Cheating, Cons, Scams & Protection in Gambling: page 1

This is a pre-Erdnase description of moves and ruses to cheat at the card table by an unnamed 'retired professional'. However, Bart Whaley's research revealed that this retired professional was Gerrit M. Evans, that his real name was most likely Edward M. Grandin and that Evans/Grandin was not a professional gambler. (Bart is working on an upcoming book about Evans - The Mysterious Gambler.)

This ebook was created from the 1868 edition. There is also an earlier 1865 edition. The 1868 faked edition drops the name of the author who is, of course, Evans/Grandin, pretends that the "anonymous" author is a "retired"...

Scores of street scams, swindles, and card table ruses are explained in this 163 page ebook, guaranteed to separate a sucker from his money just as quickly today as when this tome was first written in the mid-1800s. Don't read this book to cheat -- instead, get it for protection so you don't become a victim.

This a fascinating study, filled with accounts of colorful, larger-than-life characters. Some were victims, others turned the tables and made suckers out of the swindlers. The author, "a reformed gambler," goes beyond playing cards to detail the inside work on thimbles (the precursor...

Here is a rare treat. A fascinating, inside look at how carnival midway cheats, street gangs, road hustlers, rigged racebooks, marriage bureau scammers, 'wildcat' oil frauds and many more were brought to justice by the author, a Chicago police detective.

Many of these scams are still in use today. Don't read this ebook to cheat -- instead, read it for protection so you don't become the next victim.

Colorfully written, this massive book is a true-life encyclopedia of scams, cons, swindles, ruses, devices and methods - and how the cheaters were taken down and brought to justice.

Includes...

Dieses Buch ist in Deutsch verfaßt und ganz dem falschen Spiel mit Karten gewidmet. Es behandelt unter anderem Griffe wie das Falschmischen, Spielaustausch, präparierte Karten und Gehilfen.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

3. Vorwort
7. Die Geschichte der Karten und ihrer Spiele
12. Die Volte
17. Das Falschmischen
19. Das Eskamotieren der Karten
21. Das inkorrekte Abheben
23. Das korrigierte Kartengeben
25. Vorbereitete Spiele
26. Karten-Präparationen
26.    A. Gezeichnete Karten
32.    B. Beschnittene Karten
34.    C. Gebogene Karten
35.    D. Durchstochene Karten
37. Das Vertauschen präparierter Kartenspiele
39. Der Gehilfe...

Sharps and Flats is probably the most important early book on cheating devices and methods. Sharps being the cheaters and flats being the cheated, the mark. Maskelyne details among others, marked cards, holdouts (Kepplinger holdout), reflectors and manipulation. He describes not just cheating at the card table but also cheating with dice, cheating at Sporting houses, and at Roulette. The book is very thorough with many wonderful illustrations.

1st edition, 1894, Longmans, Green and Co., New York and London; reprinted, Gamblers Book Club, Las Vegas; 335 pages.

7. Preface to the Second Edition ...

Subtitled: Their tricks exposed or the art of always winning

Translated from the French of Robert-Houdin, first published in 1861, by William J. Hilliar. Robert-Houdin wrote this book primarily as an expose to reduce the number of people being cheated. He writes in his preface: "Enlighten the dupes and there will be no more cheats."

This work was first translated in 1863 under the title The Sharper Detected and Exposed. In 1881 Prof. Hoffman translated it anew and brought it up to date under the title Card-Sharping Exposed. It is not clear why Hilliar would do a new translation in 1903. Perhaps he felt he could ride Erdnase's coattails after his groundbreaking...

This is probably the best short-change swindle every created. In his younger years, Devin Knight worked at a carnival doing Robert Nelson's Horoscope Pitch. During his stint with the carnival, he met a professional short-change artist, who showed him the most ingenious short-change scam Devin had ever seen. It made the scammer $10.00 every time he walked into a store and bought an inexpensive item.

Devin was familiar with the sometimes crude short-change methods used by carnies, but he had never seen a swindle as sophisticated as this one. The scammer would very slowly and deliberately count...

The first part consists of stories about cardsharks and other crooks from Robert-Houdin's recollections. This is very readable and an entertaining part of the work. The second part explains some of the technical details of the methods used by cardsharks. However, the methods are for the most part only described in very rudimentary form. As Robert-Houdin writes himself, this is not meant as a way to teach you how to do it, but merely to give the reader insight in how the different ruses are accomplished. Nevertheless, it provides interesting insight into the ways and means of cardsharks.

This...

This is the story of a boy who ran away from home to become a cabin boy on a Mississippi riverboat at age ten. At fourteen he could stack a deck of cards. And for forty years after this point in time he bilked people from all walks of live, businessmen, thieves, soldiers, ... This is the fascinating story of the King of the Riverboat Gamblers.

1st edition, 1887, Devol & Haines, Cincinnati; reprinted, ?, Applewood Books, Bedford, Massachusetts; 300 pages.

22. A Religious Captain
24. A Cold Deck
27. A Woman With a Gun
150. A Shrewd Trick
163. A Paymaster's Bluff
177. A Crazy Man
186. A Good Night's Work
212. A Euchre...

This manual exposes cheating at gambling of all kinds including more than 100 methods of rigged machines, tables, dice, marked cards, sleight of hand and more.

It is unclear when this book was originally published, but it does reprint some illustrations from The Expert at the Card Table which means it must be after 1902. Our best guess is that this was published during the 1920s.

From the preface:

Originally entitled Artifice Ruse and Subterfuge at the Card Table, is probably the most cited and referenced book about card gambling moves - a classic in the history of magic literature. A must read for any card magician or aspiring gambling expert and an indespensable reference book. While the authorship of this book is hotly debated we are convinced it was Edward Gallaway. (For a detailed work on the search for Erdnase see Hurt McDermott's Artifice, Ruse & Erdnase.)

[A copy of this book is also included in Michael McDougall's Card Mastery. This ebook is also available in a German translation.

Paul Fleming wrote:

This is a fun book to read. Great stories about pickpockets, burglars, bunco men, thiefs, and others. Houdini collected interesting cases talking to detectives, and police chiefs. The book describes the methods used to scam innocent victims. Some of these schemes are still popular, which shows again, that one can learn a lot from the past.

published 1906 by Harry Houdini, Boston MA; later reprinted by Gamblers Book Club, Las Vegas; 96 pages

Table of Contents

page

3. Preface
7. Shot One - Income of a Criminal
12. Shot Two - Professional Burglary
19. Shot Three - Difficulties of Burglary
25. Shot Four...

This is a treatise on the sucker effects of the Three Card Monte. It starts with an intro by Nate Leipzig, includes a definition of gambling terms and goes on to explain moves, routines and schemes to work the Three Card Monte. John Scarne was a master in performing and demonstrating this sucker effect. Learn everything about it in this digital reproduction, either to be aware of the various ways this can be played and thus be protected, or to learn to perform it for entertainment purposes.

From the preface by Nate Leipzig:

Have you ever wanted to win that stuffed toy at the fair? Would you like to impress that special someone with your skills? This ebook contains the secrets to many of the most popular carnival, midway and arcade games, along with advice on how to beat them. From the Basketball Toss to Hoopla. Cover the Spot to High Striker. The answers are all here!

The ebook is 68 pages, colour throughout with pictures for every game. It also includes five pages of construction tips for building the games.

1. Ball in the Bucket
2. Balloon Dart
3. Bank a Ball
4. Basketball Toss
5. Belt Swindle
6. Bingo / Lottery
7. Block...

This is essentially a small excerpt from Quinn's primary work Fools of Fortune. A couple of chapters have been taken, some incomplete, together with endorsements and other promotional material, to produce this volume.

1st edition 1895; PDF 68 pages.

H. C. Evans was a company specializing in the manufacture and sale of gambling and carnival equipment. They also sold sporting goods like baseball gloves, various balls, hunting and fishing gear. Particularly noteworthy are their offerings for cheating purposes such as hold-outs, or dice which have been altered in a number of ways, or marked cards, etc.

1st edition 1909, 64 pages.

This article describes in particular one marking system of cards. It includes illustrations depicting how the cards were marked. It also touches on a few other ways to cheat.

The article appeared in the Chicago Herald during Mayor Roche's time.

1st edition ~1887, PDF 5 pages.

A classic textbook containing numerous swindles for those who desire to take down and rope the public! It is unique in that it has the only written description of the coin purse swindle - complete with photographs. Many of these cons are being used today, some with minor changes and some exactly as they were played when Rich Uncle was written. There are monte mobs working today in the same manner they worked a hundred years ago.

published 1911 by The Exchange Press, Melbourne; later reprinted by Gamblers Book Club, Nevada; 64 pages

Table of Contents

page

3. Foreword
5. Rich Uncle from Fiji Yarn ...

Weldon traveled this country during the last 20 years of the 19th century, learning and perfecting tricks of the street peddler. Many of these ploys are still used today in one form or another. He helped pioneer the many subleties of "street selling" and "percentage moves." His self-taught mastery of man's basic needs enabled him to manipulate people into buying things, sometimes using their own greed as his tool. Must reading for those interested in studying a true American phenomenon - "The pitch man."

1st edition, 1899, Gate City Book and Novelty Co., Omaha; reprint, 1980, Gamblers Book...

An account of faro gambling and cheating in New York City.

The newspaper that ran this article is not known. The time frame of the article is somewhere in the vicinity of 1890.

PDF 3 pages.

This is a reprint of the sections dealing with card magic from Professor Hoffmann's Modern Magic. There are however six new pages (four in the front and two in the back) which are entitled "Canfield's Expose". These six pages expose scams such as 'short changing', the 'soap game', the 'spindle game', ...

Reprint is too kind a word, rip-off is more appropriate since this was an unauthorized republication of Hoffmann's material. Also interesting to note is that the correct spelling of Herrmann is with two r's and two n's, the book title however only shows one n. Probably a deliberate error to avoid legal troubles. (Information...

This is the review of Robert-Houdin's The Sharper Detected and Exposed that appeared in Saturday Review on May 9th, 1863.

1st edition 1863; PDF 5 pages.

This ebook focuses on the use of killing cards and the stripper deck to gain an advantage in the popular game of Texas Hold’em. The first part of the ebook is a short investigation into the art of using the cut to take cards out of play. Initially, the mathematics of killing cards is presented along with an assessment of probabilities when all the aces, tens and five value cards are killed. After highlighting the fact that very few cards are exposed during a round of Hold’em, the second part of the book looks at some different types of stripper deck that are available. This covers multiple...

This short ebook considers the game of Texas Hold'em, in which a cheat has knowledge of a single card that will appear on the flop. Whilst a couple of methods for achieving this are briefly described, the main contribution of this work is in highlighting the advantage that can be gained with knowledge of only a single card that will appear on the flop. Using analysis of how the cheats pre-flop range may be adjusted, the results show that even knowing only the suit of a flop card will give a significant advantage.

1st edition 2019, 8 pages.