When you head out to play do you carry a weapon? Do you think its a good idea or not to carry one? How do you handle the

chance of trouble, especially if you play singleo?

First it depends the country where you live, carrying a weapon in most countries of Europe is out of question for instance, forbidden by law.

Second, it depends the people you play with. Personally I've always stuck with amateur games and low buy-ins. OK, you can run across a jerk once in a while, but chances are low someone wants to kill you for $100 or even $500.

I'm not sure I'd like to play games where people are loaded. Anyone can get crazy any moment. They could shoot at you because they think you cheated, because you took a close look at their girlfriend, because they want their money back, etc. Me I like peaceful ambiances.

It's good to know how to defend oneself though. A few rings acting as knuckles may help as well (choose big ones ).

That said, if you think you need a weapon, it means you think you may face troubles. Is it worth your life to play such games? To meet such kind of players?

The best weapon I had when caught was psychology, talking. As long as you rely on collusion, sleight of hand etc. it's hard to catch you and to be sure, unless they have cameras. Now, of course, if they catch your kepplinger or you luminous lenses, it's another story. But you wouldn't use that as a single-o right?

The same theory that applies to hold-outs applies to weapons.

If you get caught out for cheating, the last thing you want found on your person is a mechanical device that screams "I'm an experienced cheater", be it a hold-out or a gun.
The singleo cheater that gets called out in a game wants NO evidence on him that would imply he's anything but a tourist at the table.

If you do have something on you, and if you are cheating, then you should be able to discreetly drop to the floor whatever it is you're carrying, thus potentially imparting the blame on pretty much anybody at the table if it's found.

Dropping an almost invisible pegger from your finger onto the floor under the table is probably a lot more realistic than dropping a loaded gun or a knife with a 10" blade onto the floor under the table.

People do not call you out, they hit you, really hard.

@tommy

You have a few stories about it? OK, I've seen a few punches but never something serious. Never heard about people been shot for cheating, never. You run across such bad stories (cheat found dead or severely injured) once every five years maybe. Of course, I'm talking about France, UK, Spain, Italy, countries I know. Fleecing a Russian mob might be a different story...

I'm not sure I have even read any European casino story about cheats (or supposed cheats) been beaten up by casino staff.

If you had seen such would you talk about it?

Me? Yes. Why shouldn't I???

Omertà.

Lol. Se vuoi, possiamo parlare piu discreto

Hmm, I wonder what it was like when people used to contribute here? Or does everyone really prefer to just discuss moves and toys?

In my experience Tommy is right, weapons don't usually come out for offense. Our 6 footer rarely got called out, but the smaller our winner guy was the more likely to get accused (even if we weren't even doing anything!). People suck. Hypothetically, we all carried blades on us, with louder stuff in the cars sometimes. No bowies, but no penknives either, a 4 inch blade was usually best. In years of play before the %*#^ing new casinos killed most of our local home game circuits, the closest things mostly ever got to going sideways was stopped by some fingernail cleaning or something during a fold a little after the yelling stopped and during a clean deal while ignoring the smart guy. We learned if whoever got accused didn't show a blade then the shoving stage happened more even if we were playing it straight afterwards. That was usually for blue collar though, for white collar we usually just had him be offended and leave. We also had whoever was the hands that night was also the peacemaker. Like AMD says, usually if we thought that heavier equipment was a good idea we decided it was a better idea to skip that game unless it had megapotential. I think picking the right game was the best solution if possible, but I was at a game with a lot of money and dentists!, and we weren't even doing anything and one of us got accused just for calling a good bluff! It got so bad they figured out some of our act. No plucking the host was another rule we tried to follow and that also kept trouble down.

Don't know what to do when solo, though. If you don't have anything on you probably a beating is worst-case. But if your smaller and alone and have nothing on you I think your risk of a beating is greater and you can't offset the heat, so what to do? When there's enough money and booze on the table, facts and proof have nothing to do with what happens, in my experience.

And from some of these comments, do people actually use stuff other than their hands and maybe a shiny Zippo in real life? The payout would have to be HUGE and a 1-time-only IMO, I really thought that stuff was for magicians only. Even trying to CD is crazy unless things are a certain way. Don't know anything about casino work though, I'm just a home player of the shearing not skinning school. Although "home" is sometimes a restaurant kitchen after-hours, or a warehouse, or a hotel.

Well, if we decide to talk about being accused of cheating because someone lost a hand, we're gonna spend 2 years posting! :p

Bad losers are countless. They moan, complain for everything and nothing. Some even drive nuts. Honestly, sometimes, I'd prefer to face cheats than sore losers.

Around here, I'd say a beating if surely the worst you risk, yes. Mainly if you play pub games with a lot of heavy drunkers and if you are the only foreigner in the place lol. In private games, I wouldn't trust the drug dealers, well, people like that. In France they can carry guns, easy. In England, many scums have a knife.

As a singleo, it depends who you are playing with. In my amateur world, guys can be completely dumb and hardly understand what an odd is. You just need to play with your brain to beat them. Sometimes you run across very strong players, I would even say awesome guys, very skilled, who would defeat many pros... but who are so unaware of card cheating that you can stack a set in front of their very eyes, without even cutting the deck! Sometimes guys play like $25 and have cameras!!! I'm not sure there is a rule except that context is the only rule.

The games you are talking about, with dentists, etc. What kind of games they were? Stud? What kind of cash could be in the middle at some point?

By the way, not plucking the host is a basic .

Well let’s put it this way: Not everyone is streetwise. Never judge a book by it's cover. Do you think you play with babies? How do you know who you are playing with?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iELKMNjZx9o

I used to wear a double load fingertip flash pot on a miller style holdout when I carried a lot of cash or felt "at risk".

In this way, I can shoot a ball of fire in the attackers face very quickly.

The model flash pot I have can shoot about 6-8 feet, so, if the person is closer, their will be even more of a surprise and maybe a burn.
I load my flash paper load with some black powder, smoke power and you can add some aluminum dust or copper for a longer lasting burn and color.
The load also provides extra kick and distance when the charge is ignited from the rear and the load (charge) is also in the rear to act as a better propellant.

I can see the newspaper now....magician foils attacker with ball of fire

In over 50 years of playing in non casino games no one has ever presented a weapon. Yet in the games I mention, I know for a fact several carry. Having said that in those 50 years those said games were robbed 3 times. All three times the thieves had shotguns. I was not present at any of them. The smart thing is no one presented their weapons against supposedly loaded shotguns. Most carry not so much because they play but rather they just carry concealed legally on a daily basis.

Things have changed here down to the number of casino’s that sprang up offering poker from circa 1980s. In the 1950s 60s and 70s it was a different world. Back in them days, there was a fascinating history of criminal activity going on behind fashionable bars and clubs. There were games going on everywhere. It seemed like down every cellar there was a commercial game. There was little violence at the joints but plenty connected to them. Remember the games were making money and gangsters were in the box and by box I mean the drop. These were silent partners, who gave the joints protection. A little common gaming house, well it can be a deceptively dangerous business to play with. It depends, who is in the box. Or on what connections the proprietors have. No different today except it’s different.

You're picking the wrong games to play at if you need any sort of protection....

I don’t know about the USA. I mean, I think there one might not only need a gun but also need to be fast.