CARD SWINDLERS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 9792, 24 October 1918, Page 1

CARD SWINDLERS.

Some of the many tricks practised by card-sharpers at secret gambling clubs are, explained by Mr. David Devant, the famous illusionist, to a “Daily Express’’ interviewer. “You might,’’ he said, “divide card swindlers into two classes : Where the sharper uses his o wn cards ; ‘"Where he usee new ones. •“In the former they are, of course, prepared. Many people imagine that to see the new pack broken out of its cover before their eyes is a protection against fraud, but what can be easier than to steam over the cover bcfore-band, mark the cards, and seal them up again ? A little paste only stands between the victim and ruin.

‘"Marked cards are printed specially for the purpose. They are openly sold by American firms and advertised as ‘ artists’ materials. They are expensive to buy. “The back of each card is printed from a different plate. The marking is done in the shading o! the scroll work on the back, and this is read by the sharper as easily as. the front although the pack may be examined minutely by the average player. “The cards may not even be marked ; they may be ‘ stocked ’—arranged in a known order—and sealed up again. There are, of course, still the shuffle and cut to contend with, but both these can be dodged. There arc several false shuffles—invisible—and) the cards can be bent in the middle and' so made to cut in a certain

place. “Or a confederate may cut them. A card-sharper’s finger-tips arei so delicate that he can cut at will any number of cards from the top. “In the second class—where the sharper uses strange cards—he must rely on manipulation or on mechanical devices. The expert trusts to the former, for the obvious reason—that it is sale. It leaves no proof behind it.

“It would be surprising if card scandals were often shown up. What evidence can there be ? The expert cannot detect the manipulation there is nothing on the cards, and no apparatus is found on the

sharper. “In games where the same pack is used over and over again, the sharper works very largely by pure headwork. He notes the position of the cards as they lie on the table after being played with, and keeps his eye on them when fhey are being dealt for the next round. It is not the quickness of the hand that deceives.. the eye, but the coolness of the head. “Sharpers have most elaborate formulae for remembering where th* cards are placed and arranging them in the pack before dealing. They may be beaten temporarily by the victim, owing to some oversight, especially when playing single-handed, but with a confederate the thing is a certainty. A favourite trick is to keep the chosen cards at the top or bottom of the pack, and use the ‘ cull shuffle ’ to sandwich them between lower cards, which are to be dealt to the victim or victims.”