FOREWORD
This is t he book I have always wanted to write.
For nearly fifty years
I have been :Ln touch with active card men, ethical and other1vise, and have discovered that Erdnase as an author is general-ly misunderstood and misinterpreted. My object in writing, this book is threefold.
F:Lrst, it
~~11
to stress the utter practicability and logic of his instruction. to clarify many points of
Second, I hope
procedure so that t hey may be acquired with greater
Lastly, I propose to include sundry new and original methods and
facility.
These, I trust, , will aid in
practices generally unknown in Erdnase 1 s day. bringing the old cl assic,
11
The Rlcpert of the Card Table 11 thoroughly up to date.
The Il' esent volume will in no simply as a companion volume. reference
be attempted
to
11
The &cpert at
--~that
-------
~~a::r
supersede the Erdnase work.
.Indeed, it cannot be t~e
understood without constant
Therefore, I cannot stress tQ,:»strongly
Card Table".
t he t Ho books
It is intended
shoul d be studied together.
The Erdnase ''ork has often been spoken of as being a textbook on geOllletry or higher mathematics
and too essentially theoretical to be taken seriously.
No greater mistake '-ras ever made.
Erdnase is
at once logical and practical.
Surel y no one, before or since, has written as lucidly on the subject of card table artifice. To me t here is in Erdnaije a timel ess and uni.versal quality ~Tllich the years }lave changed only superficially. stated, a number of
~ternative
Neverthel ess, I have mde bold to add, as above and original
:1\-P:O methods~
procedures.
CARD TABLE ARTIFICE
Under this heading Erdnase stresses the fact that t he real secrets of card table artifice have been held sacro.sanct.
Tnis statement largely holds true today.
Even the ••ell posted magician has little or no knowledge of t he actual uethods .
and dodges employed
~"
by~
con1petent professional 1'mechanics. 11
he know how tbe subterfuges are empl oyed 11under fire."
Even less does
2
Erdnase 1 s discussion of card table artifice should be read
As a matter of fact there
are actually not over a l·alf dozen men in this country capable of using a holdout
oR.. t'mac~e 11
Its use requires great nerve and for this reason
to advantage.
most operat(?rs : resort to t he use of drugs or liquor. BLIND S1-:11FFLES
THE ERWASE SYSTEM OF
Altho Erdnase clearly states that the first and little fingers hold and locate t he jog it is essential to
b~
in mind the following technique.
To begin with
bot>- t he outjog and injog should be made so that card does not project over parter of an inch.
~
When card is outjogged it should project veey slightly over
t he curled left index finger"?-P.
By a sUght up;rard pressUre the projecting card
is heJ.d in its jogged position.
I f this is done correctly one has the feeling
that a fine break is being hel d by forefinger, altho no actual breqk or separation I'"OI!E. l' J>-/Gti R
is created.
As a mtter of fact the fo"~~ilr is merely holding the j ogged card
in a secure position.
The same t hing applies to t he injog in
~rhich
case the
little finger is employed. Correctl y performed it is virtually impossibl e for the closest observer to discern a jogg~d card.
It is needless to state t hat
t he shufflee are performed
wit hout glancing , at the pack. THE ERDNASE SYSTEt1 OF BLIND
RIFFLES AND CUTS
The positions described by Erdnase cannot be improved upon. riffle shuffle naturally.
Learn to
Proper atten ti.on should be given to squaring up and this
is perfectly described by Erdnase. PUSH THRaJGH AND _PU~
OUT SHUFl"LF£)_
Tte se shuffles, valuable to magicians, are briefly mentioned by Erdnase
who goes into no details.
3 The basic details of this type work was recently described in a manuscript retailin~
for fifty dollars.
This material is veey
similar to methods and f).I-E L-k'f E:
tec hnique
evolved many years ago by a well known New York physician," Dr. Jacob
Daley. It was our pleasure in 1919 to Jneet. i n Chicago a truly fabulous gambler whose real name we must w.i.thhold but knO\m to t he frat.ernit.y as , 11 The Mysterious Kid. 11 He had originated and perfected a technique 'vith the riffle s huffie that we have never seen duplicated.
As an example
of hi s uncanny skill he
'1-rould,with
four
apparently orthodox riffle s hufflel!l bring any four desired cards to the top of pact<. 1
We !eel certain t hat his methods are utterly unkno;m
~ );'f'present
day card men and
even more certain t hat ris attainments will never be duplicated. c hapter
In the final.
of this book will be described t he fundamental basis of this work. put..L-
For all practical purposes t he ~ through shuffle is infin4tly superior to t he pull out -- it is sure and cannot miss. First, i:azardous.
ho~1ever,.
The
t~;o
an inch protrudes. the tHo
fe~T
lte re are a
po:inters on the pull out shuf fle--always
packets are riffled together and pushed in evenly until
~ost
Then t he sides of t he second finsertips square up and push
packets together.
HoHever, right fi.neertip pushes its
packet
diagonally in,qards to a slight degree so that inner left corner projects about width of a marg:in. be
It will be found that right second finger and t liUlllb can
passeJ. or rubbJed along right end o.f'pack in a squari 1.g movement (as described
by Erdnase, Fig. 10, Page 38)
and during t his nrJvement the left hand remains NC:.AR.
iromobile •.Jit.-. second f inger :rressed ~" outer corner at end.
Thumb is
positioned at left inner corner. To pull out the hands must s r ift position.
The t i•umbs are held at the t wo
inner corners and second and t ird f ingers are moved to front side of pack.
4 Second fingers s hould be about one r:alf inch apart as deck is grasped. diagonal pos:i.tion of
packet~,
the two separate packets.
Owing to
thumb and fingers can definitely feel and grip
Right, now' pulls out its packet w:it h a natura+
undercut and s l aps it on top. PULL THROUGH
.
SHU.F~
e
This h as more utility and severaJ. mpthods
~Till
be described.
Shuffle# the same as before and push in until about one inch protrudes. the manner
of appare!ftly squaring differs.
At this pQint t he sides of third possible to
fingertj.ps are placed against edges of packets and as c l osely as
b.
outer corners.
As before, the right
Now
third~~es
in't-.rards, but in t his case its packet is also
its packet diagonaJ.ly
pushed fol'l·rard ancJ. continues to be pushed
until it passes around the corner of the other packet.
It ;.d.ll no1·r be found t hat CONTACT
the
fleshy pad of the right third f ingertip
~lin
be against
or in El§olEh'ut
1vith the corner of t he other packet which is ,held firmly between the right third fingertip and t rrumb. Seco~d
finger of right hand and left t humb square up t he diagonal packets.
Throughout t ,his movement t he under or left packet remains stationary thns avoiding the usual tellta,le
"~
or eccentric motion.
All t hat remains to be
done is to pull packets apart and, if desired, repeat one or more times. At conclus,on instead of separating packets and reshnf!ling, the right hand pulls out its packet and in an
oblique, forward movement places it on table.
Then right h~d takes other packet from left and pl aces it atop. simuJa tes a bonafide cut.
This perfectly
Thpse who witnessed the above handling by the late
Dr. Jacob Daley •rill attest to it's complete deceptive properties., To enhance t he effecti veness of the w~ich
abqve we have added
an original touch
permits t he s huffle to be performed at a slower tempo and results in puzzling
those 1-rell versed in t his tY.J?e of worko
5 When commencing s'mffle, top packet must be cut to t he right (the usual procedure) and l eft t humb tilts up from table its comple te packet. however, til ts up only about hal.f its packet.
Right hand,
S\uffle, but commence wi t h left
t •ro.mb.
Cards are pushed t hroueh as above described with resul t that about tMo
t hirds
of the pack l-d.ll be projecting about one quarter inch to t he right. f"M·:J'
Rieht thumb l ifts u p, or tilts very slightly t hese projecting cards and,.are held in th.is position by l eft thumb so t hat right
hand can irnmed:i.ately grasp t he small
bott0111 packet and cut it to t.he top, but in such a manner that its right edges are in alignment. on t he l eft.
In this posi tion there l-lill be a packet of cards projectl.ng Tre se cards are noi., grasped by t hird
hand carries remaining cards
finger and thumb and right
obl iquely forr1ard on table.
Right hand then returns,
picks u p remainder and places on top. Due to the Jarge proportion of cards on top that are not interlocked t he f inal move1nent above
creates the illus!.. on of a perfect cut.
This handling of t he unshuf!led middle block can be applied with equal success to t he first mentioned pull out shuffle.
The cards are
exactly as bef ore and Hhen the packets are pushed togeth:lr
diagonally the f in;.;ers
are moved to t he sides of pack and t he t l umbs to t he rear and a resul ts in squaring or a l ignine the sides.
fingers am thumb pull out the
uns•Juf!led block and slaps it on top -- left edges in
Trese are then pulled
slight pressure
In this case t te left thumb lifts
up the enti re interwoven packet and the r j_ght
results in leavi.ng t he int er.,oven cards
shuffled
perfect r egister.
This
projecting in the l ower part of t he pack.
out an<;l slapp ed on top with the result of all cards being
in their original order. Many variations are possible wl th both t hese s hui'fl es.
procedure is t he folJ.ovTing :
An excellent
When stripping out t he cards with the right hand,
instead of throwing all on top at finish simpl y slap the packet on so
tr~t
it
6 projects
about a half inc h to t he r ight.
Immediately pull out t he lo•Ter hal!
of t his packet and s l ap it on top of all--with left e dge in Jine wi. t h packet.
Projec t ing packet
subterfuge.
J.o ~;ermost
on right is t hen slapped on top completing the
Neatly executed t !o. is is most convincing and the cutt:i..ng will be
r ecognized as an adaption of the famil iar
'~p
t he 1a dder."
The possibil ities of combining t he false r5.ffle with various block transfers and cuts are practica~y l imitless.
Here is an interesting princ:i.ple -,rhich
involves t he block transfer of any desired number of cards during a r iffle shuffle.
~Assume
t hat a desired card is in fourth position and you vTish to
bring it to 1;.he top by a riffle shuffle.; Proceed as follows.
As usual cut
off top half, to right and riffle cards but somewhat faster •·Tith the right until all but t hree cards have run dmm.
These t hr-ee ar..e allowed to drop on top
and t be position of desi red card may pe disregarded.
No;.r perform t he regular
pusb t hrough s;.u :t:fle but as cards are pushed t brough the top accompany t he packet but by a
t l::o:-ee do not
sl i ght movernent of t he left second finger
t he 1e f't t hey alm.ost automatically transfer to t he former left packet. cards are
to No•·r when
stripped out for t he second riffle t.l:e desired card will be atop
t he left hand packet and during t he ensuing riffle it is allmV'e d to fall on top. Should desired card be deeper in pack, say twelvth, simply transfer get rid of four during t he first riffle, four t he second and
tl~ee
or
the t hird
time whic h e l i minates eleven cards and leaves desired card on top. quite possible to accomplis h t r e above in t wo riffles by getting ri d of six and five but greater s kill is required.
Altho Erdnase does not stress t he fact, i t is most important t hat t he action of t he
one card blind cut ll!llst perfectly simulate the
Important.
natural cut.
In practice aim to have t he top or slip card fall in perfect
alignment or register wit;; tl:e l ower
packet.
The usual fault is that slip card
7 either does not perfectl y align itself or fall flatly atop 10\'rer packet.
Thu:~
the illusion is destroyed. CUT TO RETAIN THE COMPLETE STQCK
The secret of perfecting this cut is to first learn to cards fol10ldng Erdnase t s instructions to t he l etter.
genuinely cut the
However, in performing
t his blind cut there is an i mportant point that Erdnase does not stress--the exact position of second fingers and thumbs of both hands !liUst be identical whether executing t he true or t he blind. It is not necessary to raise or l 01>er or, in any wa;y alter, position of t he left second finger
duri ng the cutting.
Again we stress that the action
must be in perfect conformity witt:. the true cut. TO RETAIN THE TOP STiroK
Altho the method described by Erdnase is excellent in every detail there is an added touch wl ich renders The action is t his.
packet actually drops of both packets are
it even more effective for practical use •
When the right hand slaps its cards on top, ti:-.d.s
on other packet diagonally.
squared but outer left
l or.ver packet about a quarter
or
Specifically the right ends
corner of upper packet extends over
a half inch.
As this is done the
and second finger are heJ.d out of t he r.iay so that the
~ thumb
p.ction is not obstructed.
Left finger and thumb immediately square up the t wo portions Left thumb presses against upper edge of projecting lower packet. second finger presses do\m slightl y and
~.Ji t
in this manner.
At same time
h a slight squeezing motion both
packets are pressed together. S:l.nnlltaneously, at opposite end slide t he second finger inward along the end and thu.'llb outrrard along t he :inner side until t hey meet at the corner which serves to squeeze or press t he cards into a squared position.
This
motion, ••hich can be repeated, automatically creates a break which is
s~g
re ld
by Je ft
tlrumb. Since evolving the above
handl ing' many years ago we mve u s ed it consistently
8
to the exclusion of
all others.
TO RETAIN THE BOTTOM STacK
This is simply a variation of the moves already discussed but Erdnase's description should be carefully understood,. V
u ~r. 1'rfe l-1r?'mo l> For<. secv.~r~c. )..
~P.MiL ~ .J'Et,'l:!.t3>tl').
COMBINA. TIONS OF RIFFLES AND
cu·rs
This is one of the most important paragraphs in Erdnase 1 s
entire v;orlc
This really demonstrates the
and j s often disregarded by the average reader. practical use of the riffles and cuts. FANCY BLIND CUTS
A possible improvement suggested by a veteran card expert is when
packets are
successively dropped atop table they are allowed
another for half their length.
the four
to ov,erlap one
They are then slOlvly pushed together and squared. I
This tends to
accentuate the fairnessof the cut. ONE-HANDED FANCY TRUE CUT
Among
We have often utilized this simple cut for a variety of purposes. other things it lends itself to an artistic
Card
Execute the fancy true cut which results in
to be forced is on botton of pack. the t;1o packets being in a
delayed force at the card table.
stepped condition--the upper packet projecting By grasping pack at sides by
over lower at outer left corner.
right end, it may
be carelessly picked up and moved to another position without disturbing the JOG
jog or
brief. 11
11
.
I1' ~ happens to be too 'ldde it can easily be narrowed by a
slight pressure of finger and thuntb.
A delay can be created by making a few
remarks "•hile pack remains on table.
When ready to have card chosen second
finger and thumb grasp
pack at right end and slide it over to zslmffling posit:ion.
Left
f~ngertips
hand grasps pack,
at front edge and tbumb on top.
Lift pack
and place it in left hand but at same time give it a half turn to left. fingers and
tl:umb
grasp ptck f'rom above at ends.
dealing position and little fincer pulls down
Right
Left hand holds pack :in
step thus creating a break.
9
Th..e above procedure may appear somevmat involved but in reaJJ.ty it i s quite simple and above all
completely disarming.
vrarns the spectator t hat a
The
U&~al
force is about to be made.
get-ready often By the above handling
his suspicions are completely lulled. (I)
TO INDICATE THE LOCATION FOR THE CUT
The only suggestion in handling is that, at the exact moment o£ : bending t he cards, the left t humb presses down f irmly on the entire pack--causing it to
concave slight l y .
fingers bend t he bottom portion
Altho both packets are bent in the same direction due to the
quite s harpl y.
fact that
At same time the left
lo~·rer
packet has a greater concavity
( e::~pecia.J..l.y
at inner end) a break
is thereby formed. In the convex crjJnp method it is ad·vi s able before putting in t he crimp to make all the cards slight l y convex. (II)
LOCATION BY TBE JOO
Not only can be used for cutting as described but is useful :for magic as at completion of cut instead of placing on table, pack is ends by right, pl aced in left and fingers can easily form break cards.
This is
vastl y superior to in or out
(III)
LOCATION BY THE CRIMP
seized at
belo~1
jogged
jog usuaLly employed.
A more practical method f or :magical purposes is, instead of dravring pack to edge of table in order to put in the convex cr:Unp, as t he cut is made th~
right end of deck is tilted up slightly lihich enabl es third finger to be
s lipped under
~d.
Tlte crimp is. formed
are bent over th:i.rd f inger instead of must be done quickly before a l l signs of
as Erdnase suggests except the cards table edge.
lor.rer half i s withdrawn.
pressure must be absent 0
This operation of bending When loHer half is exposed
10 {IV)
LOCATION BY THE SlNGLE JOG
In t he method described the card projects f rom the our original manner ot handling will be found most useful. to ri ght as above, second fingers of both hands
r~i:t
end.
However
With card projecting Right
apparentl y square ends.
fin gertip pushes card flush but sli ghtly diagonally so that left inner earner projects about one sixteenth of an inch.
Right hand, finger and thumb, squares up at r i.ght JoG
end only.
Pack can nov be
by left thumb.
This
freely han:iled by r ight
end and ~ instantly l ocated
permits a neat cut to be made at t .d.s point i f the first
fin -·er at top exerts a slight downward pressure to
retain jogged card in
proper
posi tion. !n the above, pack must be cut Hith the left hand but i f
cut ldth right hand all
~oves
desired to
are a mply reversed.
BOTT011 DEALING Fe•1 present
daY experts use or recoi1Jil1end the nethod of bottom dealing
described by Erdnase; their
c l~ef
objection beincf the posi tion of pack in hand
and the difficuJ ty of concealing the movement of the t hird
finger.
May we say,
(
ho1-1ever, t hat the above grip is of constant u'l:,iJ.i ty to card men. thus held, are spread betweeu hands it is easy, wit.hout
When the cards,
descernible movement,
to slip the bottom card along bottom of fan -- a :nove of constant utility. TOP AND OOTTOH DEALING HITH ONE HAND
This is well worth learning if used only f or exhibi tion purposes. natural sv7ing necessary to deal cards serves to conceal. has only to
The
the secret action.
One
witness the work .of Edv:ard G, (Tex) McGuire of Providence, R.I. to
appreciate the
possibilities of this deal. 1'HE SECOND DEAL (rl
I f t he follo•dng suggestions are adopted anyone attemtping to master the
sl eight
can
aL~ost
immediately acquire t he essential knack and feel which
are of
11
all importance in acquiring the deal.
Thus countless houx·s of tedious practice are
obviated. F.ir st, hold pack in an eagy, normal position with the forefinger resting
against or curled around outer end.
If preferred the tip of forefinger may rest
against t r e right outer corner of bot.tom card. To practice deal , simply pull back the top card about one quarter inch thus exposing the outer end of second card and, important, must be
press~irw~y
against base of
palm.
the left inner corner of card_
The tip of left thumb is placed so
that it contacts edge of top card a"ld exposed card equally. pushes t ha two cards over the side topether but in
To deat, the thumb
such a manner that inner left
corner of top card actually bites into fles h of lower palm and pivots at this point. Thus the
second card is dealt in the customary manner.
Cl osely following this
throug~
t l:e pack a
few times the proper feel of pivoting the top card will all11ost
instantl y be acquired. the left
si. mple expedient it ldll be found that by dealing
Likevlise, and of equal importar:c e, it
~-Jill
be found that
third ani second finger acts as a sensitive gauge to permit only two
cards to be pushefver edge finger experiences a
of pack.
I f correctly executed the
tip of third
distinct sensation; the bite of the t l· O cards pas sing over
the finger pad. As proficiency is acquired the lap of the two cards can be narrowed until it can be executed with an increasi.::lgly small margin.
When this has been accomplished
the pulling back of the top card can be dispensed with and left thumb performs the duty as descr:i.bed by Erdnase•. Important note.
As the second card is grasped./\rust be dealt in the exact
lateral plane of the top card, otherwise there •dll be a d:i.scerni.ble
AGif.lrTfol-1 ~
of
12 t he top card as the second i s dealt.
~df-=ll!llst.-~ 1 1~cl.-:ttill1 r-dur;tng the-
Secwu3 ~.
These detai l.s combined wit h the rapidity of the top card's baclo rard movement create the desired deception. Both Robert-Houdin and Erdnase agree that the rapid.:ity of t he backward movement prevents detection. This deal, correctJ.y executed in all particulars, i s, in my own esthation the b est of. all ne thods I have seen. ANOTHER l.fETHOD
This method as Erdnase admits is difficult to contr ol but 1-:e
suggest an
orif :i.nal variation whic h oll'ercomes the essential wealmess as the cards can be kept under perfect control. Pack is held in reguJa r deaJ.'i.n0 position but first f inger must extend around the outer
Pack must be held in a slight ly diagonal
en/.or deck and slizhtly above same .
position so that thumb r ests naturally and
easi~
on top with tip near outer l eft
corner .
Thumb is bent slightl y and t hen pushes top card directly to the right. . this push is continued t he tlcumb will consequently straighten out so that t he
If
portion of t humb bet1"ee..11 first and second joints comes into contact with the exposed second card.
The top card ll!llst be pushed
ful~
right before t he secon'i card starts to move •
three quarters of an inch to the Left fingertips which Will be under
top card, gauge the pushing off of t he second card as in a reguJa r top deal. Ri Pht hand deals second card as usual but the instant this rand erips second card, the top card must be pulled back by thumb in perfect alignment with pack. T~j_s
is faciJJ.tated by the {iui dru:c e of the left f orefinger.
second card is more than half ··:it hdratm the
Remember that before
top card s h..ould be fully flush Hi th pack.
STACKING, LOCATJ:!lG AND
S~_URmG
Both metl:ods g:l.ven (especially t he second) are well worth acquiring paxticu.'h rly as regards magic where it is so often necessary to arrange
a number of cards
secret~
13 and under close observation. ,If Hhen th1.UYlb very rapidl y f lips cards, f:reque,1t1y the desired card •'lill inadvertently slip by.
I f this
happens~j
is a simple 1•tter f or the
return to the proper point and secm·e the desired card.
thu:nrjtip to
As stated this per1ni ts
the operation to be performed Hit h extreme rapid:i.ty. By t i>e sec,ond method four or more desired cards can. be brought
to bottom
or top 'l'."i. th a m;i.nimum of effort.
We consider this first s uffle described by Erdnase muc h superior t o the one in co.•mon use.
In the latter t he top and bottom cards are dra;m off in pairs.
For severa l obvious reasons the Erdnase sleight i s superior. ERDNASE SYSTEM OF Th~
STACK._E.~G_
all essential thing to strive f or in the Erdnase system of stack shuffling
is to make no more than a qu arter inc h inner or out jog. margin is needed
i f you adhere strict ly
jog · by the first and little
It is amazing how little
to the instructions o! con·t.rolling, the
fing ers~
Once acquired the operator should
experience the feeling of holdi11g a very !ine break althqugh he is actually not doing so.
In conjunction vTi th card tricks we consider the outjog generally
superior to the
injog.
This s l ruffle ·..rell performed can be used with
before those l·rell acquainted with the \vork.
i.mpunity
Sadl y enough, as usually performed,
it is painfully obvious to even the most unobserving. TJ.-:.E ERDNASE SYSTEM~~l:!fr~-~9'_-
0nce Pilt.Oficient in the stack shuffle no difficulty will be experienced in acquiring the cull shuffle.
In ll'.odern card magic this shuffle can be
to tremendous advantage so it i s passing
entirel y neglected•
strange that i.t has been alluost
used
PA.LMJNG
The Erdnase paJ.rn rTas apparently devised to eUm:inate all strain from the hand.
Owing to the technique employed it almost appears as if cards were
placed in palm by an invis.i.bl e At
A th~point I
po•·er.
in description 1·1here Erdnase states that fingers are held
perfectl y straight
it must be reme·tbered that this consumes only a small part of
a single second. Important.
After the palm and after cards have been dropped to table
the action of the right han~s mos t ~nportant.
There is a tendency when a
card is palmed for t he hand to nwve too slowly.
This is due to the fact that
a palmed card ha.'l!pers
natural relaxation.
hand more rapidly to simulate natural
Therefore
action.
it is necessary to move the
Hay we st.ress again that when
the hand conceals a palmed card t he f ingers, the hand and the wrist must be completely relaxed.
Actually the
curve of the card t he
'
hand does not grip t he card but owing to the natural
diagonal corners simply press slightly against root of
thumb and first joint of little finger.
This is due to the natural tendency
A card correctl y palmed creates the
of the card to straighten.
merely clinging to hand and not of be:i.ne
sensation of
gripped or held.
The second method described by Erdnase is sil'liliar but inferior and needs no collllllent. When pack :is held!i.n r lght h
This applies even more strongly
~Th en
pack is grasped
by the sides. BOTTOM P.AIM
We consider the first
11e
second re thod is superior for
thod the best for
~ aJ~tbling
purposes, nowever the
conjuring .
When the cards are pi votecf.nward the t :;ird f inger should be
used..
Cards are aligned in palming position with
in preference to the littJ.e finger. extended left forefinger 'lorhich be in a curled position.
(~Tips
them and the
remaining three fingers 1-rill
Under scrutiny it is f~tal to attempt to extend t ha. cv JZ-Lt-D ·
it may appear otherwise.
fingers at this point altho
Instead, right hand should be extended to place pack on table, to show Simultaneously
bottom card or some similiar pretext.
left hand turns inward
and dol·mward and perform~ some such action as pulling back sleever, adjusting tie or even dropping to
sid~
while standing.
In short, this is a perfect
example
of delayed action. REPLACING BOTTOM P.Allv!,
If Erdnase's instructions are closely followed there should be no dfficulty in performing this
sleight.
The important thing to bear in mind is that forefinger firmly grips card at end which enables the other three fingers to slide along end,
around corner to
Al-or-.~ G
Then immediately forefinger slips-\end to position near outer right corner
side.
or, as Erdnase suggest, curls under front edge of motion.
pack thus aiding the rotary
The above ::1ovement is not co!lllnensed until the instant the left edge of
pack comes into contact l>rith fork of thwnb as cards are placed in left hand. entire action or adjustment takes place in less t~an a second and is
The
entirely :
ilnperceptible. MAINTAINING BOTTOM PALM \iHILE DEALWG
' vle have often lvondered why this handling has been almost wholly neglected in the performance of card
magic~
Under many
co~di~ions
the appearance of
the; hand holdinr; the palm is enhanced by curling the . forefinger around the end
·'
of deck. TO HOLD THE LOCATION OF CUT Wh'ILE DEAIJNG
Erdnase's exact handling should be
ac~red
by every card
l~orker .
as it has
16 unlimited uses.
When 1•orking
surrounde~ t
:..f·f'\
is well to have 11fingers at extreme IJ\lN (.I<:.
end of side canpletel y covering t he break. SHIFTS Erdnase's method for the two-handed shift is the only one in which tip of
tha~b
is held at side of pack and it is decidedly more efficient especially if
operator's hand is small. Unquestionably the finest descriptions of the two-handed pass yet given are by Lang Neil and Erdnase.
pull up the under packet.
Both stress the fact that right fingers should not The
Bertr~
method (described by Lang Neil)
uses first finger and thumb as pivot and Erdnase the second finger and thumb. Undoul>tedly better control is achieved by curling first finger of l eft hand around the outer edge o£ pack as
deRc~1hed
by Lang Neil.
In any pass or shift the all essentiU purpose i s to cause t;;o packets cards to transpose
in the least possible space with the
movement and with the maxi.rtlUITI of cover.
greatest minimum of
Furthermore a ma:x::I.ITtuln of speed is
essential without the sacrifice of smoothness and there must be no strain during the action.
o~
semblance of
In initial practice the beginner should strive only for
smooth a"ld even execution after which speed will unconsciously be achieved. There are, of course, a multitude of different shi.t'ts and each usually certain advantages for certain specific purposes.
poss~~
For many years we have
consi stently used a shift possessing sundry original qualities and which, we feel, can be
successfully employed under most circumstances.
The mechanics of this s!-.ift are quite s:imil iar to t he conventional but o,.,'ihg to the el imination of any tilting or hinging motion of the lower packet the· sleight bears little reselnblance to the orthodox. Briefly pack is held in regular dealing position but 1. th little finger separatine th.e t Ho packets and forefinger curled loosely around outer end. Hhen right hnnd approaches to grasp the pack, as usual second finger and
17
thumb seize bottom packet by ends.
The left edge of l o·.rer packet, i n so doing, Hill
viit hout any til ting 11hatever.
s l ide up'.{ard along the
No,.r this packet is l ifted straight upward
inner side of t humb unt il i t reaches a point near t he
tip With a sl i ght as sistance f rom the l eft fingers the elevation of l o-.rer packet around underneath~
as above described causes upper half to s•·l 'ing
Holding t he
nm• uppermos·!; packet dead still, l eft ·fingers bri ng up r emainder of cards from belo.v and i mmediatel y left thumb and f ingers square up sides by sliding to and fro along edges. ' The enti re 'action shoul d appear to onlooker as if the pack 1vas merel y lifted from a normal dealing position to f i ngertips f or the purpose of squaring. When employing t he orthodox shift several gambl ers of
our acqul1i ntance
utilize t he f ollowing dodge to more fully cover t he action of the s 11Ht from t he f ront.
During the s hift t he l eft forefinger, curled around t he outer end, ·
is kept in · constant contact ld t h t he right fingertips. may appear
ir~possible
but after a few
At Hrst trial thi s
attempts it will be f ound t hat if the
,
I
pulli ng off of t he top packet is restri cted to t t he us e of t he Ja st three fingers, the · f i rst .finger can be held firmly in contact 'ld. th the r i ght fingerti ps. immobile first finger tends to cover any
telltale flash that mi ght
other~tise
TP.is rel$Ult.
We mentloned at the outset that t he t wo packets shoul d transpose in the l east poss ibl e space and we
here offer an invaluabl e suggestion as to how this
may be realized easily and practi cally.
Altho it can be appli ed to al l t1-ro-
handed s hifts, it is an essential part of our 0!-1:ing to t he f act t hat the
l ittl e f inger separates the
pack, a triangul ar space is thus created. action more movement occurs.
own parti cular method. two
halves o!
I f pertni tted to remain during the
Hol,rever dur:ing t he action this space can be
18
eliminated by recoul'se t o t he following simple expedient. As soon c>.s the inner left
t hu1nb, the nngers
corner of t he upper half clears the
~ght
of same hand tldst t he l o1.rer half slightly in a
counter-clockwise laovement.
At same time left fingers give a slight
upper half in opposite direction.
t~iist
to
The pass is then completed.
These simple actions brine the right irmer corner of lower half in contact FA-c.
e
vrit h t he ~card of top half t hus eliminating
this undesi rable triangular space •
Another point to r a>ne111her is, that as t he packets clear onekother the sides of each will be parallel. Another ir~portant point to bear in mind is that t hroughout t he s hift's actiO!l. t he lef t t humb exerts a dovmward pressure which
causes t he right sid!l of under ·
packet to pivot upward bett·reen s econd finger and thumb of right hand. pressure s hould not be relaxed.
Actually l ower packet pivotsup and
in t his position until left hand completes the movement., F~~ el:\:rlinated.
This is,~
Thus one novement is
l>fnen t he pass is executed correctly t he operator must feel he is
making only a single movement. Here are t 1-1o 1rrays to employ t he pass to advantage. tec :·nique. or
a ges ·~ure
The l eft hand '1-ri t h
First the delay~c.l.
finger inserted may be drQ)ped to
side .
made and during t his action the pack lll.U.st be adjusted to t he
exact posi tion so t hat '·!hen t he t Ho hands come together aJ teration of position in l ef t hand is
necessitated.
not the s lirll test Thus t he s hift can b e
instantly :·!ade. It is often desirabl e to make the pass i mmediatel y after a card is repl aced either in .fanned
Clr'
squared deck.
The l eft hand, in either case, adjusts itself
before t he selected card is returned so t hat be instantly made.
~snen
deck is squared the pass can
19 THE ERDNASE SHIF';r.....__;:;;ON:.;.:E::...:.:H=AN · D~
Most experts after mastering this most difficult shift find it dif ficult IIJ l>f 1';CT}I~I.~
if not impossible to uti lize it in a
practical or .:indM\8ble lYaY.
we submit an original technique..:-a natural screening which
make:~
However,
the action
It these practical details are f ollowed the pass ldll
virtually invisible.
fulfill all cJ.aims made for it. The s hift can only be rendered deceptive at the card table by usine t he rir:,ht hand for screen or cover.
The pack is hel d as described by Erdnase with l eft
thumb ready to assume its grip.
Right hand then approaches in a natural way to
grasp cards at ends but not unti l right edge of pack is screened or covered does Then the sl"d.ft is inatantJ.y made to t he point
t he l eft thumb curl around end. where l ower packet is at
t~is
passes around upper half · and is almost ready to fi.l,
instant that t he falling packet is arrested and grasped at ends by
the rip:ht fingers and thumb. to meet it.
Left hand lifts or actually boosts up l ower half
Right hand can t hen
hand can make a squarine For
It
~agical
-~ovement
take deck and tap edge on table or left al on;7 sides.
purposes t he foll o ·1ne move can often be used to great advantage .
Holding pack in starting position allcm spectator ':Jho j_s stancling on your left to sight or peek a card by opening deck at corner. ,. hat is t o be done by breaking gesture.
Your left thumb indicates
pack in several places -- a PG!fectly natural
The instant card i s sieht ed a break is held by second finger with
thumb in perfect posj.tion . Hand,holdint; pack,
grasps spectator's
to step foi'l·rard or backward. and in a
arm
fiR
a request is made.fbr him
Under cover of this ,pass can be made
invisibl y
t~.rinkling.
THE ERDNASE SHIFT
TWO fi.ANDS
This is undoubtedly the easiest pass in the Erdnase book toacquire but
20
personally we have faund but little use f or it. TO ASCERT.AIN THE TOP CARDS WHILE RIFFLING AND RESERVE THEM AT BOTTOM
Erdnase's handling cannot be improved upon. · This has many uses at card table as well as for magic.
Strangely enough it has been
overl ooked by the magical. fraternity.
the
largely
An able card eutlnlsiast in Detroit
recent ly 1-n-ote us that he consi dered i t one of the best thines in the book. MODE OF HOLDING AND
SKmNlNG THE HAND
Whil e t hese methods are excel lent more modern procedures will be submitted later in this book. THE PLAYER WITHOUT
AN_~
This section gives much sensible advice and several valuable tip:: to the reader so it should be caretuUy studied. TJ1REE CARD 1-fONTE
Thi s is beautifully described by Erdna seo
Professional operators
inevitabl,use ti-ro duplicate cards and an odd one--usually t wo black tens and a red ace or fi!Ueen.
This enabl es the double flash to be employEd most
effecti veJ y. We 1dll briefly discJose several closely guarded dodges used by professional. 1'broad-tossers. 11
As Erdnase states the
three m rds are
always crimped lengthwise to facilitate picking them up but there is another crimp or bend secretly made in advance; namely, l'ritt. t he three cards squared up together, outer right corners up1~ ards
again.
of t he t hree cards are given a s harp bend
rri thout, of course, breaking the cards. This !'acilitates the
They are then
dodge of crimpine
straightened
the corner, secretly
removing it and indetectably crimping another card. Altho Erdnase does not mention i t, the double flash immeasurably enhanses t he deception and we regard it as the real
11convi
ncer 11 or
11c01n e
on. 11
21 . There are ma.11y variations but •-te 1·:ill noH describe a demonstration Used for many years lf.i.th unvarying sUCCess. ~~e
~. e
have
For impromptu purposes
renove t he seven and eight of c l ubs and t he queen of hearts from
t he pack giving them the usual dmmward crimp and prepare t he corners as above described. The t hree cards are placed in a
rOlf 1·ith queen :in center.
'vie •iill
number t he cards one, t ..ro and three running from the operata: 1 s l eft to his
rieh't. Right hand picks up No. 3 and s bov1s.
Left picks up No. 1 and shnTS.
Three i s placed over tHo (the qu.een) and both are tw:ned face up with the remark, "A l ittle game from F.anky Poo.
The black for me, t he rei (~€~~>
for you.
Keep your eye on the lady."
Right tosses t wo_Aface down m table.
The toss and the turninr, down are all one movement. Left picks up t'•o, shows and tosses it face down .
Tms sequence is
repeated starting vii th right hand. . Again right hand picks up two, and on the thro'.' svri tches card so that three lands on t he lett.
With cards face done both hands move to the right
t hen left hand deposits one on extreme right and right crosses over and
drops
t •m ' (queen) in the center.
Then we say, "Most people would pick t his card" - we sho•r card on left and continue, "But t he queen is really in the center. 11
\'le ·show it, always holding
cards by ends. Again right picks up three, , shoVJs face, left does the same.
Right, still
holding card picks up t1,•o (queen) sho~rs and apparently thro•1s it to left but makes switch.
Left hand drops
its card to center.
Right still holding card
imniediately picks up t he card just thrmm, turns them face up ·saying 11Black here, tosses to number two position at center \llaking s•ritch.
Right turns up card
11
22 · remaining in hand and says, "Black here. 11 three position. here,"
~re
Remarking,
11 Even
It is then tossed to nU!lb er
a blind man could see that the card fell
touch inner left corner of supposed queen (in position one) ldth
left forefinger.
ru.ght picks up center card, (queen) and \•r.i,th it flips over
card held by finger. because it is
al1~ays
As face is disclosed we remark )!l\lt never bet on this card 1
bl ack. 11
Flipping it face do•m again, card in hand is Toss on
again placed atop, both cards are turned face up, sh01·:ing black. table making s•,r:i.tch for queen.
Without s ho
is placed over card at right, both are turned up saying, "Black here. 11 Make
l eg:l.. timate toss to centel' and show last card in hand remarking, here."
11
And1 black
Toss it to number three position.
Without hesitation the queen :i.s impressively turned face up
~,ith
remark,
"Always pick this one." We continue by remarking, everything easy to foll01-l.
11
This may be a bit conf using so T.·re
11
vd.ll make
vie openly bend up outer right corner of queen
and place it in center position face do•m vTith the black cards at number one and three positions. Right picks up black card at three and 11
Ren1ember, this is black."
clearly shows its face remarking,
Card is turned face dmm and left picks up blaclc
card f rom one pos ition, shows its face clearly and slol-rly, remarking J'.And black here. 11
\'lith attention directed to this card, right hand secretly
bends corner of its card exactly as described by Erdnase. Right hand, with fingers concealing t k is crimp places card atop 1t1a queen and tosses it to left.
Left hand places its card atop queen rod
tosses i t back to the r ir'r,t.
This is repeated several times t>hich permits
onlookers to observe the bent corner of queen.
We remark, "You will n~
23
be able to see exactly what happens, but it becomes very cotf using 11hen I cross my hands." Finally r ight hand holding secretly crimped black card places it over the queen, flas hes it, makes switch as it is tossed to let. • Left hand places its
card to r:j..ght of apparent queen, picksup the
l atter, i mmediatelY picks up bent card on table, slowl y at number three position.
At this
depos~ta
it
point the arms cross, left over
rig ht and under cover right f ingers straighten out corner o! real queen and places later at number one position. Concluded by remarking "Even it' you followed everything you would still lose bec ause this is black, (turn
over right hand card) and
this
is black (turn over center card) and t he queen is al~otays here" (slowqturn over queen.)
~le t horoughly agree with Erdnase that no card feat will give as good returns for t he practice
exp~ded
as t he grand old pastime of three card
monte.
MEXICAN MONTE This method of t urning over one card wi. t h another must be established by legitimatel y doing sl eight can be safely used.
thor~ hJ.y
so a number of t imes before the
This amounts to a simple condi t:b ning
process. The us ual mistake in perfor:ninr-: t his slei.ght is that. the right hand does a sort of !olloi.r throug h by conti.puing the movement beyond the turned card.
For perfect deception t he action must be
motion.
ri~?ht
wren the
for efinger turns over t r.e
a flipp::ln g
tabl ed card the
other card must be lifted sufficiently to allow right side of the un
24 card
to revolve belo1·1 it to a !ace up position.
smooth and done in one continuous
The action rnust be
movement.
LEGERDEMAIN
Erdnase
gives sound and constructive advice in his introduction His remarks should be carefully read and
to conjuring rd. th cards. digested.
THE
C~ ARLIER
ShiFT
This has been described by many 1-ll'iters on magic 'h'it h novariat:il bUt Erdnase suggests t l at the 11ttle fing er be held at
end of p ack a; a
ma~'t"$
menda of attaining greater control. possibl e to make t his pass
~li thout
We have found that
it is entir-ely
detection i f it is accompanied by a
sHeeping but natural gesture. THE LONGITUDINAL SiiiFT
Attention should be paid to Erdnase's c lose to first f inger during t he ac tion.
advice to hold right thumb The pass is performed entirely
by l.eft band, t lle right hand simply acting as
cover.
THE OP'Fll SHIFT
This is an exceedingly difficult pass but its acquisition can be greatly facilitated by follotling Erdnase 1 s exact instructions viz: 11
The upper packet should not fall into t he left hand.
by
t~ e
It rnust be caught
curled up first finger and t he first joints of t he
other left
fingers as i t cJears t he side of t he under packet." THE S,\t/,E, SHIFT This pass is lucidly described and we have found it ideal for making a
false cut,
In t his connection t he following extract !rOlll
Erdnase' s description rnust be observed.
11
This action will tilt the
opposite sides of both upwards and as t hey clear each other the right
25 thum-b tip catc hes t he under packet. 11 Now at t l·is exact point instead of continuing t he pass the rip.ht hand places its packet on the table and then taking xemaining packet f r om l eft hand, places it squarel y on top.
This exactl y
s:ilmll ates a true cut. Tl1E DIAGONAL Pill1 Sl,IFT
Many performers attempting to learn t his important s leight may find t · at t l':e
follo~line
tecl:nique will aid them in their efforts.
\Vhen the selected card is pushed into pack diagonaUy it is not neces sary to push the left corner dol-m t he side .finger.
"~>'i t
h t t e right first
Instead, l ef t t l umb tip can immediately gr:ip t his comer
and assisted by the t ree fingers at opposite si de, slide the card b ach•ard under cover of a squaring motion.
w•.en
t t e thumb reaches
a point slicl't l y beyond center of t he side, t he left t humb and l ine ers slide f or1vard again alent.
tl~e
truding under cover of the rigtt hand. jeeti on of the card and t he
edges l eaving the
card pro-
Oldng to this greater pro-
forward position of t he l eft hand it
:·'ill revol ve more neatly and invisibly into left palm.
Also it
will result in less telltale movement of the l eft fingers . lfi th t ·· e th.tmb al ong side of deck , bottom card or cards can be brought into the above dia( onal position and palmed as easily as i f they Here inser..ed into t he pack.
This is an efficient b ott om 1
i
palm w.ic:., altho mentioned by Erdnase, we i:ave never seen used. TIE BLlNJ) SHUFFLE F'OR
S.~lJ!T_N9
SELECTED CARD_
A variation of t his is our favor i te method of s ·.ufning a selec\e d
26 or
Break is held bel o;r noted card,
peeked at card to t :"le botto.11.
deck is turned on i ts side i uto t he l eft palm in the manner described but i nstead of cutting to half pcr tion
above break, cut directly
below breal< and s ruffle these cards to the top. selected card on bottom.
This l eaves
We folio'" immediatel y wi t it another shuffie
but t ·is time retainine card on the bottom by pressure of left fingers . T >is is easy, direct and efficient.
Card on bot.tor!l is :instantly
pal.l!led i.n l eft h.and and deck can be i'lD'Ilediately handed to spectator f or furt'ter s huf.tl ing.
Erdnase rras
a~rare
of t he fact that t he pJ.llll
should be made without hesitation and he states - "Acticn it! quicker if not particul ar about the number." FORCING Long experience wi ll undoubtedly prove that forcing a card from
above the break is greatly preferable to the force from below break. Tr.e break, if possible, should always be belo•,; center of pa.ck . The reason for t his is that it allo1.;s more cards to be spread and gives a
more careless appearance in handling.
In spreading cards before
reaching break t he pack should be held just beyond spectator's reach. he ia compelled to advance sliehtly or extend his reach which affords time to reach the break. Should he r each !or a card sooner than expected do not increase the tempo of t he pushing move111ent but, instead, push the cards larger group s
or
se~ents.
w
It should be remembered t hat cards are
never pushed singly but in a . succession of spreads. The i deal >lay to learn foreing
is to alua;rs attempt to force e'B
11'hen a f ree se1ection can be all01-:ed. One areat secret of the fol'Ce is to do it \·1itt>out apparent "get-ready" such as a cut, shuf fle or furtive glance to note car~
Thus
27
A perfect illustration ot this point is the manner in which a card ;:•m forced by the Ja te Max Malini. well
The card to be forced '!lras IlGlted
in advance usually •-;hile performing
another trick.
A b-eak
was held belo,·r card to be f orced and in placi11g pack on table he left a slight
step or joe at this card.
would tell an amusing story
Entirel y disregarding pack he
or experience.
he would be reminded of another trick.
Then after this dela;r
\?o'w(-n
liUeh~
up the cards in the
. most careless manner possible; and without apparentJ.y looking at eithaspectator or pack] he ,,ould spread them out was no appearance of
get-rea~
for a selection.
There
or preparation.
PAlMING
A1tho Erdnase' s description of the back palm was 1·: ritten in the '
"horse and buggy" days of this sleight nevertheless, •li th t he except:bn of the initial position, the moves are exceptionally accurate and practicalo
In fact, one small move he describes is superi or to the
tec hnique generally employed at the present day.
We refer to the
action of the ri?ht thumb in bringine the card. from the to the inside of the hand.
rear position
The fact that the thumb replaces the
grip of the first finger on the edge of card eliminates the unnatural and awlnrard contortion
SO COll'llliOU
o·l;herHi se.
This thumb
technique a:pplies equally ':'ell -vrhen using a number of cards.
The
thumb always remains i n vierr 0
CHANGES In general Erdnase' s description of the top change is superlor -mos{ , to~.
Ho,.;ever, one
i
thing in the handling is omit ted.
At t he point '"hen the b o cards are actually exchanged, the right hand card
is smoothly slid or thrust 1Jl}der the il1ll1lobile left thurlD.
28 It must be stressed that the left tlrurab
~ ust
remain absolutely mo1lonless
so t hat t he serenity o.r the change is not disturbed.
BOTTOM
C~
The usual mistake in executing t his chanee is l ack of proper timing.
The top card is usually pushed over side of pack teo soon. In
The push should be del ayed until the n ry inst'ant of the change. t his lray t he pack itself appears undisturbed .unti , aft e; • hauge i s
~THE PAll-1 Cf.ANOE
As descri bed by Erdnase t his sleight has one noticeable weakness .,. hich is an obvious pushing movement of the l eft to
propel card into pa.1m.
This
move1~ent
~ers
in onder
ca11 be mini'fri..zed.
the cards are held betvreen all four fin;;ers and thumb. they are supported solely by little finger and thumb.
App a rently
In real i
v
The other
fineers being relaxed, permit t he follo•r.ing action -- in> tead of t he left band sei:!}ing the
cards
t he left thwnb and second and outer
~
by their s ides as Erdnase directs,
t~ri..rd
fingers grasp the top card by
near l eft corner and it will be found t hat a very slight
movement o! the l eft second f'inger vr.i.ll be sufficient to p:Lv-ot card into palm . THE DOUBLE PALH
This change observed.
b~omes
C~~.!_.
highly practical i f one small cetail is
As the right hand· advances to take the packet for
palminr t he r:tcht thumb must go fuectly to en1of packet and not be
allo•~ed
to assume t he telltale "fishhook" positiono TRANSFORV~TIONSJ
~_l~Dp_
FIRST l{ET I:OD
Instead of holding deck at fingertips it may be held jJ1de:allt;.g
29 position with thumb along the left side and beyond corner.
projec-t~ng
slightly
This effectually conceals t he projecti'On of bottom
card ,rhen pushed for1•Tard.
I f t he hand is ;easah'llbly lllOist
:Lt 5.s pos sible to make t he change by pushing t he card f'crward even leas
than a quarter inch. SECOND ?£ THOD
This me·!;,hod has beer used by top card men hi ghly popular.
and is still
It •ras a great favorite of .Mc;.x lhlini. who
astounded the most observing people vlith his perfect harrlling. Particular attention s hould be given to figure
8.5
of the
Elt'dnase
There is a great tendency to
m~
a s l i ght contraction of fingers at the moment card touches palm. In s 11ort the
hand must be contracted before card is ree.eiwEid.
The left forefinger makes all the movement an
It is stri ct attention to t hese details Hhich di1I erentiates
the expert from t he
inept·.
Tl-'IRD, FO~!LLAFJl.LI~F.:f.'i...@~
The above suggestions applied. to t hese three methods will greatly enhance their
ef.fec·t;. SIXTH METHOD
This is a most ineenious change but much; study and practice is required to make the action now smoothly.
ltle
suggest this slight alteration in har.dling.
card has been pivoted :Ll'lto t he pa:Jm do not
After the
imlllediately~
suggested, seize t he deck by t he l oner end.
as
Instead carry
t he deck away to the left f or at l east one foot and hold it perpendicularly with thumb at top and fingers right hand takes deck by
lo~•er
below.
Then
end as left changes posi tim
and holds deck by sides. 1'RANSF0ffi.1ATIONS, •• ~ • .O!!!}f!N~ FIRST :HETHOD
Anyone desiring to use this c hanee should bear in mind a slight deviation f ro:11 Erdnase 1 s description.
When
di~Ii
¢ng
face of pack keep the left t humb well away from front cardpreferably it should rest atop edge of pack.
In s hort i t
should be in sa'lle position t hat it will assullle c hange.
In
ot~1er
at !in:il h
of
words t he thumb is not extended acl'()Ss
face of pack until the instant
t he action takes place.
SECOND METHOD
~.:J7iT4faJ
Perfect execution of t to.is change can be tadl:ated if the tip of thumb is placed against inner or little finger pack.
This insures t he card revol ving
md
a£
more n eatly.
If not desired to use as a color change this move is
extre1nel y use.t'ul for secretly reversing a top or bottom ca-d when hand is dropped t o side or even below table i ! right hand engages i.n misdirection. BLlliiD
si:un:¥3
RET~•. ~.TIRE
ORDER
FIRST METHOD
This s hould be in t he
repetoire
of evgry card
handler
31 as it is of constant utility and can be used in many ways.
In
the five moments made if the fifth or last throw consists of a single card instead of a packet the action l eaves the entire order the same vrith exception of bottom card which ends up top.
on
A second shuffle brings another cardfr<:m botton to
top and thus the original top card of pack is now in third position.
Possibly no other method accomplishes thi.s
result so deceptively. SECOND METHOD
This riffle can be made much more effective i.:t: when dividing packets at start, t he l eft forefinger performs the one hand cut (sliding top card of pack into left :b..and portion) so lt1en packets are fanned and pushed together the illusion of a genuine shuffJ e is greatly enhanced. THIRD ME'l'HOD
The above dodge can be effectively applied to this met hod. FOURTH METHOD
This is ideal for anyone who does not ,.rish to make a display of dexterity.
FIFTH lo!ETEOD As Erdnase suggests, this should be rejecled.
However,
is hi.ghly effective when apparently mixing a smaJJ. packet of cards so often necessary. l1ETHODS OF p~~~~IN~ A CARD THOUGHT OF METHOD
A
This is one of t he classi cal methods of mental forcing and can be refined in several ways.
The usual fault as
Erdnase describes it is making too long a hesitation.
it
32 Our
O}m
procedure elininates the necessity of stopping at
any one place even for an instand; the springing is continued evenly throughout yet t he resul t is achieved. Start an even rHf'le
~
'.Jhen center of pack is reached
as per lill:':dnase and
simply
bend the cards remaining in
right hand a trii'le more sharpl y, which wiltncrease give a clearer and more unobstructed vielo/ of the
the
area and tlms
card to be forced.
However, this will not alter the even tempo . of the riffle.
Needless
to say at the instant the bend of cards is increased a break is held so that noted card can be controlled. METHOD B
Experiment will prove that it is not necessary to
consciou~
hesitate
in sprineing the cards as the normal sprineing .dll re sult in a momanta;ry l ull or hesitation.
As
performer springs c.ards he watches for a ca.Iid
more visible than the others. also noted by the spectator.
The card thatrsees wiJ.l be the one This was one of many mental effects with
cards performed by the late Paul Rosini and in his hands it left nothing to be desired. lofE'l'HOD C
This requires excellent manage111ent to ll1_effective and is rarely if ever used by the modern expert. METHOD D.
The real secret of this method is contained in a s:i.ngJ.e mentioned by Erdnase and 'qhich is al1-1ays overlooked.
operator lo oks
~
~rord
He states that the
into the eyes of the spectator .
This can
be accomPliShed by turning the head slir,htly aside 8Qd if~noring
can
the spectator ' s glance .
'fli easily
a~narently
However , the spectator ' s reaction
bo observed out o:e the tail of the eye.
111
thou~h
the
operation appears childishly simple it re quires experience based on trial and error before real success can be ach:eved .
If performer
stands at a little distance fro.m spectator tbe working \/ill be facilitated . TO G~- SIGH'l' Oi *\ .:::lELF.CTED 0.!\I~
The two last methods aro vrell worth learning .
The technique
is clearly described but it mu ... t be adapted to one ' s
O\'m
personality
and natural demoonor . THE SLIDE
on
GLIDE
This , like the vast .rna jori ty of sleic;hts, is dependent for success on •how you go into it . "
The averat·e card man po-form.s the
subtorruce quite badly for the reason that he •telegral)hs" the .raove in advance by
~uspiciously
ol o cing oack in correct position prepara -
tory to performing t.he sleirht . ~lhen
drawing
at~ention
to bottom card prior to executing , hold
the pack axactly as de_:)icted in Figure 97 of the Erdnaso book with exception that the three fineers are not curled around pack but held in rcla:xod position so that bo'l:;tom card is not obstructod,
Position
of thumb and forefinger, cor:r·actly shown in cut , are importnntJfor they, br exerting pressure on being drawn back .
bot~om
card prevent more than one card
A certain touch or feel u:Jdures you of only a
single card being pulled back . Now as pock is turne.d
frlOO
down and th, riGht hand approaches
to remove bottom card, the three fincers curl in , as per illustration , gliding the card backuard . men this silllple ;.;lcight re11.uires careful rehearsal and timinB.
-34-
If the action conf orms to your na'Gural movement i t can be made to d,Qceive t he raost .obs ervant . F.AVOHITE
dLEIGH'l~ l~'OR 'I'E<~MINATING
'T'l:UCKB
These are too fa!'lilia r and Wid ely used to re quire comment . · The last method (Rising Card) can be made most effective .
OAnD TRICKS
The last sentence in Erdnase ' s introduction to card tricks should be underlined and i mprinted upon the memory. THE
EXCLUSI'IT~
COTmUE
This is a pefe ct illustration of how a classic can be so garn ished by patter as to assume an entirely new aspe ct .
Note how
Erc1nase creates a favora bl e moment to palm the necessary cards-- a little less on in itself .
.Also by utilizing the pass , h e creates the
impression that any three cards 8re placed atop each queen.
.Althout;h
t he a ctual p a tter is d a ted, yet , it forms a perfect patteJ:n f or a modernize d p resent a tion. TBE DIVTIHHG ROD
An elaboration of thi s tri ck .made the reputation of t he l ate Max l
~/e
sugges t t hat the rea der consid er the alterna tive
method suggested by l':rdnas e in the fi nal paragr aphs of his descript ion.
We have so performed it many times vii t h grati fying r e sults.
THE INVISIBLE FLIGifr 1/ie r e cently puzzled a· group of well versed card men by performing this tri ck exactly as described . Note how the pa lming is done at an o pportune moment - the misdirection is quite perfect .
Ev en the
taki~~
of pa ck into right
hand wi th card palmed affords a ;feelinc, of comfort and security .
- 35-
Note after the palm change that the hand is :lr11r.1edi ately. used. Erdnas e beautifully analyzes tho exa ct procedure . TRICKS
~'liTH PRE-A~:U.NGED
DECK
The rules su pplied can be adapted to any progrezsive setup .
By
progres sive we mean any se tup wherein the thirteen values are repeated in the same order of which the Si Stebbins arrangement is a classical example . CAlmS UP THE SLEEVE
This is another classi c and a close perusal wil l reveal suggestions and timing Over tho years v1e hove performed t he trick in its Irtany variations and IJ.any time:;; have usE>d it almost exa ctly
a~
des cr ibed by Erdnase .
TEN CARD TRICK
7/e agree with tho statement that this iS one of the bes t nonsleight o f hand effe cts possible . out s ince the days of E'rdnase .
Many variati ons have bee n worked
Our o;m method will be described in
the final chapter of this book. THE ACROBATIC JACKS
This is anothe r classic and should be in tha repetoire of avery card worker . !fiND READHU TRICK
ile gained somewhat of a reputation years ago wit h this tri ck usinr exact patter and method. THE • C'-.!E OF COl'!TROL
Rven at this l ate
da~e
an entirely new effect has been created
by a well known Chicag o ma·gician using this priciple . Tln,;
c~nm
Il\ l:uHID!::E!WHI:;F
Among macicians thin is con$idered a trite trick but is actually littl e seem by the lay public.
-36-
TOP AND BOTrOM PRODUCTION Here is a trick of considerable antiquity, yet , v1ell performed at the present day it 'dill reg ister more stronc ly than ninety percent of the so-called modern ca rd miracles. '1'1£.. TBllliE ACES
An exce l lent ·t;rick to teach a small child.
c.mn nr
H.\T
An e:x:cel lant trick performed as described .
Note ingenious way
in which necessity of using a dup licate card iS eliminated. Holding selected card bet>Joen p alms an d delaying its return is an excellent way to eliminate duplica t e. Pllli.3ENi ' D4\Y DEVM..OP:ii}.C1fTS
Our purpose in writing this volume is simply to ass ist in making the instructions of Erdnase moro lucid.
Ho·wevor the present
chapter will be devoted to sund:by methods and
strata~ ems
not
dis cussed by l!.'rdnase and for the n ost part unknown in his day . In fact, we feel quit e confident :tE a number of tb9 items v1e propose to describe are unknown at the present day . of rif:Vle shur!ling will .. illustrate, statement. Tl'(i';
·or
The follol ling s ystem
we f(;jel, the truth of this
CULL RIFFLE OF T:Hr::
LITSTERIOU~
KID
the scores of demonstrations, by skilled .mechanics we have
witness ed over the years this , in our opinion , stands out clearly as being the most incr.ed~ble system ot Cal'd · handling we have ever s e en. As oringinally seen by us
~he
Mysterious
Kid~
simply subje cted
our own pack to four a)parently orthodox riffle shuffles and then revealed four Jacks atop the pack .
In actual play the a_bovo operator
-37-
informed us that the culling of three of a kind
was generally
sufficient to -get t he mo"n'ey. n In substance the gr oundwork of the system cons is ts of ""'throwing in
briefs~
deck.
at sighted c ards and transfe rring them to. t.he top of the ?'\
.
Although the pi!Jrvious sentence reads simply the actual work
is something else acain.
Performed slowly . as a demonstration,
atta,inment, may be gai ned by the averag e card mat,J. . but to be able to work~tunder fire~
exe cute the
represents the very
. ~enith
of. tech-
ni cal accompflishment . The operf:l.tion
co~.me nces
by riffling one pa cket into the other.
As the shuffle is started the top card of the l _e ft packet is glimpsed, for example atr · ace . f or another
.As the riffle proceeds the operato1• watches
ace and as soon as .it dl'OpS from the left thumb right
hand i ruv.ediately allows n s mall block of fj ve or six c ards to fall above it as the shuffle continue& • . • • ret~ining the ace already on top. In this condition the packets are pushed togethe r and apparently squared as
p~~viously described in' thG "'pull o~t riffle•.
Correct
e xecution v1ill resul.t in a wide •briar• or gap near the l eft corner of.:outer Side of pack. In di v:\.ding the c ards for the next shuff'le the second finger ttp of loft hand. easily locates by feel, t his division and by simply p:cessing down on all cards belov< the gap permits right hand to slide off all cards above in readiness f or the next riffle.
At
this point there will be an ace atop each pa cket. Identically the same procedure is employed f or the second riffle but of course maki ng sur,e that .the ace on each pa cket remains on top . At the cor::mencef'1e nt of third riffle there wil l be two aces on the r:i.ght hand pa cket and naturally, these must be shuffled below the
third ace Which Hill be on
~he
top of' the loft packet .
If des ired to
cull the fourth ace the p rocedure is identical , shurflins ·the three aces on .: right .I?Ortion under last ace atop loft pa cket.
It goes \'llith-
out saying that the natural'dist ribution of tho wanted cards greatly affects the exact procedure .
For example , should one of the desired
cards ha_:">pen to be on or very near the bottom the following variation is utilized . is dropped
sj
.lssuming the ace is on the bottom of left portion , it ng ly boforo tho rir;ht hand c 1rds ere rifflod in.
aro squared up but rieht end is
~lir~hly
Cards
beveled which cou:Jos bottom
of for.mer right packet to project slightly on right end . Half of cards are ;.,o\'1 cut to the top and very slightl y joc;eed to the richt .
./hen
the curds are again separated for the riffle the right third finger eadily locates this jog and tho pack is divided leaving tho ace atop the left _9acket . 11hen
sighti~·
cards durine riffle , if by accident an extra card or
two slips by, simply drop the block in at t his point and upon cot'U':lence rnent of t he following shuffle it Will only be necessary to :lllow the aco~;
on the rirht pacltet to fall as before, underneath tho left a ce .
The eztra card.; now on top can be neatly disposed of on the next riffle by the method we have previously desc:.-ibed under heading ofPULL 'l'ffiU RIFFLE WITH BOLCK TH..·\N.:iFER.
One point must not be omitted .
It iS quite possible as a result
of distribution that all the wanted cards may be in the right hand packet .
In this event none Hi 11 bo g linpsod so a pull thru shuffle
iS executed whicll will result in tronsferring cords to where they c3n then be
sf~hted
end culled .
t~e
left portion
TOYihG ·.IITF 'I'J.fr; DIJC '1RD
1-:ere is a stratagem for putting up pairs back to back in stud noker.
This iS currently
bein~
used by a number or top flight
mochanic.J in the f:3Stest comPany . The opera t or 1 who i.s await in£;; hiu turn to deal 1 1Nhile €;otherinr::; up the dead hands together \'Ji th the balance of the deck unobstrus ivaly rnanr3r::es to have
beneath.
t~to
pai.ro alternated on the bottom. thO largO T' being
Vow by a series of' q1.1ick inn ocent ap,)oaring
straif~ht
cuts
he c::n set the cards so that the two pairs nill fall to 3ny player he desires . in by
~any
This attr€lcts no attention as it is a habit often i ndulged unsophisticated card players and attracts no
att~ntion.
'llhe actual work 1s perfor med as follows .... prel:3 u.w.ing it is des i red to give one pdir to ... he t .ird player and
rcmain::.n~
pair to the dealer in
a five handed game , t hiu is tho action- in the oct :)f undercutting , bottom card is
jov,~ed
sliGhtly to the riGht a.:> the lower half is .:Jlapped
on top and plac0d . . . lir;htly to thu left , the protruding card \'Till coincide ;·Ji th the other packet . Uithout hesitation , the ri··ht hand again undercuts but thi.:; time the rir-ht index
f'in~'er
car.t'ies off the top card thus executine; the ono card
cut . The above i s repea t ed e xactly . Then a plain undercut is made and when packet is Slapped on top as bGfor e richt i ndex pre:J;;es on top card a nd acain one c1.1rd out is m€'lde . By trase six ra;>id cuts h
Now
by an exoct rep&.tit ion of.·tho above the work is com_rlete d .. and cards are now set so thl:it the thi::d playor rlill rooeive a pair back to ba ck and thtJ denlex· ·will get the larger ;?air . Once the theory is understood adapt the
~rork
any player .
l i~tle
calculation is required t o
to any number of hand::; or to doal tllC desired (cards to
- 40~lhile on th · subject of cutting ne r:ould like to descri'Qe a ,?er:rect
blind cut, virtually unknown and particularly ideal V<"hen used after a "cooler• has been put into thO game . The ri~~t ae oond finger and thuob grasps the deck by the Sides near end and undercut about one third .
These are placed on top, retaining
grip and v:i thout hesi tetion t: ird tinge'-· a no. thumb tip pull out half the un
C~nd
the upper portion in front of it . This results in
tbree packets in a row.
The richt hand returns, takes the pa cket held
in left , and places it atop middle pile and these are placed on renain1
ing heap .
'l his leaves the entire order undisturbed .
S'IUD FOKER " RIFFLE RUN- UP 4fe will assume that it is desired to run up a pair of n.ces back
to back for the dealer and a player .
les~er
pair back to back to any desired
The following df.lacripti on is based on seven hands with:he
le;;>ser hand ( pair of queens) going to the fourth player . A pair of quuens are on top and t he
t\JO
aces below them. Separate
pock for riffle and secretly execute the one card cut .
Rif~1e
cards,
shuffling the top three of left pa cket under top two or rit,ht • ..iquare up. Again divide cards for riffle but eliminate the one
C(l1.'d
out .
Repeat riffle, again shuffling three under two . Again divide cards for riffle shuffling tHo cards under one. For final riffle simply shuffle three on top . These last two operations can be done in one riffle by retaining fiva with the left thumb and allowiing two of thom to fall below top oard of
ri~ht
packet and the other three atop all .
-41-
The formula for any number of hands is determined as foll ows :
,
0
Vl'?\De P~ f)o iN r; /~t-~;:; .::t.r~O c,v-r '' {o¥Lt.~~ e"- -h{;t '~w
First Riffle
t-:umber of hands .minus position of other player (shuffled under two)= 3. Second Riffle Position of other player minus one (shuffled under two) .. 3 Third Riffle First result (above} mihUS one ( shuffled under one)
=2
Fourth Riffle Position of other pl ayer minus one ( shuffled on top}
=3
Combining third and fourth riffle , making thrEJe ri:ffles in all, would
be 2-f..:" 3 top.
=5.
Two of this five under one 3.tid the rernaininc; three on
rlec;ardless of the nwu.ber of hands the two on the right in the
first two riffles arc always constant .
In the . ~c hird riffle the one
is ulways constant . HOLB Ci\IW
SWITCHJ~d
It is passing st,range that Brdnase made no mention of Jtud Poker • •Uthouellt the game .must have been quite popular in his d ay . One of the strong est advantages in Stud i s undoubtedly the so called hole care switch and nany methods have been devised.
We are
acquainted v1i th ove r tv1enty of these subterfup,es but will des oribe only a few of the best .
The firs t,knovm as the LAY DOWN SWITCH, is extremely sirnple and efficient . For
~~ple ,
the operator has an aoe pal med in the right
a
hand and desires to substitute it for the hole · card delt him. As the left hand b e nds· up the inner side of card in order to look at it, the right. hand is laid flat on table i mmedia tely in front of it . Rieht hand is then t ilted up slig htly , allo;
Sir.ml taneously left hand p-laces the hole card into immobile
Both hands now move~ back tp odc e of table in a relaxed position
-42The~e
v
moves imitate
perfe ctly the mannerisms adopted by many players. There i s a similar method but usinr, only the right hand .
This
hand with palmed card is laid.; di:::-ectly in front of tablBd card . Thumb iS ext.ended over visible card and latter is slid the flati hand and above it •
'
..
forward under
As hand tilts up to convey the
impress'icih of lookinc rat card , thwnb lifts up inner side o:e it and presses firnlly .into
. pa lm~ : :,
'l'humb
fei~~ns
releasing card and band moves
away to rest a·crbSs left hand as in forrner method. Probably the finest one handed .method ever devised was used for many years by a
~abulous
gambler hailing from· the dta te of Oregon.
The novel feature of this switch is the fact that a portion of the card a ppears to
ue visible at all t ime s.
top of
Hand with palmed card is laid directly on/tabled c ard but ,.simul t aneously the thumb pusninu ag ainst the side ede;e of pal med card causes it to extend Slig htly beyond outer S ide
or
litt l e finger .
Thumb now bends up lower card and by exerting pressure ag
We are assuming that operator has been dealt a face down deuce with a face up ace . atop it and a se cond ace iS conc.ealed in left hand-( ~ amb~ing:palm position}
Edges of carQ. ure thus clipped by little
finger and thti.mb • . Rig ht thumb a nd fing ers grip visible ace at rie; ht end and slide i t under face down card .
'.Phen without pause bo th c3rds are slid ; under
palm clovm left hand and im"lediately . both hands are raised slightly
- 43-
from table-all three cards be1nb perfe ctly squared together .
Both
hands are p l aced on table and \lith left hand Shielding cards and right fingers and thu.mb turnjng up index corner, in customary fashion, then the following a ction takes place.
The card near as t left palm is fanned
up slie htly and the right thumb fans the lower most ca rd so that the two cards co incide.
This r esults in leaving out or corner of center
card protruding where i t can be clippe d by thj.rd and little fingers . The two aligned c ards are pinched together at the corner by the index finge r and thumb and slid · into view.
And then upper face down
card is re placed below . fac·e up a ce in orig inal position. 11l.Y3 AND MEANS thin~ . to
It is one
master tho sleights of the card table but
another to employ them successfully in order to g et the money . may be surprising to learn that many of the utilize no techinal skill whatever .
m~~x
~ui te
It
ruses and subterfuges
Rather they are dependent upon
management, planning and she er effrontery .
It is now our purpose to
briefly describe a number of schemes , generally unknown, and , how they are carefully built up to dramatic victim 's confidence and cash.
proportion~;;
in order to gain the
It is difficult to cheat an hones t man
so it is inevitably the person with larceny in h is heart who falls victim to the wiles of the unscrupulous operator. TEE CAJJIHO MITT Years ago the game of Cassino was highly popular and iS still widely played in certain sections of the country . Jf.rdnase ;vryly .men tions t hat he was subjected to a protracted (
streak of bad lu ck as the result of playing nith a short deck. We here\'lith describe a simple procedure known t o the inner fraternity as the ._Cassino !-'itt• • •\fter havinr engaged in several games of Cassino the followins.
-44-
situation (well plam.ed in advonce) developes .
It iS the last round
and the •mechani c• who 1..: dealing c lanceD at l.L:J curds, remarks • I wish we were playinr; poker . • The victim. lookinF' at hi.;; ovm hand finds he is holding four •cold• eights and so probably re tor t s , do 1. •
•so
Then t he operator states , _.Well, you may have a good hand but
I ' ll wager you·do not take a sinp:le card . • An
ar~ument
ensues and it is not difficult to persuade the victim
to wager a considerable sum of money for as any Cassino player realizes , it appears impossible not to be able to take· at least one trick . As there is no combination "on the boardn that makes play
1~
as
follows ~
~ight, the
Victim plays one of his eights , the me c hani c
imrnedia·bely places a deu ce on top and bu ilds ten. The second e i ght iS played and the me c hanic , playing another deuce , builds a second ten.
This occurs the third time and of course the
victim is forced to play
hi~
last eight and as the mechanic ' s last
card is a ten , he naturally takes the ten heap ond cleans the board , The sample setup that makes the above possible can eQSily be arranged , wit hout suspicion , during pr ev ious play as opportunity presents itself.
nm
DRUNKlli HITT
Unlike the above , tte victim deals the cards himself but with the usual result . The "mechanic o r "operator
feigning great intoxication , staggers
into a spot where in a poker game is j ust
breaki.n~
up .
He makes
a
loud cheilenge that he will play anyone a hand of draw poker.
.:tt thE!
same time he h ashes a larP".e roll of bill s .
...
• •r.sually hi8 challenee is accepted by some avaricious ind i vidual . Accordingly, the victim deals two hands and finds himself in pos~esion
of, let us say , four
kin~s
and an odd card .
The inebr iated
- 45mechanic tb3n picks up his cards a nd in fanr:ina them a:!.lows three cards, all j a cks , tD be clearly seen by hi s opponent .
He asks for tv1o cards
and discards two. After the bet is made t he operator s ur prisingly lays down four aces a nd an odd jack to the victim ' s utter amazement . r.mney and hurriedly
He g rab-> the
disappears~.
All this is bro11g ht about by a simple procedure .
\/hen the drunken
operator flashes the t hree jacks, the two unseon cards are a cos . When he draws two cardu the victiro. naturally assumes that the best hand he could possibly make \/Ould be four jacks but he actually discards two of the jacks and draws two more aces.
Then keeping his hand squared
he ag ain flashes the lone jack on tho bottom which f urther convinces the victim that he has a '1mortal cinch.
11
.Above makes on e x cellent exhibi tion and will impress any poker pl a yer. Along similar lines is another bold and barefaced proceeding known as "The Snatch" end wb'i.ch may bo used in a number of different games . In this instance the mechanic is assisted by o parlner who needs l ittle rehearsal for hi s part in t he R:3me and who may be seated anywhere at the t a ble . The stratagem i s held in reserve until an occasion arises vthen there is a considerable sum of money in tho pot end the mechanic can ea s ily fathom by the betting that ho does not hold the top h·md . ~ ea l i zing
this he stalls for time a nd hi-> accomplice comwences to
idly toy wi tb tho cards not in play .
From these he select:.> any hand
of five cards th~,·~; he knows ,will win the money.
These five cards he
holds in one hand by the extreme ends and slib htly above tho other cords .
Inasmuch as he is naturally not eng a ged in the play and
attention of all others is concentrated elseHhere he is able to do the above openly and VIi thout
croat~nG
suspicion.
-46-
\/hen t he .me c hanic observes tha t a l l i s ready he boldly calls and and makes a sizeable raise. Th<=m. a ppea r:; to notice what his a ccomplice .is doing and suddenly , (hold ing his own c a r ds at ends by forefinger and thwnb} raaches out and snatching vd.th h is last three fingers the high hand of hj.s a ccomplice, aPI>arently a nd with violence slams the hand on table exclaiming , ...Stop fooline; with the cards. I'm betting b ig money here .... The above rs.s ul ts in a simple switch of handfi. Mechanic's own tr~ own
hand iS hand.
on t a ble in front of victim as he re tains accomplice 's
The swi.tch is absurdly simple and, of course, enables operator
to v'lin tho . pot. .THE TEAH-UP
There are many ways of winning at cards in add ition to mani pul ating the pa ck .
in t his field there is nothing stranger than the so-called
tear-up.
This is strictly a con game .
'l'he mecha nic steers the victim who is known to have a sizeable bank account to a c ard game and , previously tells him t hat t he opera tor will accep t hiS personal that i f he
WihS
~ h eck
in exchanr,e for chips,
he can alloW hiS check to be CDShed but if he loses
he c an eas ily st op payment on it. sv1allowed avidl y
He is instructed
ThiS a ttractive bait i s usually
by the victim parti cularly if he possesses the usual
amount of larceny. G
Astiuming t hat the v1tim has lost a consid erable sum he is i nformed by the genial g ame keepe r tha t there ·.is -.no desire to
emb~rrass
him
by cashing hi e check and that he will be permitted to pay his obliga tion later ,in cash.
.As proof of his g ood intentions t he opera tor
appa r e ntly t ears the check into pieces <.l nd toS<>es them into the wastebasket.
What actually hap;-,ens, however, iS that the real chock is
adroit ly s ubstituted for a phoney one and it iS this latter one Whi ch is torn up .
- 47 When the victim's bank o pens next morning the e euuine c neck is prompt l y presented and cashed.
THE DOUBLE
DI~CARD
This subteJ?fug e g reatly increas as the chance o.f iruprov:ing the player 's hand on the d r aw .
Alt hough t here are many methods , variations
and procedures they all a ccompliSh the same and . \Ia will presume aif'ter the deal t he player looks a t his hand end
findS he has a pair of kings.
The nor.ro.al procedure would be to
d i s card the · tnree odd cards , hold the kings and ask fo r thr ee . Instead , he p laces fa ce down in front of him three c ards, two kings and the highest of t he remaini.t:Jg
tbre~ ...; • •L
·.
rhis leaves lli.ro holding
two odd car'd:s. When he is dealt the tbree cards he addS them to the two he is holding and .qu;i:l}k;ly scru tinizas his band . If he happens to note a king among th,em the riv,ht hand immed i ate ly removes i t togotbcr with ~n adja c e nt card and wi t h them scoops up the trJXee tabled cards as
the lef t band
dis c ~ rds
the cards it holds •
.Although t il:,is •.:pn:ocedure
m;:~· y
a p pear bare :fa ced and obvious the
a ct ioh conforms. to the g eneral tenor and tempo of' . the poker game . In this exact form l.t :P.as been used many ti.mos succes sfully agains t the mos t .knowing pl ayers. THE ROY/ 0 F TJL'N 0 AP.DS
In acco,rdance v1i th our promise given elsewhere in thi s volume we now su brait sevcrsl improvomgnts as re!:;ards both the worlcint; and .
'
presentat ion oi' th:..s excellent feat . The ·6'->sent ial we akness of the trick is that it l acks a definite climax or
fini~>h.
its JJrosant;ation to
.,aso it .must be perforrae(l on a tab le which lim.its
a
s :n.all number ~of people .
- 48-
In our version a spectator is invited to
as~ist .
7erforroer holds
a packet of ton cards arranged consecutively from oce to ten , the ace beinP; uppermost . It
Jj) Performer illustrates v;hot he v?ishes done ~vo
by
openly transferring
cards, one by one from too to bottom of packet .
~
J pectator iS
then requested to transfer, in. sil:niliar ..:'ashion , any number fro.m one to ten and as he does
dO
performer turns his back.
Ue will as.;ume that seven cards are transferred .;o takins packet performe r fans cards, remarking, .-It v1ould be quito impos..; ible for me to know the exact number of cards you transferred but watch!" So saying ho secre ·tly obtains a break above the two lowermost cards and squares .
Then he dramatically lifts tho block of eight
cards above break and displays the seven spot on bottom. Before repeating , per forme r must secretly determine the value of bottom card
by
adding number
tho..;e reri'.oining in le ft hand .
o~
cards
~oved
by tipectator (seven) to
This permi ts the trick to be repeated
and we suggest that thtree tilnes is quite sufficient . For the climax , the perfor mer simply recalls the last number transferred and fanning out pa cket he fip-ures ahead to t he eig ht spot and outs it to bottom.
~~:..,
IIe then announces that he will make a
~n
so from the fanned
cards he removes the second card from top {tho ten spot ) and places i t aside in fUll view . ~pectator
again transfers any number of cards devired (thiS time
betv1een one and nine) and top card uill always denote the number tronsferred . · It iS now only necessary to exchange the top card of packet for the one previously set a.:lida .
"\/e personnaly
u::H3
our own switch
involving the •renkai palm (so e the Dai Vernon Book of Magic , Chapter six)
In the present case, of course, tho card must be held face down .
-19-
'rhe s·-;i tch can alSo be mode by the famiL.ar ton or bottom chanc e . 1/ith a sli ·ht adjustnent the Curry 'rurnover can likEmise
be
usee}.
;. FJ::',! TIPo
l\lost cord moves are greatly squared .
f::~cilitated
by havine; tho dock neatly
Normally the deck should be ho l d by tips of loft fingers
and thumb with forefinGer curled against face of pacl(. table
~/i th
deck on
it should be squared as doccribed by E'dnaso in his instructions
for riffle shuffline. ~lhen
v1idening a break i'or insertion of a fint;er avoid lifting upper
packet but lov;er under portion .
wt.,,.... ~} ()Jl..{_
, ,o
4¥<- ~
\/hen cutting to . a "brief'' ( finely j ogc ed card) 1pro~w on top of deck v1ith index finge r until separation of packets is asuured . With a card palmed the hand should never remain in a frozen position longer than necessary. natural reasons .
It should move to other positions but for
However , this must not be overdone . ~
When holding a card"palmed v1ith pack in dealinc po .. i tion and it is desired to turn cards face up it iS much better to grasp the deck by inner ond with f i nger$ on top and turn i t over .
This permits t he left
hand to re - grip the c ards in a normal way . !.)any n:.ovc3 , otherwise obvious, can be rendered quite natural and illusive by merely tippinG the front end of the deck upward thus obscurinG
spectator ' s view •
•~ card inserted into pack diaE.;onally , but only to a
sli~ht
degree ,
oan be easily lo c ated by cutting, riffling or spreodine evenly on table . ",/hen holding more than one break , handling i.., usually facilitated by
holdinc; one of them acsinJt base of thumb. In all forl!'.S of bottom dealine it is aluays adv:mtaroous , instead
-50of dealint~ card vJi th a direct or strait:~ht pull , to ?;ive it a slight t vtist v:hich tends to eliminfl.te friction.
When having a card ''peeked at>\ ulways keep oposite side of pack firm.l y gripped in crotch of thumb thus preventing the two halves from sep3rating or breaking. Otllcrw5.se diffJ.culty will be encountered
in
squa rint: up rerfe ctly. 1/hen holding a break nith little finGer actual breuk should be held
near first j ..)int so that tip of finger is clearly visible.
If this
simple direction is followed it iS i mp ossi ble tor anyone to discern v1hethor or not a break is held. i1~any
an awkward
in pro:>entation.
rflove oDn be made i
lila~o
a by f;;;l ic;ht chanr'e
For exal!lple , a bad t;wo handed pass .may be covered by
a nide svmop of the hands ot same ttme ,rnrnarking,
11
.Jome tbcioians make
quick moves like this bu·l:i ob::;erve I do nothin.<:, at all . '' words are
spokc~n
s5m!)1y square deck thus under cover of
and a ction t he move has been made. Sup:~;eDt
Hen ceforth tJ- e
f!S the so lost <;l.lsarmint~
perforr~or
by his notionS :
to occur w.hen , in point o-r
f<:~ct
it has alreedy
words
muHt
0
s14;i~ht
haS yet
tr on~~!lired ,
l)ractically every trick has a Heak spot but a little thou r;ht v;Hl devise simplo n.et:t-ods for• oover:i:ng .and even eliminiatj_ng these deficiencies .
};xpert gamblers are more in teres ted in the misdirection or aD they colorfully term it "ti'1e
t:~hade,..
than in the actual move j_tself .
l,1any
.cunningly d6vised .moves are utter:J_y uuele..Js unless adequate nisdirection can be found to cover them. So vlith tho above words a pleaBant task is finished and yet we take
our final bow with t.he has been scratched.
fe•::~ling
t:r..at
only tl113 surfoce of a vn::st subject
