Looks like I am running into so flak around here. First of all before I explain, I am not into NAME CALLING, BASHING OR INSULTING.

Now, I will explain what I stated, and this comes from the REAL WORLD, not the play world of magic.

First, the reason you don't understand how that could happen, is because you haven't DONE IT, HAVING LIVED IT, AND NEVER SEEN IT. But, you find it very easy to call it BS!!

That is real funny.. real funny. I will go on an further explain.

I have beat people so well, that they in turn wanted to be my one of my backers, and wanted to take me to other places..

High Skill is High Skill no matter where it is happening. I have beat people trying to cheat me, and beat them in a way, that they didn't know what hit them.

Yes, I will say it again, most of the people that found me out, gave me compliments. You see being a card mechanic, whether you know it or not, is an ART FORM. People will ALWAYS applaud Art Forms being performed in a HIGH ORDER. That my friend is way over your head. In fact, almost anything in gambling would be over your head, as from your post, it is plain to see, you don't have a clue..

Let me explain something else. In one of the replies I got, the terms use was "people caught you and then gave you a compliment"

Let me hit that in detail. I was almost never CAUGHT. Now, some CAUGHT ON, to me.. Now, "caught" and "caught on" are TWO VASTLY DIFFERENT TERMS. Let me explain further. At one game, where I used the Doc cold deck move, I used it 3 weeks in a row at the same game. Just so happened, one player got hooked up in the hand TWICE. No, nobody is the wiser. On the third time pulling the move, the object or person that is going to get beat, stated out ALOUND,,THAT HE KNOWS WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPENED because it happened last week. Somebody is going to hit out on me on the last card.. And so that is what happened, I hit out on him with the last card playing 5 card stud. He knew something was amiss, but couldn't prove it, after all he HE WAS THE ONE DEALING with a straight deck, with all the cards!!!

After that game was over with, that SAME person, that I have beat 2 weeks in a row out some nice money, came over to me, and told me he would like for me to call him. He gave me his number..

I called, and he told me that I was the best he ever saw, or didn't see. He told me, that he can usually catch that average card cheat, but I was something of a phenaoman. He told me, on the surface, NOTHING was seen, nothing at all. But, his intelligence told him that SOMETHING HAD TO BE AMISS. He went on to say this, he had places that had tons of money, and a person of my caliber could almost get solid rich.. This was the beginning of one of my most lucratives series of plays. This lasted over a year. We split up untolds amount of money.

Remember now, this person caught on, never caught any action. My hold game consist of being steatlh. Like Bruce Lee, "the art of fighting without fighting". In addition, treating people with RESPECT, went a long way in making my career long, safe, and very lucrative..

Yes, I am 20 years retired now..At 70 years old, I road race motorcycles, and skydive..

Still sounds like BS to me but I don't have a way to prove it just like you don't have a way to prove that these stories are real, so all I can say is have a good life.

daniel116, how can one pull stories like I have told out the wind. Recall names like K C Card Company, which a while back, was the card/dice hustler's bible..

Just like back in the day, if I ran across you, and for example you were a good pool player, I would brake real quick! Why, because you a non-believer... Gamblers keep an open mind if you want to be successful.

Here is a story for you..

I played pool like the movie "The Hustler" with Paul Newman, and Straight Pool (just like in the movie)was my main game. Picture this, and this really happened. I ordered/challenged one of the good pool players in an out of town pool hall. The player took the challenge and said let's play straight pool 75 points for $200 a game. I said okay.. I hope you know how to play straight pool so you can understand what I am about to describe.

The other player won the toss, so I had to brake the balls. I broke the balls, and it was the other players shot. The other player ran 75 balls and out. In other words, I never got a chance to shoot. He ran out. Everybody around was amazed at the display of skill the player had..He went to take down the money. I said, I am still playing, and do your want to play for $400 a game?!!! Everybody in the pool hall looked at me like I was crazy.. To shorten the story, I won 5 games in a row. The other player never won any more games. How did this come about. I was a highly skilled straight pool player. I can see when a player can really play. Sure, this guy was a good player, but not in my class. He didn't run the balls correctly. Sure he never miss, but he didn't run the balls like they should have been run, I saw that, and exploited the fact, that he didnt' know I was stronger than he was.

Most likely you are YOUNG.. Wisdom only comes with age...

Let me give you a first dose of WISDOM.. and that is "don't comment on what you don't know"..

On the have a good life bit, I had a good life, and at 70 years old, I am a picture of health, and my body and mind are cutting edge sharp..

ceh,

So...what exactly is everyone's problem with ceh? That he is helping people and sharing his experiences? The fact that you think he's making all of this up already says that you are of limited knowledge in this area...

Furthermore, what exactly would he gain from lying about this? A 70 year old grown man does not care what whiny kids on a magic board think about him. Ceh is someone who has been there and done that and it is really nice to be able to be in touch with somebody like that. Be thankful he stuck around with all of the crap everyone has been giving him.

Ceh, save your experience for people who care about it and appreciate it. No point helping the ungrateful...

Thanks, that really was a gracious compliment.

Precisely why I requested him to post in my Gambling DVDs thread. Hilarity ensued.

I'm with Daniel, sounds like a load of nonsense to me.

A sky-diving, bike racing, net-speak savvy, world class pool playing, 70 year old senior citizen and wonder card mechanic that cruises Penguin Magic boards in order to impart his wisdom. Uh huh.

The only believable thing about these stories is that they are more boring and less exciting than those somebody would tell if they actually had an imagination.

Either this person is an arrogant theif, or is just having a laugh. I have a problem with either, I hope the latter is the truth.

Anyway, back to the actual intention of the thread.

The best card mechanic in my humble opinion is Steve Forte.

*tips hat and exits*

He is entertaining, truth or not.

That about sums it up for me. He has given me some great patter line ideas for gambling demos with some of his jargon and stories. Seeing as we can't technically teach each other specific moves and routines(That's what the books DVDs and lecture notes are for) all we can really do for one and other is offer tips on good resources and inspire one and other through performances and stories. On the latter end of that equations his has done more than many people around here do.

ceh just sent you a PM

Don

First, you and Daniel gave me the biggest compliment..Thanks
The biggest compliment is stories that are much more vivid than I describe, you two call it BS, or it didn't happen, or I don't or can't do that. And in reality, I am really about 20% better than what I describe. If I have enough room, and time, I will try to answer some of the claims.

70 years old in super shape. I am 6ft 3in tall, and I weigh 135 lbs, ALL MUSCLE.

I hit the gym 6 days a week. That is part of my secret of staying young in the body and mind at 70 years old..
Here is my daily warmup before I hit the weights.

http://users.erols.com/clbphoto/stclock.WMV

here I am doing pushups, as you can see I am carry very little fat...



Roadracing motorcycles.
I am #630, and the one with the gray hair..


My road race trailer


Skydivin




more road race..





This is my commute motorcycle, what I ride back and forth to work..







My race motorcycle again,


more road race


Oh, and the body again, what 6 days in the gym will do, people don't believe until they see, a 70 year old in action and to see me workout in the gym is awesome..



By the way, I am a master pistol shot. I shot NRA 3 gun 2700 point matches for about 10 years..





Mostly all the stuff I do, and talk about, may seem UNBELIEVEABLE!

Even my wife!!
sheesh, I gotta show a pic of my wife. I am 70, she is 46.. She lifts more weight at the gym the I do..



Me and my wife doing a bike ride together.



Mostly all my stuff defies belief.

At one time on in an exercise forum, I was telling some peeps of the things I do in my workouts. Oh, they laugh, called it BS, just like a couple here did. But, low and behold one of the forum members lived in my town, and invited me to his gym. Before I even banged out 75 pushups, I got on the chin bar and did my warmup routine to the tune of 35 reps. Everybody in the gym stopped to look at me with my grey hair doing those moves..

Didn't mean to post all this, but the people that call my stories BS, I took as a compliment, in reality, I was much better. I played pool to the tune of running 75 to 80 balls at everytime I got to the table. In order to play pool at that level, I had to play at least 10 hours everyday. My mechanic was honed in by years, and years of practice, and more important LIVE ACTION. it one thing to do things in front of a mirror, and another thing to do it in front of people. My skill was my defense, and I added my mental part to my mechanic skills and that what may me a winner.

I BLENDED in with the regular players, that is so important. I talked liked them, I dressed like them and all that went to keep my cover completely sealed. I was really impressed with my skill when I could play over top over mechanics.

Also, to see me on the racetrack is a thing of beauty.. I swish by 20 year olds, and everybody treats me like their father..

Enough of my rambling...

My conclusion: Either this dude is a stalker, tracking down photos of a guy that does all this stuff or he is for real. Either way, I can't get enough.

.......Yeah, then i got bored, got a bit creeped out by half naked pictures of you posing in front of a mirror, then i fell asleep, woke up a bit hungry and now i am here.

Thanks for the reply but YOUR 'thank you' confused me, unfortunately it would appear that in your arrogance you took a compliment by either misreading what i wrote or just ignoring it completely.

I find this VERY funny.
Allow me to state again what i thought i wrote quite clearly:

"The only believable thing about these stories is that they are more boring and less exciting than those somebody would tell if they actually had an imagination."

You seem to have manufactured some compliment out of my post and that is something i feel i have to rectify immediately for credit going where it is certainly not due is something that annoys me.

I was not so amazed at the brilliance of your stories that i did not believe they could have occured, far from it. What was unbelievable was that the character portrayed in the stories seemed to me, to be a complete satire of an ego-centric scammer.
What i meant in what i said originally was that it was all made believable because a person who wished to create an entertaining satire in fiction, would have written something much better.

Whatever interest your stories might gain from me personally were completely destroyed by constant reminders at how amazing you are, how beautiful things you have done were and so on. I was almost too embarassed to read your latest post knowing full well that it would unfortunately, certainly, contain more self directed adorations. But I did read it because it makes me feel better as a person, more modest and decent by comparison, so it was good in that sense.

Now, since i am more than happy to accept what you say is the truth (except from the self serving parts, i wait for proof of those things), i will tell you why i WISH you were actually lying.

You seem to express your pride in being a criminal without so much as an ounce of regret to those you preyed upon. I find this completely disgusting and to be perfectly honest, i am shocked and amazed that hardly anybody has mentioned this.

You offer no disclaimer, you do not say

"...but that was a long time ago and I know it was wrong"

,nothing like that, you simply boast about your hey day in which you were a criminal.
I have stories in which i was the scammer, the card cheat but i hide those stories as much as i can because i am ASHAMED of myself. If i do tell those stories, it is to emphasise the fact I am not that person anymore. No, i have not RETIRED from those things, i have elevated myself from them.

I would be at the very top of the list of people who would appreciate stories of a similar kind, if ONLY the person telling the story had some kind of moral compass.

Please, i beg you, tell me about how much you weren't a thief, you were an artist. I need a good laugh. What bs.
I do not care how much artistry you claim to have exhibited in your time as a petty thief/criminal. Ultimately it makes you no different from some twit who steals bags from locker rooms, except you decided to do it the hard way and feel that you are somewhat worthy of admiration.

Oh, and a gentleman ?
That made me laugh.
Gentleman don't smile sweetly then rob you blind. You may have appeared to be one but that would have been proved wrong had your true nature been given sunlight.

I have no other issue with you other than this.

Anything else ?

Regards, Marc.