Second dealing is a way of manipulating the deck of cards during a game by dealing the second from top card rather than the top card for cheating. Even in several magic performances and card tricks, second dealing is quite widely used. Any player who specializes in manipulating the cards is known as a card mechanic while one who specializes in second dealing is known as a second dealer, a number two man, two dealer or a deuce dealer.
When Can Second Dealing Be Used?
Second dealing can be used and would be useful only when the player or the dealer (if working with the dealer) knows the value of the card on top of the deck. If the value of the top card is known and if the card is desirable to the player who wants to reserve it for his/her own hand, second dealing is used in order to avoid dealing the card to the opponent.
Types of Second Dealing
There are several different variations of second dealing which are often used for cheating at blackjack.
Second strike dealing - this is where the player would push the top card to the left and the left thumb would contact the exposed second card and would pull it out just as the top card would be placed back in its position.
Push off dealing - in this method the right thumb would be used to push two top cards when they are perfectly aligned as just one card. The left hand would then take the second hard while the right one would pull back the top card.
Third dealing - in third dealing, the right thumb would be used to push the two top cards to the left as one card. The left thumb would then contact the exposed third card and pull it out while putting the top two cards back in place.
Bottom dealing - in bottom dealing, the player would push the top card to the left with the right thumb. The left hand would pull the card from the bottom under the cover of a top card which would be pulled back in place.
Center dealing - in center dealing the player would push the top card to the left with the right thumb. The left hand would pull the card from the center under the cover of the top card.
When these moves are combined with a deck of marked cards, the results are almost undetectable. With marked cards, the desirable card would be identifiable and then the dealer or the player would be able to deal the card from the top of the deck as required. He/she will simply have to keep on second dealing till it is the player’s turn to receive the card.
These moves are quite difficult to spot since most players would only use them when they perfect them. Also, since the dealers are quite talented and know their way around the rules of the casinos, it is possible for them to perform these tricks without anyone knowing it.
