marked cards

Ive been playing some home games with my friends lately. a few other guys and I suspect that one guy is using marked cards.

we cant really prove it and cant make him use one of our decks cause then it would look like we are the ones cheating, since he hosts a lot.

so I was wondering if any of you know the secret behind these cards - the ones that dont require sunglasses .. for protection

[duma]

i wonder this myself sometimes when i see alot of people in tournaments use red tinted glasses. they do not block out your eyes. the only reason i would see to wear them is to mark cards.

how lame can your home game be though if some guy is using a rigged deck. i would find another game if u suspect this, or just host yourself and dont invite the guy.

[Hedge Henderson]

The most common store-bought marked deck uses little dots in a circular clock-face pattern.

A regular marked deck is pretty easy to spot when you've got the shuffle/deal. Just flip through the cards as you would when you drew animated cartoons in your school notebooks as a kid (surely I'm not the only one to have done this). If you notice changes in the reverse from card to card, you've got a marked deck.

We use two standard Kem decks in rotation, player to the dealer's right cuts before the deal. I know the cards aren't marked, because they're mine and I check. Often. I'm also always on the lookout for strange bends and curls. If those problems can't be fixed with weight and time, I replace the deck(s).

So, how is it just this one guy is using marked cards? Does everybody get to bring their own deck to this game or something? That's just inviting problems.

[Lottery Larry]

"flip through the cards as you would when you drew animated cartoons in your school notebooks as a kid (surely I'm not the only one to have done this). "

No, you're not the only one. :P

[Lottery Larry]

"a few other guys and I suspect that one guy is using marked cards.

we cant really prove it and cant make him use one of our decks "

Why do you suspect it? His play should give it away. Is he watching the deck when he deals? Is he watching each card carefully as others deal?

"so I was wondering if any of you know the secret behind these cards - the ones that dont require sunglasses .. for protection "
Protection? Or revenge? How do you "protect" yourself by knowing the marks on the cards? Protect yourself by refusing to play at his house, dummy.

If you feel forced to run uphill- When playing at his house, cover your cards with your hands immediately. Keep them that way until you fold, then push them into the muck so they can't be seen. If you're playing stud, put the doorcard on top of your down cards to hide them.
Make sure the top card is burned before each street. He may know the cards out of play, but it won't give him a jump on what cards will be in play.

If he complains, just say "I don't want anyone knowing what my cards are"

If you do want to go the cheating in revenge route, start calling out his cards in the middle of his hand- "Look out, X is raising with his A5 suited again!"- for a while. That should cut those out.
If you don't have good plastic cards such as Copags or KEMs, then insist that new unopened paper decks are used for each game and discarded afterwards. Everyone chips in 50 cents, you can buy two decks.

But again, why play in a game where you suspect cheating? Poker is hard enough with all of the information to process. Find another game or refuse to let him host.

[lou9182]

http://www.cardsorcerer.com/index.as...&ProdID=29

Check out this link, and notice the tintwork method does not require sunglasses and it says it can't be detected by the riffle test.

[Lottery Larry]

Interesting claim "Tintwork relies upon a sophisticated optical principle that allows the cards to be viewed up to 6 feet away. Unlike traditional marked decks (such as our classic decks), tintwork cannot be detected via the riffle test. In fact, the real advantage of tintwork is that it cannot be detected by any test or viewing technique. Even if your spectators have spent their whole life around cards, it is very unrealistic for them to detect these markings."

So, only the buyer can see it from 6 feet away without a filter or other mechanical requirement, but you can't view it by inspecting the cards? Seems somewhat dubious, but I don't know anything about marked decks other than $190 for a setup is a pretty expensive experiment.

If this is true, it just proves once again that you shouldn't play at a game where you don't trust the host and the host should be the one providing all of the cards (then you know who to blame if entire marked decks show up)

[lou9182]

I have never seen these or anything like it, but I would bet it is something like those old #D pics you had to practice at to see. Any thoughts??

[Lottery Larry]

I was thinking along the same lines. I examine my decks in sunlight, on an angle, to look for markings- I wonder if that would catch it?

If anyone wants to buy a setup so I can practice detecting it, I promise to send the cards back if you promise not to host a game! :P

[lou9182]

190 is a bit steep for cards that I can never use. LOL