There are several ways to cheat at even the slightest things. Cheaters can draw an extra card, manipulate the outcome of a die roll or coin flip, or even stack their deck. This article will expose every way I know how to catch cheaters. The two largest Nationals are virtually upon us, and I hope this will let potential would-be cheaters know that it’s not okay by exposing their tricks.
We all think we know what cheating is, but do we actually know? The definition of cheating as “to violate rules or regulations”. Seems simple enough, right? Wrong. Cheating is the act of purposely gaining an unfair advantage over an opponent through manipulation of events and outcomes. If someone were to draw an extra card from their deck without meaning to, it wouldn’t be cheating. If they did it purposely/consciously, however, it would be cheating.
Before we get into specifics, I must advise you that accusing your opponent of cheating is a very strong accusation and should never be done unless you have proof. If you believe that your opponent is cheating, report it to a judge so they can keep watch of the player. Even if you truly believe that someone is cheating, there may be circumstances you don’t understand. Always let the judge handle it. Give them the information you have, and let them do their job.
Riffle shuffling (like how most people would shuffle a deck of playing cards) can be an easy way for someone to make sure certain cards stay on the top or bottom of the deck. By releasing the bottom card of one stack sooner than the other, they could prevent that card from mixing into the deck. The same goes for the top card. The only difference is that they release that card later than the top card of the other stack. Once again, the way to prevent this is to always shuffling your opponent’s deck like how I am in Fig. 1, or you can simply just cut your opponent’s deck (which wouldn’t help thwart the double nickel). My recommendation is to always cut (or shuffle) your opponent’s deck after they do. It’s just a good habit to get into.
Overhand Shuffle:
The overhand shuffle is the most common way of shuffling, because it’s so simple and fast, but a would-be cheater can manipulate the deck while doing an overhand shuffle. What they can do is grip the one card that they want left on top and release every other card just like they would with a proper overhand shuffle. If done correctly, an opponent may not notice that the top card isn’t moving. Once again, preventing this just comes down to making sure that you cut or shuffle your opponent’s deck.
Hindu Shuffling:
This technique seems to be more prevalent in Yu-gi-oh, but the idea is similar to the overhand shuffle. What happens is the cheater can lock their fingers of their dominant hand on the bottom card(s) and pull out about half the deck and slowly places the cards on their deck until the card(s) they gripped is on top. If that’s not clear, it doesn’t matter. The point isn’t to learn how to cheat, the point is to prevent and spot cheating. Just know that this technique will result in one or more specific cards being placed at the top of the deck. Again, this is easy to thwart. Just cut or shuffle your opponent’s deck. Spotting these shuffling tricks can be difficult, so just watch the opponent and always cut their deck.
This is another one of those tricks where a would-be cheater needs a specific situation to pull something. When a card, like Pokegear 3.0 for example, has them draw a certain number of cards (separate from their hand), they could look at the cards, then their hand, then the cards, and so-forth until they see fit. They could possibly thinks about which set of cards is better for the exact situation and follows the affects using the better one of the two “hands.” If the cards they drew from the Pokegear’s effect (in this example) are better, they could take those cards as their new hand. If not, then they just act like nothing happened and continue on normally. Again, watch your opponent. Make sure you keep track of which is really their hand. Don’t think that because it’s not your turn that it means you’re not in the game.
Palming:
Because a potential cheater will need large hands to pull this stunt, Juniors and Seniors probably need not concern themselves here. A would-be cheater could place a card in the palm of their hand at some point in the game, and it can remain hidden by the back of their hand until they need it. The way to spot this is that their hand becomes very rigid and can’t bend easily. If you suspect this, just ask them to spread their fingers to see if they are palming. If they have nothing to hide, they will have nothing to worry about. If they don’t want to show their palm, just call a judge. When in doubt, never accuse, just call the judge and explain the facts.
Sleeving:
Similar to palming, sleeving is hiding a card. The only difference is that it’s in a sleeve sleeve. If your opponent is wearing long sleeves, it’s okay to ask them to roll them up before the match. Most people are reasonable and will, but people are free to wear what they want. Don’t be offended if they deny the request. Just keep alert as I recommended earlier, and watch the opponent’s sleeves and hands whenever they are handling cards. If you have to take your eyes off of them, ask the number of cards in their hand and for them to fan out the cards so you can count them before you switch your attention. Many high level players will ask the number of cards in their opponent’s hands multiple times even during the same turn. It’s a good way to understand your opponent’s game state, and the side effect is to thwart palming and sleeving.
Lapping:
Another way to hide a card is also similar to palming and sleeving, only it takes place in the lap. Unless players are getting something off of the floor, they are actually required to keep their hands above the table. However, a cheater using lapping will often accidentally “drop” part of their hand during the set-up into their lap. Simply Just ask that they put all the cards back into the deck and for you to re-cut just to prevent them from cheating. You can ask them if it’s okay for you to count their deck 6-pile shuffle it (which will result in 6 piles of 10 cards). Like people asked to pull up their sleeves, most will think that it’s the honorable thing to do and let you, but you’ll come across someone who won’t call a judge and ask them to randomize the opponent’s deck. You should never need a reason to shuffle an opponent’s deck after they’ve shuffled, but it’s polite to ask permission.
Dice/Coins
Figure 2
Always Flipping Heads:
This happened a few years ago at US Nationals in Juniors. A kid had flipped heads every time he needed to flip a coin. A judge finally noticed it and gave him another coin to use. The kid couldn’t pull of a head every time he flipped it. Apparently, he practiced with the coin so much that he could always flip heads. Just call the judge if you see this and tell them that you believe that the opponent has an insufficient method of randomization as far as always flipping heads. Again, you never know why a person is doing something. In Juniors for example, some kids think it’s a challenge to try to flip heads. They may not realize that it’s against the rules. A judge can help educate them, and you will be doing all of their future opponents a favor by giving the judge the opportunity to correct the behavior.
Always Rolling Heads:
This is one of those tricks that people in Las Vegas in try to use. A cheater attempting this picks up their die, then they’ll fit it between their middle finger and their palm like in Fig. 2. The number they want is placed towards their thumb, and their fingers are set even to each other. When the die is dropped from the hand onto the table, they are careful to not “roll” it. This is what is referred to as a “straight drop”. If you see this, you can just ask your opponent to re-roll the die, because it has to turn at least three times according to official rulings. If they don’t want to, just ask a judge how to proceed. The same thing goes for a coin. If it doesn’t turn three or more time, they should re-flip or re-roll.
I hope this helps you in your future tournaments. The main two points to take away from this is to always shuffle/cut your opponent’s deck after they shuffle and always keep alert even when it’s not your turn. These two things alone can help thwart attempted cheating. If everyone does these things to keep cheating down, it will foster an environment where would-be cheaters become won’t-be cheaters. I hope you have a successful and cheat-free Nationals!
balasar 
I’m sure that some, if not most, Pokémon players have had an opponent try to cheat at some point. That happened to me a few weeks ago at a Battle Road I attended. I believe that cheating needs to be brought to the attention of the players, so I want to use this article to raise awareness. If more people know how to spot it, cheaters will be less likely to attempt to cheat for fear of being noticed.
Roy Sinclair: