The form of mantram is also used in the West, or at least in the more traditional form of Jewish, Islamic, and Christian practice, as it’s found in eastern Europe and the Levant. With practice, even this keyway will eventually seem easy to maneuver. You must be careful to avoid touching the front-most pin with the blade of the tool, but this position has the advantage of allowing maximum room to maneuver the pick. The lock will never pick open in this state; you must release torque and start over. The twist: the player must hit the lowest numbered ball first. The disks are connected in sequence via interlocking cams such that one rotation of the dial engages the first disk, two rotations engage the second, and so on. Practice picking the two pin lock until you can do it easily and naturally. While pin-at-a-time picking is usually the most reliable way to open a given lock (and the skills used essential for mastery of other techniques), raking can sometimes open a lock more quickly. When it comes to the game of billiards, understanding the rules is essential for a successful and enjoyable experience. What are normal pool rules?

Pool involves a table with six pockets. There are locks with two, five, and six pins in each keyway, but the keying codes aren't labeled on them. So far, we've been picking locks "a pin at a time," with a single pin stack set at the shear line in the sequence dictated by whatever misalignments are present in the cylinder. Raking, in contrast, is a class of picking techniques in which several pin stack may be set at the shear line simultaneously. It becomes distinguishable from an unset/binding pin stack when you try to set it; while it binds, it does not set, no matter how much further it is lifted. While pins are usually set by raising the cut from the plug to the shear line, they can also be picked by first oversetting the cut to within the shell and then lowering it to the shear line. Apply some torque to the plug and feel the two pin stacks with your pick. Now release torque and try again, but this time lift the pins as little as you can when you test them, while still distinguishing between the two states.

Practice distinguishing between the pin states and then finish picking the cylinder. Observe that after you set the first pin, your three pin cylinder has one pin in each of three different states: set/not-binding, unset/not-binding, and unset/binding. First, apply light torque (as you practiced in the previous exercises) to the two pin cylinder and gently feel each pin. Now the plug is being prevented from moving by the next most misaligned pin (which, in this case, is the other pin, since there are only two). Tubular cylinders typically have four to eight pin tumblers arranged in a circular pattern around the circumference of the plug. The large board has locks with eight different keyways, representing many of the most common keyway designs used in the US. You do not need to master them all, and it is certainly not necessary to accumulate a large collection of different rakes. To pick this keyway, you'll need a small hook pick and a bit of twisting as you lift. Again, try to find and lift all the pins with the different hook picks without applying any torque.

Again, continue with the AR1 locks. Again, what is billiards repeat the exercise with the aim of learning to distinguish between these states with as little lifting as possible. Repeat this exercise until you can reliably distinguish between a binding and a non-binding pin with very little lifting. Find the binding pin and the non-binding pin. Now re-apply torque and set the first binding pin. It's possible that the plug will turn as soon as you set the first pin; if this happens, it's because you inadvertently lifted the other pin with the shaft of your pick while you were working on the first one. Learn to apply the minimum amount of torque needed to turn the plug. Take note of the direction the keys turn on doors you use to help develop an inituition about which direction to apply torque. There are many different styles of raking, some of which entail the use of special rake picks specifically designed for a particular technique.