Real Magic by Stuart Jaffe

bargain his way out of this. If they had been playing a cash game, he could have run, but all he had in his pocket was fifteen dollars in chips. Of course, bargain was the polite way to say what really was happening — he was being shaken down.
    "How much?" Duncan asked.
    "Excuse me?"
    "You stay quiet, and I'll cut you in on some of my winnings. How much you want?"
    Vincent lifted his hat and patted back his hair. "You don't get it." He pulled a deck of cards from his coat pocket. He proceeded to false shuffle, stack and re-stack, control aces, and display all manner of card control. With a sly smile, he said, "I've been working these guys for a long time. Losing on purpose week after week. Tonight is when I planned to strike."
    "And you wanted to use me as cover."
    "Exactly. If I won big tonight with a novice playing, they'd figure I got lucky or that you screwed up the flow of cards or some other malarkey like that." Vincent glanced up and down the alley, then moved in close to Duncan. "It ain't too late. You've had a good run with your beginner's luck, but any more and we're done. You give me a little trust, and we both can clean up tonight. I mean really clean up, not the little bit you've got now. So, the big question is: will you trust me?" Vincent put out his hand and waited.
    "I have to admit," Duncan said as he shook Vincent's hand, "you're really surprising me. That doesn't happen often."
    "I could say the same about you. In fact, I think I just did." Vincent checked his watch, then opened the door. "When we go back in, you watch carefully and be ready. And don't do anything until you understand what's going on. Okay?"
    "Tell me the play now."
    "No time. We don't get back there, they'll get suspicious."
    Duncan went back in, his head spinning at the change in Vincent. He wanted to pause the world and find out all he could about this man who had caught his cheats. But he had a big job to do now. Playing the straight man in a two-person cheat can be difficult, especially after all the hours already played. He had to pretend nothing had changed, that his relationship with Vincent had not changed, that though everything had changed, nothing had changed.
    At the same time, he had to watch Vincent carefully without being obvious. And as the hands were dealt, Duncan couldn't believe what he saw. Every time Vincent pulled in the cards to deal, he dropped a card to his lap. An Ace, a King, a Ten. It was so smooth, Duncan failed to catch it at first. And he knew deep in his heart that he would never have caught it had he not been told to look for it. In fact, he felt pretty sure that Vincent had slowed slightly to aid Duncan in catching the move.
    Two rounds of cards didn't reveal what he was looking for, but after another five rounds had passed, Vincent had dropped a Heart straight flush into his lap one card at a time. Freddie and Sammy never suspected that they were playing rounds missing cards, especially because they kept winning. Whenever Duncan or Vincent had a winning hand, they folded. Whenever Duncan had a Heart to help, he made sure to get it close to Vincent.
    When the deal fell to Duncan, he glanced at Vincent and received a slight nod. This was it. He dealt out the cards.
    Vincent put in a minimum. The others followed but Duncan raised. The bet got called and they did a round of card exchanges. So far, all played honestly. But now came the crucial moment, and Duncan knew he had to be the misdirection.
    He turned his body to face Sammy. "I really like your hat."
    Sammy raised an eyebrow, took off his hat, and inspected it. "This thing?"
    Freddie pointed to a tear in the back. "That's a piece of crap." He then took of his hat and tossed it to Duncan. "Try that one."
    Duncan made a production of trying on the hat. "It is nice."
    "I know."
    Vincent chimed in, "Freddie's always got the best hat."
    That was Duncan's cue. Vincent had successfully switched the winning hand in his lap with whatever Duncan had dealt.