It's not enough to be able to do it...

You gotta be able to do at 8:15 PM, Saturday Night, at Madison Square Garden. Know what I'm saying?

Vandy

Hmm, you mean that in a game its just more than skills and playing cards? Its also about your guts

-J0ma-

JOma. That's not quite what I was getting at.

Yeah, I just guessed something

That's allright,guesses are fine. It's not really a quiz, just something to think about.

Vandy

Cheating is a Rolla coaster ride that can stretch your nerves and ability to the limit but I don’t know what you mean Vardy. You do not have to cheat at any set time; If your not in the mood there is always another night to make the play.

BUT...when it is time to move you HAVE to be able to do it.

The quote is a paraphrase of something Jack Dempsey once said. The point is, It's one thing to be able to do a move in your living room. Or perform a move 99 out of 100 times. But when the time comes to do it for real you must be able to do it and do it perfectly at that VERY moment. No exceptions. Or else you're a bust.

In Dempseys case the point was "yeah, I can knock out fighter X, but it's not enough just to be able to knock out fighter X, you have to be able to do it at 8:15 PM, Saturday night, at Madison Square Garden."

It's not enough to be able to false shuffle, shift the cut, or ring in a cooler or whatever else you may want to do... You have to do it at 8:15 PM, Saturday Night, at Madison Square Garden...So to speak.

Are you feeling me?

Vandy

I kinda get what you are saying.. I think

Vandy, are you talking about "clutch time"?

That's exactly right Rannie! Or you might say "The Moment of Truth".

Point being (and this goes for magic as well as cheating) when it's clutch time or the moment of truth. You better be able to pull it off, and pull it off perfectly.


Vandy

Vandy,

I like what you say. Unfortunately, many members here simply cannot fathom what this truly means, or entails.

I also have to be fair and admit that "Clutch Time" just might be the time that I am least likely to be caught moving. Does this make me a "weak" cheat? I don't think so, but others might. One thing is for sure: I don't do what I do seeking approval from others. I don't take my ego to games, nor do I take it to the bank.

As I said, I like your style. I do think it to be comically ironic, however, that you call this moment, in which the cheating must be performed perfectly, the "Moment of Truth!" Funny, don't you think?

It's not even so much about a perfect move, as it is about the perfect mind. Technique is never a finished product but, even the best technique can't save the poor decision maker.

CC

Great post Vandy, you are so very right!

I think how much nerve that is required to cheat depends on many factors. “Cheating at Cards” covers a broad spectrum of activity. Some of, if not most of the more successful plays that have raked in millions have required little nerve or skill. The most successful plays in history have been based on brain power rather than will power. In fact I would say that the more nerve and skill that is needed the less likely it is that it will be to rake in a lot of money.

I'm just a pilgrim at heart, oh so pure and genteel,
Watch me in Las Vegas when I'm at the spinning wheel.

How do you figure this?

By this logic, cheating a bunch of 8 year olds out of their milk money would be more profitable than taking off a casino for hundreds of thousands.

Well?

Card Cheat,

That is right. It's not about when you move or how you move. The point is that WHENEVER you decide to move... It automatically becomes 8:15 PM, Saturday Night at Madison Square Garden. Time to deliver. Go time. Call it what you will, when it's time to deliver, you gotta deliver the goods. No exceptions, no excuses.

Vandy

Yes. Many see the casino cheater in a classical sense, an expert mechanic capable of amazing technical skill. Yet the truth is, in the majority of the most successful casino scams in our history, technical skill plays a minor role. It's all about the application.

Whereas a magician might be familiar with different false shuffles for controlling a slug, he may not know how such elementary technique has been used to scam millions. And, he may not realize that the most successful scams are not as spectacular as many think, that most involved massive conspiracies and inside collusion, that many employed the most blatant techniques imaginable, and so on.

Again, well said Vandy.

It's true, and I was not denying in my original post the need for reliable "on-demand" technique. I was only saying that flawless technique is completely worthless, and can actually be the cause of a negative effect, in the abscence of rationality.

CC

Vandy thank you for posting this. It sums up doing performance magic in the real world. The force HAS to work. The cull has to be done smoothly and in real time in front of people.

Doing magic for friends is a lot different that doing it because it is Thursday and seven PM. And I might add that advantage playing at the card table - the same rules apply.

Great post Vandy

Great to see you back Glenn! With out the search function, its hard to track you guys!

Indeed it is different doing "it" in clutch time. I know a mechanic, who delivers at times like these. Unfortunately , he is in hidding now on an island (one of the thousands) in the Philippines. I met him in the mid 80's and I have learned quite a bit from him. He was my first teacher. He was no, Forte or Lennart Green! Not even close to Glenn, but he was natural and he always had a reason for the way he moved. Im afraid I cannot post exactly what I saw and what he showed me. I know the mechs here would understand. Oh, I know this is off topic, but I just want to add that this guy "wanbol" (that is a ***ized English for One Ball) only knew 2 or 3 tricks. He was not a magician. As a matter of fact he refuses to do card tricks for obvious reasons.

It does not matter how smooth you are, its how you can go deep inside you and calm yourself. Relaxation when needed the most. Its not only fear, or pressure! Excitement and anticipation gets the better of us at 8:15 on sat nights. The inner guilt too! As my good friend Glenn stated, this applies to magic as well.

Rannie
aka The Boss aka The Manila Enforcer

Thanks rannie,

I think that also what Vandy is pointing out is the "Nerve thing" that we all have to get past in order to do our stuff in front of people. The hand shake thing and that feeling we get just before we go on. Getting past that is part of what we have to do in order to move in real time in front of a real audience.

Or at a poker table I would expect.

Having the nerve and being able to do it at crunch time I feel is the difference between magic theory and moves and the talk about which move is the best - and the real world where doing the move during crunch time - then you find out what really works - and then use "WHAT WORKS"! Because what works at crunch time is most often the most practical and the best way to do it.