How many times do you see a post saying something to the effect of "Humble and Cooper's book is pretty good, just ignore the complete paranoia over cheating..."? I really think cheating is far more widespread than many players seem to believe. I'm not about to go into details any more than you did (actually, I would never post an even slightly accurate description of anything real that has ever happened to me in a casino, no matter how long ago), but I have no doubts I have come up against cheating, including in jurisdictions where the very suggestion might seem fanciful to many. The tough part, of course, is that unless the cheat is unusually incompetent and, say, stumbles over cards while turning your prospective pat twenty and doubling opportunity into two stiffs, we are unlikely to spot the mechanic's critical moves. The dealer following us from one table to another is actually a god-send - one of the few easily discernible tipoffs - and only a fool would not heed it.