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
Most sharpers have developed their own cold-deck switches.
Most sharpers have developed their own cold-deck switches. However, here are just three of these cold-deck switches that I have spotted over the years. (1) The cheat leaves the shuffled and cut deck on the edge of the table just as the waiter confederate arrives with a previously ordered tray of sandwiches or drinks. The waiter cheat holds the cold deck beneath the tray which he rests on the table for a moment above the honest deck in play. When he leaves, the cold deck remains behind and the honest deck goes with him. (2) The waiter cheat's tray simply covers the honest deck for a moment as the player cheat makes the switch under it. (3) A player cheat, after having picked up the honest, cut deck, purposely lets fall several chips from the table. The cheat then makes the switch from his lap (which holds the cold deck) while stooping down to retrieve the fallen chips.
There are countless other ways that cheats introduce cold decks
There are countless other ways that cheats introduce cold decks into a game, but because of space limitations, the above-described methods will have to suffice. The best protection against the cold deck is to insist that your opponents make use of the Scarne Cut (see page 257).