Cheating with a "shinner"

[Dwayne]

I have just read a fictional novel that gave an account of cheating in a high stakes private game. One of the players used a ring that reflected to him the face of each card as he delt them. This gaff was refered to as a 'shinner'. I have never heard of such a ploy and cannot imagine how it could be used unnoticed in such a game. Sounds to me like fictional B.S. What do you think?

[Herb N.]

In the old days cheat's did use Shiners,and Shavers[rings used to shave a the edge off a card ]..I never tried it but i herd of players marking cards with indelible ink invisible unless you wore dark sunglasses.. [img]/forums/images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

[BruceZ]

I understand that some blackjack players used a shiner that looked like an ice cube in a drink. It was positioned to reflect the dealers hole card.

[Herb N.]

Hey back in the 50's when penny loafers were popular we put a shiner in dem and looked up de girls skirts!any body remember that? [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

You should read the book "Marked Cards and Loaded Dice" I can't remember the author's name this instance. Check your local library website. Go to www.homepoker.com. There is a link to cheating at cards.

Forgot to mention this: Polished Zippo lighters can be used as shiners

Excellent fictional cheating passage involving a shiner early in "Moonraker" James Bond novel. The game is bridge, not poker, and Bond's way of busting the cheat is well worth reading.

Fleming was great at writing these kinds of gaming scenes, pitting Bond against a cheating bad guy. The golf match in Goldfinger is also classic.

Too bad he never had 007 play poker.

[Zele]

Seems like an awfully poor cheat to me. Get caught with the gaff, and you don't have a lot of outs.

There is a site that sells these devices (presumably to collectors and morons.) It is cardshark.fm . There is also some info on spotting cheats, but nothing you wouldn't find in Darwin Ortiz' book.

[cardshark]

Small correction,

Nowhere on my site do I say that I sell to collectors (I won’t comment about “morons” as everyone is entitled to his/her opinion). Furthermore, the material on my site is not so much for your protection as it is for education. What one will do with the knowledge is up to the individual. And actually there is stuff on my site that is not in any books.

I do, however, agree that the use of a cheating device is not the best option as it doesn’t leave much room for explanations.

Despite the not-so-positive tone I still thank you for the link; it did generate some additional traffic.

[Zele]

Didn't mean to sound completely negative, I did find your site rather interesting, though I'm quite opposed to actual cheating at cards.

I will say that Russian Roulette game is hilarious, though not for the easily offended.