Editing Card sharp

{{Short description|Person who uses skill and deception to win at poker or other card games}}
{{Redirect|Card shark|other uses|Card Shark (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi) - The Cardsharps - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''[[The Cardsharps]]'' (ca. 1594) by [[Caravaggio]] ]]
[[File:Falschspieler.jpg|thumb|''{{Interlanguage link multi|Le Tricheur à l'as de carreau|fr}}'' (1635) by [[Georges de La Tour]] ]]
A '''card sharp''' (also '''card shark''', sometimes hyphenated or spelled as a single word) is a person who uses skill or deception to win at [[card game]]s (such as [[poker]]). "Sharp" and "shark" spellings have varied over time and by region.

The label is not always intended as pejorative, and is sometimes used to refer to practitioners of [[Card manipulation|card tricks]] for entertainment purposes. In general usage, principally in [[American English]] and more commonly with the "shark" spelling, the term has also taken on the meaning of an expert card gambler who takes advantage of less-skilled players, also called an "[[advantage player]]", without any implication of actual [[Cheating in poker| cheating at cards]], in much the same way that "{{Cuegloss|Shark|pool shark}}" or [[Hustling |"pool hustler"]] can (especially when used by non-players) be intended to refer to a skilled player rather than a cheater or swindler. The synonym to "card sharp", "'''{{linktext|blackleg}}'''", when used with reference to card-playing and swindlers, has pejorative connotations.<ref>{{oed | blackleg}}</ref>

A card sharp or shark (by either of the gambling-related definitions) may be a "[[Glossary of poker terms#rounder|rounder]]" who travels, seeking out high-stakes games in which to gamble.

==Etymology and usage==
[[File:Pęczarski Card-sharpers.jpg|thumb|''Card-sharpers by Candlelight'' (1845) by Feliks Pęczarski, [[National Museum in Warsaw]] ]]
According to the prevailing [[Etymology|etymological]] theory, the term "shark", originally meaning "parasite" or "one who preys upon others"{{xref|(cf. [[loan shark]]),}} derives from [[German language|German]] ''{{lang|de|Schorke}}'' or ''{{lang|de|Schurke}}'' ('rogue' or 'rascal'), as did the English word "shirk&#91;er&#93;". "Sharp" developed in the 17th century from this meaning of "shark" (as apparently did the use of "shark" as a name for the fish), but the phrase "card sharp" predates the variant "card shark".<ref name="EtymOnline1">{{Cite web |title=Online Etymology Dictionary search results |work=EtymOnline.com |url=http://www.etymonline.com/ |last=Harper |first=Douglas |date=2001 |access-date=2007-07-08 |at=entries "shark" & "sharp" |archive-date=2007-07-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713125946/http://www.etymonline.com/ |url-status=live }} &ndash; gives the negative meaning only, for both</ref><ref name="OxEnc1">{{Cite book |title=The Oxford Encyclopedic English Dictionary |editor-last1=Hawkins |editor-first1=Joyce M. |editor-last2=Allen |editor-first2=Robert |date=1991 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=New York |page=1334 |isbn=0-19-861248-6}} &ndash; gives only the negative meaning for both; labels negative verb "to sharp" archaic.</ref><ref name="NDAS1">{{Cite book |title=New Dictionary of American Slang |editor-last=Chapman |editor-first=Robert L. |date=1983 |publisher=Harper & Row |location=New York |page=380}} &ndash; gives both positive and negative meanings for both "shark" and "sharp", labels them synonymous in this context, and indicates that positive sense of "shark" arose much later than the negative meaning, and later than it did for "sharp"</ref><ref name="Origins1">{{Cite book |title=Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English |last=Partridge |first=Eric |date=1983 |publisher=Greenwich House |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/originsshortetym0000part/page/614 614] |isbn=0-517-41425-2 |url= https://archive.org/details/originsshortetym0000part/page/614}} &ndash; gives only negative meaning for "shark", and gives "sharper" as synonymous, without addressing the shorter form "sharp"</ref><ref name="WebsterUnabridged1">{{Cite book |title=Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language |edition=Unabridged |editor-last=McKechnie |editor-first=Jean L. |date=1971 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |pages=274, 1668 |isbn=0-671-41819-X}} &ndash; gives both meanings for both terms and even for the obsolete "sharker", but provides only the swindler definition for "card sharp" and both definitions for the "card shark" version, thus contradicting itself at the "sharp" entry</ref> The original connotation was negative, meaning "swindler" or "cheat", regardless of spelling, with the more positive connotations of "expert" or "skilled player" arising later, and not supplanting the negative ones.<ref name="EtymOnline1" /><ref name="NDAS1" /><ref name="OxEtym1">{{Cite book |title=The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology |editor-last=Onions |editor-first=C. T. |date=1994 |publisher=Oxford at the Clarendon Press |location=New York |pages=817 |isbn=0-19-861112-9}} &ndash; gives only the negative meaning for both "shark" and "sharp"</ref><ref name="NewGem1">{{Cite book | title=New Gem Dictionary of the English Language |editor-last1=Weekley |editor-first1=Ernest |editor-last2=Scott |editor-first2=Anne |date=1911 |publisher=Collins |location=London |pages=418}} &ndash; current around time that "shark" gained a positive sense, gives only negative meaning for both</ref> "Card sharp" and "card shark" are synonymous,<ref name="OxEnc1" /><ref name="NDAS1" /><ref name="WebsterUnabridged1" /><ref name="Roget21CT1">{{Cite book |title=Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus in Dictionary Form |edition=2nd  |editor-last=Kipfer |editor-first=Barabara Ann |editor2=Princeton Language Institute |date=1999 |publisher=Dell Publishing |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/rogets21stcent1999kipf/page/306 306, 786] |isbn=0-440-23513-8 |url= https://archive.org/details/rogets21stcent1999kipf/page/306}} &ndash; gives both meanings for both</ref><ref name="Dictionary.com1">{{Cite web |title=Search results |at="sharp" dfn. 36 & 37, and "shark" dfn. 2-1 & 2-2 |date=2007 |access-date=2007-07-08 |work=Dictionary.Reference com Unabridged |edition=v1.1 |publisher=Lexico Publishing Group |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/ |archive-date=2016-03-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305211008/http://dictionary.reference.com/ |url-status=live }} &ndash; gives both meanings for both, with negative meaning being primary for both, positive meanings informal</ref> although American English is somewhat, but informally, beginning to favor "shark" as a positive term versus "sharp" as a negative one.<ref name="WebsterUnabridged1" /><ref name="WebsterII1">{{Cite book |title=Webster's II: New Riverside Dictionary |editor-last=Soukhanov |editor-first=Anne H. |date=1994 |publisher=Riverside Pub. Co. |location=Boston |page=[https://archive.org/details/webstersiinewriv1984rive/page/1072 1072] |isbn=0-395-33957-X |url=https://archive.org/details/webstersiinewriv1984rive/page/1072}} &ndash; gives both for "shark", only negative for "sharp" and "sharper"</ref><ref name="WebsterNWA1">{{Cite book |title=Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language |editor-last=Guralnik |editor-first=David B.  |date=1982 |publisher=Warner Books |location=New York |edition=Revised |page=[https://archive.org/details/webstersnewworld1987gura/page/547 547] |isbn=0-446-31450-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/webstersnewworld1987gura/page/547}} &ndash; gives both for "shark", only negative for "sharp"</ref> (However, not ''all'' American dictionaries agree with this,<ref name="NDAS1" /> and some suggest the opposite.<ref name="AHD1">{{Cite web |title=American Heritage Dictionary of the English language |edition=online 4th |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |date=2006 |access-date=2007-07-08 |work=Bartleby.com |at="sharp" dfn. noun 3, and "shark" dfn. noun 2 |url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/ |archive-date=2008-02-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080220074821/http://www.bartleby.com/61/ |url-status=live }} &ndash; gives both meanings for both, with positive being primary for "sharp" but negative for "shark"</ref>)

Phrasefinder puts "card sharp" (or "-sharper") as the slightly earlier usage, with an 1859 citation for "card-sharper" and "card-sharp" in both Britain and in the US, while "card-shark" is cited to 1893 in the US.<ref>Martin, Gary. [https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/card-sharp.html "The Meaning and Origin of the Expression: Card-sharp"], ''The Phrase Finder''. Retrieved 30 Sept. 2021.</ref>

==Methods==
{{main|Cheating in poker}}
Card sharps who cheat or perform tricks use methods to keep control of the order of the cards or sometimes to control one specific card. Many of these methods employ [[sleight of hand]]. Essential skills are ''[[Shuffling#Faking|false shuffles]]'' and ''[[false cut]]s'' that appear to mix the [[Playing card|deck]] but actually leave the cards in the same order. More advanced techniques include ''culling'' (manipulating desired cards to the top or bottom of the deck), and ''stacking'' (putting desired cards in position to be dealt).{{Citation needed|date=November 2007}}

Dealing the cards can also be manipulated. Once a desired card or cards are located they can be controlled and dealt as the cheater wishes. This is called a false dealing; if a card is dealt from the bottom it is called ''[[bottom dealing]]'' and if it is second from the top it is called ''[[second dealing]]''. Two cards could be dealt as one or the second card from the bottom could be dealt, hence the Greek deal and double deals. Dealing may also be done from the middle of the deck, known as the ''middle deal'' or ''center deal'', but is almost always performed as a display of skill rather than actual cheating.<ref name="Maskelyne">{{Cite book |last=Maskelyne |first=John Nevil |title=Sharps and Flats |publisher=Casino Press |date=1983 |isbn=0-87019-049-0}}</ref><ref name="Johnson">{{Cite book |last=Johnson |first=Karl |title=The Magician and the Cardsharp: The Search for America's Greatest Sleight-of-hand Artist |publisher=Henry Holt and Co. |date=2005 |isbn=0-8050-7406-6}}</ref>

==In popular culture==

===Comics===
* [[Gambit (Marvel Comics)|Gambit]], fictional Marvel superhero, can imbue any object with kinetic energy, which he primarily uses to weaponize playing cards as projectiles.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morrison |first=Matt |date=March 22, 2024 |title=Could Gambit & Wolverine's Maneuver in X-Men '97 Work? |url=https://www.superherohype.com/comics/571168-could-gambit-wolverines-maneuver-in-x-men-97-work |access-date=May 7, 2025 |website=Superhero Hype |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Film===

Card sharps are common characters in [[Caper story|caper]] films, since the questionable [[legality]] of their hobby also plays well with that of their occupation. Notable examples films featuring card sharps are:
* ''[[The Lady Eve]]'' (1941)
* ''[[The Cincinnati Kid]]'' (1965)
* ''[[A Big Hand for the Little Lady]]'' (1966)
* ''[[Gambler (film)|Gambler]]'' (1971)
* ''[[The Sting]]'' (1973)
* ''[[Barry Lyndon]]'' (1975), in a scene filmed by candlelight, Barry's mentor "The Chevalier" is shown palming cards from his sleeve to cheat at [[faro (card game)|faro]] 
* ''[[The Great Gambler]]'' (1979)
* ''[[Maverick (film)|Maverick]]'' (1994)
* ''[[Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels]]'' (1998)
* ''[[The Prestige (film)|The Prestige]]'' (2006), world-renowned card sharp [[Ricky Jay]] advised the actors and played a supporting role
* ''[[Rounders (film)|Rounders]]'' (1998)
* ''[[Shade (film)|Shade]]'' (2003)
* ''[[21 (2008 film)|21]]'' (2008)
* ''[[Teen Patti (film)|Teen Patti (The three cards)]]'' (2009)

===Television===

* Stage magician and actor [[Harry Anderson]] (of ''[[Night Court]]'' fame) made several appearances on ''[[Cheers]]'' as card sharp "Harry the Hat".
* In the ''[[Friends]]'' episode "[[The One with Russ]]", [[Ross Geller|Ross]] debates with his [[doppelgänger]] Russ about the correctness of the term "card shark" vs. "card sharp".
* The ''[[Homicide: Life on the Street]]'' episode "[[List of Homicide: Life on the Street episodes#Season 7: 1998–99|Just an Old-fashioned Love Song]]", features the homicide investigation of a woman who made a living as a card sharp, but whose gambling on other games sank her into substantial debt, with dire consequences for herself and her extended family.
* On ''[[Mission: Impossible (1966 TV series)|Mission: Impossible]]'', members of the Impossible Missions Force (particularly [[Rollin Hand]]), would often use their card sharp skills as part of a mission.
* On ''[[Hogan's Heroes]]'', Cpl. Peter Newkirk (Richard Dawson) served as the group's card sharp, in addition to being a sleight-of-hand expert, magician, forger, safe-cracker, lock-picker, pick-pocket, voice impersonator, and all-around conman.
* In ''[[Prison Break]]'', the character [[Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell]] is an expert card sharp, who says, "there are maybe five people in this country who can do what I do with a deck of cards." T-Bag uses this skill successfully in season 1, episode 18, "[[Bluff (Prison Break episode)|Bluff]]".
* ''[[Sanford and Son]]'' featured an episode wherein card sharps defeated Lamont at poker. Fred was able to defeat the card sharps and win Lamont's money back, in season 2, episode 6, aired October 27, 1972.
* In the Japanese anime ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'', characters Fay Valentine and [[Spike Spiegel]] both exhibit card sharping skills, usually at the expense of their partner, Jet Black.
* In the ''[[Arrow (TV series)|Arrow]]'' episode "[[List of Arrow episodes#Season 1 (2012–13)|The Undertaking]]", [[Felicity Smoak (Arrowverse)|Felicity Smoak]] poses as a card sharp, so that she and [[Oliver Queen (Arrowverse)|Oliver]] can infiltrate a private casino to extort information about [[Walter Steele (Arrowverse)|Walter Steele]].
* In ''[[Downton Abbey]]'' series 4, [[List of Downton Abbey episodes#Series four (2013)|episode 3]], Edith's love interest Mr. Gregson expresses his pleasure in beating a "card sharp", Mr Sampson, who was a card sharp of the first degree.
* In the ''[[Person of Interest (TV series)|Person of Interest]]'' episode "[[List of Person of Interest episodes#Season 2 (2012–13)|All In]]", Harold Finch and John Reese are given information about a former card sharp who is forced into being a mule for a casino owner and drug dealer by picking up money from a dead drop and intentionally losing it in his casino.
* In the British reality TV show ''[[The Real Hustle]]'', co-host Paul Wilson is an expert card mechanic who uses his skills to demonstrate scams.
* In  ''[[I Dream of Jeannie]]'' episode "One Genie Beats Four of a Kind", Jeannie helping Tony and Roger at their poker games leads others, including Dr. Bellows and a fellow astronaut, to believe they are card sharps. To compound things, the other astronaut is actually a mobster in disguise who intends to rub out Roger (whom he suspects is the real card sharp), until Jeannie turns the tables on him.
* The title of the American game show ''[[Card Sharks]]'' is a play on the phrase "card sharps".

===Video games===

* The ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' character [[Luxord]] is a gambler who uses cards in the majority of his attacks.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Joshua |first=Orpheus |date=November 13, 2021 |title=What Makes The Luxord Data Battle So Awesome; Kingdom Hearts III Limit Cut Deep Dive #5 |url=https://noisypixel.net/luxord-data-battle-awesome-kingdom-hearts-iii/ |access-date=May 7, 2025 |website=Noisy Pixel |language=en-US}}</ref>
* In ''[[League of Legends]]'', the champion Twisted Fate is a card sharp. His attacks consist of throwing magical cards and using his skills to earn extra gold.
* The 2022 ''[[Devolver Digital]]'' Title, ''[[Card Shark]]'', centers on the exploits of the player-controlled titular character, operating various card gambling cons in 18th-century France.
* In ''[[Balatro]]'', Card Sharp is a Joker (modifier card) that provides a 3x multiplier to part of your score if the same [[poker hand]] had already been played in the same round.

==See also==
{{wikt|cardsharp}}
* [[Cardistry]]
* [[History of cardistry]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Cardsharpers}}
{{Playing cards}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Card Sharp}}
[[Category:Card game terminology]]
[[Category:Card tricks]]