Playing cards were invented by jesters, and were used to entertain royalty. In fact, each King in the deck represents a King from history, but that’s another story. The point is: card tricks were invented before real poker games were. You need to be aware that not every poker player you play against is going to be a legitimate opponent, and may be either an opportunistic cheat (catching a glimpse of a card without saying anything) or a card mechanic (being able to rig the deck to his favour). The term Cold Deck refers to switching the deck to a deck that is physically colder than the one that was in play. Usually, the deck is pre-stacked and the dealer will perform a series of false cuts & shuffles and then deal the cards. Of course, he wins the hand.
Online Casinos
Someone asked me whether or not online casinos (or casinos in general) rig hands. In legitimate casinos, I’d say most definitely not – because they’re regulated quite strictly and would be out of business in no time at all. As far as online casinos go, well, that’s a little bit different… There are no checks in play to see whether they’re dealing fairly and randomly. It’d actually be quite feasible for them to deal two large-stacks strong hands, and build a significant pot in order to increase their rake. Doing this even 1 in 10 hands would increase the poker room’s income 2fold. By no means am I saying that online casino in canada are doing this, just that it’s possible and you should be aware of it.
Player Advantage
This one’s a little more common, and easier to spot. This can only be done in either free tournaments or home games (or any sort of poker games where the deal is passed around). Player X has a stacked deck sitting under the table, rigged to his advantage, and is ready to swap it when the deal is passed around to him… When it does, he swaps the decks, performs a series of false cuts/shuffles (quite easy for even amateur card mechanics to do) and then deals the cards… He takes down a large pot. Watch out for players that pull the deck under the table when they’ve got the cards in their hands. Make sure the deck is cut by another player before the hand is dealt.