Replacing Palm When Cutting

As a general rule the card expert will not hold out except on his own deal for the cut; however, we shall describe an exception that is at times worked successfully. The player on the dealer's right may hold out a palm in either hand, and replace it when given the deck to cut. In games wherein the whole deck is dealt, the hold out is usually palmed in the right hand back to palm. When the deck is received he makes a running cut, seizing the deck by the ends in both hands. The first pass to take of the first small packet, is a blind, and the palmed cards are dropped on the table. Precisely the same movement is made as in taking off a small packet by the ends. Then the running cut is continued, leaving the palmed cards on the bottom.

Another method is to palm in the left hand face to palm. The cut is made with the right hand, and then the deck placed in the left on the palmed cards, the replacing appearing as a square up. But this plan is risky, as there is little excuse for squaring upon another's deal. If a one handed fancy cut is made with the right hand, and the cards left somewhat scattered, they may be with more propriety, taken up into both hands and squared.

A third way, and the most generally employed, is for the right hand holding the palmed cards back to palm to make a cut by the ends, and then deposit the palmed cards on the packet that was under, when picking it up to put in place. This is good in any game as the palmed cards are dealt first.

Cleverly executed, a hold-out can be replaced in cutting without attracting the least notice, but it requires as much practice and study as any other artifice. As the player who cuts was the last dealer, it usually gives him a good opportunity to hold out and arrange desired cards; and as such an advantage is on another's deal, it greatly increases the percentages of the expert. The methods described can be successfully worked with as many as eight or ten cards, though of course the greater the number, the more probability of the dealer noticing the diminished condition of the deck; but it requires a good judge to detect the absence of half a dozen or so. Of course cards so held out to replace when cutting are arranged so that the desirable cards will fall to the operator.

The cautious and prudent expert makes it a rule to never "hold out," or palm extra cards, or deal himself too many, or obtain more than his share through any artifice, unless the regular procedure of the game will bring the deck into his possession, so that he can get rid of the extra quantity, naturally and easily, by replacing them on the top or bottom of the pack. To "go south" with extra cards, i. e., to drop them in the lap, or conceal them any place about the person, or hold them palmed during the play, or even to throw them on the discard heap when making his own discard, is inartistic, and risky, and unworthy of any but a neophyte or a bungler. Possibly the most closely watched procedure, and the easiest to observe in a poker game, is the number of cards that are discarded; and where there is the least suspicion, discarding too many in the ordinary way is surely detected. When playing poker the expert will hold too many only on his own deal, and then only before the draw. He can palm and replace the extra card or cards when about to deal the draw.

In Cribbage the non-dealer may hold out one or two cards, and after the crib is laid out, replace the extra card when cutting for the turn-up. But in whatsoever game, where cards are held out at all, the rule holds good that they must be restored, and at a moment when the regular procedure of the game necessitates the handling of the deck.

Cassino gives the dealer many opportunities of holding too many, as the deck is continuously handled during the game.