Steve Forte - From Player to Professional
Many street magicians rely on slight of hand, reading the faces and reactions of their viewers, and counting on standard behaviors to achieve their goals. Many professional gamblers also use well-developed skills in these same areas to play effectively either in a one on one game or competitively in tournaments or competitions.
For example, many dealers will regularly display their remarkable abilities with a deck of cards, swapping or switching cards in impossibly fast maneuvers, or seeming to control where a card resides in the deck. This can be quite nerve-wracking for an amateur player to compete against.
Additionally a player can watch any sort of televised gambling tournament and make a point to note how many players wear sunglasses. Why? Because they are hiding their expression or any regular or repetitive motions across their face. Many professional players make a habit of observing the dealer or other players in a card game to see if they do something such as raise an eyebrow on a particular play or when they receive any particular hand.
Expert magician, gambler, author and consultant Steve Forte knows all about reading gamblers. His book “Read the Dealer” caused many casinos to change their existing dealer procedures and policies. In it, Forte illustrates and explains how players of Blackjack can effectively use a dealer’s reaction to gain an edge. By watching their dealer’s face as they peak at their “hole card” and making a mental note of their reaction a player may be able to adjust their own strategy accordingly.
Forte’s innovative tactic does not rely on standard strategies, like card counting, in order for the player to win. This has drawn a lot of attention to Forte’s other work which includes a series of videos called “Casino Gaming Protection” and a regular television series titled “Invisible Thieves”. In them he uses his knowledge of gambling and his experiences in recognizing “advantage” play techniques to show casinos and gambling houses how to protect their dealer’s from being played as equally as the game.
Currently Forte is the president of a consulting firm, International Gaming Specialists, that provides professional casinos with training and advice in addressing, recognizing common cheating techniques, advantage play tactics and prevent any other unfair methods. Forte’s company will also demonstrate the methods in the “real time” of an active casino to further help their clients perfect their recognition techniques.
Forte will also use his expertise and experience to analyze a casino’s procedures to be sure they are the strongest they can be to beat any cheating or advantage systems and strategies.
With a background in magic and slight of hand, a successful professional career in competitive blackjack and poker, and a well designed system for beating dealers, Steve Forte presents a formidable obstacle for gamblers looking to beat casinos using illegal or advantage strategies. He works to help casinos set traps for truly skilled cheaters, and he provides them with all of the training necessary to recognize suspect gamblers.