Deadman's Bluff - James Swain [0]
Title Page
Dedication
Epigraph
A Brief Glossary of Useful Cheating Terms
Part I
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Part II
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Part III
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Part IV
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Also by James Swain
Poker Protection Tips
Praise for James Swain’s
Whatever your game, James Swain’s
Copyright Page
For Charles Swain
Luck aint never paid the bills.
PUG PEARSON, famous poker player
A Brief Glossary of Useful Cheating Terms
Action
Any gambling activity.
Agent
A cheater working with a casino employee while posing as a legitimate player.
BP
Big Player. The member of a cheating team who bets the big money. Also called the “take off man.”
Brush off
A signal that says it’s time to leave a casino.
Bug
A clip designed to secretly hold a card beneath the table. Also called a “thief.”
Cold deck
A prestacked deck of cards.
Crossroader
A cheater who specializes in ripping off casinos.
Deadman’s hand
Two black aces and two black eights. The poker hand held by Wild Bill Hickock the night he was murdered by a gang of cheaters in Deadwood, South Dakota.
Deal a deuce
To deal the second card from the top of the deck. Also called “dealing a blister.”
Deal a plank
To deal off the bottom of the deck.
Doing business
Cheating.
Double heat
Intense scrutiny from casino security.
Feel a breeze
To know when cheating is going on, even if you don’t know what it is.
Gaff
Any cheating device.
George
A signal among cheaters that everything is all right. Often done with an open hand on the chest or layout.
Giving the office
Signaling among cheaters.
Greed factor
Winning too much, too often.
Grift sense
An innate ability to spot a hustle or a scam. A compliment among hustlers.
Grind joint
A casino with low table minimums and small denomination slot machines.
Hairy leg
A moneyman who backs a game.
Herking and
Distracting your opponent while jerking cheating him.
Iggy
A cheater pretending to be a tourist.
Joint
A casino.
Kepplinger
A hidden device that secretly switches holdout playing cards.
Leaking
Exposing a secretly palmed card.
Local courtesy
An unwritten arrangement between local players in poker not to bet against each other.
Mechanic
A cheater skilled in sleight-of-hand.
Miracle move
A perfect cheating move. Also called a “million-dollar move.”
Mortal lock
A sure thing.
Old moustache
A mobster.
On the square
To play a game honestly, without cheating.
Punch
A device used to create tiny indentations in cards.
Put the heavy on
To use force when dealing with an unpleasant situation.
Subs
Various types of cloth bags worn inside the clothing to hold stolen chips.
Suckers
Ninety-nine percent of the people who gamble. Also known as chumps, marks, pigeons, rubes, and vics (victims).
Steam
Unwanted attention. Also called “heat.”
Swinging
To secretly switch cards during a game.
Texas
A variation of poker invented by a Hold ‘Em dozen ranch hands who had only a single deck of cards among them.
Tokes
Tips.
Tom
A signal among cheaters that things look bad. Often done with a clenched fist on the chest or layout.
Wake the dead
A scam that is blatantly obvious.
Who shot
A ridiculous conversation among John? people who know better.
Part I
Driving the White Line
1
“I win,” Rufus Steele said.
Tony Valentine could not believe his eyes. Steele, a seventy-year-old, whiskey-drinking Texas gambler, had just outrun a racehorse named Greased Lightning in the hundred-yard