Poker Strategies
After receiving pocket cards, you are immediately faced with a choice: play your cards and either raise or call the blinds, or fold.
Practice Matters
1. One-handed shift cut: Here the two portions of the deck are
1. One-handed shift cut: Here the two portions of the deck are shifted back to their original positions with one hand only. It is deceptive because the chumps don't suspect that such a complex maneuver can be done with one hand and do not, therefore, watch closely when the deck is held this way. Since the other hand is away from the deck, some other type of cover must be used. The usual practice is to reach across the body with the free hand to take a cigar or cigarette from an ashtray which has been purposely left at that side. The reaching arm covers the hand holding the deck for a brief moment and the shift takes place unseen.
2. One-handed table cut shift: After an honest cut, while the two
2. One-handed table cut shift: After an honest cut, while the two blocks of cards are still on the table, the cheater completes, or rather pretends to complete, the cut. He picks up the cards originally on the bottom and appears to place them on the top block. Actually the bottom block passes above and a bit beyond the top block, comes quickly back and slides in under the top block. This is a very deceptive shift provided that it is done with lightning speed and a single, unhesitating sweep of the hand.