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Larry Flynt: Keep Those Cheaters Away from the Game.

HUSTLER’s publisher— and world-ranked poker player—on card-table scammers.

It’s no news that Larry Flynt is known for being an international poker threat. Flynt is arguably the most famous American gambling “whale”—a casino high-stakes high roller—and has participated in and even sponsored prestigious tournaments such as the World Series of Poker, the Grand Slam of Poker and the Poker Challenge Cup.

Oh, yeah. And he’s also the publisher and founder of HUSTLER Magazine, its retail stores, video franchises, clubs and casino. The “People’s Pornographer” sits down to discuss his favorite pastime, and those cheating assholes who ruin everyone’s fun.

HUSTLER: How have people tried to cheat against you?
LARRY FLYNT: The most common way to cheat effectively is called a “cold deck.” Somebody who’s not playing in the game stacks the cards. He knows how many people are playing and can determine which cards anyone is going to get, so when the casino changes dealers, the cheater just exchanges the house deck with the “cold deck.” Now this only works if the casino’s not watching carefully. The new dealer will pick up the cold deck and start dealing. This is brutal because everyone gets screwed when they deal out a bunch of full houses, flushes, 4-of-a-kinds, and straights—but only to the one person the cold deck is meant for. Massacre. That’s the most effective way to cheat, but it’s hard to pull off.

How about situations with more than one cheater? Another one I’ve seen, almost impossible to detect, is a team cheat in a ring game [a game with eight people]. When the betting starts, we all ante up, then raise and re-raise. In the cheat, one member of the team gives a signal to the others—it could be an earlobe pull or a nose scratch—a gesture to his teammates. He’s letting them know that he has got what he thinks is a winning hand. The other people on his team will do all the work in the cheating scheme. They call and raise him to build up the pot, even though from the very beginning they know they’re not going to win. But their partner will win, and he’ll win big. It’s so effective because you can’t really catch anybody cheating like this—not because you don’t know what’s happening, but because there’s no way to prove it. You can’t just lay that kind of claim on them during the game, because it’s all pretty much assumption at that point. But it does exist, and it definitely does happen. This type of cheating can whittle poker players down pretty fast; it’s not one-on-one, it’s one versus a conspiracy and a team.

Ever caught anyone red-handed? I’ve caught people looking at my cards and just tell them that they’re at the wrong place if they think they can get away with that. If they get caught, they’re gone—no questions asked. That always works; I don’t stand for cheaters at my poker games.

It’s much harder to catch cheaters when they actually know what they’re doing, though. You can usually figure out that something is going on, but you either can’t place your finger on it, or you simply can’t prove it. That happens especially in Vegas when people have practiced cheating. But you really don’t see cheaters very often. The people who play poker at top casinos are there for the thrill; they’re there for the excitement and to prove they’ve got something good.We all want to win, but we want to do it right.

How do you deal with cheaters? I’ll wait a while until they’re comfortable and then I’ll catch them red-handed and kick ’em out. Which sucks, because no one wants to get kicked out of a HUSTLER club or casino. But we don’t put up with cheats. That’s not the point of poker, and that’s not the point of our clubs. But like I said, it doesn’t happen all that often. Some guys are really good, practically architects of cheating. You won’t come across good ones very often who go long enough to not get caught or kicked out. Good cheats are rare, but that means more good poker for the rest of us.

What was the most clever cheat you’ve come across? The best cheater I’ve ever come face to face with was in my own casino. This guy pulled a perfect cold deck, and it went right by me. He was so slick, so focused. It was on my own home turf. Brutal! We caught him, though, and we gave him the boot. He is no longer welcome in HUSTLER clubs or casinos. We take care of our own, especially against people who win when they shouldn’t. It’s really a shame that people cheat at the game of poker; you’ve got to watch those things and keep those cheaters away from the game.

What makes a game good for you? Last summer I played in Vegas for the World Series of Poker. It was great, but my favorite poker experiences are when most people can’t afford the game, so I can intimidate them. I can make them lay down really good hands because they’re scared to lose that much money. There’s an old saying: “A jealous hand can’t love, and scared money can’t win.” I usually pull off some good wins because I never go into poker jealous or scared.

Any good poker player knows that a good game is one where you win but also where you have to work to get the victory. The stress and the intimidation, that’s all part of the thrill that makes poker what it really is. Even though it’s fun to win the whole pot all the time, it’s not a rewarding or good game unless you have a challenge. That’s what makes it really worth it.

What was the best poker game you ever played? I won a million dollars in one five-hour game. That was at my own casino here in Los Angeles, so that was really nice. It’s like the house wins…but not really.

Maeve Scanlon

Photo Credit: Hustler

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