Part I: Card Game Cheating · Collusion & Electronic Cheating at Card Games

Scam #18: Front-Loading

How it works

A technique used in games where the dealer loads their own hole cards under an up-card during the deal. If the dealer holds the cards too high or at the wrong angle when placing the hole card under the up-card, players at certain seats can see the card value. This is particularly exploitable in poker-based games like Three Card Poker, Caribbean Stud, and Mississippi Stud where dealers handle their own cards. The player gains an edge by knowing one or more of the dealer’s cards before making betting decisions.

Where it appears

Three Card Poker, Caribbean Stud, Mississippi Stud, Ultimate Texas Hold’em

On the record

Front-loading in Three Card Poker can give a player edge of 2.4% to over 9% depending on how many dealer cards are visible. Professional advantage players regularly scout cardrooms for dealers with exploitable loading technique. The Wizard of Odds has published extensively on front-loading opportunities in various carnival games.

Published as a detection reference for surveillance, compliance and gaming-operations professionals. Thresholds and tuning are set by the property. Nothing here is instruction — the method is described so it can be recognised.