I couldn't find a decent review of this anywhere, so I was very sceptic to buy this after I bought Brian Tudor's CardSharp DVD (that was 30 bucks I'll never get back..), but this is completley diffrent, this DVD is really, really good. Maybe someone will find this review helpful
Name
Weapons of the Card Shark
(also known as 'Weapons of the Card Shark Volume 1')
Author
Jeff Wessmiller
Price
~$30
Format
DVD
Purpose of this DVD
Yeah, I know what everyone is thinking...why would you release a DVD that teaches you how to cheat at poker? Why must you kill a great game by teaching people the methods of cheating?
Well, my friends, it's the complete opposite
The old saying goes 'it takes a cheat to catch a cheat', and this is exactly what this DVD is about, it's not here to train you to be a cheater, its main purpose is to familiarise you with the modern methods used that skilled cardsharps use to cheat at poker (or any card game in general). When people think of a 'poker cheater' or a 'cardsharp', first thing comes to mind is hiding extra Aces in you sleeves, or something, but in reality, almost all of today's card cheats can be done with the very deck you get handed when playing at a friend's house.
Like Jess Wessmiller says, "Now that you're educated, you can be assured that your money and your game are safer".
Teachings
False Shuffles - retaining and controlling from 1 card, all the way to an entire deck while shuffling
Blind Overhand Shuffle
Controlling Top Card
Controlling Bottom Card
Blind Over-Under Shuffle
Over-Under Combo
Top Card Riffle Control
Top Stock Short Shuffle
Push-Through Shuffle
Zarrow Shuffle
Spider Shuffle
Up-the-ladder
False Cuts - retaining the deck order in the act of cutting the deck
Scrape Cut
False Strip
Slip Cut
Jigsaw Cut
Stacking - controlling the previously controlled top cards to where they should be the middle of the deck so they would come to you when dealt
Lay Stack
Overhand Stack
J.W. Stack
Riffle Stacking
Cold Stacking
Double Duke (this cheat is really, really cool!)
Hopping the Deck - retaining the deck order after the player on your right cuts the deck before dealing
Cellar Keep
Classic Pass Tap Pass
Thumb-lick Pass
Wess Pass
Table Pass 1
Table Pass 2
False Dealing - dealing yourself the previously controlled top or bottom cards
Bottom Deal
Stud Bottom Deal
Flop Bottom Deal
Cigar Bottom Deal
Second Deal
Push Off Second Deal
Mucking - stealing cards from the deck and swapping them with your dealt cards when you're not the dealer
Chopping Cards Out
Top Palm Chopping
Gamblers Palm Chopping
Clip Palm Chopping
Two Handed Muck
One Handed Muck
Peel Muck
Palm In
Palm Out Muck
Deck Switches - switching the entire deck with a rigged one you brought with you, whether it'd be while shuffling the cards, or cutting it to the person on your left
Cold Deck Switch
Sting Cold Deck Switch
Bold and Cold Deck Switch
Yeah, it's quite an intensive list of things learned
The Teaching
I have never heared of Jeff Wessmiller before this DVD (has anyone?), but I was very impressed at how good he teaches, I'm sure he's done it alot in the past. He actually shows you everything step by step, and also offers an over-the-shoulder view at moves that require it, so it's very easy to learn, but requires alot of practice to actually be able to do it
Another good thing about this DVD is Wessmiller also teaches you what to look out for, what kind of signs points out that someone is possibly pulling a cheat at your poker game.
Overall
After you read the list of things being taught, I'm sure you'd think to yourself "could this DVD really contain this much stuff?", I actually didn't believe it myself when I first read it at penguinmagic, but it does.
If you have Brian Tudor's Card Sharp DVD, then please, don't compare it to this by any means, Wessmiller can actually teach, so you learn the moves here as opposed to just exposing them. The teaching contents run for about an hour and a half, and it's really worth watching, Wessmiller really knows his stuff and does the moves so smoothley.
Apart from being able to learn things so I can brag to my friends at how 'cool' I am because I know how to cheat (:P), I've picked up alot of cool false shuffles that I now apply to my magic routines, it really helps with the effects.
I'm going to easily give this DVD a 10/10, whether it's for price value, or contents taught
The DVD I bought just says "Weapons of the Card Sharp", but I found at penguinsmagic theres also a Vol.1 and Vol.2 - I'm guessing Wessmiller started labelling his older dvd as Vol.1 so he could release a second, didn't find the 2nd one having as much useful content, so it might have to wait
Hope someone finds my first review helpful, sorry that it's so lengthy
