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The Gaming Table by Andrew Steinmetz

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Gambling in the United States

CHAPTER IX. page 25

Unfortunately, however, there is a very easy means by which card
sharpers manage the thing to perfection. They prepare beforehand
a series of a dozen cards arranged as follows:--

1st Queen 6th Nine
2nd Queen 7th Nine
3rd Ten 8th Ace
4th Seven 9th Eight
5th Ten 10th Ace

Series thus arranged are placed in side pockets outside the
waistcoat, just under the left breast. When the sharper becomes
banker he leans negligently over the table, and in this position
his fingers are as close as possible to the prepared cards,
termed _portees_. At the proper moment he seizes the cards
and places them on the pack. The trick is rendered very easy by
the fact that the card-sharper has his coat buttoned at the top,
so that the lower part of it lies open and permits the
introduction of the hand, which is completely masked.

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