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Black-hat Neocheating is the use of Neocheating for personal gain of money or prestige -- or both -- at the expense of honest players. And with the information in this book, anyone can easily black-hat neocheat his opponents. Thus, all cardplayers are vulnerable to financial injury by black-hat Neocheaters.
Up until now, this book has revealed Neocheating, but not necessarily the Neocheater. An important distinction exists:
Properly revealing Neocheating requires exposing the full extent it can be applied. Chapter III, for example, explains how anyone can quickly learn to stack four aces. But the Neocheater operates with quiet subtleness and rarely needs to stack powerful hands. In fact, stacking such hands is seldom desirable and often works against his extracting maximum money from card games.
The complete Neocheater operates on the principle that only small but consistent, casino-like advantages are needed to extract all available money from all opponents. But traditional and classical cheaters usually strive for overwhelming short-term advantages --often far beyond the point of diminishing returns.
The complete Neocheater creates advantages that safely deliver maximum long-range profits. He applies his Neocheating power in small doses so his opponents keep losing money to him game after game without ever suspecting him of cheating.
The Neocheater has the following characteristics:
The earlier chapters in this book show how to detect Neocheating. But detecting the Neocheater may be more difficult -- his strategy of subtly using Neocheating makes his moves appear natural and completely normal.
The Introduction to this book speculates that many card games will be damaged or even destroyed as Neocheating spreads. The Introduction also speculates that the information in this book will eventually eliminate most card cheating. But perhaps a third alternative exists: While most card cheating techniques, including most Neocheating, may eventually be eliminated, the low-profile Neocheater might never be caught or even suspected. Indeed, he could quietly rule the card tables without creating any paranoia or suspicion among his opponents. And most dangerously, he considers Neocheating no more wrong than bluffing or normal card deception.
Concepts for winning maximum money in poker without cheating are identified and developed in Wallace's book, Poker, A Guaranteed Income for Life by Using the Advanced Concepts of Poker. That book develops 120 Advanced Concepts along with a concept called the Maximum-Win Approach. All Advanced-Concept (A-C) players[ 34 ] use the Maximum-Win Approach, but so does the Neocheater. While the following paragraph quoted from Wallace's Poker Manual describes the Advanced-Concept player using the Advanced Concepts, that same paragraph could also describe the Neocheater using Neocheating:
The Advanced-Concept player plays solely for his own benefit. He is not a gambler because he bets only when the odds favor him. By contrast, gamblers bet money at unfavorable odds and eventually lose all the money they risk. The Advanced-Concept player cannot lose because he functions like a casino; he fixes the odds permanently in his favor by using the Advanced Concepts and eventually wins all the money that all the gamblers risk.
With constant hard effort in applying the Advanced Concepts, anyone can consistently win money in poker. But with little effort in applying Neocheating, anyone can consistently win money in any card game. The Advanced-Concept (A-C) player, however, is honest; the Neocheater is dishonest. Nevertheless, neither player can be beaten over the long term because they both fix the odds in their favor.
In addition to both being certain winners, The Advanced-Concept player and the Neocheater have other similar characteristics. Both maintain low profiles. Neither uses the full force of his winning power. And by operating below full power, each gradually extracts maximum money from all opponents.
Furthermore, the Neocheater can enhance his profits by actually using various Advanced-Concepts for --
While adopting many characteristics of the Advanced-Concept player, the Neocheater differs markedly from other cheaters. For example, traditional or common cheaters must constantly worry about and concentrate on their cheating techniques as they press for maximum advantages. They usually strive for big killings. By contrast, the Neocheater casually and easily gives himself lesser but safe, casino-like advantages that let him gradually extract maximum money from everyone.
Consider the differences among the following three cheaters:
Stan Smith is a municipal property inspector for a large midwestern city. He is also a crude, traditional cheater who struggles to cheat in almost every hand he plays. He constantly executes blatant and dangerous cheating ploys, such as switching cards and using marked cards. Much gall is needed to pull those crude ploys, and Stan feels the pressure. In fact, he worries so much about getting caught that he often feels relief when he loses a big pot in which he has cheated. Moreover, Stan cannot concentrate on his cardplaying as he is constantly consumed with worry about being caught and publicly castigated -- perhaps even physically assaulted -- because of his cheating. ... Stan is a loser and his cheating makes him lose even more.
Jim Butler is a full-time classical cheater from El Paso, Texas. He possesses much skill that took years to master. He is forty-two years old, but looks sixty. Although maintaining a dignified and prosperous appearance, Jim endures great pressure while performing at high stakes. He constantly presses for big killings to survive. Indeed, his whole life is centered around cheating and finding victims. He cannot settle down; instead he must constantly run from games and victims he has fleeced and then travel to find new high-stake games for more quick killings. He cannot find games often enough and constantly worries about hustling enough new opponents. And he worries about seeing the same face twice. Indeed, he has become somewhat paranoid. Also, traveling and living expenses add to Jim's worries. Aside from his strenuous, worrisome life and belying his prosperous appearance, Jim is far from being financially secure. In fact, he lives with constant anxiety, feeling at times he is only one step from being a hobo.
Professor Arthur G. Gallbreath teaches consumer economics at a prestigious Eastern university. He has been mentioned as a possible Nobel laureate. He is also a Neocheater. Once a week he plays in a local, high-stake poker game. His winnings average $1200 per game. Yet, Professor Gallbreath could easily rip $10,000 from the game in one night with big-score, cheating setups that he is perfectly capable of executing. But unlike Jim Butler who always tries for maximum kills, Dr. Gallbreath never does. Big killings would quickly eliminate his opponents and destroy his game. Instead, the Professor devotes a few easy hours each week to collect sure and consistent profits. In the long run, he garners higher net profits from poker than does Mr. Butler. He has no expenses and apparently leads a relaxed, normal life. And everyone in his game likes him. Moreover, he is a respected member of his community. Professor Gallbreath does, however, spend thousands of dollars a year on visits to his psychiatrist and increasingly disappears on drinking benders.
The Advanced-Concept (A-C) player achieves his unbeatable advantages through hard work. The Neocheater achieves his unbeatable advantages through easy Neocheating. The Advanced-Concept player represents the ultimate evolution of honest poker. The Neocheater represents the ultimate evolution of dishonest cheating. Thus, in a sense, the Advanced Concepts and Neocheating are opposites. Still they both result in extracting maximum money from opponents and are linked by the same basic principle -- the Maximum-Win approach.
Until recently, only the Advanced-Concept player would incorporate and apply the Maximum-Win approach. And only the Advanced-Concept player could win a steadily increasing income from poker. But the evolution of cheating has produced the Neocheater. By using easy and invisible Neocheating techniques, the cheater can now base his poker strategy on the Maximum-Win approach to win as consistently as the Advanced-Concept player.
The diverted concentration involved in using traditional cheating techniques and the extraordinary skill involved in using classical cheating techniques simply do not allow most traditional or classical cheaters enough capacity or time to think about winning long term, game after game. But the Neocheater with his easy, subtle attack has both the capacity and time to think and act long term.
Past cheaters have sweated and worked for their gains, but the Neocheater collects his gains with ease and relaxation. And the long-range, more subtle Maximum-Win approach makes his cheating even easier and safer to execute. Indeed, Neocheating becomes a simple, invisible tool for garnering money from opponents.... From the smallest penny-ante game to the largest table-stake game, all money eventually flows to the Neocheater. His key weapon is Neocheating.
Both the Advanced-Concept player and the Neocheater strive to maintain their long-term advantages; they never compromise their advantages for the sake of others. They share their advantages with no one; both play solely for their own benefit. They are not gamblers; both set the odds in their favor.
Gamblers bet money at unfavorable odds and eventually lose all the money they risk. Poor players and most traditional cheaters are gamblers who eventually lose everything they risk. The Advanced-Concept player and the Neocheater are not gamblers; they eventually win everything that the gambling players risk.
Both the Advanced-Concept player and the Neocheater direct all their actions toward winning maximum money. They never give anything away or help others without the motive of eventual profit. But they treat their opponents with care and respect; their opponents are their sole sources of income -- their sole assets.
The Advanced-Concept player and the Neocheater direct their reactions and actions to the same principle -- to win maximum money. The only difference is that one extracts money honestly while the other extracts money by cheating. But both the Advanced-Concept player and the Neocheater purposely evoke emotions in opponents that cause those opponents to play a looser, happier, and poorer game. Each also strives to evoke carefree and pleasant emotions in opponents to keep them less concerned and less aware of their losses.
But at times the Advanced-Concept player may evoke negative emotions in a financially undesirable player (e.g., a steady winner) to upset him, causing him to play poorly or even to leave the game. The Neocheater, on the other hand, seldom if ever needs to evoke negative emotions in opponents. Against good players he simply extracts their money by neocheating them while striving to keep all opponents happy and unsuspicious.
The Advanced-Concept player and the Neocheater recognize and exploit the misguided attitudes and erroneous actions of their opponents. Some of those exploitable attitudes and actions are summarized in the table on page 155. That table also contrasts the attitudes of ordinary players and cheaters to Advanced-Concept players and Neocheaters.
| Situation | Poor Player (loser) | A-C Player (winner) | Crude Cheater (loser) | Neocheater (winner) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poker game | A relaxing mental diversion to escape reality. | A mental discipline requiring full focus on reality. | A situation to establish big-win cheating setups. | A situation to establish favorable casino-like odds for steady, long-term winning. |
| Evaluation of a play | Winning the pot is most important. | Playing the hand properly is most important. | Winning when cheating is most important. | Making odds favorable is most important. |
| Winner or loser | Play according to winnings or losses. | Never be influenced by winnings or losses. | Cheat more frequently (and more carelessly) when losing. | Neocheat consistently if winning or losing. |
| Streaks of luck | Chances or odds are influenced by previous events. Luck runs in cycles. | Past means nothing, except for the psychological effects it has on opponents. | Believes bad luck, not poor poker concentration causes losses. | Does not consider luck. Considers only his advantages from Neocheating. |
| Wild games | Such games require less skill and are scorned by "good" players. | Wild or complex games require more skill and benefit good players. | Cheating is less effective in wild or complex games. | Wild and complex games increase opportunities to neocheat at improved odds. |
| Play past quitting time | Chances of winning decrease. | Advantages for good player increase as opponents get careless and think less. | Burned out from worry and pressures. Chances of winning decrease in late hours. | Relaxed and confident -- remains fresh and alert during late hours. |
| Rule violations by opponents | Enforce rules equally. | Interpret rules equitably, but enforce less rigidly against weak players. | Carefully abides by decisions about rules to avoid suspicion. | Encourages rule violations that help obscure his Neocheating distortions. |
| Opponents' errors such as betting out of turn | Scold or penalize the culprit. | Benefits the good player. Encourages sloppy play. | Becomes upset by any action that interferes with his plans. | Does not faze the relaxed Neocheater. |
| Cheaters | Throw any cheater out of game. | If a cheater is a loser, say nothing and let him play. | Upset by any competition. | Drains cheaters by neocheating them. |
| Neocheaters | Unaware of his existence. | Get him out of the game. | Unaware of his existence. | Get him out of the game. |
The Neocheater, like the Advanced-Concept player, designs games to his maximum advantage by controlling the game, its players, and the money flow. The Neocheater wants to win maximum money; and like the Advanced-Concept player, he must be careful not to win too much too quickly. Uncontrolled winning can arouse angry suspicion, drive out valuable losers, or even destroy the game. The Neocheater, like the Advanced-Concept player, thinks long range. Consider, for instance, the following two examples:
Example A: Opponent loses $1000 to the Neocheater during one big night, becomes angry and permanently quits the game. Net worth to Neocheater = $1000.
Example B: Opponent loses to the Neocheater an average of $300 each week throughout the year. Net worth to Neocheater = $15,000 per year.
Example B demonstrates the Maximum-Win approach, which is not only more profitable but is generally an easier, more pleasant way to extract money from opponents. To use the Maximum-Win approach, the Neocheater shifts the odds only slightly in his favor by using the easiest, safest, and most subtle Neocheating techniques (e.g., perhaps by knowing the opponents hole cards each time he deals). [ 35 ] The Neocheater's Maximum-Win, high-frequency, low-intensity approach is opposite to that of the traditional cheater's low-frequency, high-intensity approach.
Unlike the Advanced-Concept player who tries to drive steady winners from his game, the Neocheater often welcomes winning players as they can help balance and camouflage the Neocheater's attack. He can, for example, neocheat to drain money from those steady winners without directly attacking the big losers, thus helping to balance the money flow and stabilize the game.
But like the Advanced-Concept player, the Neocheater tries to keep his losing opponents happy while extracting their money. He may at times stack morale-boosting winning hands for valuable losers to keep them from quitting the game. Or he may stack winning hands for players who are getting upset over his steady winnings and perhaps even suspecting him of cheating. Dealing a few winning powerhouses to suspicious players usually makes them forget their suspicions.
Like the Advanced-Concept player, the Neocheater tries to conceal or deemphasize his winning position by projecting a low profile. When possible, he even tries to appear as a loser. Also, like the Advanced-Concept player, the Neocheater conceals the following facts to avoid arousing unfavorable feelings or suspicions:
| Facts | Methods to Conceal |
|---|---|
| Easiness of game | Never mention the poor quality of poker played in any game. Praise skills of opponents. |
| Winnings | Never discuss personal winnings. After each game, report less than actual winnings or more than actual losses. But exaggerate only to believable extents. Never reveal long-term winnings. Conceal affluence by driving an old car to the game. |
| Tight play | Fold cards without comment or excuses. Make wild or loose-appearing plays whenever the investment odds are favorable. |
| Good play | Never explain the true strategy behind a play. Instead, give erroneous reasoning for strategy. Never brag-- downgrade own performance. |
| Control over game | Assume a humble but assertive attitude. |
The Neocheater, like the Advanced-Concept player, works to increase his opponents' willingness to lose money while increasing the money flow without damaging or breaking up the game. In most games, the majority of players will initially oppose higher stakes. The Neocheater, therefore, may use more subtle ways to increase the money flow. Increasing the betting pace rather than the betting stakes, for example, will subtly but effectively increase the money flow. And a faster betting pace usually increases excitement in a way that appeals to most players. In poker, the Neocheater may increase the pace by introducing game and betting modifications such as twists (extra draw cards), split pots (high-low), early bets, additional cards, novel games, wild cards, table stakes or pot limit. Not only can he easily work such modifications into games by using various Advanced Concepts described in Wallace's Poker Manual, but he can also control the money flow by using other Advanced Concepts.
The Neocheater may choose to apply any number of the 120 Advanced Concepts taught in Wallace's Poker Manual. By contrast, the techniques of the traditional or classical cheater are too distracting or difficult to allow effective use of the Advanced Concepts to play a good game. That inability to play a good game is why most cheaters end up losers. Neocheating, on the other hand, is so safe and easy that a player can concentrate on executing good card strategy while simultaneously Neocheating. And interestingly, the better the Neocheater plays, the less he needs to neocheat.
Neocheating requires little effort, whereas good poker strategy requires concentrated effort. In either case, simultaneously neocheating and executing various Advanced Concepts in any ratio will deliver consistent winnings.
Other Advanced Concepts that can enhance the Neocheater's advantage are, for example, keeping a friendly attitude towards players, maintaining a healthy game, keeping notes and charts on opponents' reactions to various situations and hands. And most importantly, the Neocheater can use the Advanced Concepts to markedly increase the money size of his game, often by 100 times or more from its initial levels.
In many ways, the Neocheater acts like the Advanced-Concept player: The Neocheater keeps a low profile and disguises his actions to prevent suspicion. When profitable, he is promiscuously friendly. He conceals facts about his poker income, drives old cars to the game, lies about his performance, minimizes or conceals his winnings. He is scrupuously fair in settling all disputes while using the Advanced Concepts to become the most trusted person in the game. He acts in a carefree, pleasant, and relaxed manner to loosen up opponents. And at times, he might even accept other cheaters in his game (if they are not too obvious or are not Neocheaters), because they can be good sources of income and can deflect suspicion away from him. By contrast, traditional cheaters fear other cheaters and are often paranoid about being cheated themselves. But the Neocheater has no fear of traditional cheaters or their cheating. He can wipe them out whenever he chooses.
A Neocheater can apply any of the 120 Advanced Concepts to any degree. Some of the Advanced Concepts are easy to apply. Others, however, require hard work that demand concentrated discipline, thought, and control -- the essence of good playing. But the essence of Neocheating is its easiness. Most Neocheaters, therefore, are not interested in hard work and apply only the easiest of the Advanced Concepts -- those concepts that most easily enhance their style and Maximum-Win approach.
In any case, the Neocheater usually tries to extract maximum long-range money from his opponents. He avoids winning too fast by Neocheating in small, subtle doses to win quietly and safely, game after game.
The Neocheater tries to keep everyone as happy as possible while gradually extracting money. To minimize resentments from losers, he extracts more of his winnings from the content players, the better players, and the winners. He may even neocheat for the benefit of losers (Robin Hood cheating) to more evenly distribute his opponents' losses and to keep the game financially stable. At the same time, if an opponent is a financial liability or harmful to the game, the Neocheater can repeatedly attack him until he is broke and driven from the game.
Moreover, the Neocheater is cunning. He may play for hours and not win a single hand. But all the while, he will be neocheating for others -- transfering money from harmful players (other cheaters, big winners, good players) to big losers and poor players. Then, when the time is right, he will quietly extract his share of winnings for the evening. ...Neocheating is the easiest and safest way to extract maximum money from any game.
And finally, the Neocheater may control several games or even a network of games. ...Neocheating is that easy.
Only two certain winning techniques exist: (1) using the Advanced Concepts and (2) using Neocheating. Any honest player wins in proportion to the extent he applies the Advanced Concepts. Likewise, any cheater wins in proportion to the extent he applies Neocheating. But a cheater applying Neocheating is not a Neocheater until he grasps and uses certain Advanced Concepts, namely those concepts involving the long-range, Maximum-Win approach as described in this chapter.
The ultimate evolution of good playing without cheating is the Advanced Concepts. The ultimate evolution of cheating is Neocheating. A blend of those two ultimate evolutions creates a terrifying player called the Neocheater -- the most dangerous threat ever to invade the card tables.
Most Neocheaters will not cheat when they are on a hot streak or winning naturally. They may play the entire evening without cheating. Most will neocheat only when needed to assure that their cardplaying sessions are financially worthwhile. But the ultimate Neocheater never cheats for himself. Instead, he neocheats only to transfer money from strong, good players to weak, poor players. During his deal, the ultimate Neocheater will, in a sense, Robin Hood cheat for the poor players, using them to drain the good players. After transferring money from strong players to weak players, the ultimate Neocheater then plays legitimate but superior poker to easily win that money from those weak players.
That indirect method of cheating is the shrewdest of all ways for a cheater to extract money from opponents. And as with white-hat Neocheating (described in the previous chapter), he need not be overly subtle when cheating for the benefit of losers. Unlike other Neocheaters, however, he must be a relatively good player to legitimately extract the money once he has transferred it to the poor players.
Often the only way to discover Neocheating is to observe that when a particular player deals he seemingly makes omniscient or illogical bets that uncannily turn to his advantage. And those advantages cause him to win too frequently and too much when he deals. But how can anyone discover the ultimate Neocheater? When cheating, he is actually losing. Moreover, when cheating, he is not gaining any direct advantages for himself as he delivers unbeatable advantages to weak players and losers. And weak players winning from strong players is almost always a "crowd-pleasing" event.
Those good players extract money from the weak players game after game. So almost everyone likes to see weak players win from strong players. That way, those weak or easy players will remain in the game with extra money to lose. In addition, the weak players themselves will gain euphoric satisfactions from beating strong players. Of course, the ultimate Neocheater eventually ends up with all the money. But ironically, when he cheats, his opponents are the happiest as he builds the weak players' hopes and egos. Only after he stops cheating does the ultimate Neocheater begin winning for himself.
By "helping" the losers, the ultimate Neocheater creates a perfect rationalization to justify his cheating: he never wins when he cheats. Still, he is not a white-hat Neocheater (who ironically will win at times when he is cheating while the ultimate Neocheater will never win while cheating). The white-hat Neocheater is honest since he cheats only cheaters. And when cheating, he never seizes advantages for himself at the expense of honest players. The ultimate Neocheater, on the other hand, is a dishonest (black-hat) cheater because he cheats honest players in order to gain unnatural advantages for himself -- albeit indirect advantages through the poor players and losers.
By driving the good players from the game while temporarily enriching the poor players, the ultimate Neocheater eliminates his competition and thus his need to cheat. He then extracts money from those weak players -- his "regular" players -- simply by playing good poker. The ultimate Neocheater works to populate his game with weak players. He uses Neocheating only to drain good players that may enter his game. After driving them from the game, he has no reason to cheat. Still, at times, he may welcome good players in order to drain their money with Neocheating.
The ultimate Neocheater creates an illusion of removing himself from cheating by never winning when he cheats. Instead he arranges for poor players to win from good players so that later he can legitimately drain that money from those poor players.
Neocheating is the ultimate concept of cheating. And the ultimate Neocheater is the ultimate application of that concept. Yet, even the ultimate Neocheater can be detected: First you must be aware of his indirect attack and then sense that weak players too often win big hands from good players when that ultimate Neocheater deals. One certain defense against the ultimate Neocheater is simply refuse to ante whenever he deals. You can then win from the Neocheater's retinue of weak players when he is not dealing. By continuing such action, you embarrass the ultimate Neocheater and leave him unable to attack you. And by remaining in the game, you reduce or eliminate his profits. That tactic will sooner or later make him leave and seek other easier, more profitable games.
The contents of this book mandate the asking of the forbidden question: Why not allow cheating in card games as a new dimension of skill and strategy? Is not cheating simply another variation of the deceptive strategies that are accepted as integral parts of most card games played for money and prestige? Why not allow deceptive cheating? Why not allow it just as bluffing and other deceptive ploys are allowed?
Actually, anything is allowable if mutually agreed upon. Deception is a universally agreed upon feature of many games, especially poker. So why not agree to allow cheating? The only reason that cheating cannot be allowed is that it has an open-ended nature -- it has no limits. Bluffing and deception, for example, are limited by the effectiveness of ingenuity and guile. Likewise, illegal cheating is also limited by the effectiveness of ingenuity and guile. But legal cheating would be boundless because the need for skilled, subtle cheating would be gone . . . all kinds of crude cheating and blatant stealing would escalate rapidly to destroy any card game.
Openly accepted cheating would cause such chaos and anarchy in card games that they would rapidly become unmanageable and unplayable. Every game needs a limitation, a cutoff point. For instance, a polevaulter cannot wear miniature rockets on his back --a limitation to keep that sport playable. The football player cannot wear steel-spiked shoulder pads -- a limitation to keep football playable. The cardplayer cannot cheat -- a limitation to keep card games playable.
In the past few years, the quality of poker players has improved markedly, especially in public casino poker. But the Advanced-Concept (A-C) player is still very rare. And although more Advanced-Concept players are developing, they probably will always be rare because full application of the Advanced Concepts requires hard work and constant discipline (but actually, little skill). In private games, the Advanced-Concept player patiently develops control over the game, the rules, and his opponents. He invests many hours in studying, analyzing, and taking notes about his opponents. He develops his games over long periods of time, even years, to steadily increase their pace and stakes while striving to reach the full profit potential of each game. He works hard for his winnings. ... Most poker players, however, would rather take their chances with more luck and less work. Who wants to work that hard to win when it's time to relax? most players subconsciously rationalize. That is why Advanced-Concept players are rare.
The Neocheater, on the other hand, will become increasingly common because Neocheating is easy and requires little sustained effort. Moreover, the Neocheater can move into any private game of any size and start winning immediately. Neocheating is a comfortable, fast, and easy way to make money or gain prestige. Many cardplayers, therefore, will prefer to use Neocheating to extract money rather than to put forth the effort required to play well enough to win equivalent money.
Thus in private games, players will encounter Neocheaters with increasing frequency. And Neocheaters will multiply so extensively that they may eventually link together in collusion pacts among private games as they are already doing in public poker. On the other hand, players will seldom if ever encounter the rare Advanced-Concept player. Nevertheless, if a Neocheater did run across an Advanced-Concept player in a private game, he would find that the game belongs to that Advanced-Concept player who usually has a substantial investment of time and effort in tailoring that game to his maximum advantage. Indeed, the Advanced-Concept player will strenuously protect his game as his most valuable asset.
Neocheaters are the only cheaters the Advanced-Concept player fears. He fears Neocheaters because, if they choose, they can quickly drain money to break valuable players and destroy the game. In addition, the Advanced-Concept player cannot beat certain Neocheaters. He will, therefore, try to drive them from his game using white-hat Neocheating or the harassment methods described in Chapter X.
Most Neocheaters will quickly leave private games in which an Advanced-Concept player is pressuring them because playing under constant stress contradicts their nature of seeking easy money. Instead of taking the abuses and pressures applied by the Advanced-Concept player, most Neocheaters will simply find other games that have no Advanced-Concept player to interfere with their easy-going money extraction.
But what happens when the Advanced-Concept player encounters the Neocheater in high-stake public poker? Consider the following situation in a world-class poker tournament played in a Las Vegas casino:
Forty-two players have entered the freeze-out hold 'em tournament, each paying a $15,000 entry fee. The last surviving player wins all the money -- over one-half million dollars.
After three days, only two players remain in the tournament -- an Advanced-Concept player (John Finn) and a well-known professional poker player. That professional player is also a Neocheater who has made a colluding arrangement with one of the dealers involving an unbeatable form of Neocheating (as described in anecdote B of Chapter I). Through memorized cards, invisible blind shuffles, false riffles, and false cuts, the dealer always knows the nine cards to come off the deck for each round of play. During the play, John can sense their collusion, but cannot accuse them because their cheating is invisible and appears completely natural. Moreover, John realizes that even if he could crack their collusion code, he would still lose because unlike most collusion codes that are one dimensional (codes that indicate only present values of hands), their code is two dimensional in that the dealer not only knows both the Neocheater's hand and John's hand at every moment, but he knows all the cards yet to be dealt. Thus that dealer can plan ahead with perfect knowledge and guide the Neocheater with flawless strategy.
Without knowing the cards to be dealt, John has no way to read or forecast the dealer's strategy. Indeed, in such collusion situations, the Neocheater becomes a more-than-perfect player because his moves are perfect through the dealer's knowing every hole card, and his strategy is flawless through the dealer's knowing all the cards still to be dealt. To beat that kind of cheating, a player must not only read everyone's hole cards perfectly, but he must also precisely foretell all the cards to be dealt. And no one can precisely foretell cards without cheating. Thus, John concludes that against such Neocheating collusion, he cannot win. And how can he accuse his adversaries of invisible cheating? No evidence exists. The only possibilities that John has of winning are to (1) refuse to play when that dealer takes his turn, insist on another dealer, and hope that the new dealer will not collude with the Neocheater, (2) meet privately with the dealer during a break and ask him to stop colluding, or (3) find the dealer's price to flash false signals at crucial moments to bankrupt (tap out) the Neocheater. In other words, neocheat the Neocheater. ...John Finn selected option 2 and lost the tournament. He resolved to use option 3 next time.
Neocheating begets Neocheating, and Neocheaters beget Neocheaters. Where will it end?
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[ 34 ] The Advanced-Concept player is also referred to as the A-C player.
[ 35 ] The Neocheater may use his full power as in Example A if the game is a one-time affair, or if he is facing a one-time opponent, or if the game is destined to permanently disband anyway. In such cases, the Neocheater would choose to win maximum money -- the $1000 -- in one night rather than, for example, $300 per session for only one or two sessions. Or he may selectively use his full Neocheating power to drive potential troublemakers, cheaters, or even another Neocheater from the game.
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