How Gamblers Cheat.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 30 October 1914, Page 8

How Gamblers Cheat.

SOME TRICKS OF SHARPERS. M Wherever you find the gambler, J there, also, will be the sharper al- ,? ways be,, and below are given a £ few of the common, devices employed by him. ' . A coin which is frequentlj' used for the purpose of cheating at spinning coins is an ordinary penny . ,j| filed round the edge so .that, the <| rim is at a slight angle. This 1 coin possesses the additional advan- -| tage of being able- to be. safely | handled by the , dupe, for the.angle • H is so very slight that it cannot be "<$ detected by anyone not in the se- 1| secret. It will be obvious that • when such a coin is spun upon - its edge it will always fall on one „ side—viz., the side whose edge pre- . sents the smallest circumference. "|^ The popular card game called 'X'jh "Banker" in the hands of a "sS^^^J^^ per readily lends itself to trickery/^^^S|j The usual method of cheating at -|1 this game is to . use a prepared |9 pack, technically known as "longs JS and shorts," which is easily pre- ' jWL pared from an ordinary pack by *% ~£m merely sand-papering down the wide '*" ||1 ends of the low cards, so as to . -*|ll make them slightly narrower than -Jj3 the high ones, and treating the nar- ' ||H row ends of the high cards (i.e., -|S| from the aces to the eights) in the , J3] same manner, so as to make them '-Wa a little shorter than, the low ones. -j29 In laying the packets out upon * |||| the table, if the sharper grasps - - '||m the cards across the width of the i^B pack, he will only cut at high -Wm cards, whilst if he ..grasps them •- -j|H lengthwise, only those* cards under " >?I|l eight pips will be cut. Wm Armed with a pack of this de- 'Wm scription, the sharper, "having man- ~j|H aged to entice two or three un* Hffl wary victims to have a game with '-*§■ him, suggests that instead of leav- 3H ing the "Banker" (himself) one of |9 the lots cut by himself, one of the J9 opponents shall cut him another «|j lot. This being agreed to by the 19 other players, the Banker cuts tho J9 cards lengthways, leaving nothing |9 higher than ' seven, wile one of tho '19 dupes will, of course, cut in th<^ |il ordinary manner, giving the sharper . tjjJM a higher card. The unusual method J|| of cutting the cards which is thus , *J9 adopted by the sharper is rarely no- JIB ticed by those not in the secret f -|9 but even when it is noticed, it sel- .J9 dom creates suspicion, being put *§a| down to inexperience. * i J|B A ring is employed, for the pur*"""I**'*^M1 **'*^M pose of cheating at the game of J dominoes. It is an ordinary gem- J set or signet finger-ring, but it is ' _ M provided at the back with afcgiall w£| point which projects. Arme*fwith -Jl a ring prepared in this manner. - vjy| the cunning sharper—either when he "MM moves the dominoes about on the JiSH tables when shuffling, or at any other opportunity that may occur— ■* IfS contrives to put a dot "or two upon the backs of certain dominoes ? lf|9 which will enable him to recognise ~ 119 their value during the course ol '^JjfH