Creative Technique UTH hole carding

I was recently sitting at a casino, playing Ultimate Texas Holdem on a table that still uses outdated shuffle machines which have the potential to be hole carded. Unfortunately, the dealers on shift were all unreadable, but that got me thinking, what if they were readable every time?

The process they deal the cards involves lifting them off the table about 6-10 inches depending on the dealer. 6 Inches is more than enough to work with.
I noticed the table i was playing on was reflective around the edges, (it has this smooth reflective bit for drinks and chips before the felt begins) this surface is clear enough to clearly read the hole cards if the angle was right. I tried to pull it off right then and there, but it was impossible without contorting myself into some weird low position. That got me thinking, what if there was another way for me to gain this information?

The next logical idea i had was to use some sort of reflective item to gain this info, such as a ring, a watch, perhaps a wallet or purse, etc. I'm not entirely sure this is legal but i am pretty confident it could be pulled off in a legal way. Perhaps if said item was already there, or supplied by the casino (such as a plate, drink, chips etc.)

I have seen mechanics and magicians perform much more complicated tricks that must involve techniques to see cards that look impossible to the viewer. I find this prospect very exciting.

Has anybody tried this before, will i land myself in jail?

Quote: RINSED

I was recently sitting at a casino, playing Ultimate Texas Holdem on a table that still uses outdated shuffle machines which have the potential to be hole carded. Unfortunately, the dealers on shift were all unreadable, but that got me thinking, what if they were readable every time?

The process they deal the cards involves lifting them off the table about 6-10 inches depending on the dealer. 6 Inches is more than enough to work with.
I noticed the table i was playing on was reflective around the edges, (it has this smooth reflective bit for drinks and chips before the felt begins) this surface is clear enough to clearly read the hole cards if the angle was right. I tried to pull it off right then and there, but it was impossible without contorting myself into some weird low position. That got me thinking, what if there was another way for me to gain this information?

The next logical idea i had was to use some sort of reflective item to gain this info, such as a ring, a watch, perhaps a wallet or purse, etc. I'm not entirely sure this is legal but i am pretty confident it could be pulled off in a legal way. Perhaps if said item was already there, or supplied by the casino (such as a plate, drink, chips etc.)

I have seen mechanics and magicians perform much more complicated tricks that must involve techniques to see cards that look impossible to the viewer. I find this prospect very exciting.

Has anybody tried this before, will i land myself in jail?
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If you’re seeing the reflection in something that is part of the table or part of the casino design I think it would not be illegal but if you bring in a device or even use a drinking glass provided by the casino I think it could be illegal. I am not a lawyer. Overall this is a poor idea and it has been around for years. I’ve seen it mentioned in books from the 1940s.
Proceed at your own risk

The generic word for reflective objects used for card prediction is "glim". Glims brought in externally are illegal almost everywhere. Glims that occur naturally are legal. There is a grey area here: say a pile of shiny chips may have been introduced by the casino but if you position it in a certain way to read hole cards a clever lawyer could argue that was some kind of analog to fraud.

Interesting as this subject is hole-carding is really viable to one group of people only. Very short people. If you want to play hole-card hire a person of restricted growth from a theatrical agency and find some tall dealers or a women with weird fingernails (don't ask). Deploy the dwarf. Split the cash until they work out they don't need you. Rinse and repeat. You can make a million dollars easily doing that.

Interesting! Can somebody post a hole-carding strategy card for UTH? I just read Eliot's post saying a 13.6% player edge from hole-carding UTH; however, this is small compared to about 50% from MS Stud.

I've seen a couple of older players playing at tables in wheelchairs/motorised vehicles.
Perhaps i should recruit a disabled person lol.

Quote: aceside

Interesting! Can somebody post a hole-carding strategy card for UTH? I just read Eliot's post saying a 13.6% player edge from hole-carding UTH; however, this is small compared to about 50% from MS Stud.

I LOVE your style. 13.6% edge meh 50% or I'm walking. *

There's an old thread here wizardofvegas.com/forum/gambling/tables/35318-hole-carding-uth/ the strategy posted by Sandy with minor variations added by Mcallister is close to optimal. Probably within tenths of per cent.

Gemini or Chat gpt will spit out the code for this fairly quickly even if you don't know how to code- it'll take you about a day as it will get everything wrong at first until you feed it code errors. But then you can just sim anything like this quickly.

That said I WOULD NOT use optimum strategy for this game. If the casino looks at the tapes you will be in big trouble. They will see you betting into info you don't have yet. They will think you are doing something to the cards. Your priority with HC is not to get caught to extend you play. Mix it up.

NOW: I'm guessing you don't actually know of any such game you just like thinking about big advantagenumbers. Which is fine. I just notice people interested in hole-carding tend to give up when they begin to understand how difficult these games are to find if you aren't a tiny person.

* Sounds like sarcasm but I actually agree with you. The game is generally so slow it is not worth playing.

"I've seen a couple of older players playing at tables in wheelchairs/motorised vehicles.
Perhaps i should recruit a disabled person lol."

You say lol but this is probably literally the easiest way to get rich I can actually think of. This is actually what I'd be doing if I was a broke Gen Z-er.

The only thing that puts me off is that very quickly you get into situations where the midget or the disabled person asks what the point of you in this team is. And I don't want to get in a fight with midget or a person in a wheelchair in a public place. Especially if I lose (again).

Hole carding strategy is very easy. I recall gordonm888 posted it on this site somewhere a long time ago. It was only a few lines to type out, but it is hard to execute it.

Playing UTH at Flamigo today. Most dealers using two hands to remove their hole cards from the shuffler. One dealer wasn’t. A few times I could tell basic info about one of her cards—eg, paint or 3/4 across. Someone better than me could see even more I’m sure. One time she clearly flashed a 6. I was dealt Q6 unsuited. Normally a check but I figure I have a better than even chance of Q being the higher kicker so I 4x. I lost but it was fun to look for the hole cards.