Dated American criminal slang for a cardsharp — a skilled card cheat who uses sleight of hand, marked decks, or other tricks to fleece other players at the card table. The 'big mitt' likely references the sleight-of-hand dexterity required, as if the cheat's hands (mitts) were doing most of the dishonest work. A vivid piece of old-school underworld vocabulary from the era of riverboat gamblers and back-room poker games.
Word got around that the stranger at the table was a big mitt man, so the regulars quietly folded their hands and walked away.
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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
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(slang, dated) A cardsharp.
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