Play (it) close to the vest definition: to be reserved, secretive, etc.; keep (one's plans, thoughts, etc.) to oneself Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples Log In Dictionary.
In previous “CPFB” articles, I’ve spilled all I know about poker chips and about the different kinds of buttons that show up on casino poker tables. Now it’s time to discuss another piece of indispensable poker equipment — the cards.
I know what you’re thinking: What can there possibly be to know about cards? 52 of ’em, right? Four suits of 13 each, and the ace of spades the prettiest card in the deck.
Well, yeah. But there’s more — much more.
Poker cards — built to bend
Let me start with one prominent feature of casino poker cards that differs from those typically used in home games. Most decks of cards are made of paper, often coated with a thin layer of plastic. But those used in poker rooms are of much higher quality, and are much more expensive. They are made of plastic.
In this regard, poker cards differ even from those used in other areas of the casino, such as the blackjack tables. Cards there are cheap, meant to be used once, or perhaps a few times, then disposed of. But poker cards are meant to be used and reused as long as possible.
The reason for this difference lies primarily in the fact that players surreptitiously marking cards to gain an advantage is a constant problem in blackjack, and the easiest way to combat that is to replace the decks at such a high rate that a cheating player can’t keep up. But marking cards is much less of a problem in poker rooms, so the economics favor investing in durable cards that can be kept in play for months before needing to be replaced.
I’m explaining this because there is an important practical consequence that is not immediately obvious. The plastic poker room cards can be bent almost unmercifully, and still spring back to their original shape without suffering a crease. And that fact matters because it allows you to look at your cards in a way that would be problematic if they were made of paper.
Keep your hole cards hidden
It is obviously important that your opponents not see your hole cards; if they do, they can play perfectly against you, and you are at their mercy. But if you’re using paper-based cards that crease easily when bent too far, you’re pretty much forced to lift them off of the table in order to see what you have without damaging the cards.
In your home game, you may be able to trust your friends not to sneak peeks at your cards when you do this. But if you lift them completely off of the table in a casino, I can absolutely guarantee that it will cost you money, because the strangers sitting next to you can’t be relied on to observe your home-game code of honor.
This doesn’t mean that every opponent will look every time. But it only takes one other player seeing what you’re holding one time in order for you to lose all the money you have on the table.
You probably learned the basic concept of “defensive driving” at some point in your life: assume the worst of everybody who shares the road with you. With this mindset, you think ahead to what you’ll do if the car in front of you suddenly brakes for a squirrel, or the one approaching the intersection from the right doesn’t see his red light, or that semi passing you pulls back into your lane before he’s fully clear.
You have to approach casino poker with the same kind of cynicism. While you’re being friendly and keeping the game fun for everybody, you need to remember that poker is war, and the other players are the enemy. They want to take your money, and some of them will take ethical shortcuts to do so. Your job is to thwart them on all fronts.
Please remember this simple precept: Never lift your cards off of the table. Nothing good can come from it, and lots of bad things can happen.
Have you ever heard a person described as one who keeps his cards “close to the vest”? It means somebody who doesn’t readily share his thoughts and plans. The expression derives from poker. When cards were made of paper, without the benefit of even a thin coating of plastic, they were fragile, and couldn’t tolerate much bending at all, so players had to lift them off of the table, giving others an opportunity to peek.
There’s a famous shot of Paul Newman in The Sting playing high-stakes poker on a train, where he becomes the literal embodiment of this phrase, with his cards held right against his vest as he carefully looks down at them.
Your peeking technique
You can peek at your cards by lifting just one corner. I’ve seen lots of different techniques for doing this. The photo up top shows the one that has become habitual for me. The cards are angled so that the corner with the identifying information is pointed at me. Both hands are cupped around this corner. I lift the corner with my right thumb. If I need to separate the two cards a little bit in order to see both of them, a small pinching movement between my right thumb and index finger does the job without breaking the visual “seal” of my hands.
With this method, any other player inclined to try to peek at my cards while I’m looking at them would have to crawl into my lap to do so.
And here (finally) is where it pays off to understand the literal plasticity of the cards — you can bend that corner back as far as you need to without worrying that you’ll crease it and ruin the card. Of course, you can crease them if you really try, but it won’t happen inadvertently. Take advantage of this fact. Bend that corner to identify your cards without making them vulnerable to snoops by lifting them off of the table.
There’s much more to know about poker-room cards, and I’m out of space. More about cards in my next article.
Photo: Nina Tovish. Robert Woolley lives in Asheville, NC. He spent several years in Las Vegas and chronicled his life in poker on the “Poker Grump” blog.
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Contents
Now that Pennsylvania has legalized online gambling the conversation has shifted to timelines. Specifically, when will legal online poker be available in Pennsylvania?This is a difficult question to answer at this stage.
There are still a lot of I’s to dot and T’s to cross, from licensing applications and approvals to submitting regulations. Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board hasn’t set a firm timeline, but the PGCB has put forth a few ballpark estimates on when online gambling might be up and running.
What the PGCB has said and intimated
The PGCB is playing its cards close to the vest when it comes to setting a timeline, but PGCB spokesperson Doug Harbach did provide a window when he spoke to WITF’s Katie Meyer.
According to Harbach, putting a firm timetable on launches is impossible at this time, but he did seem to indicate that a year was the upper end for all of the reforms.
“… suffice it to say, it’s going to take months, and, in some cases, closer to a year on some of them to try and get everything out,” Harbach told Meyer.
In reporting by CapitolWire (subscription), Harbach said online gambling would be easier to implement:
The board is on more familiar ground when it comes to implementing internet gambling and fantasy sports betting. Board officials have testified at numerous legislative hearings on internet gambling and have New Jersey’s experience to draw on. The board has published a report on fantasy sports betting.
“We’ve done a lot of things to get ready for this,” said Harbach.
Not only is the PGCB familiar with online gambling, but the state needs online launched sooner rather than later.
In fact, there is an ideal launch date for the state: on or before July 1, 2018.
Here’s why.
The Pennsylvania fiscal year
Pennsylvania’s online gaming law is designed to fill the state’s coffers and plug budget holes in two ways:
- A one-time lump payment from licensing fees ($100-$150 million) for the current fiscal year, FY 2017/2018.
- Recurring revenue of $65 million for FY 2018/2019 and increasing to over $100 million by Year 5.
As long as the checks are cut by June 30, 2018, the licensing fee money will be applied where it’s supposed to be: FY 2017/2018.
When it comes to the recurring revenue it’s a bit trickier.
The faster the state rolls out online gaming the faster it starts collecting tax revenue. And for Pennsylvania, the best possible start date is no later than July 1, 2018.
Reason being: Pennsylvania’s fiscal year begins on July 1 and runs through June 30 of the following year. Every day online gaming remains sidelined past July 1, 2018 the state will lose precious tax revenue already earmarked to help fund Pennsylvania’s FY 2018/2019 budget.
If Pennsylvania’s online gaming industry launches in October instead of July, the state will miss out on three months of online gaming revenue. It will also push back market maturity.
Any delay after July 1, 2018, will result in less revenue for FY 2018/2019.
How much money could the state lose?
Even with a slow start, Pennsylvania online gaming operators should bring in at least $30 million over the first three months. That works out to $11-15 million in online gaming tax revenue, depending on how the revenue is split between poker, table games, and slots.
In order to maximize recurring tax revenue for FY 2018/2019, the state will need to have online gaming up and running by July.
And it appears the state is very cognizant of this.
As Chris Grove noted in a recent Pennsylvania online gaming white paper:
“Much of Pennsylvania’s bill suggests an approach built to facilitate a rapid path to market. While regulators will have a substantial amount of work prior to launch, the legislation provides them with tools – including conditional approvals and waivers based on approvals in other U.S. jurisdictions – that will help move the process along.”
New Jersey did a lot of the heavy lifting
As Grove notes, Pennsylvania’s ability to draw on the experiences of New Jersey and other online gaming states will be a big asset.
When New Jersey launched online gaming in November of 2013 a number of the systems were wholly untested.
Operators and regulators were essentially learning on the job.
With multiple operators likely to be active in both states, the learning curve is nowhere near as steep as it was back in 2013. And from the regulators’ standpoint, Pennsylvania will be able to follow the trail New Jersey blazed.
As Grove noted:
“Pennsylvania’s neighbor New Jersey now has nearly four years of online gambling experience under its belt, as does Nevada, and both states are well-positioned to supply Pennsylvania with much of the template and expertise necessary to craft effective regulations. That advantage, combined with the fact that Pennsylvania regulators have been preparing for online gambling for several years, augurs well for a quick pace to a live market.”
Can Pennsylvania get online gaming up and running by July?
It’s feasible, but there are plenty of factors that could slow the process down.
Not least of which is how the PGCB prioritizes the numerous gaming reforms it has on its plate.
Pennsylvania didn’t just legalize online gambling, the gaming reform package is far-ranging.
The bill:
- Legalizes online poker and online casino games
- Legalizes regulates of daily fantasy sports contests
- Authorizes of the sale of online lottery products
- Authorizes up to five video gaming terminals at qualified truck stops
- Creates up to ten “satellite” casinos in designated areas
- Authorizes tablet gambling in secure locations at qualified airports
- Authorizes skill-based and hybrid games
- Eliminates the amenity fee requirement at Category 3 casinos for a one-time fee of $1 million
- Allows Category 3 casinos to increase the maximum number of slot machines by 250 for a one-time fee of $2.5 million, and/or increase maximum by 15 tables for a one-time fee of $1 million
- Reinstates the local share tax the PA Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional last year
- Authorizes the Pennsylvania Lottery to offer Keno
- Eliminates a third Category 3 license the state hadn’t awarded
- Eliminates ban on casino operators owning more than one casino in the state
- Authorizes Category 2, 3 and 4 casinos to contract with racinos to simulcast horse racing
- Allows ADW (Advanced Deposit Wagering)
Not only is the PGCB familiar with online gambling, it’s also one of the biggest revenue pieces of the bill, so it should be at or near the top of the hierarchy.
Of course, there are also unforeseen issues that could arise. Anything from software testing to the licensing approval process could cause a delay.
