When it comes to gaffed dealing shoes the two-shoe is definitely the most popular kind. For those who are not familiar with the term two-shoe, it is a gaffed dealing shoe capable of second dealing. But there are two kinds of two-shoes.
The most popular kind is the prism shoe and the lesser known is the rough & smooth shoe. What's the difference? infrared ink
A prism shoe is fitted with a prism that serves a dual function. The primary function of the prism is to enable the dealer to peek at the top card. The second function is to get the top card out of the way, momentarily, which makes it possible to deal the second card.
A rough and smooth shoe can be made exactly the same way as a prism shoe, except that the gaffed part, i.e. the prism, is made of the same opaque material as the faceplate, instead of clear acrylic. This means that peeking is no possible so marked cards need to be used, instead.
When it comes to second dealing both shoes function exactly the same way, mechanically. However, there is a huge difference in the way the second dealing is handled. Let me start by saying that I can spot a prism shoe from across the room, simply because of the way the dealer is forced to handle the gaff. Here is photo that shows how a dealer must handle a prism shoe.
To an untrained eye this might look just fine. But the problem is that no casino dealer in the word ever deals from a shoe in this way. To make thing easier to understand here is a photo that shows how casino dealers really deal from a shoe.
Now the difference should be obvious. The dealer is not hugging the shoe, as in the previous photo. The hugging is necessary, when dealing from a prism shoe, so that the dealer can peek at the top card. cheat cards
For those who are not familiar with these gaffs I should also include a photo that shows how the dealer peeks at the top card. The peeking is done by sliding the top card upwards, in the opposite direction from dealing, so that the card's index shows up inside the prism.
This picture clearly shows how the index of the top card shows up in the prism. This is seen only from a certain angle, from behind the shoe, which means that the dealer mush position the shoe in such way that he has a clear view of the rear edge of the faceplate.
So, the first problem with the prism shoe is the handling. The second problem is the gaff itself. The gaff is just too damn obvious. How long would it take for someone to figure out what this prism does? Not long, I would hope.
