLty. ro nurtiry tt ,r"- dom roll and create odds in ttre shooiers favoq, there are" sev- eral methods professionals will use. isses." There are things o"ri1:*:tilrtkens that cackre. Craps 79 THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOX cheats cackle dice. Every controlled shot a cheat uses starts with cackling the dice. cackling is the shaking of dice togeth- er in a closed hand that is just open enough to make the-dice I strike each other but not change positions. The Muff Shot This is the cheat's nightmare. Nothing causes cord sweats and bad dreams more than the muff shot. rhis shot has cost some cheats a trip to the hospital or at best a few lumps on the head. As the shooter thro*s the dice, three or four dice fly across the table instead of two. What,s happened is, thL shooter lost sight of what he was doing and nbt only threw the legitimate dice, but the gaffed dice as well. There,s no doubt this will bring suspicious rooks from other players. Most of the time there will be a break in the game to inipect the dice and have a " talk" with the shooter. Pillow Throw A controlled throw that goes softly into the air and lands directly in the crack between the table fert and backboard is a pillow throw. This throw has to be practiced for hours on a daily basis. The object of throwing dice like this is to give the shooter better control over which numbers come ,pl Whu, the dice land exactly right, they pop out and land just as they hit. Because this shot is so diffiiuli to execute properly on a regular basis, it's rarely used. Whip Shot The whip shot is reserved for tables that have a back_ board with a flat section near the felt, or back room games using 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 the one most used is this. The shooter will line the dice side by 80 CHEATING AT CRAPS ISCS StArtS side with the number the shooter wants to come up on top. ce togeth- Picking the dice up by the sides and rapidly throwing them e the dice with a whipping motion nullifies the barrei roll moti"on. To make this action work the dice have to hit the lower-flat por- tion of the backbo-ard. Back room games using a wail ftr a backboard are perfect for the whip lhot. The dice hit flat and ,ld sweats bounce back to the tabre. This increases the chances of the t has cost dice coming up on the number the shooier wants. lumps on rr dice fly Skid (Slide) Shot ld is, the skid shots are reserved for back room games only because rly threw casinos would allow the shooter to thrJw a skid'shot just here's no once..Throwing a skid shot at a casino table will get a p6fte players. from -warning the boxman. If the shooter does it u[ui.,, ii will o inspect be the shooter's last throw for the evening. The skif, is simpte. lnlgngofer places the dice in one hand, c"upping or" ai.iitn the little finger and allowing the other die to iestlbove it. A sidearm throwing motion with the hand allows the nd lands die, by the small finge4 to skid across the surface never ,oard is a {tppea changing the position of the number. The other die topples on a 'urs through the air as it is supposed to. give the p. When The Pinch ,t as they Ki]ling the roll of one die is the object behind the rrly on a . 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, the shooter holds the dice, one on top of the other, and tosses in the fhel air together, as in a pitto* shot. When the dice a back- land,- the top die will pinch the bottom die to the table, forc_ n games ing the bottom die to stay. The top die rvill continue to roil. lat back- shooters usually use this shot to ivoid the seven. when the protrud- one is placed as the number to hit, it decreases the chances for a seven considerably. The only number on the other die to , but the make a seven is the six. This is ashot that's arso reserved for side by private games. 81 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 sometimes prison inmates use their beds to play dice. To throw continu_ ous numbers and rarely throw aieven, pick the dice up side by side with the ones touching ones orii*es touching sixes, and toss them outward. The dice roll forward on the Ihnket an-d appear to be rolling legitimately. Blankets kill the barrer roll effect and the dice uJualty rott exactry as they were thrown. Sevens are rarely rolled using this meihod. Tb perform the skid shot, the shooter praces the clice in one hand, cupping one die with the little t'inger and allousing the other die to rest aboue it. 82 CHEATING AT CRAPS TWO CONFEDERATES r a craps metimes A good method continu- for attacking a house is two players together. one :up side ,wolkinq confederatJ wir enter the house and begin play. A few moments .rg sixes/ rater the other r"ili;oi"1, tn" same game. Designated blanket beforehand, one wi, c'onirot tr," altered dice and bet conservatively. te barrel ihe other w,r do the seri- ous gambling' There are 3y were two main objectives to ttris pru.,-. o.," is to. take suspicion off the shooter ind the other is to most of the attention have 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, various and make other moves to protect the partner. TRIAT RUN as- simple as ..,It's it sounds. Clever cheats enter a game with caution. One move that keeps many cheats out of trou_ ble is the trial run. The cheat will'rut. tn. use of artered dice and make unusual moves and hanJ controt gestures. A, this action is to see if anyone is paying attention. If the cheat stopped and is questioned abolt ihe"suspicious activity. ntth- ing happens because everything is legrt. This tells the cheat there is little chance of puliing o'ff u"yihi"g he i" thi;g;r"" will leave after a fe# rous] If no 'one is paying ""a it's attention, a good bet the game is ripe for cheating. TABLES high-limit .C,a9ino_1nd private games are usually played on tables. rU.,t These tables .o..,. in ,rarious shapes ,rra the standard Jirlr, table is approximul"tylz ru.i tonj u.,J +'i."t one die players can stand comfortably ,i, irUf" if,i, sLZe.::1";,I:ii._"en L ve seen as many as 20 players gathered around no table when a casi_ the dice are hot. In c"ases like this, it,s not 83 THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOT( unusual for players to get hot at each other as the action increases. 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). i Anywhere Games In the back room, bathroom, alley, barroom, home, and work, and many other places, use of a standard table is nonexistent. Avid craps shooters will use anything possible just to get a game going. The most popular area is a wall and floor. Any wall connected to any floor. Such games are where cheats excel and the most flagrant cheating I've ever seen happens in alley and back room games. Games of this nature are sometimes dangerous for the novice or not-so-street- smart player. It's unfortunate, but I've seen knifings and shootings during games of this type. A Short Story Cames 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 in the bathroom of a bar in Mineral Wells, Texas. A group of local Texans were trying to fleece a few of the helicopter trainees 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 intothe urinal and cover the drain. The dice were thrown against the inside portion of the urinal and would end up landing on the plywood. As time went on, most of the players became drunk. Shooters were throwing the dice in all different man- ners. A favoriie became throwing the dice hard into one lip of the urinal and counting the number of times the dice would ricochet before failing to the plywood. The dice had 84 CHEATING AT CRAPS he action become chipped and the edges knocked off from banging happens. around the porcelain urinal. the stan- The money being bet wasn't small change for a bar game. 'identical 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 down ome, and through a crack between the plywood and the back of the uri- I table is nal. When the plywood was pulled back, the die was gone, possible I apparently down the drain. This being the only pair oi dice L rvall and wilhin 100 miles, an argument folliwed. TLe argument are where ended in a blow-out fight. The aftermath included three play- 3ver seen ers going to the hospital, two going to jail, and the almost ris nature complete destruction of the outhouse. so-street- ings and More on Magnetized Tables Magnetized 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. For iaces. I've years a major Las Vegas casino used the most elaborate .alifornia, method I've been told about, not in the regular casino sec- ra Beach, tion, but,upstairs in a private room. These areas of gambiing h, was in are rarely seen by gaming officials and sometimes the group of Caming Commission doesn't know thev exist. In this case, .elicopter electromagnets were placed along the backboards at boih n the bar, ends, with one in the center. These series of magnets were :e of ply- controlled by the boxman, with controls recessed into the e into the underiying edge of the table. the Sainst According to my source, one who helped design the table, nding - on olly a handful of people, including uppei.rlu.,ag"*ent, knew s became about the magnets. None of the deaiers and only two of the :ent man- b-oxmen were privy to this knowledge. Everyone else on the o one lip floor level was completely unaware. Dice ior these games the dice were altered at a manufacturing plant and would be delivered dice had to 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 out of 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 are told, but I've seen some of these fleecing jobs take place. There are many high rollers who play in the regular iasino areas. These players usually want two things: playing at a table that's sure to be on the level, and playing to a crowd. There are many high rollers who get a high on knowing their action is attracting lots of spectators. A majority of big shoot- ers like privacy and like to shoot with players on their income 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 draw from, the tables set up for cheating have much to be desired. I've seen some with wires hanging underneath the table and others that sag where the weight of the magnet has warped the plywood. In one case the magnet gave off a slight hum when it was in use. It's hard to believe, but there are lots of gamblers who get so wrapped up in the game that a bomb could go off and wouldn't phase them, so a little hum from the table is nothing. Another Short Story It was late on a weekend night, and this particular strip casino was packed with one game in particular running hot. I was playing at a table with light action. Another player and I were discussing the big action when we noticed a player at the big game drop to the floor. He just laid there. From our angle we could see the dealer point in the direction of the downed player as he was talking to the boxman. The pit boss was summoned and he looked in the direction of the downed player, then he went to the phone and appeared to call for help. All this time, players were hollering and yelling, and no one was paying attention to the downed player. Security offi- 86 CHEATING AT CRAPS eeced out cers finally arrived and examined the player. After a brief dis- ril barons, cussion, the security guards moved the slricken player under the craps table so-that the game could .o.rd.rr".'W'fr"" :e this are pu.r_ medics arrived, prayers to either side of the downeJ-piuy". ke place. moved.just enough for the medics to pull the playei frbm ar casino under the table. Resuscitation began in ihe aiste iigrit behind ving at a the players. Not once did the ga;e slow down. errJry once in a crowd. a while a player would turn and look down, bui the big ring their action continued. After the man was taken away o., u ,t .t.h- rig shoot- e{, there was pushing an9 shoving between a cbuple of play_ on their jockeying ers for the newly created place at the s, out-of- table. ce. to draw rhe absen.u or 3#iHit-IHff1",,,.u".s gives a dis- r desired. tinct advantage to the house. especially whenlt,, , setup :able and game with wealthy marks. I don,t ; warped kntw the psychology behind such action, but it never fails. When *"ifti_,y _urt, ght hum gather at a craps game, they seem obliged to bet in" fi"ta re lots of and hard ways. Not just wlih little bets, but with monster :a bomb bets as though they want to get even for a lifetime of losses um from on one roll. The usual numbers for betting the field are two, three, five, nine, ten, elevery and twelve. ih"r" numbers are printed on the layout, usually in a boxed in section. rlar strip A person would think seven numbers mg hot. I - out of twelve should b-e to hit. Not really. Now take and I Sasy two numbers /er away and the odds become even rlayer more difficult. Five and nine at numbers to omit. rom our 11,th".^9st-popular On major casino tables the field numbers two and twerve ,n of the will pJy ao"H". This is definitely not true in bust out games. pit boss downed Padded Tabtes r call for Padding the tables is not a common type of table gaff. In ; and no small houses or setup games, tables wili irave one eid and rity offi- backboard padded di-fferently than the rest of the table. The 87 THE PROFESSIONAT GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK only purpose this method serves is for a house player who throws 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. These and other games of chance are covered in different chapters. n, I 88 CHAPTER 5 ,'er who CARNIVAL GATUES includ- :. These )ters. Have you ever been to a carnival and wished just once that you were the one walking u.or.a top with an armload of prizes? Or, are.you fairly"goJ ut want winning prizes and to know how to cut your"costs? If yo.,. ufiri"..i, read on. you,re going y"r, to learn *nl.n games to plav and to sLv awav X#:m:s rrom, ,"J i,3;';; t,"t5'tli" uis There are more than 50 games regularly played ous carnivals. at vari_ This chapteitouches on some of popular games. the more IMPORTANT Cheating by carnies has been reduced over the years, pri_ marily due to law enforcement ,rrJ-uru..ness public. of the general This doesn,t mean cfreatinjis nonexistent, less frequently. only done HANKY PANI(S Hanky panks is a name given to carnival games that to every give gri-zes player, each iim-e tf," piuy", attempts main to win a prize. The prizes are usually worthless. 89 THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK TRADE.UPS - Tiade-up games are usually the most expensive games to play 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 poplhr among carnies because I the first few prizes are usually worth pennies and keep the lucky player interested enough to con_ tinue. playing. A typical trade-up game will requiri a player to win three small prizes, which can be redeemed for one medium prize. To win the large prize, the player must win and then trade in two medium prizes, which- mearrs the play_ er must win six small prizes to win a large. Some games hare a grand prize that requires a player to have two large prizes to. trade for the grand prize. This would require a player to win at least 12 small prizes to get the grand prize. Rireiy will the 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 pin ball game. These are also fun for children and p-arents, justior the sake of competition. At best, winning a mijor prize is dif- frcult and expensive. These are also ga*es ttrit aie easy and favorites of carnies to gaff. GAMES OF CHANCE These are the toughest and most often gaffed games on the midway. The string pull, duck pond, rizzle dizzle, and the mouse game are all examples oi games of chance. It is a fluke, and I'm not exaggerating when I say this, for a player to win- at these games. The only people I have personaliy wit- nessed winning at one of these games is a coniederate. ir you have ever won at one, consider yourself extremely lucky. 90 CARNIVAT GAMES GAMES OF l games to SKILT the pyra- These are the is popular gr*-:: that bring the big prizes: the stuffed animals and iewerry.. winning rlly worth coisistentry at games of skilr takes practice. Knowing gh how"to ptry U.foruhand can cut to con- odds down considera!"ff. the : a player U.1"r1ly,'prr.ti.u and knowledge will produce a major d win on the first'or second try. for one Don't be conlused must with gu_". of skill ,.ia guro", win "looks like skill.,, of the play- goog .rur"pf,i oigu*u, that look as if skill is involved are basketball mes have sei rp the'bottle, dart throwg ring a prize, and swing ball. These :ge prizes games are made to look like games of skill but aren't player even clo"se. racn uses ta*r.ffi"i,y, to laws of physics, and other,""itlA, arely will impossible t *urc the game almost to win without h"rp;; the carnies. ances. basketball I put the game in this .rt"goi, iLrr" the many variables carnies add so to-the game-imaller hoops, diff-inisire balls, balls with differ*ilreiqni, hi;h"r"or tower hoops, bent hoops, and distance to.the players. ioop.Tn";;;;il;;Iilirrrr- -r' ^ about these games, only luck. , and pin s, just for GOVER ze is dif- THE SPOT easy and is the game , lhis to_ ptay if you want to win on the first try almost every time. Iis tt. o"ty game I know of that produce a win each.time w,l it's ptay'edllr-impress r *u.rt to iiir'rr[) a"r, with stuffed anim,als, o;, *1it.tf a particular per_ is where I go. The trick ames on il?.:ntr is in'knowing exactly what :zle, and NOTICE; If, after e. Itisa rya(iy7 and practicing the method outlined and diagram*ia, iou yna a it'iiLprrlriiir"'i" win, it,s most probable player the ga.me ilVffed. D1n_ot contin'u, ptoyirg at this ally wit- The particular game. object of this game is to ctvir a e. If you board spot painted on a with five circular discs. These boirds ky removable. ur" .rrrrtty 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 IMAGINARY CENTER LINE I NOTE: DRAWING NOT TO SCALE. FOR DEMONSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY. 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. IMAGINARY ONE THIRD IMAGINARY CENTER LINE OF DISC 1 LINE OF DISC 1 \ NOTE: DRAWING ir DISK 2 Nor ro scALE. C DEMONSTRATIC." PURPOSES ONT. z|'- INTERSECT- ING SPOT OF BOTH DISCS IMAGINARY CENTER LINE OF DISC 2 The rest of the discs will fatt in the same manner as disc two. Being as exact as possible each time zuill allow a margin of error zohen placing the lit disc. rt sounds harder than it is. After the first few tries, it becomei rather easy. 92 i CARNIVAL GAMES ENTER LINE NOTE: DOLLS TO THE BACK WILL BE THE ONLY DOLLS THAT WILL FALL OFF AND BE COUNTED. AERIAL VIEW OF RACK THROWING AREA Dolls p.laced tozoard the front are almost impossibre to knock completely ot'f. The ones placed toward I one-third, the back will automatically t'ail an the way off whei iiocked bc must fall. oaer, IARY CENTER spots. This is rare, but if it happens you will know on the first OF DISC 1 try. Games that are consistently legit will have dots painted on the permanently stationed "rail,, separating the operator NOTE: DRAWING from the player. NOT TO SCALE. =M DEMONSTRATIO" The secret of this game is placing the fust disc. placement PURPOSES ONL\ is-im_portant. By not placing it correctly, the player cannot win. 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 the dot where the halfway points touch the edge of the dot. I(NOCK DOWN DOLL GAME Some games use catlike figures, some use dolls, but the object is stiil the same-knock down three figures and win a prize. Most games rule the doll has to fall completely off the rack. There are several methods to use to increise your odds s exact as of winning. lisc. lt su. Look at the placement of each doll. It,s sometimes diffi- 93 THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK Hit the doll right where the,bottom of the chin wourd be. This is just abore the center of graaity for the dolt. i t 94 CARNIVAT GAMES cult to see, but looking hard enough will tell you which dolls are placed forward and which are srightly to ihe back of the rack._Dolls placed toward the front aie aimost impossible to knock completely off. The ones placed toward the back will automatically fall all the way off when knocked over. The second advantage is to hit the doll right where the bottom of the chin would be. This is just above the center of gravity for the doll. Lastly, accuracy is the key. A medium throw will knock the doll down every time it's hit above the belry. A hard throw reduces the accuracy and has no advantage. Occasionally, a hard 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" SWEET your odds of winning. SPOT i ) MIIK BOTTLE THROW .\ i This game uses skill, luck, and honesty from the operator. :r\ It's J simple: hit directly in the center of the three botties and S -\ THROWING AREA I-1 ) f O,'e the tD c) IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE AERIAL VIEW OF BOTTLE PLACEMENT 95 THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOX they all go over. If the operator places one of the lower bottles slightly ahead of the other, it's almost impossible to knock 'em all down. Look at the bottles before throwing. If they aren't evenly placed on the bottom, ask the operator to straighten 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 to win. In almost all cases, skill and practice are the only things needed to wiry if the game is legit. Many games can be set up in 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,t be won and there's no sense in playing if the ope.ator won,t straighten them out. SHOOTING GATLERIES There's a reason many shooting galleries offer expensive prizes to winners: it's almost impossible to win. Gaffs such as bending the barrel, tweaking the sights, using graphite bul- lets instead of lead, oversized stars, small powder l,oads, and many more tricks, make this game worthless to play. If you don't like money, play this game. 96 CHAPTER 6 er bottles to knock STREET CONS AND OTHER 3. If they erator to GHEATING TYIETHODS :onsider- :bjects to ly things be set up Con games come in many shapes and forms. Some are big, elaborate, and time_consuminj. Otn.., uru lr,"*puririrr. and quick. is essen- Although the big .o,i"up large profitJ i., ,t. .me can't end, there are shori cons thaf produce iubsiintiar today's prtnir. lr, or won't world, con artists have become so sophisticated sharp, many and marks are unawar" tt been taken long after the con is over. "y,rr" ANSWERING SERVICES (Pensrve ; such as One of the most important tools offered a con man today hite bul- is the use of an answering service. To apply for a service is ads, and easy. Many answering seivices will accept a money order v. If you payment through the mail. In most cases tirere,s no c,ontract, so personal contact by the con and the answering service is avoided. If an answering service demands pry.rr".,"t;;;;;." or a contract, the con can call another. Theie ire plenty.i" yellow pages. in. THE PIGEON DROP This is one of the oldest ploys around. It doesn,t take much time or effort to oull ,-fi ihe pigeon drop can U" *tt lucrative. Police !", .eco.ds show rrLir.f, as several hundred", thousand dollars has changed hands i" Lr," pigeon drop con. 97 THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER,S HANDBOOX There are numerous variations and ploys used for a pigeon drop, but the foilowing is my favorite ana uses wtrat r call the peek in the poke meth"od. requires the use of at least two inside peo_ ple:-,-.1J^rq::l.g1l the scout/worker and the con man. The scout acts as a lookout for potential. marks. It,s easy to spot a pigeon. He,s the person meandering around, acting ui if tf,".J isn,t direction-or any special prripos" to his destination, or as though he has a..lot of spare time on his hands. people *t" ,.ir"a walk with an air of purpose should be left ,fi".. ff,"r" of people are fairly Vpes 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 something like, "Did you see whai I found rijnt in front of us?,, It,s important to use the term "us." This inakes the mark feel like he is part of the ,,frnd..,, The con man gives the mark a peek at the wallet (a peek fuick in the pofe), which .o.,iui'.,, u $1,000 bill in front and a $1,000 Uifi in back. In between are brand new $1 bills. The con man states there,s ut f"rri gib,OOO or $30,000 in the wallet. Further inspection proves there any identification. Ln,t The con *u., u.t, as though he is honest and wants to return the money, but is willingio ,pfii1t" should they i"a not be abre to find the rightful"owner. ir," .o., man then takes the mark for a walk o"-Ine pretense or nrai.,g an attorney. "I see someone there who looks like an uit**y f met in court once,,, is a typical comment the con will make as he points to someone o^ th" street. The attorney turns out to be none other than the scout. The attorney takes a look wallet at the and seems to count the money. To everyon.{r"ipiir", the,attorney says there,s at least $1O,OOO in the wallet and confirms there is no identification. He now says he can han_ dle the matter and assure-s both parties there shourdn,t b";"y problem for them to split the profits in about m aays. fo make sure everything ii handled right, everyone will need to 98 STREET CONS AND OTHER CHEATING METHODS lfora go to his office and sign the.necessary papers. Along the way, what I the con suggests to the mark that he tuy his intere# The con says, in effect, he doesn,t want to wait i0 days for the mtney le peo- and offers to sell his share for 95,000. That wiil leave the mark :ts as a thinking he will be gerting the whole $40,000 fri gi,OOO r. He's investment. , One con man I interviewed said he gets more r't any than 80 percent of his marks to pay off. hough pon't lurgtt this con takes-piace often and con men are .ct and getting rich pulling it off. : types to con. THREE€ARD MONTE be sig- This_ was my first big lesson at being taken by ething - con artists. I was 19 and in theirmy stationed at Fort Devens, ?" rt's Massachusetts. Previors ,rr.r-"rs working in carnivals a.,a el like watching carnies fleece people didn,t teach me as much as I quick thought. I was with tw-o uir.,y buddies on my firsi t.ip to ains a New York C_ity. We had just airived by train and decided to ln are walk around. A few blocks from the slation we saw u grorp 20,000 of people gathered around a man standing at a small foja_rp e isn't card table (today,s mobs use cardboard i'oxes). o".ia1r[ to ronest investigate, we watched as he manipulated the cards. ,,Fi.k e find the queen," he said. A man threw a $5 biil on the table and .e con pointed to a card. "Sorry, wrong card.,,,said the dealer as he nding turned the card over. I watched intently as he did it again and arey I again. Almost every time, I picked the right card in riy n"aa. rke as My buddies and I were getiing eager to get in the game. rut to To rnuIu, a long story longer, we-got"our wIsh. Orr. at the ended up getting us broke, two-blocks from the train"station,""uge..r"rs prise, pjnny 1"9-r,ot-1 to our names. It was the end of my fi.rt i.ip t and to New York. han- The deale4 known as a tosser, manipulates three playing e ,,Who any cards, then stops to ask, wanti to pick the'laiy?; s. To Anyone in view can throw-money on the table ana attempi to ed to pick 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 any denomination. The following diagram shows what the cards look rike. Notice each card 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 the bet, and usually picks the queen. This move entices others to take 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- -be tables. These tabres .ortd broken down u.rd tru.rr- ported to another location in a matter of seconds should trouble arise. Today, the mobs use cardboard boxes, which can simply be abandoned right on the spot shoulj poHce or 31-"" a fight between the mark and the tosser break out. Mobs have several lookouts to watch for police. If th; tosser hears one of the lookouts holler something like "break it upi, the game stops immediately. Everyone involved in the scam goes in different directions and meets again at another prede- termined location. There are several ways tossers manipulate cards, but the following method is most widely used. In a series of swift hand motions, the tosser picks thecards up two at a time (one 100 STREET CONS AI{D OTHER CHEATING METHODS in each hand) and moves the cards over one anotheq, dropping them back on the table. The hand is quicker than the what the mark thinks he sees is not what is happening."y"'urd The tosser appears to drop the queen in one spot, buf,throwi,, the queen to the location everyone thinks is going to be occupied by one of the other cards. In anothe. *ore thi tosser upp.urt to 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 another trick to the game, which leads the mark to think he can't lose. "Accidentally" bending the edge of the queen, the tosser works the cards back and forth. During the rotating process, the tosser bends the queen's edge back to normal and bends rds can be any the edge on one of the other cirds. The prospective mark '. Notice each thinks he has an inside track to a win and picks the card with the bent edge. Wrong move. some tossers are skilled in magic and use other slight of makes the hand tricks. Most always, tossers use hands_o., *"Ihod, s others to along with fast card manipulating. A thought to remember is, lay down even if the game were totally legit, a playei has only a 33 per_ l. cent chance of being right. The odds ire extremety nign in ttre ap, break- tosser's favor no matter what. Three-card *o.[" is"a game and trans- the mark can never win at. Cs should :es, which OBITUARY CON rld police break out. This is one of the slickest cons going, but it takes advan- the tosser tage of people who are in the middle of bereavement. :ak it up," The con man looks through obituaries and finds the name the scam and address of an apparently wealthy and newly widowed rer prede- woman. Dressing the part, the con man approaches the widow at home and claims to be a private leweiry maker. He s, but the has with him an expensive gift, which was to be presented to s of swift her from her late husband, but the gift hasn't been completely time (one paid 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 the higher price, the con man states that out of his own embar- rassment and grief for the departed, an exception can be made to accept the actual cost of the gift, whrch is slightly lower than the first price. In all likeliliood, the widow"will open the box and {nd a fine piece of jewelry, which is really fake gems in a gold setting. Ifs also doubtful the widow will ever have the jewelry appraised. TRANSPORTATION CON This con uses a mailing list provided by a mailing list cgmpalyt which gives the names and home phone.rr.ib"., of wealthy executives. The con calls the hbme telephone number during the day and asks to speak to the wife. lf he reaches the wife, the con man states he is with a prize award company and her name was drawn as the grand prize winner in a random drawing. Her prize is a ne* Meriedes and is ready to be shipped to her house if she accepts. Before that can be done, she must send the transportation charges, which come to $544.76. The money has to be sent by West"ern Union to a central distribution point in Las Vegis, Nevada. The sending instructions state the money is Io be paid to any company representative of THE AMERICAN ?RIZE AND DISTRIBUTION coMPANy. The representative has to have a pas-sword, and a password is made up between the con man and the person sending the money. Acompany ID and pass_ word is all the con man needs to get the cish.'In knowing the password is enough, Uut an ID is easily^r.y.ur", made, complete with the representative,s picture, just in case. ,,I If the lady balks at sending the money by saying, need more time," or "I'd like to speak to my husband i=irst,,, the con man tells her she needs to make up her mind in the next few 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 the RENTAL CON n embar- n can be of con takes time, ; slightly , ..Ihir_,ype up_front money, and sales ability' First, the con opens an offiie. Rarery wilr a con man Iow will get a business ricense btcause the doors are going to crose is really about three in weeks. Renting nice-offi ce furniiure-and-eluip- low will ment is importantlo , sr.c;rrful operation. Cheap ur,alnoa_ d_y_ surroundings turn off prospective marks. secretary ffiri.,g u who wilr-'rot be privy to iny details is also opu*aio^ important. Her duiy ir to t"tl phone .utt,"rit" off,ic.e appointments. u.,i s"t rp Empioy""r oi-.on operations who ling list not in on the are con,are alwayi paid in cash. If u*pty"., urt Lumbers yhv, simple expranation tirriu" ephone pany'sI was made in the com- accounting and hanking area".ror fe. If he and payroll checks will be available in tivo or three #eeks : award will suffice. Employees a kind and courteous winner [?::ir,J manner wiil act accordingly and is is, the .Advertising key to this business. placing an ad rre that rental listings ,,servant,s in looking foi renters to rent a quar_ , which ters"-type house on a celebrity or-wJ"J,i,_";;Jr;;#;",, Union property is one method. In exchange for to* .".,i,-tt,u .a. The prospective renters will be obligated to watch the main to any and make house sure themaintenancE p;;pi. do their *ort. at.,g :AND th: rental property, l,Irjrh the renters ririll hrr,. .;*pl;i; have a the pool, tennis court, weight room, ,.,d ,o o.r. "rl "f n man To start the deal, thepiospective renters I pass- must pay a non_ refundable credit check rle of / $tt.;; In one or two days a cases phone call is placed to the pr;;p*i;e renters and they are made, told they have been accepted'and must come in with first and last months' rent in cash and ,ig" I need ih;i;rse. The move_in date will be in approximately five to"sixweetcs. ," the rental property is not shown Uu.rtrr" e next ,.^^ ln-" the people rent_ mg the properry wantcomplete privacy acted. and anony*it;;o. to the actual move-in date. the o*".rr-*ifl j".o_ rate be happy tJ 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 a description of the property. In about three weeks' tiire this type of con can net the operators a few hundred thousand ,,high_rent,, dollars. Cons of this type are located in the dis_ trict of cities like Los Angeles, Miami, and New y6rk. Another version of this scam advertises for people who want 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. The deposit will be refunded at the termination of employment. EMPLOYMENT CON #17 con is easy and doesn't take a lot of front money. No office space, secretary or office equipment is needed. , Advertising in the newspaper under t wanted,,, the con asks for people who want to work at "tphbme and use their home as a distribution center. The con hires an answering ser- vice to take answers to the want ad. when contactin! the mark, the con man states he is the owner of a new salesiom_ pany selling discount merchandise. To keep costs down, the company 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 the merchandise for delivery to customers. All the mart has to do is open the boxes, check invoices, and make sure the items on the invoices are actually in the boxes. No sales, answering pho.": calls, or any other office duties. For doing this, the mark is promised a salary mortgage note payment] and pay_ ment of utilities. The mark is again assured ihat this ls a uig sav-i1gs to the company because the leasing of a warehouse and_hiring extra employees would be far more expensive. If the- mark agrees, the con man makes an appointment to meet at the mark's home. This meeting is to inspect the home lo4 STREET CONS AND OTHER CHEATING METHODS d given a ' and evaluate the time this mark*,r",,.;#.::'Xr",',i:iilr,ffi thousand answering ;1,1:,"?lrd:#ii,Il: .rent" service. dis- Because the merchandise is expensive, to the mark will have put up a security deposit. These ii ieposits range from ople who several thousand a few to ,I d?tJais It,s judgm'ent ge estate. a made by the con man after seeing the mark,s home;J;;;;."nt ke things, financial means. ade. The ii EMPLOYMENT yment. CON #38 This con needs the use of a ,,drop,,_typemail service. receiving MAIL BOXES, ETC.,-is , go;d u*u^pfu. a;;;;"._ ing service and newspaper advert[ement are also needed. oney. No make this con *o+l tn".o., To needed. *u" advertise in city news_ ' papers at least 1,000 miles ^rr, the con Most malor newspapers will place.a "help wanted,, ad -away. rse their on i.;i,. This leaves the cost of operation to a few hundred dollars. ring ser- itutionu.y with company logo and postage stamps ting will incui the greatest costs. the The con man adveitiru, *Ja*ia"".o.,.,.r.ul.,' les com- ment. All consrruction ,wry positiorrr rluuJ"d;ffi;igh "*proy_ the benefits. Send resume. irrrurrd heplies .o*" ir., by the hundreds. l space. letter is sent back a to each of th" ;r;k, stating the ;e their been received an{.1h" resume has m UPS. *urtl, ["Jfrrr"a for the position applied for' The retter contains i information about work up the various parts of the united in ls to states and several countries. do Wage offers, health insurance, ems u.,J nr*"rous company bene_ on fits are exptained. The.con ;;;h; wering huge volume of ".pil ;k;I#,i#:r, replies ,"d;;;;ion needs to ris, the immediatery' An be made inierview must ue-set up in the Ld pay- days and the mark next few sabig wi, be ieri""riur. to pay for traver expenses to the interview. A :house promise to repay travel expenses once the mark is hired is made. e. The cost of air fare fola flight booked tent to within two weeks of is.slaggering. The home 1."1-?'r".u .;;G;;; this and will offer the mark 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 and the.con man explains this offer is through a travel ,j"iiLr"a exclusively by his company. A majority of tne marks"will send a cash money order for thespeciafrate immediately. LEGAL EAGTE HOUSE CALI SCAM The cost of attorney's fees have risen to the point that many people are turning to a paralegal for help on matters such as simple divorce, binkruptcy, aid other matters that don't need the e*pe.rsire advise of"i.o*pii.rt"a an attorney. An advertisement is placed in a local paperctrti"f u low.fee. forlegal help onihese matters. a co.,tact phoie num_"".y ber is listed in the ad, which is an answering service. The ad further states the pararegar wil visit the hoire, so there,s no need for the mark to trivel, possibly miss work, or need a baby-sitter. Meetings can ario take place in the Again, the only contact the mark will have with the "rr".ir,g.con after the m_eeting is through an answering service. When the meeting takes place,-the mark is told the case can be handled easily-and quickly. Everything ,torlJ U" completed in a few weeks. The con bff"* to hold back on the small personal fee until the case is compreted. The o.rty .ort at this time will be for legal filing fees required by the courts. These costs must be paid in adiance an-d must'be made in cash because the courts will not accept checks. The fees required are in the $200 to $300 range. Cons make an average of 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 period of a few months it will net the con artist a sizable amount of cash. The con man goes to a printer and has upp.o*i.rrrt"ty 106 1I l ,i il ll 1l STREET CONS AND OTHER l CHEATING MSTHODS il fi rld get and I 500 blank receipts printed.with the logo name, and telephone rgent used ll number of a dry cleaner i' in a nearby city. Going to a Iibrary s will send the con man makes i a list of pricey'restaurants from out-of- state phone books. The con man sends a retter to restaurants *,u stating that he and his wife had dinner"r.r,-or in".. *Tl" visiting theii city on business. During tne ainner, tfre waiter spilled coffee on both the con man and his wife. The ooint that further explains 1.^r.l* that the burns received from the hot ,n matters cofree were uncomfortabre but not worth getting an attorney mplicated involved. The reason for the letter is to be reimbursed for ttorney. cleaning the of a three-piece suit and cocktail dress. Enclosed Lng a very with the letter will be a receipt from the ary ctei.re, fo. one num- around 920. 'e. The ad Most restaurants will automatically send a check for the :here's no amount without question. rr need a evening. AUTO SALES CON con after It's one of the slickest cons lately and what makes it the case worse is, if the con man is caught, ih"ru ur" ,,o c.i*inal rould be charges filed. Only a civil suit by tt" ,.urt, .u. Uu :k U.offi. on the The con man rents an office with parking forupfir""i_ rnly cost mately 20 cars. He furnishes the office ind hir:es a secretary. Le courts. After hooki.Q rp all the utilities, the next step is to place two made in ads in several newspapers from the surrounding area. One Ihe fees ad states the con min will take over payments on automo_ average bile loans. The ad is directed at peopte #ho want t" ngle con of a car loan and tui-ort save their cred'it. ih"ru are a multitude of people who are having trouble making auto payments and would like to get out o? making them. i., ,p".iutiur"r, ifif," an expensive lar.is sports cu4, the .o., rnu. offers u pay_errt to the owner. r period The number two ad states the con man has cars for lease. rount of No credit check and low down payment is the :imately meat of the ad. "Drive away in a new Corvette ioluy.-" 107 THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER,S HANDBOOX Once the lease agreement is signed and a down payment of around $1,500 is made, the mari drives off in a nice auto_ mobile. Payments,under these tvpe leases are usually made weekly; rarely will the payments'go in monthly intervals. payment A made one day late is .uri" for immed'irtu ,"porr.r_ sion' Leased vehicles ire under a different set of rules from purchase agreements in most states. To further the income of payments lht:-o^q"..1aion, the mark must make ur" rrruity$SO to $100 higher than the original note. For the first few months, the con man makes the monthly payment for the owlel who keeps finance companies away. The new lessee is making p"yr.r".,t, ,.,a thi.rg, fi".. man it llr".:o" stops makiig payments u.,a polt"ts"'r" themoney"" that'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 by stating *:t a mix-up _owners and the pry*"r",t has been sent. Another twolT]: to four weeks go by, u.rd #h"., the owners start putting the.con operatibry l":t :l the con man leaves town. In one police estimated :i:? $" the con made off with no less than $350,000 in cash in four months- l 108 ,r CHAPTER 7 Payment nice auto- STAYING rlly made ONE UP tervals. A reposses- ON THE IRS rles from ncome of ually $50 monthly res away. ne. Then A few years ag,o it was easy avoiding e money taxes on gambling winnings. It didft make u.y'airr"..nce what amount was Iays, the won because casir he over- n a m e u,, d, o. i, r' 3i.x:iil', I "i: r stating l"*t J::,h.: : J: ".H[:1: Recording your name and Another sociat,".".i;;;;;;".i, required by law, but only if your oilll"u, putting *i"r.i"g, total over $l,ZO0 for a single win at a slot i"u.ni* ur",J orr"i $1,500 fo.a . In one win at Keno' Nine-times iingle the bet ir ih; IRS requirement for fil- ess than ing winnings on horse-race u"iii"g. If you win over these amounts, you must produce p.op"". identificatio.,.li can't come yo., up with.D. , y." ,"ri fr"l.io forfeit ,h" ;l;;"gr. Most states that have an i".o-" tax require a casino to withhold the state's share i.*uJiri.ly. The IRS allows the player to take a, the.winnings, bura-record is kept and must be reported by the winner atiax ti;;. Don't panic. There ur" ,.r".ui *uy, dilemma. to get around this TIPPING In smaller casir armost ** f:ffi""T,+t.:"#'.fffi frf,Jl]] "il;;;if yor.titr# u Y-rG,,even trrg. ju;kopot.r A generous tip is around 10 percent of the total ivin. In larger casinos, strict poricies require the floor man to 109 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 will alter an IRS form by using a fake name and social security llTb".. It's easy to approach the floor man simply by asking, "\rVhat's it going to take to keep me from puyi"g tlxes?,, A floor man on the take will respond with a afila'r figure. A floor man not on the take will juit say no. RECORD KEEPING If you gamble often, your chances of winning a large amount-of money are good. There are several *uy, t"o protect yourself at tax time should good fortune smile ufon you. The IRS has a rule that says you cannot claim gambling losses a.gainst anything buj S;ambling winnings. Th-is *"u.,f if you didn'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 the IRS. To deduct losses, the player must-have proof of ihose losses. N.ot long ago, the tRS ailowed a gambler to keep per_ daily records. The IRS ,,gambling -sonal termed this a log.,, Not anymore. The IRS will accept as proof (this is exactly as it,s written in the-IRS manual) wagering tickets, canceled checks, credit records, bank withdrawals, and statements of actual win- nings or payment slips provided to you by the gambling establishment. wagering tickets. These are tickets received for bets on horses, Keno, and lotteries. To help offset winnings, look around-the gambling parlor. Many gamblers leavJ iosing i tickets lying around. picking I up these tickets and saving them 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- check in a casino for every penny of cash men will needed. This includes food, hotel bills, clothing, Security iouvenirs, and anything else. Every check cashed by a caiino counts v asking, as though the money was gambled there. AXES?,, A Credit records. Getting casino credit is like igure. A applying for a VISA card, application for credit must be made. ff,f pUie..a" go to the cashier and get cash once the applicauon has been approved. Some casinos_like to give out chips or tell you to go to a table game and let the pit boss issue credit there. To avoid this, tell the cashier you are playlng a large slots. slots use cash and ; once you have the cash in hand just : protect walk out the front door and go shopping. Every record of iredit is proof you. The of losses. Bank withdrawals. This refers to .g losses teller machines inside casinos. This is the easiest method of alr. Instead rs if you of going to a teller machine at the bank, do win, stop at a casino and uie tf,eirs. Each withdrawal from these innings. michines is proof of gambling losses, even if you didn't gamble a penny. r by the Statements. These are receipis of those given at table games. Blackjack, craps, poke4 baccarat, roulette, and wheeiof for_ eep Per- tu_ne are prime examples. These receipts have to be asked for. ng log." u smile Iilh and gentle voice, suggesting to the pit boss a higher amount than what written was actu-aIly bei usually results in getting what you asked for. s, credit ral win- A True Lmbling Story An associate of mine was a heavy horse player. He also liked- to play Keno while watching bets on the horse .ice results. one day his ship came in and look he woir more than 9100,000. This ;s, was early November and he hadn't r losing kept any records of bet- ting all year. In a frantic move saving to colleci or.i $100,000 in los_ ing receipts, he began going around collecting losing horse race and Keno tickets from every casino r a casi- in Vegis. In a month and a half he had what he needed and stored r suPer- them in several shoe boxes. , cash a 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 toiing tickets, the auditor found fooiprints on several tickets. The IRS declined to accept any tickets as proof of gambling losses. ta2 an*"- he losing GTOSSARY kets. The rg losses. ABOVE BOARD: Being honest. On the up and up. "He,s being straight, everything he does is above board." Also used to identifywinnings a casino reports to the lRS. ACE: An excellent person..,,He's an all right guy, a real ace., A very skillful person 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 on a die. ACE lN THE HOLE: Having an ace dealt down in the game of stud. Having an advantage. Having ,,1 knowledge your opponent does not have. know I'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 poker. straight in The ace, deuce, trey, four, and five. ACES UP: Term used when a poker player has palrs .,l,ve two and one of the pairs is aces. 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 same amount 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 poker by dealers to remind a player it.s their tuin. ,,lt,s your turn to act, sir.,, ACTION: Gambring activity. Betting. Term used when a prayer wants to enter a game or part of "r a wager. want a piece of that action." used to a style of gambling. ,,lt's good - 9e_scribe a money game, lots of action., ADDICT:-_ A gambler who continues to ptaf tne same games over and over even 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 advance man 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 and floor with dealers men to cheat players or the house. AUBI AGENT: An operator of a crooked .urniuuigur". ls excellent at instructing marks during the course oi,nu!uru. ALIBI sroRE: Laber for any carnivar game that Is so possible crooked there is no chance of a mark winning. ^*,J;,i*?i:lj11lil1'l::::iy"g.g, a tabre stakes game and used by the last or nis cnips o;;;;;r::l bet:i':I"i,yj"^l:,!",,,,nr and l'm all in." ;'";';;l::, 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 men to 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, prayers make prior to any cards being dealt. The size of tne ante is ;JJ; determined by the maximumimount ot money arowed to be bet iuring the first round of betting. AUDITION: Term used to.deicribe the tryout professional dealers go through 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 describe a prayer to making the blst hand on trre finar ,,1 best card. had the hand, then he beat me at the back .,river Ooor." fnis card is also referred to as the card." BACKER: Person or personsr,vho bankroll ,.So, a gambling operation. who,s backing your action now?" BAD BEAT: A poker term used player by a who has just had a high hand beaten by a higher hand' "r ioot< a reat oao beat, had four fours had four tens." and he BAD PAPER: .Someone Counterfeit money. put game., some bad paper in the BAGGAGE: A person standing around ; watching a game but has no money to get into the action. A person who stands l.rnO a game and begs for money to enter the game. I,l4 GTOSSARY ;tate. To be caught in the.act of cheating. .,t advance ll99ED: was bagged by the cops., BAG MAN: A person who carries gambling wr:nnings from a frouse to a drop site. Used to describe an employee o1 gambting o consid- a syndicate whose job it is to pick up winnings from bookies dealers unJ o"tiu"itnlm to a orop site. BAIT: A large roll of bills used to lure a mark into a con game. Usually a large bill surrounding several one_dollar rt at bills. BAIL THE JACK: Earry gambring ,,bet term meaning to it ar" on a singre ro, of the dice. risno BANANA HEAD: A fooli_sh gambler. ,,He,s A buffoon ptaying in a game. a real banana head." d used by BANKABLE: A gambrer with a good reputation. hat last ,.lt,s one who pays back gambring debts on time. OK to loan him the money; he,s bankable." An excellent gambler. :k table. BANKROLL: To finance a gambling operation. "l,ll bankroll your action.. BARKER: A carnie whose main job is to entice peopte )nce men passing by to try their luck on a game or to enter a sideshow. loo well; BAT CARRIER: A person who leads police to a gambting operation. A stoolie. players BEAN(S): A poker chip. ,,1'll bet five beans., Not usually used around legal ually gambling houses. et during BEAT: The act of cheating. To win by cheating. Stealing. "l beat the mark out of his money." ;o BEAT FEET: Leave the con game as quickly as possible. BEEF: complaining, .l especiaily about Leinjcneateo. got a beef guy. with that I think he cheated me." A criminil charge. BEEFER: A person continually ,,That /ed complaining about being cheated. guy out- was a real beefer." BELIY JOINT: Usually referring 'Em to carnival games where the game operator I to uses his stomach to control the wheeior other gaming Jerices. J the BELOW: Winnings not reported to the lRS. ) BENJY: A $20 bi[. BET: A wager. Money or chips placed on game l, who's a of chance. A single wager in a pokergame. A single -r,il wageron a h-orse race. bet $20 on the fifth horse in the third race at Hollywood park." rand BET THE HOUSE (RENT): A term used when trying persuade and he to another that the bet about to be made :you is a sure thing. can bet the house on this one." Used to describe a large ,,1 he bet. bet the rent., BETTTNG BL'ND: Betting on poker a hand without the benefit of rooking at any of the hole cards. "l'll bet $5 blind." roney to BETTTNG ON THE FLy: A cheating move used in craps. This is a cail bet by gs for a 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 in Texas Hold ,Em. BIG CON: Cheating for large amounts of money. Big cons are usually planned well in advance and use several agents and a store. BIG DICK: ,,Come Craps term for the number 10. 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 poker some circres, big srick refers to the ace and king of spades only. Depending on who the professional you,re talking to at the time, big slick is the best possible hand to have deart. other-s say two 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), ,;l,ll and six bits (75 cents). bet you two bits he can,t do it., BITE: Gamblers' term for borrowing money from someone other than a roan shark. "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 prayer wins when having a higher point value than the dealer or the dealer goes over 21. An ace and any card with the varue of ten on the first two cards. BLACK LINING: Using a sharp instrument to make small cuts along the boarders of face cards, which can be fert by the dearer as cardl are dealt. BLACK MONEY: Money made from illegal acts. lncludes gambling, loan sharking, prostitution, and con games. BLANK CHECK: A term used to describe a gambler who pays back large gambling 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 are coming. "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 BLOWER: A crap shooter who puffs air into his closed fist containing the dice just prior to throwing them. sometimes a female companio-n will ually perform 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 frical area. unwanted after he has lost all his money. BLUFF: Attempting to fool other poker players into believing you to have the a Hold best hand when actually your hand is worthless. and king ,.They BOGUS: A crooked game. run a bogus card game." Counterfeit lking to at money. "The cash he gave me was bogus." thers say BOILER ROOM: An operation invorving terephone soricitation. Saresmen cal prospective customers and offer merchandise or prizes when actuaily there aren't any. BONES: Name given . to the dice in a craps game. Come on, roll them or more bones. " BOOK (Bookie): person A who receives illegal gambling wagers. Usually rur bits (a associated with sports and horse race betting. 'tiailed my book and ln't do it." placed a bill on the Dodgers." ran a loan BOOSTERS: Employees of a big con whose actual role is very small com- pared to the all around ,,big picture." ing. "We 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 yer tries seat occupied by the person in charge of a craps game. A poker player term used re to define one part of a dealer,s shuffle. ealer BOX ,,He CARS: The number 12 in craps. rolled box cars. - -' first two 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 I the center of the table sitting down. ls are 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." loan lN HOUSE: gambring 9!EAK A estabrishment that hires inexperienced dearers. BREAK THE BANK: Term used by casinos when a player wins enough to large empty a slot machine. "congraturations, you broke the bank." A term ck. " used when a gambler wins more money than the house can pay. ing after BRICK: A die that has been altered with weights. tney?' BROADS: The three queens used primarily in three_card monte. 'ds BROAD TOSSER: The dealer handling the three queens in a three_card monte game. lice are BROAD TosslNG MoB: peopre Ail the connected with the operation of a rsing 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 attempt to get them to play. BUG: A device placed under a roulette wheel that keeps specific numbers from coming into pray. A device praced under poker or brackjack tabres in which cards are stored until they are ready to enter a game. BUILD-UP: A speech designed specifically for a mark in orderlo get him excited about gambling his money. BUM MovE: A stupid or unwanted move made by a con artist that results in his being caught cheating or rosing the mark. "He reft the game after that bum move I made." BUM STEER: Giving bad or bogus advice. Giving worthress information. ,,He Giving wrong directions. gave me a bum steer." BUNCO: A police term describing a crooked game. "He's in charge of the bunco squad." A swindling game. BUNDLE: A large amount of money. A term used to express a rarge ross of money. "l lost a bundle last night.,' BURN GARD: The top card used as protection from exposing cards to prayers after each round of dealing during a hand. prior to dealing the next round of 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. ,,1 BUST: Losing an entire bankroll. 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 to a floor man about players or dealers. A floor man might reply, ,,euii busting 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 mock gunfight. )rs' knife or This is used to scare off a mark and make him ttempt feel lucky he escaped uninjured. cAcrLE THE D!GE: Making the dice crick together but not alowing them to lbers change positions in the hand prior to rolling them. CAGE: tables The casino cashier. A casino change oootn. tne area of a casino that contains the casino vault. CALL: Placing poker rim a bet that is exactly the same size bet of another play- er. "l call.' sults CALL BET: Verbal announcement of a bet made by a craps player. e after CANDLE: The name given a light on top of a slot machine. GANE: given Term the stick used by a craps dealer to collect the dice or n. move the dice about the table. CAPPER: A carnival helper. CAPPING: the A term used primarily in blackjack or craps that means a player has added .,After chips to a bet after the cards have been deart. he ss of looked at his cards, I saw him cap his bet., CARD SHARP: An excellent card player. A professional card player who rlayers uses unethical means to win. CARD TEAM: round Two or more prayers in the same game acting as confederates. ck. CARNIES: Carnival employees. GARNIvAL: An estabrished schedure of amusement. A wandering venture offering amusement and exhibits. CASE rd CARD: The fourth card of one numericar varue to be deart, with the other ame. three exposed to the view of ail prayers. Usuaily used to define the case ace. "The other three aces were out; I was surprised when I caught the case ace." CASE NOTE: A $1 biil. rge CASE OUT: To share gambling winnings with others. rg to CASH lN: Quitting a game and redeeming .l chips for cash. had enough so I it decided to cash in." CASH OUT: Quitting a game and redeeming chips for cash. "l quit; I'm ey. going to cash out.' CASINO HOST: in charge of welcoming casino guests. Duties include acquainting ods. new guests with casino games, policies, shows, and other ame. entertainment. the 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: prayer A who uses a sticky substance in his hand to stear chips from the pot or from another player's stack. CHECKS: gambring The term for poker chips. This term appries to a, other ta games using chips instead of cash. 119 I THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK cHEESE lr: Term used to warn others in a con game that the authorities have 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-card straight 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. ,,first "He's a class act." Same as being 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 a person to get close to the game. Used primarily to keep unwanted pee ple away from a three-card monte game. clour: Having infruence with porice or other officiars. "He's got a rot of clout downtown.' gambling CLUB: A 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 ,.1 money. No checks or l.O.Us. 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 to gambling 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- questioning. ing "By coming clean they promised not to throw me in jail. " 120 GTOSSARY 'ities COMP: Short for complimentary. A gift for doing business in a gambling establishment. Free meals, lodging, or sniv tickets given In uppr"-"iu_ ings. tion. In some cases airfare, lodging, and meals will be provid"i fr"u, in.' for a future return. ,.After a tew nou-is of gambling, the iloor man gave lur-card us a comp to dinner." ', six, CON: Abbreviation for confidence ,.He, man. s a con man." A crooked game. "The game was a con." plan A to cheat. "This game will con them out of their money. " CON ARTIST: A person who is excellent at cheating others out of money. s all "Joe's a great con artist." CONFIDENCE GAME: A con that usually takes time to pull off. The con a win- must first gain ^^_.1ti:t complete trust of the intended mark. coN GAME: A game designed specifically for cneaUng others out of their tipper. money. CON JOB: The art of selling a crooked game to a mark. of CON MAN: A swindler. person A who chieats. A person who designs plans games and to cheat people out of their money. )en CONVICT: Carnival word for Zebra. ,peo- COME OUT ROLL: First roll of the dice prior to a point being made. COME THROUGH: A mark that refuses to leave, complains, and demands his losses returned. r clip CONNECTIONS: Knowing.people who are in high places of gaming or law enforcement who wi, ,,We arow a crooked guri'u to run smoothry. won,t wing a have problem any running the con herJ; t,ve got connections., I pee COOKING THE BOOKS: Falsifying income records to avoid paying taxes. lllegar bookkeeping. Burning evidence of book making, oi oI-.,",. irr"gur rf activity just prior to a raid. COOLER: A deck of cards prearranged to give a mark a very ;ards. high hand, but the confederate will have a Oetler nan-0. GOOL OUT: Calming down an irate mark. lir; I COOPERATIVE ARREST: An arrangement between potice and operators of an irregar house to have some of the operators arrested. Usuaily done nto a to please compraining townspeopre. Arso done in front of a mark to con- frighten him into leaving without causing trouble or complaining to authorities. es to coPPER: Betting against the odds. To prace a bet in opposition to someone S, else who is an expert. les. COPPER A TIP: Betting against very strong odds. Betting against exception_ ally good advice. lur- COPPER-HEARTED: Untrustworthy person. Someone 'l ,,Don't likely to turn you in to authorities. trust her, she,s copper_hearted." COWBOY: A player who plays fast and out of control. 12l IHE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER,S HANDBOOX -l CRACKDOWN: A period of police time or officials put a temporary stop to gambring 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 to avoid 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 ,,1,m a doctor. not feeling too good. Take me to town to see the croaker." CROOKED: To be dishonest. A ,.He,s thief. Unscrupulous. as crooked as a dog's hind leg." CROSS: Making a mark feel as though he,s part of the con when really the patsy. he,s CROSS ROADER: A person excellent at cheating stot machines. CUT AND RUN: Stop the con and leave immediatety, usually just prior "The to a raid. cops are coming, cut and run!" CUT CARD: Usually a colored plastic card offered to a player to cut the deck(s) in a blackjack game. ln poker it,s a thick plastic card that stays at the bottom of the deck during the entire hand. This protects the bot- tom card from being exposed and makes it extremely difficult for the dealer 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 piece want a of the action you made last night." CUT OUT: Purposely keeping a memblr of the con from receiving their fair share. "l didn't like his attitude, so I cut out part of his share., .UTTHROAT: A disreputabre person who goes after marks and anyone erse in a rough or vicious manner. A gambier with very few scruples and doesn'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 getting men together to reminisce about old scores and con games. t22 GTOSSARY stop to D: A $1 biil. I a com- Using cotored ?lY_Bllc, ink to mark cards during ptay. DEADHEAD: A player.o-r mark with ,.Bust tory very little-' money. him out quick, he's a deadhead." A low-limit p[V"r." DEAD MAN'S HAND: lnking O"..nOi"e two patrs, aces rumored that l*:lL"l* and eights. tt,s Witd Bi, Hickock was t To remove chips l!f9: from a bet once the cards have been dealt. DRA* P.KER: A poker game involving the discard of unwanted cards and drawing a rike amount from the unused portion of the deck. once a very 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 usuary placed in a slot in the table next to the dealer, which drops into a locked receptacre. Houses use this term when rerating to the amount of money made during ,,Lasinight,s a shift or 24-hour period. drop was 10 grand." A term given a location where gambling proceeds are deposited. 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 been given drugs prior to racing. ,,1 DRY: No money. 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 no apparent idea of what he's doing. DUMP SHOT: A trick used to hold ort di"" that should have gone back into a 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 game. ,,There,s __ - a an ear on the ace of spades., EASY MARK: A person who is easily persuaded to play'nim a con game or gam_ ble in a game ,,Get he has no chance of winning. 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 ,,1 mark. 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! his manners. it EIGHTER FROM DECATUR: phrase used by a craps shooterjust prior to rolling the dice when the ,.Come number he nleds to win is eight. on eighter from Decatur., EIGHTY-FIVE: One step short of being eighty-sixed (from cards passed out by a Las Vegas bartender). EIGHTY-SIXED: To be thrown out of a gambling establishment and told 424 GLOSSARY tt. never to return. "He rrds and can,t come in here, he,s been the 86th eighty_sixed., (From )nce a Law of the Nevada ReviseJ Siatutes.) EVEN SpLrrrERS: Dice that have oeen arteieo so that onry even will come up numbers Ihing after being rolled. fr,"ru Ji,:e game are usually brought into a e reels. after a point has been made. usually toa FADE: Covering another amount player,s action in a cr drop was tre FAIRBANK (Fairbanking): cr,eaiing-so i." ,urn wins, which in turn buirds ine rev- the mark's confidence and mJkes nim teet that he has a rear winning big. chance of FALSE CUT: An action by a dealer that leads the players to believe the )een been cut when they actualy haven.t. ::ij:l:;: Used primarity with a FAST coMpANy: Gambring with excerent professionar ,,He gambrers. rikes or hold- to gamble in fast company." FEVER: The number five ,.Come in craps. on lifile " F,ELD fever. with no SpLrrrERS: Dice that have oeen attereo so when rored wirr come up as field numbers. rarery (Field numbers are usually nln", ten, two, three, four, ack into _-- _ eleven, and twelve.) FILL: Repracing chips nd five in the dearei's box which were previousry by players. purchased FIN: A 95 bil. FINGER: Pointing out or telling on a person or game' house running a crooked rsily usua'yto porice or persons of authoritv. 'r caugh"t nir.r,"uting, _ so I fingered him to the police." FlRsr BASE pEAK: or gam- A prayer who sits to the positions reft of a brackjack dearer and ?me; himserf to easiry peak at the oearer.s hore card. FtRsT oF MAy: Carnivat term for _you nJ;;;;;ee. can te, he,s a first of May because he doesn't xno*" - *nut iJ'. ooing. start of carnivar I egg." season. FIVE rploy- SpOT: A $5 bi[. FIX: Manipurating a game' ng at A con. A bribe to porice or FIXER: An others in authority. agent who has connections in city hall. A person who pays offi- .to the other wav during a con operation. A rawyer l"**., eon ffi:*[:: FIX rs oN: phrase used when it is arr right to proceed game. "lt's with a con or crooked d out OK boys, go ahead, the fix is'on.- FIASH: Expensive prizes displayeO ny carnies io uttru"t types prizes customers. These d _ of are very rarely won. FLAT: A carnival card game played for money, not prizes. 125 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 arl the 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 to keep from being detected porice by or other officiars. Locations of each game are usually phoned to prospective customers just prior to opening. FLOOR MAN: A person emproyed by the house whose duties usuary incrude the supervision of dearers and making decisions concerning gun',irur.' play or mistakes by a dealer. FLUS-H: To have a large amount .,How of money on one,s person. you doing for cash?" ,,1'm flush." FOLD: Term used by a poker player to inform the other players he no longer wishes to pray his hand. "r ford." A prayer turning att oi nis face-up cards face 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 one suit as a five-card flush. FREEWHEEUNG: Term given order type srot machines whose reers turned freely untir the machine's timing mechanism rereases pins to stop reels. the FRETS: The metal fins separating the numbers on a roulette wheel. These hold the ball once the ball drops. FRONT MAN: person A who bankrolls a gambling operation. FUR FLY: Making a commotion to distraJt bystanders who appear to be catching on to the con. G-NOTE: A $1,000 biil. GAFF: A gambling device rigged to cheat. Usually rigged so the customer never wins. To shortchange. GAFFER: A con who operates bogus slot machines. GAMBLER: A person who wagers money or varuabres on events with no known outcome. Taking ,nn"""r"uiy risks. Risking money on gurls chance. ot GEEK: A carnival employee who uses despicable acts to entertain cus- tomers. Usually a grotesque-looking ,,Our person. geek swallows live bats." GEORGE: A word used by one dealer to another to identify a person who is i tlpper. "Take good care of him, he,s a George.; GETAWAY^__-?.?:g DAY: The final day of horse racing for the season. t26 GTOSSARY Gathering cards together all 9lEllltcr in preparation for deating seconds. GO FOR THE MONEy: phrase used when it;s-att rignt to proceed with a con. "Everything is in place, go - _ for the money., GOING LIGHT: Calling a poker bet and not having enough money on the tabre to do so. Not having enough money to cail a bet but wish to have the pravers take a marker. "t'ttcattthe ach b;t but'm going rigni$io." GOID BICKER: Someone who is a cheat, liar, trickster, and ring. games. operator of con lude GO SOUTH: Taking money, cards, )rs' dice, or other gambling devices off the table. To leave town in a hurry. .,The Go into hiding. cops are foof 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 has been awarded. HANDBOOK: A bookie joint. A house where illegal sports and race wagers are made. HANDIE: Cash taken in for an illegal gaming operation and tabulated on a "Today,s handte .. - -.911vluris. *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 with each player winning a cheap prize. Games that require a number of cheap prizes to be accumulated and then traded for bigger prizes. 127 THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK HANKY ,,Those PANXY: Term given almost any type of con. guys got some real 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_way four. 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 rival gaming persons or con operation. hired to destroy property owned by rival gaming or con operators. rn more serious situations, these peopre are called upon to assassinate rival operators. HEAD TO HEAD: ln poker it's two players betting against each other. ln blackjack 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 ,.The large sums of money. 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 due to several different changes, such as point spreads, key injuries to players, player trades, weather conditions, and so on. Bets made by one bookie to another to offset posslble losses. HEEL: jerk. A Usually used by a female gambler to describe an unsavory or a not so tactful male gambler. HIGH ROLLER: A gambler who bets large sums of money. One who bets the limit. A gambler who, while not gambling, treats friends and associates to 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 winnings earned in a con operation. A card removed from a deck by a dearer so it cannot be used in play. H0LD our sHoE: A brackjack shoe that has been artered so the dearer can easily deal seconds or withhold certain cards from play. HOLD our rABLE: A gaming tabre that has been designed to hide cards being withheld by the dearer. Dearers can arso easiry re-enter cards withheld to keep from being detected. L28 GLOSSARY ;ome HoLE cARD(s): The card a blackjack dearer dears himserf face down. cards that have been dealt 0.U.s. face down to ptayers in a poker game. HOOK: The act of bringing.a ,,See total a mark into u gir". the guy in shirt and the blue ray brown hat? Hook him." HOPPER: A tub, shaped like )ight. a bowl that holds coins in a slot machine. coins are dispensed from the nopp",. *n", winnings are more than the amount of coins being held rl in the shoot. When hoppers are futt oi coins, coins spi, over Jbv and fa, into a hording pan under the HORSES: A pair machine. eople of altered dice. HOSE.(Hosed, Hoser): A deceitfur person. one who cheats. ,,watch him; he's out for 'I a hoser." Getting hosed is ,,1 to le seriously beaten at gam_ bling. took a hosing lasinight." HOT COME ON: A con operation where the mark knows instantly cheated. he,s been Hor HousE: A gambling house e being watched by police or other officiars. Hor SC,RE: Having taken money trJ, u ,urx who comprained about being cheated during the con. e HOUSE: Any establishment.used s due for gambling purposes. lncludes casinos as major ) well as back room ofierationf. HUSH MONEy: Money ly 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 the yor authorities with incriminating information.' HUSTLER: A professional con mJn. erp"ri oiiiiuro ptayer who ptays just good enough to win. ; the HYPE: A con man's verbar buirdup promoting ates of a scam. a confidence game using exaggerated tales. mus. , IDIOT CON: A con game that takes little effort and not much lN CAHOOTS: thought. A very western term ,,1,m for O"irj:iroio". on a con. in cahoots with the house." I lN PLAY: Money placed m- that allows the player action in the game. dealer declares, ,,Bet!".Money When a bet;";1;" before it starts, usualty associated with craps. ln ngs roulette, monei placeO prior to the ball drop ping. ln Big Six, money placed SO prior to tn! wneet spinning. lNslDE MAN: Someone working inside a nouse wno is wilring to pull to offer services a con. This type of person is needed can in order to pull a con on major casinos' The inside men usuary incrude floor men and security personner. lN THE BAG: phrase used when .Don,t the fix is ;;. E".y con. worry, bag." it,s in the lN TH.E CHIPS: Having won a large amount of money. "ljust took him for five 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 jackpot hit the 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: gambling ,,1 A house. hear Joe's opening up a new joint." JOSTLE: Picking pockets in carnival crowds. JUICE: Loan money .,The interest paid to a loan shark. juice on my loan is 50 a personaily week." knowing someone in a position of high authority at a gambling house. "l got juice at the Mirage., JUI.E J,INT: gambring A 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 play heavy fines on carnivar peopre. A court of serf-appointed citizens who prosecute and fine without due process of law. KIGKBACK: Pay off to someone as a reward for sending a mark into a game. Baiting a mark to return by giving back some of the money he lost. "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 is over. 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;s got no mercy; he's a knock out." Term whispered to a oeater wnen it's all right to go ahead and bust a mark out. LARRY: Worthless carnivar prizes. cheap or worthress merchandise ,.He's sold on the carnival midway. got Larry on the shelf." term for ,.t'll .{]:_C1aOs wager. 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 GTOSSARY LAY OUT: given Term the numbered felt covering on a craps table. rfjack.' LEAD JOINT: games carnival that use firearms in the contest. A shootino ona gallery. LEAK: A poor move by a con man usually ending in the mark spotting the c does- con game. "There was a leak, that,s why the mark took off.,, LEECH: A gambler regularly asking fo*on"y o,. favors with shuffle .,Who,s the idea it never has to be paid back. he leaching off now?,, ,,hotding LEFT HOLDING THE BAG: See tn" Oug., LEG MAN: A carnivar emproyee whose main duties are to run errands for other carnival employees. ..Send ran the leg man for coffee." ts LEGIT: An honest game, house, or any otnei type of operation that is uthority 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- to con- nings. LEVEL: Same as regit. "He's on the rever." Making a true statement. ,.This ks. 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. o play LINE: odds given .,what,s on sports and race betting. the rine on Denver who today?" tlNE MACHINE: A slot machine with more than one payoff a line. LlrrLE JoE FR,M KoKoMo: crap rhe term for the point of four. "come on rit e Joe from Kokomo." ks. " LIVE ONE: A gambler or mark looking very excited rn is about entering a game. "Here comes a live one." LIZARD: A slow racehorse. 'l A sick or poor quality racehorse. "You gonna bet on that lizard again?" LOAD: Weights placed in dice to make them roll in favor of whoever loaded them. ras LOADED DlcE: Dice that have been artered with weights. "The JY'S way the dice kept coming up sevens, I think they were loaded." n it's LOAN SHARK: Person who roans money for high interest. rnterest is usuaily due 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." Having little doubt about a win. LONG SHOT: A racehorse given big odds against winning. A bet placed ,,1'm on a horse with big odds. bettingthe long shot in the eighth., LosER: A gambrer who rarery has a winning diy. ssible one not usJd to winning ways. An easy mark. "He's such a loser, only blind luck will make him a tgo." winner." 131 THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK LOSTNG STREAK: A period of severar days or weeks without a winning "l hope day. things get better, I've been tn a losing streak., MADBALk The crystal ball used by fortune-tellers. MAN: Police or other ,,Watcn officials. 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 take money from. The patsy. A gambling idiot. MARKER: Casino term ,.t for loan or creOit. want a marker for 95,000., MAX: Term used by a gambrer ,,r wishing to bet the rimit. bet the max., The largest amount that courd have been won on a particurar bet. ,,rgot max." the MEAI'.KET: Used to identifo gambrer's a backer. "He,s my mear ticket.,, MECHANIC: A dealer who is an ut .nuuting. 'This guyls .fuuni.g ,. out; send in the mechanic." "r-purt An exceilent card prayer. rs arso used major casinos in as identifying an expert dealer who is legit. MELTED: Big roser. Broke because orgamor;g. "They merted me rast METER: Device night., 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 ,,it a rather rarge number of customers. was a mob scene last night." MONEY CARD: The winning card ,,All in three_card monte. right my man, find the money card and win the money." MONKEY: Carnival word for customer. MOOCH: A mark in a carnivar game. person A who stands and watches as a carnival barker attempts get players to 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 job wish he,d get a and quit mooching off me." MOVE: Making a cheating .,One play. move and lgot his money., MUCK: The discards during a poker hand ano usuatty rocated to the reft the dealer. ,,He,s of done with his hand, muck his cards., MUCKER: An assistant to a rourette dearer whose duties are to stack checks at the end of each game. MUFF: The act of dropping ane;d dice onto the table or playing area tentionally. unin_ 132 GTOSSARY day. MULTIPLIER: given Term 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 enverope containing a large sum of cash, when actually it contiins pieces of worthless paper. roney. MUSctE: Bouncers hired by con men to keep out-of-rine marks in rine. take "He's giving probrem, us a get some muscre." persons in a broad toss ing mob who are in charge of keeping nosey bystanders away from the action. A person who makes collections for loan sharks. The ,t the NAILED: To be caught ,,poor cheating. Louie, he got nailed by the cops last et. " night. " ;US NATURAL: in a craps game it's the number seven or ereven n ,,He when roled on the come out roll. threw five naturals in a row." NICKEI AND DIME JOINT: A very small gambling operation. Iht." 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. ted. NON-VAIUE CHECKS: Colored chips dispensed to roulette players. These 3git- are valued _.- _,.lipr 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.- find oDDS oN: Gambring term meaning there's a very good chance of winning particular ,.Clay a bet. is odds on favorite to win the flght." SA OFF-__ ACTION: Spoken out loudly by a craps player signaling he no longer ry. wants his odds bet working. Usuary done when a prayer feers a Jeven is about to come out. oN A ROLL: Having won severar times in a row. Being a consistent winner over period ,,He,s a of time. been on a roll for two days now., ONE-ARMED BANDIT: A slot machine. ON THE SQUARE: ,,lt,s Being honest. Running an honest game. a good house, it's on the square.,, oN THE TAKE: Porice or officiars who are taking bribes. "we,re gonna be oK on this one; Judge Dixon is on the take., OUTSIDE MAN: One who is responsible for getting a mark into a game. A lookout outside a house. 133 THE PROFESSIONAT GAMBIER'S HANDBOOK PACKAGE: A deck ,,Give of cards marked and ready to be placed in play. the dealer this package. " .,Don't PACKING: Carrylng a handgun. mess with him, he,s packing. PAINTER: A card dauber. ,.1 PAIR: Poker term for two-of-a_kind. have a pair of aces." PAPER: ,,paper,s Marked cards. 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 pass line. The number seven or ereven on the come out roil. Dupricating the first number made before rolling a seven. ,.numbers" PASSERS: Dice altered to make more than sevens. PASS LINE: The area marked on a crap tabre where prayers prace their bets indicating they bet the shooter will pass. PAST POST: When a player calls out a number after the dice have stopped rolling and the dealer calls it a bet. PATCHER: A person responsibre for making peace between a crooked carnivar operator 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 they should. 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 phrase OF THE ACTION: 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- he ,,irt ffing wourd rike part of a gambring bet being offered. tuk" hurf of 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. Usuailf there isn't any merchandise, but when there is, it,s worthless. .,1 PILE: Large gambling winnings. 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 phrase LIKE A cHrcxEN: used during a conversation between 134 GI-OSSARY Sive the how weil a mark was taken. ,,We ptucked fflffi:"r","ting him tike a POINT: Numbers in a craps game, when rolled on a cated come out roll, if dupli- before a seven is rolled, wins. PO|NT SHAVTNG: Usuaily assocrateo wiin proru.sionar -a -predeterminedsports. Athretes paid to keep the winning-score are witirin margin. t"'XH'"::LD: rhe point diTrerence ,SS ei,"iuur. ror a handicai ror oetting rg the POKE: A mark's wallet. POKE A Trp: A come on by carnivar barkers. Usuary a free, brief peek action to gain a customer's at the interest in seeing the whore r bets price of admission. show for the POKER FACE: A player who shows no pped emotion when holding a big hand. PoT: Money bet by poker ptayers inat ;';;;;*o in the center of the poker untit being awarded to the lrnival ^^__T!t" winrier. Money. Usualy $1. "t,il wn." !9IlIo' o"i rir"'Joiu.our." PRESSING: Adding chips to O"t ur,",. the game rp. progress' A " "ri""O-V","'uOL is in crap term used to te, the dearer bet to in.r"Ir" tn" ,ize of a before the next roll of the dice. PRoGREsstvE ,u.hi*.-*nose jackpots ;,::1..': ""1 increase with ptay. tabulating a iackpot tn" rimit of otnu,. ,.nu.l?l:lv :1?" cusioma"rv plaving varue' rhese't j"J;;i; how increase untir the lll-:g l!" :?': 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 seat when a customer wishes to play. S;";i;;; hired to pray por 135 THE PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK PUSHOVER: An easy mark. A person easily tricked out of their money. .,Like taking 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: phrase A used to describe the actions of an outsider who makes a move or remark and scares the mark into leaving. PUSH: ,,lt QUICK A very easy mark. 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 container used to carry chips from the cashier,s .ig" to the table and "Get vice versa. 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 that bet $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 to describe 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 .,we a customer's avairabre money by cheating. 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 practicar ,,Look has no sense. A buffoon gambrer. at that 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 amateur prayer with a professionar without ,,They the knowredge of other pray- _ ers. put in a ringer., RrNKy D,NK: rtems that ari soto or given as prizes value. ,,This that have ritre or no is some rinky dink stutf f won." RrP AND TEAR; Term used to describe bratant cheating by a con doesn,t care who sees ,:ini, man who him doing it. guy,. a real R!P-OFF: Steating. A.:trllg ;tnu,'gur",, rip and tear.,, .on gurJ. a reat ripoff." ROAD HUSTLER: A traveling TI" throwing of diceln"on-run. :sider I9llj u guru. ROOK: To cheat' Keeping someone'fro-m",up, r.e-ceiving their share of "They rooked me out winnings. le 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 an"y have had several hands in a row. U^s:q "nno-r".u winning to announce LrV g""O winning ,,1 on a rush session. was all night.,, Used by superstitious" players hand who will bet on any after winning several in a row. "t;m-ptaying -or my rush., r'ersa. SANDTNG: Using sandpaper to shave or discoror the sides of praying to"t mark. An easily cards. duped r.nurx.-n.ttng like an ,,iei hat :;.:"", idiot. sucn a SAWDUST JOINT: Name given to a house. casino. or an) otner gambling operation that cheats. These operailons ar" usuaily on avoid being detected the move to nto by law eniorc"r"ntig"n.i".. SEAT MAN: A carnival employee pfacea e in ine auoience of a sideshow. usua'y picked to take part ts in the show u.,, as if what's happenins. "no he doesn,t know SCORE: Money maOe-from a crooked game. Money made from a legit with a llrge sum eal frT"l;Xilllllassociated or monev "r scored big on S.REEN our: To move in such a manner that the mark is unabre to view cheating move by a dealer. a SETUP GAME: A gambring game set up specificary marks. preparations to f,eece a mark or for these gur", ur" .ometimes NN time-consuming. elaborate and at SETUPS: cards previously used in a game that have been placed back into correct order and are ready to be re-entered into a game. is, with cards Usuar order face up, spades, hearts, clubs, starting anO diamonds. Each suit 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. 137 THE PROFESSlONAL GAMBLER,S HANDBOOX SHI[[: A person hired by a card room to play poker. Exact except duties as a prop a shill uses house money to play. SHOE: A box used to hold cards to b; de;liin blackjack and baccarat. The usuar 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 prior race time. so to The craps ptayer :I99]ER, whose turn it is to throw the dice. SHOOTING GALIERy: A carnival midway gu.L ,.ing firearms moving to shoot at and stationary targets tor [rizes. sHoor rHE woRKS: Betting iiart. r-eavin! ,,Shoot entire winnings on the crap tabre for one final roll. 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 ,lt a mart<. tooL u shot at him., A bet againstthe house. "r took a shot at'em in the fifth race at sHOVE: Passing Horywood.,, off counterfeit currency. Getting counterfeit game. money into a SHUFFLE: Mixing a deck of cards prior to dealing. Riffle. A professional dealer will use a series of actions to .orpt"t" u ,nrfff". n, *9rld be to riffle, riffle, strip -_-_ the deck, riffte, and then cut. "ru.nlf" SHY: Short for shylock. SHYLOCK: A loan shark- A person who loans gamblers money for a very high rate of interest slDE POT: A separate pot that is made after one or more prayers have run out of money during a hand. The player unable to bet is pot igibf" i* tnu center onry. onry those prayers continuing "f the betting J* ro,. both pots. "rigiot" SIX BITS: 75 cents. slX cAT: A carnival con game involving the throwing of baseballs cats. at stuffed sKlM: Stealing gaming profits prior to paying any bills, usually ing taxes. to avoid pay- SLEEPER: A bet left on gaming a table. A confederate,s bet that is purpose- ly left on the table by a dealer. ,,t lll95,1 :n"re of the gambting profits. want my stice., SLIDE SHOT: A dice throw used to give the thrower and advantage. POTATOES: Very ,,*,eV :yL* sma, *ug"ri. were only betring sma, potatoes., SNAKE BIT: Term used gambl-ers by *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 SNAKE EYES: Both dice coming up aces. The number two in craps. ,,He crapped out with snake eyes." ft. The SNOWBALIS: Dice altered to have only the numbers four, five, and six. less. SOFT AGTION: An easy mark. Using cash in place of chips during a game. 'rior to 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 )t at 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- rp table 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 ri- are inexperienced in attempts to easily cheat the casino. SPRING: A very large wager. :ards. SQUAT: Money made from carnival con games. bet SQUEALER: A mark who gets excited enougn to hop up and down and rood. " scream when he thinks he's about to win. A person who informs porice Ito a or other officials about illegal gambling or con operations. srAcKED DEGK: A deck of cards that are irranged prior to being praced in rl game a and when dealt will result in a win for a designated ple ltuy"r. STAKES: Gambling prize. Horse race winnings. poker pot. STALL: Slowing down the action of u grr" to give other marks a chance to join in. "on 'v srAND: Blackjack term meaning no more cards. A decision by prayer ,.Want the not to take additional cards. a hit? No. I stand.- run STEER: The art of moving marks into a crooked game. 'the srEER JotNT: A house where marks are sent to become invorved in a lle for crooked game. STICK: player A who is part of the crooked game. -Bob is the stick tonight." srlFF: gambrer A who doesn't tip the deareis or cocKair waitresses. rffed srlNG: Name given a con game invorving numerous personner and usuary nets a very large amount of money. The actuar moment a mark is pay- relieved police of his money. term for an undercover operation. STRIPPER CARDS: Cards that have been srightry shaved arong the edges. |ose- 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." es." To have heavy gambting tosses. "t'm "l !I99K: 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. 139 THE PROFESSIOT{AL GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK sroRE: Word for an honest as weil as dishonest gambring estabrishment. ,l hear the lmperial palace is a good store." SURRENDER: Blackjack term. When a player is allowed to throw away an unfavorabre hand before acting. rn return the prayer is returned tiarf the original bet. S*NGER: Name given the carnivar game that invorves a ba, suspended on a rope and a bowling_type pin. swrrcHtNc THE CUT: A term for a cheating move whire shuffring. The dear er cuts the cards but returns the cards to their original positr:on in a onehanded move prior to dealing. TABLE STAKES: Term poker used in houses to describe money on the tabre that is playable in the game. TAKE A BATH: Losing a large amount of money gambling. Also "took a bath." "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: ,,1 Broke. No money. 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. Describing IlJr-OolD: a rarge gambring ross. "They sure tattooed me rast night., TEAR UP: The act of simurating the destruction of a mark's check when actually it wasn't and will be cashed as soon as possible. TELL: An accidental move by a con man that gives away the trick. poker term for reflex actions by player a that give away his hand. "He has a distinct 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 is paying 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.'for example, if there are only two players at a table, the second player would 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, usuary resulting in a push. L40 GLOSSARY nent. "l TILT: A malfunction of a yan slot machine. TIP.FF: Advance warning porice to of a pending gambring or ralf the Squearing con operation. to the porice prior to "we,il get got them this time, _ we the tipoff we were looking"nv for., ""tion. ded on Tol(E: Gaming word for tip. "He grr"in" dearer a $1o toke." TOKES: Casino term for tips. e deal- TOP PEEK: A cheating move. When 'la the dealer takes a look at the top card, or cards, prior to dealing to players. Palming the I9llt!G, top cirds in a oecx prior to deating. TOTE BOARD: Brackboard.at a book-marunjopurution. The scoreboard racetrack that at a shows the odds, winneri, and other pertinent table tion. informa TRAGK: The groove on a rourette wheer where the barr rors stops. untir the wheer TURN AROUND: A move or sound made to entice a mark to either turn his head 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. cht.' I UGIY CUSTOMER: An unruly mark. "We had to get him out of here, he turned into an ugly customer." a uP GARD: rn brackjack, it's the card the dearer receives that is praced face up. ris vlG: srang term for money paid as interest on a roan "The from a roan shark. vig's 10 percent a week." The house )m- cut for providing poker tables 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 the drop. known as VOID.THE CUT: A slight-of-hand move by the dealer to return the the originar position cards to after another prrv", n", cut the cards. lly WAD: A large roll of money, usually wrapped by a rubber band. "l blew whole wad." the 1.4t TI{E PROFESSIOTTAT GAMBLER'S HANDBOOK WAU( AROUND MONEY: Term used to describe gambling money. An amount of money a gambler feels comfortable carrying in his pocket. Pocket change. Phrase used to put down another player. "you only bet a 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 or threecard monte game. WELCH: Failing to pay a gambling debt. Deny making a verbal wager when actually 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. ABOUT )et THE AUTHOR rll 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 learning about carnival tricks and v"arious ,tr""t scams. A tou, of duty 't. in the armed forces-was " a beginning eaucaUon in back and barroom room gambling. Aftei disch"arge, the author driving worked a beer truck inlake County, rttlnois. o"."l1niJf".i od 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. age 27 the author a, moved to Las Vegas, graduated from the Strip Dealers School, and began dealing black_ jack. Over the "-[ioy^.nt next several jrur* tire author rno,u"t to dealing poker and eventually became a floor man in u *'r1o."f Strip casino. During the vegas years, the author made friends many people with from every sector of the gaming community. friendships led ITr", to information abo"t tfr.i"a,rrt.y u.,a is the basis for much of the informatio., i., tru, book. 143 llruruillru[ililillll ltlt[tltIrl