It is now chiefly made use of in public-houses, for it is so plain and palpable an artifice, that it could not fail to be discovered by more intelligent people than those who frequent these resorts.
The real signification of "biseautées" cards is, that they are larger at one end than at the other, as in figure 17.
To do this, the Greek, with a pair of sharp scissors, cuts both sides of every card, beginning at the twentieth part of an inch, and going off to nothing.
Fig. 17.
All the cards being equally clipped at one end, if they are placed contrariwise, it is evident the edges will protrude the smallest bit possible beyond the other cards, and can be easily discovered by the sharper, however carefully they may have been shuffled by the opposite party.
What answers with one card, will do so equally with all. Thus, we will suppose the Greek has put all the court cards one way, and the common cards the other, he can, by feeling the cards in cutting, cut a court card or not, as he pleases.
This I merely give as one example, for slanting cards can be used in various other ways.
Some Greeks make use of cards cut on both sides, in two opposite ways: it is the same thing under another form.
For instance, the cards represented below are cut so that the edge of some are convex, as in figure 18, and others concave, as in figure 19.