Issue 21 - July 08
52
Ways To Cheat At Poker
by Allan Zola Kronzek
Available from www.amazon.co.uk
Price: £5.95
192 pp, approx. 5”x
8”, soft-bound
If you ever find yourself salivating over a flop, splashing your
chips, or flashing your hole
– then fear not; you have not walked onto the set of a “Carry-On”
film, but are more than likely playing the modern sine qua non of gambling card
games – poker. Magician Allan Zola Kronzek has compiled a very nifty and
reasonably-priced volume on the cheats’ ways and means to gain an advantage in
this most jargon-heavy of pastimes, a pastime that is so colloquially-rich in
vocabulary. The subtitle of the book is, “…How
to spot them, foil them, and defend yourself against them,” but added to
that, of course, could be, “and how to
utilise the cheating techniques yourself, should you so desire…”
Kronzek has broken down the cheats’ methods into 52 chapters or ways;
hey, that’s the number of cards in a deck! What are the chances? Anyway, this
means that each chapter is brief and succinct, and that this is a book that can
be easily dipped into; (but perhaps not at the poker table). The author covers
many techniques: from marked cards in all their forms – shade, flash, juiced,
pegged, etc, (see what I mean about the jargon?) – to the
sleight-of-hand of the false shuffles and cuts, and the culling and the non-top
dealing. You come away from this book not only reeling at the skill,
determination and resourcefulness of the cheat, but also reeling at the danger
there may be when you next lay down the baize cloth and open the decks.
Concluding each chapter is a “Prevention
and Detection” section (though sometimes “Detection and Prevention” just to spoil the continuity), which,
long before the 52 chapters are up, becomes rather repetitive and tedious. As
the author himself concedes in his conclusion, “…Many of the protection tips in this book apply to a range of scams
and can be easily summarized: watch the dealer, cut the cards deliberately,
begin every game with a new deck…know who you’re playing with.”
Indeed. Also, no explanations are
given as to the rules of poker; and returning to my bête noire of all the
jargon and special terminology once more, no glossary either. The trouble with
all the slang is that to some it becomes a badge of honour – an exclusive
entry to a special club in being able to speak it; but to many it is simply
alienating and annoying when you don’t understand all of it.
At the time of writing, amazon.co.uk is selling this book for just £5.95,
and for that price you can’t go wrong. There is plenty of information that is
well-written and well-laid out; (I liked the reproductions of pages from the
catalogue of a cheating-supplies company). I’m not too worried about any
exposure issues, (here are descriptions of second-dealing and holdout gimmicks
in a £6 book on general sale after all), because this is still a special
interest publication that is not going to be thumbed through by a secret seeker
in Waterstones. The author has also written it very much within the insular
world of poker, with scarce allusions and parallels drawn to conjuring. Just be
careful though if you’re a keen casual player of the game: after reading
nearly 200 pages on how you can get ripped-off and shafted, you may never feel
like playing again. DL
What’s Hot – A
very affordable compendium of card-table swindling
What’s Not – Wearisome “Prevention and Detection” chapter-closers; a bit
contrived to secure the 52 chapter total; some unexplained jargon
Star Rating***
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