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In a later chapter, you will learn how to cull a desired hand and then stack it in the "normal" course of riffling, shuffling and cutting. But in this chapter, you will learn methods of discard stacking[ 10 ] -- simple, effective shortcuts commonly used by Neocheaters.
The use of discards for either culling or stacking is fast, easy and, when done correctly, undetectable. The three basic methods of discard stacking are--
1 ) stacking while gathering discards,
2) stacking from discards tossed to the dealer face down, and
3) stacking from discards already piled on top of the deck. When you finish this chapter, you will be able to execute all three methods of discard stacking.
Deal a five-handed game of five-card stud as shown in Figure 9. Note the face-up cards in the various hands. You will usually find two or three aces or kings showing. For the moment, however, confine yourself to stacking a pair of aces. As naturally and as quickly as possible, pick up two aces in a sequence that for a five-handed game will place four cards on top of each ace. (The number of cards placed on top of each card stacked for yourself must always be one less than the number of hands or players; an error in counting will cause the stacked hand to go awry.)
After thirty minutes of practice, you can execute discard stacking with smoothness and speed. Want proof? Set up five hands as shown in Figure 9. Now scoop up and stack yourself two aces in sequence for a five-handed game as shown in Figures 9 and 10: First, using the hole card in the fifth hand, scoop in that hand and turn it face down, leaving four cards on top of the ace. That ace is now stacked for your next hand. Next, pick the ten and jack off the ace in the third hand and slip those cards beneath the turned hole card (a three) as shown in Figure 10. Now scoop in that hand, leaving the ace on the bottom with four cards on top. By tossing those five cards face down on top of the first five cards stacked and throwing the combined stack on top of the deck, you have stacked yourself aces back to back.[ 11 ]
Breaking the sequence of a hand when gathering discards as done in Figure 10, or gathering part of one hand and then part of another, looks completely natural when done smoothly and without hesitation. ... Now you have two options for the remaining cards:
l) Gather the remaining hands, turn them face down, and place the stacked deck on top of those cards. That option is the simplest procedure.
2) Gather the remaining hands, square those discards face down, lift half of the stacked portion of the deck and insert those discards. (Lift enough cards to protect your stack.) That option gives the appearance of a preliminary cut.
With a little practice, you can effectively stack discards without thinking about it. And often desired cards will lay practically pre-stacked, particularly in games with five or more players.
The Neocheater's motions are natural, his pace unhesitating. Using blocks of cards to scoop up other cards is natural. (Some players gather their hands and toss them to the dealer face down before he can stack them. That contingency will be explained later in this chapter.) Practice scooping up high pairs while stacking them in the process. The faster that is done, the smoother it looks. No one can see a dishonest move in the Neocheater who performs smoothly. He first chooses the order of gathering cards in his mind and then promptly gathers the cards in that order. ... The following practice exercise will quickly make you an expert at discard stacking:
Deal out a six-handed game of five-card stud. Choose your desired cards quickly. Then see how rapidly you can stack three or four of a kind for yourself by gathering the discards without hesitation. With six hands to select from, you will almost always have three of a kind available, and often four of a kind. (Do not bother with straights or flushes; they are not worth the effort of stacking a full five cards. Besides, stacking four or five cards is done more quickly and easily by the methods taught in Chapter V.) If you find a pair in one hand and two matching cards in two other hands, experiment with splitting that pair to stack four of a kind.
Paired discards may be troublesome at first if they are to be part of your intended hand. But pairs are actually easy to handle. For example, if one hand contains a pair of aces, and the other two aces lie in different hands, attack the pair first. Scoop up a hand of five cards that does not have an ace and use that hand to split the pair of aces by scooping up the ace nearest you along with the cards after it and toss those cards on the deck. One ace is now stacked for six-handed poker. Suppose the other ace has two cards above it. Grab three cards from another hand, scoop up the two cards with that ace, and toss those six cards on top of the deck. You now have split and stacked that pair and can attack the other aces in order to stack yourself four aces. Incidentally, stacking wheels for lowball by discard gathering is almost as easy.
After practicing discard stacking for an hour or so, you can stack yourself four of a kind in a few seconds while scooping up the discards. And after a few convincing blind shuffles (taught in the next chapter) and a false cut, you can deal yourself four of a kind with dazzling nonchalance. You eliminate any suspicion that might arise while discard stacking with blind shuffling, which when executed with any degree of smoothness, is undetectable from genuine shuffling. Combined with a false riffle or two and a false cut, the effect is so superb that those unfamiliar with Neocheating would never believe that a stacked deck could survive such thorough mixing. In fact, they would never have the faintest glimmer of what is happening.
While stacking aces back-to-back in five-card stud, the Neocheater can also know every opponent's hole card. How? He simply memorizes the sequence -- numbers only -- of those cards on top of the last ace he stacks (that last ace will be his hole card). A Neocheater always memorizes everyone's hole card -- not to do so would be an extravagant waste of an enormous advantage.[ 12 ]
The Neocheater stacks his first ace while starting to gather the discards. As he scoops up his second ace, which will be his hole card on the next hand, he notes with a glance that the discards being scooped read, top down: 10-J-3-7-A.[ 13 ] After some blind shuffles and false cuts, and if necessary, successfully foiling an opponent's cut (taught in a later chapter), he recalls while dealing that the first player to his left has a ten in the hole, the second player has a jack, the third a three, the fourth a seven, and he an ace. ... Mentally repeating the card sequence (i.e., 10-J-3-7-A) while shuffling and dealing aids the memory.
The advantage of knowing everyone's hole card in stud is overwhelming, particularly while holding aces or kings back-to-back. In fact, the Neocheater can often make more money over the long run by not stacking the deck at all, but by simply knowing everyone's hole card and then playing accordingly. Indeed, consistently creating innocent, small advantages (rather than dramatic, huge advantages) is the key to a Neocheater's extracting maximum money from his opponents as demonstrated in the last chapter of this book.
Suits of opponents' hole cards are of little importance in five stud and do not have to be memorized. The chances of catching a flush are minimal. In any case, the Neocheater with aces wired can either drive out opponents with flush possibilities or make them pay dearly to chase their flush. In addition, the Neocheater knows the refinements of peeking (described later) and can easily know the final card to be dealt to any opponent.
As soon as the dealer for the next hand folds, impatient players often toss him their discards face down so he can without delay begin organizing the cards for the next deal. (Other players may keep their discards until the pot is won, or toss the cards to the side of the pot[ 14 ], or toss them to the current dealer, depending on whether he is in or out of play. Those situations are handled by a third technique of discard stacking taught later in this chapter.) To facilitate his setting up the next hand, the Neocheater usually drops out early when his deal is next, unless he has a strong possibility of winning that hand. And if stud poker is being played, he watches the cards closely to organize his upcoming scooping motions.
Informal, private games constitute over 95% of all poker played. In those games, players after folding often glance at discards out of curiosity, usually without objection from others. But the Neocheater glances at discards only as he gathers them for dealing and then only when necessary. Moreover, his glancing action is completely natural and inconspicuous. For example, in a six-handed game of five stud, the Neocheater (his deal is next, so he is hereafter called the dealer) folds during the first round and turns his two cards face down. Player A folds during the second round of betting and tosses his three discards to the dealer. The dealer casually glances at the cards as he gathers them. An ace or king is not among them, so he puts those three cards face down on his own two cards. He now has a pile of five discards. Player C folds and tosses his three cards toward the dealer. Gathering them, the dealer casually glances at the cards to notice the hole card (a king) on top. So he places his pile of five discards on top of those three discards to stack himself a king for a six-handed game.
During the next round, Player E folds and tosses the dealer his four discards, which contain a king. The dealer glances at the cards while quickly memorizing their sequence from hole card to top card as Q-9-K-3. He must now inconspicuously get the king on the bottom to help his stack. He can do that in several ways: For instance, with cards face down, he can casually slip the trey to the top while squaring the cards, giving him 3-Q-9-K. Or he can spread the cards face down on the table and casually slide the third card-- the king -- beneath the others as he picks them up. Or he can, as many players have a nervous habit of doing, especially while waiting for other players to bet, slip the cards one by one from top to bottom while holding them face down in his fingers. In that case, he will pass only the Q-9-K, leaving the king on bottom. And, of course, he remembers the altered sequence (3-Q-9-K) in order to know everyone's hole card.
After tossing the four rearranged cards on his stacked discard pile, he still needs two more cards on top to complete his stack; their values do not matter as long as he knows them. So he simply glances at two other discards, tosses them on top of his stacked pile, and puts that pile on top of the remaining discards. He has now stacked a pair of kings for himself and knows everyone's hole card for the next hand.
To gain adroitness in discard stacking, deal random hands and toss yourself discards as players would. See how easily and quickly you can stack a deck by using those cards. You will soon be stacking three or four of a kind.
In five-card stud, the dealer concerns himself only with stacking his first two cards and knowing the other players' hole cards. In seven-card stud, the dealer can easily stack himself three of a kind. (But stacking three of a kind in five-card stud does not work because someone usually folds the first round of betting and the third stacked card will go astray. Besides, the strength of three of a kind is seldom needed to win in five-card stud.) In draw, the dealer can stack himself three or four of a kind (or a wheel in lowball). After folding on the hand prior to his deal, he immediately begins collecting discards for his deal, glancing briefly at them when necessary, and proceeds with his culling or stacking:
The Neocheater can stack three or four of a kind in draw quite easily. Remember, he scans the cards with a glance, never staring at them and always turning them face down as quickly as possible. His movements are natural -- casual and unhurried. Even for lowball, he can usually stack at least a four-card low combination, striving to include the joker if it is used. And he can frequently stack a wheel. Generally, however, the Neocheater avoids such powerful hands as they would be too suspicious to deal to himself hand after hand. Also, as explained in the final chapter, winning too often with powerful hands can actually work against winning maximum money.
Now to proceed to the third method of discard stacking: Suppose the Neocheater has a good hand and prefers to play it out, although his deal is next. Or suppose the discards are tossed to the current dealer, and the Neocheater has no easy access to them. In those cases, all the discards or the entire deck may come to him in a flood, all at once face down, when the play is over. The technique described next is a rapid and effective method for stacking or culling[ 15 ] in such situations.
The Neocheater gathers the mess of discards, keeping the pile uneven with edges and corners of cards protruding at all angles. He holds the cards vertically and facing him as shown in Figure 11. In such situations, cards facing the dealer are quite natural and unsuspicious. To others, the dealer is simply shielding the card faces from the other players as he squares the deck before shuffling.
What the Neocheater strives for is a virtual mess of cards that will completely conceal his culling. To the other players -- who see only the backs of the cards -- his culling is simply an attempt to square the deck by smoothing out awkwardly tilted cards. Done rapidly and casually, the entire process appears innocuous and normal to others.
Quickly and smoothly, while straightening the sides of the deck and squaring the cards from their vertical angles to a horizontal position, he culls aces or kings (or unpaired low cards for lowball); he passes them to the top or bottom of the deck as shown in Figures 1 1 and 12. Once passed to the top or bottom, those cards are available for rapid stacking by several simple techniques described in Chapter V.
You can quickly and easily cull aces or kings from the discards. For example, spot an ace, pass it to the top; spot another, pass that quickly to the top; then repeat the process once or twice more. Three or four aces can be culled in a few seconds. While passing cards to the top (or bottom), use your fingers to alternate the passing movements with brief squaring motions on the sides of the deck. Or periodically take an awkwardly tilted card and pass it to the opposite end of the deck from your culled cards. The point is, never hesitate and keep your fingers in constant motion. When you cannot immediately locate a second or third ace, or other desired card, use your thumb to fan small batches of cards that may stick together. The fanning motion is shielded by other cards sticking out at various angles and, therefore, cannot be seen by other players. Such fanning not only spreads the cards for a better selection, but also keeps the deck from being squared too quickly.
With a little practice, anyone not only can cull, but also can discard stack by the above method. For example, stack a pair of aces for stud: First find an ace in the mass of discards and pass it to the top. Next seize two or three cards and pass those above the ace. Then while keeping count, pass two or three more cards to the top, depending on the number of cards you are trying to stack above the ace. Alternate the culling movements with brief but deceptive squaring motions on the sides of the deck. Now find and pass your second ace to the top, fanning cards with your thumb if necessary to locate that ace. Then again pass the necessary number of cards above that ace so both aces are stacked to end up in-your hand. ... And as always, memorize the top cards of the stack in order to know everyone's hole card.
But since several easier and quicker stacking techniques are taught in Chapter V, the above discard-squaring method is usually reserved for rapid culling. In any case, the Neocheater never spends more than eight or ten seconds with the deck facing him. Practice seizing and quickly passing desired cards to the top or bottom of the deck. And the more uneven the discards are, the more selection and time you will have for culling cards. (In Figure 12, the culled cards have been passed to the bottom and the deck has been squared.)
When practicing this method of discard stacking, start by dropping the deck face down from a height of six inches onto the table. Use a sharp twisting motion with your wrist to unevenly spread the corners of the cards. Or actually deal out hands and then gather them as discards, deliberately effecting sloppiness while tossing those cards on top of the deck so they will require more time to square. In either case, pick up the mess of cards all at once and commence with culling or stacking. Fan small batches of cards with your thumb to expose their corners. Glance at the cards, but never stare. Keep your eyes in motion, glancing from the cards, to where a player would be, back to the cards, to where the ante would be - all in an unhurried pattern. ... When done without hesitation, discard culling and stacking look quite natural. Try discard culling in front of a mirror to see the moves from the victims' viewpoint.
Now that the Neocheater has stacked himself a winning hand, how does he thoroughly shuffle and cut the deck without destroying his stack? . . . The answer lies in the next chapter.
Suspicion Begins Suspicion Grows Suspicion High |
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[ 10 ] Everything in this chapter that applies to stacking also applies to culling (bringing desired cards to the top or bottom of the deck). Culling is easier and quicker than stacking, but culling is useless until you learn the simple stacking techniques described in Chapter V.
[ 11 ] A discard stacker will alter his scooping sequences to prevent suspicion. For example, he may gather eight cards with an ace being the third card from the top after throwing them face down on the deck; and then he may gather six cards with another ace being the fifth card from the top after tossing those cards on the deck. He has now stacked himself aces back to back. Moreover, a good discard stacker can quickly gather discards with both hands simultaneously making his stacking moves impossible to follow.
[ 12 ] Likewise, the Neocheater can easily know both hole cards of every opponent in seven-card stud or hold 'em poker by memorizing the appropriate number of cards stacked on top of the deck.
[ 13 ] In both describing and memorizing hands, it is easier to refer to an ace as A, a king as K, a queen as Q, a jack as J, the joker or bug as B, and all other cards by their numerical values.
[ 14 ] If the discards are tossed to the side of the pot, the dealer of the next round can usually begin gathering them immediately after he drops out of the current hand.
[ 15 ] As mentioned earlier, what applies to stacking discards also applies to culling. Culling simply involves maneuvering desired cards to the top or bottom of the deck without stacking them. Discard culling is especially important in Chapter V, which describes and teaches other simple but highly effective stacking techniques involving culled cards.
[ 16 ] Rarely can Neocheating be confirmed by observing just one of the above tells. Since any Neocheating is natural appearing or invisible, it can be confirmed only by observing repeating sequences of tells. While various tells can be used to confirm personal suspicion, they are not grounds to prove cheating to others. ... Anyone, however, can without ever seeing a dishonest move detect cheating by perceiving illogical and improbable bets as demonstrated in the anecdotes in Chapter I.
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