We might lastly be seeing a paradigm shift in poker dealing within the U.S. Years after “slide” dealing grew to become customary in lots of European video games, the Venetian has reportedly change into the primary on line casino on the Las Vegas Strip to implement the follow in its poker site.
South Point was the primary within the metropolis to make the change, however the Venetian’s transfer appears extra more likely to impact extra widespread change. It comes simply in time, and hopefully, it’s the beginning of a change that can insulate reside poker from elevated dishonest danger.
Mechanics And Rationale Of The Slide Deal
For these unfamiliar, slide dealing is the place the supplier takes the highest card off the deck and instantly places it face down on the felt. Then, the supplier pushes it in direction of the participant with out taking the cardboard off the desk.
Essentially, the aim of the follow is to reduce the danger that any participant can see the values of the playing cards coming off the deck. We’ve all performed at tables the place sellers have been pitching too excessive, and the slide deal makes {that a} non-issue.
Much extra nefarious, although, is the potential for dishonest.
Nowadays, a digicam could be tiny and simply hidden. Furthermore, all of us have one in our pockets, and in most poker rooms, it’s thought of completely regular to both be hammering away on yours whereas the playing cards are being dealt or to have it sitting on the rail in entrance of you. Take a digicam, hidden or in any other case, use it to surreptitiously observe the supplier’s pitch, and you may mainly fill within the blanks on the remainder of the scheme.
This isn’t some imagined situation concocted out of paranoia. It’s truly taking place.
Cheating Method Originated In Europe Before Moving To The U.S.
In 2024, French authorities arrested two poker gamers for utilizing a tiny digicam to see the playing cards off the deck. They used that info to cheat their opponents out of enormous sums of cash.
Now, there are issues that the strategy is coming to the U.S. Bart Hanson explored the reports on his YouTube channel. Generally, the go-to technique appears to contain having a spotter in both Seat 1 or Seat 9, whose recordings go to an off-property third occasion. Someone off-property then examines these and relays hand values to that participant and/or one other one within the recreation.
The slide deal guards in opposition to this form of dishonest by maintaining the playing cards as near the felt as potential.
Is There A Case Against Moving to the Slide Deal?
While poker tournaments and money video games elsewhere have had success with slide dealing, the passion for bringing it to this facet of the pond isn’t unanimous. Some business stakeholders have expressed resistance to the thought:
“The other side” is that good sellers worry that it’s going to gradual them down and subsequently price them cash and the casinos income.
They additionally say that the dishonest is such a minuscule challenge that altering your complete business is overkill. https://t.co/z9cdMnTm1h
— Matt Savage (@SavagePoker) September 29, 2026
To the concept dishonest is a minuscule challenge, I might say … it’s till it isn’t. The elementary greatest approach for sellers and poker site workers to make sure they’ll preserve incomes is to ensure persons are nonetheless excited to play reside poker. As this form of dishonest turns into extra widespread, it’s going to chase folks away from the sport. All it takes is one unhealthy expertise like this to lose a buyer for all times.
Poker is like another business. It adapts and adjustments with the occasions.
Look at outdated images of the World Series of Poker from the Nineteen Seventies. People have been chain-smoking on the tables. That’s not a factor anymore. Twenty years in the past, folks would have been extremely confused by the concept one participant places within the antes for your complete desk. We used to play money video games with bundles of hundos, and we may name the ground workers over and swap out chips from completely different Las Vegas poker rooms. That’s not allowed as a result of compliance departments have determined it’s untenable.
To many, these have been inconvenient adjustments. But they have been applied for the nice of the sport, and poker marches on. I like Matt Savage and suppose he does excellent work maintaining the Tournament Directors Association guidelines updated and reflective of the wants of the fashionable recreation. But change could be good, and I feel that is a type of occasions.
“Nobody wants to do it this way” isn’t a ample argument.
The Other Option: Luddite Poker
I need to notice that there’s one different option to reduce the danger of dishonest, and that’s disallowing electronics on the desk. I’ve performed in rooms which have this rule, and I feel it’s truly fairly nice. Yes, there’s an adjustment interval. But it retains everybody locked in on the sport and really encourages interplay and social habits on the desk. That’s good for poker.
Of course, this has the added impact of maintaining gamers away from solver-style real-time help that may be powerful to observe.
People love their telephones, and so they love their music, although. I feel this could truly be a way more drastic adjustment than merely altering the supplier’s pitch.
Plus, locations just like the WSOP need to preserve reside gamers within the combine of their on-line occasions. And vlogging must finish, one other factor that may displease operators, since many see it as a simple promotional car.
The different drawback with that is that as expertise turns into ever smaller however extra highly effective, it turns into more durable to detect. As WIRED demonstrated, there are already dishonest gadgets no bigger than a grain of rice.
The easiest answer is simply to make it so there’s zero temptation to even discover a option to peek on the playing cards, as a result of there’s no efficient option to do it. Slide dealing accomplishes that with minimal operational friction, and I’m glad it’s beginning to acquire traction right here. Hopefully, it quickly turns into business customary.
Mo Nuwwarah is a workers author for Card Player and a extremely profitable event poker participant. Not solely has he lined the sport since 2013, however he additionally racked up north of $1 million in profession event earnings. He gained a WSOP bracelet in 2024, taking down the $1,000 on-line pot-limit Omaha six-max occasion, and lately added a second MSPT trophy to his assortment. He additionally owns two WSOP Circuit rings.
