Playing Casino Cards

“How do They Mark Playing Cards?”

Marking playing cards for casino play obviously implies cheating. There is no reason or any real mathematical advantage for the house to mark playing cards, unless they intend to selectively shuffle or deal seconds. .(Not off the top.) In the old days this might be true but no longer. So the scam that is implied is a customer or group of customers attempting to cheat the house.
A corrupt casino employee may be involved but the cheating that happens is against the house not in the houses’ favor. The marked card cheating takes two forms...marking cards in some way during actual live play or obtaining casino cards in some way, marking them and reintroducing those cards to the game.

Marking Cards

Marking cards in live play is attempted by several methods in different game like baccarat. Cheaters will bend cards to indicate their value. They may bend the cards along the edge to indicate high value cards and along the side to indicate medium value cards. With these two bends, called “Waves” or “Crimps” indicating cards of high and medium value, then cards with no bends would indicate low value cards. Card benders will put “Waves” or “Crimps” on just one side or edge of a playing card but will bend them in different directions or in different spots to indicate various values.
Some cheaters will glue a small piece of sandpaper to the underside of their finger. While handling the playing cards the cheater will attempt to scratch or sand a small amount of ink off the back or sides of the cards to indicate various values. This method of card marking is called “Sanding” or “Sand Work” for obvious reasons.
Other cheaters will let their thumb nail grow and file it to a sharp edge. While handling playing cards the cheater will press his thumb nail into the edge of the playing card creating a “Nail Nick”. Nail nicks on different areas on the edge of the cards will of course indicate various values.

Card Markers

Card markers will attempt to put various substances on the backs of playing cards to indicate various card values. A substance called “Daub” is consistency and feel of women’s lip rouge or eye shadow. The daub is made in different colors and shades for various colors of card backs. The daub is carried in a small container hidden in any number of places on the cheaters body. A very small amount of daub is lightly transferred to the tip of the cheaters finger. As the card cheat handles the playing cards he will transfer a small amount of the daub on his finger onto the back of the playing card. Obviously daub is placed in certain areas on the back of the cards to indicate high or low values. The daub appears as a slight discoloration or a faint shadow. Several other substances such as Vaseline, ashes, oils and waxes have been used to mark playing cards in play.
In a very elaborate casino cheating scheme, playing cards are stolen from the casino or an employee is bribed to remove casino playing cards from the secured inventory. The playing cards are then marked by one of several methods. The marked playing cards are then reintroduced to play in order to cheat the casino. A special ink known as “Cut Out Ink” or “Block Out Ink” is painted onto the back of the playing cards. The ink is used to alter the design of particular patterns or lines. The lines may be shortened or added to. The design may be extended or a small portion of it blocked out. Adding ink to the back of a playing card and blending it to avoid detection is not as easy as it sounds. The painting process may take several hours for just one deck of playing cards. The ink does not absorb through the finish of most playing cards so acids need to be added to the ink to facilitate the marking process.