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The Tale of How Poker Card Protectors Started

Centuries ago in the days of the wild west poker card protectors didn't exist, but do you know what did exist? Cheaters. Yes, cheating was a part of poker back during the days of the wild west, and it still exists today. Where there's money there will always be people trying to cheat you out of winning. So why do established card rooms insist that a player have their cards protected and force those who don't protect their cards to fold when other cards come into contact with theirs? To avoid slight of hand magicians with switching cards.

Roaming teams of card players have existed since card games started. Remember that movie 21 about the MIT card counting team? They were real and they used concepts like chip signaling to alert others on their team to help them make more money. The same applies to poker. By simply placing a different colored chip on top of your cards you can signal to your partner the strength of your hand. Now if card rooms didn't insist on unprotected cards going into the muck, these cheaters could switch out their bad card with a good one. Let's say player 1 signals to player 2 that he has a king. Player 2 also has a king. Player 2 folds his cards on top of player one's giving player one the opportunity to switch out his lousy card with player two's king before both lousy cards go into the muck. Now player one is holding pocket kings and has a much better chance of taking down the pot.

Thus, poker rooms insist upon players using poker card protectors to ensure this kind of cheating doesn't happen. Nowadays many who are forced to fold may not be in collusion with another player at the table but the poker room doesn't know that. Bill and Steve showed up together, who's not to say they aren't working together. Or perhaps Bill showed up first, then Steve showed up hours later to help Bill win more (is Rounders ringing a bell for anyone?) Forcing those who don't protect their cards to fold ensures that one element of the game is kept safe from those who would attempt to take advantage.

Rules such as keeping your cards covered if you're in the hand are there to ensure that everyone is on a (somewhat) fair playing field. Chip signaling still exists but is much easier to spot. To avoid being seen as a chip signaler simply use a poker card protector. It doesn't matter if you know you're not cheating, the poker room may think otherwise. The safest bet is to not use a poker chip to cover your cards, who knows you may unconsciously place different color chips on your hole cards depending on what your holding. To the poker room you may be seen as a cheater, to the rest of the table you may be giving away a tell you didn't even know you were giving off.

The same tell applies to when you place your card cover on top of your cards. Bob may only protect his hole cards when he has a hand he intends on playing. If he's planning on folding he may forget to cover them. Again, this is a tell you don't want to be giving away to the table. Use your poker card protector as soon as you're dealt your cards. Protect your cards from being thrown into the muck, protect your self from being seen as a cheat, and protect yourself from giving away any unwanted tells.

By the way if you're itching to purchase the movies mentioned above (21 and Rounders) you're covered. Just FYI, if your order from below Pokermoneyclips.com will earn a commission on the sale.

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