PART IV.

THE "HORS D'ÉQUERRE," OR SLANTING CARDS.

I was once requested by a magistrate, to examine some packs of cards which had been seized in a gambling-house, and many of which had been used for the game of Vingt-et-un. I acceded to his request, and it was only owing to my knowledge of mechanism, that I was enabled to discover the trick, by means of which the _banquier_ of the gambling-table could distinguish, whilst dealing, whether the card he took from the top of the pack was higher or lower than a ten.

All the court cards and aces were cut on the slant at the top, so as to prevent them being quite straight, as in figure 20, but much less so in reality than is here represented.

To discover this very slight alteration it required a most practised eye; but slight as it was, it was sufficient for the sharper; and, according to these indications, he either took the upper card, if it were to his advantage, or dealt to himself the lower one by the "filage."[K] In this manner he could also, at the end of the deal, retain or give himself the card he required.