THE WORLD'S #1 POKER MANUAL - Card Games

Poker Book, Policies
a desirable player.
The good player never cheats--he never needs to.
XIV
Cheaters (74)
[ 18 ]
In friendly and private poker games, most players consider a cheater less honorable than a thief because
a thief robs from strangers, but a poker cheat robs from his friends. The normal emotional impulse is to
banish the cheater from the game ... or worse.[ 19 ] The good poker player, however, resists acting on
emotions. He views any cheating situation objectively and then acts in his best long-range financial
interest.
1. Cheating (75)
Cheating involves the following manipulations of cards, money, or betting:
● Cards are covertly switched to alter the value of a hand. Cards are purposely flashed to see
undeaIt or unexposed cards. The deck is culled and stacked to change the sequence of cards to be
dealt.
● Money is stolen from the pot or from other players. Wrong change is purposely taken from the
pot. Lights are purposely not paid.
● Mechanical devices such as marked cards, strippers, mirrors, and hold-out equipment, and
techniques to smudge, nick, or mar cards for future identification, are used.
● Secret betting agreements or partnerships are made; the colluding partners signal each other when
to bet or raise.
Honest poker allows any behavior or manipulation, no matter how deceptive, except cheating. Cheating
is the only dishonest, illegal, or unethical behavior in poker. But where does deception end and cheating
begin? Actually, a sharp distinction exists between the two. Poker cheating is the conjuring up of
advantages unavailable to others. Poker deception is the taking advantage of situations available to all.
For example, all cards are marked. A sharp-eyed player can find printing imperfections in honest decks
of cards. Some common printing imperfections are ink spots, inkless dots, and slightly off-centered
designs on the back side of the cards. Also, the normal use of cards produces identifying smudges, nicks,
scratches, and creases on their backs. (Purposely marring cards for identification would, of course, be
cheating.) Those natural imperfections and markings that identify unexposed cards are available to any
player willing to train his eye and discipline his mind. The good player willingly exerts the effort to
learn and then use these natural markings. He may even increase that advantage by providing the game
with cheaper (but honest) cards with less perfect printing patterns.
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