Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-11-16

the ten Of hearts, and next the nine of dia-
monds. Follow this rule until all the cards are
arranged The rule can be retained in the
mind by memorizlng the following verse:
siIty-two hundred and ninety: three kings.
Eighty -four thousand men and seventy live women.
The hundred" refers to the tens; the
''thousand' to the aces; the linen" to the
Jacks and the women" to the queens. When
you see the first card you know just what fol-
lows.
The tricks of the faro dealer are largely
mechanical, but they not less skillfully
done on that account. The commonest Is the
skin" box from which the dealing is done.
The honest faro box is generally of German
silver. 1t is a small frame. made to hold a
pack Of cards tightly. The dealer pushes with
his finger the top card through narrow slit in
the side of the frame. just large enough to
allow one card to slip through at time. The
opposite side of the frame is open. and through
it the pack is slipped into place. There is a
spring at the bottom of the box that pushes
the pack tightly against the top of the frame
until the last card is dealt
The dishonest or skin" box has a spring
operated on one side of the box that enlarges
the slit through which the cards are dealt at
the dealers pleasure.
In dishonest game the dealer always has
his cards arranged in advance. For instance
he places JACK next to Ave spot. The five
spot is on top and the back OF the card is
sanded so that the Jack will stick closely to it,
the box at the same instant they will not be-
come separated on the table and betray the
trick. Now we will say that the dealer finds
that the i've is the top card and will come out
next There is very heavy betting that the
Jack will follow it. What is easier than to
press the spring and let the Jack be covered up
by the hve! Ii the betting is in his favor he can
run out the hve sIngly and follow it with the
Jack. We will suppose that he chooses to con-
ceaI the Jack. but there are several players
md .fala -.
OF the cards, and if the Jack does not appear
before the deal Is ended the deception will be
detected. To prevent this the dealer has in his
other hand another Jack, which lies in small
N-shaped frame with a narrow slit at the sharp
point This frame ne manages to place against
the exposed edge of the cards in the faro box,
and by pushing the card he forces it back into
the pack. Like all other gaming tricks this
must be skillfully done, and when it is thus
performed it would require sharp pair of eyes
to detect it.
This is a very neat trick: Suppose a gambler
wanted to transfer the top card Of the pack to
another position. He holds the cards in his
LETT hand. He pushes with his thumb the top
card forward upon the tips OF his fingers Then
by raising up the remaining cards he shoves
the top card into place deXterously that not
one Ill ten thousand would notice it,
Very often it is unsafe for a gambler to at
tempt the shift; then he resorts to palming
The selected cards are concealed iii the palm of
the right hand. He offers the remainder of
the pack to his opponent to cut. After that is
done he picks up the cut with his right hand,
placing his cards OH top and then adroitly JOINS
them to the rest OF the pack and his desire is ac-
complished.
One of the commonest devices to prevent an
honest CUTS the use Of 'strippers." Shippers are
apack of cards a tride wider at one end than at
the other. After the cards are cut the dealer
turns one-half around so that the narrow ends
are uppermost when the cards are stood on end
The other half are left with their wide ends up
permOst. Then the two halves are put together
and pulled through each other as the teeth of a
comp pass throu h lock of hair. This leaves
the cards IN their original position and he deals
as though no cut had been made
Marked packs of cards frequently found
The markings consist of minute changes in the
scrolls or decorations on their backs that would
not be detected by the unsuspicious. but are of
great significance to those who use them.
There are several old tricks once popular
but now entirely superseded by the newer and
more ski!lful methods that have described.
One OF these old tricks Was to deal cards from
the bottom of the pack. This was too clumsy
for use, except with the most unsuspicIous of
players, and has been almost entirely aban-
doned.
A common trick in the game of eucher is to
secrete one OF the Jacks. By this means a
player secured an advantage of at least % per
cent over his opponent, for he thus had ex-
elusive information of great value. For in
stance he knew that his left bower and ace
were the largest cards of the suit of the missing
Jack, and he could use this knowledge with
telling force against his opponent. l would adj
wise all amateur eucher players, when pitted
against strangers, to see that all four Jacks are
in the pack.
have never been a gambler. but I have
learned enough tricks at cards and have
watched enough games of chance to unhesitat-
lngly advise all my readers to let gaming alone.
No matter how expert they may be at card
tricks they will stand very little chance against
professional manipulation of the fascinating
pasteboards I'll Kr11An