This post serves as my personal record of the steps required to integrate an ESPresense ESP-32 device into my Home Assistant setup. Additionally, I hope it will be helpful to others. The screenshots included were taken in February 2024 and might have been updated since then.
Continue reading “ESPresense and Home Assistant”Faro coincidence
Boy the world has changed! When I was young if you wanted to learn magic you had to hang out at a magic store. A real brick and mortar building. To get to the real good stuff you had to make friends with the magician behind the counter and prove your worth. If you were lucky they might show you something more than “Scotch and Soda”. They might recommend a really good hardback book on magic, but those books weren’t cheap. You had to pay your dues, so to speak.
Today you have the Internet. The brick and mortar stores are almost completely gone. I miss them.
Anyway, while I was surfing the web I found this self-working coincidence trick that looked interesting. Now like a lot of these tricks on the Internet, this one had several “kickers” to the coincidence effect. Go ahead and take a moment to look at it. It is at https://youtu.be/9KhQrR5uqN8?si=2rnxeBWteVBaXC7m .
Continue reading “Faro coincidence”Another Lie Detector
This is another lie detector plot. I have another that I also perform which you can read about at https://robertjwallace.com/lie-detector/. This one is easier.
Continue reading “Another Lie Detector”A slightly modified Erdnase Stack
The one aspect of the Erdnase Stack that I have never liked is the undercut and throw during the second part of the stack. Below is the description of the four card stack for a five handed game with that step in bold:
FOR any game in which cards are dealt singly. Three of the desired cards are placed on top, one on bottom. Under-cut about one-third deck, injog top card, run two less than twice number players, out-jog and shuffle off to last card, so that it will be left on top. Under-cut to out-jog, forming break at in-jog, run one less than number players, throw to break, run one, in-jog running one less than twice number players, out-jog and shuffle off. Under-cut to in-jog and throw on top. Under-cut to out-jog, run one less than number players and throw balance on top. This gives the four desired cards to the dealer in four rounds.
Erdnase, Expert at the card table
Normally during an overhand shuffle you don’t simply cut a block off and throw it to the top. Instead, what I do is what was done in the first halve of the stack, namely, undercut to the out-jog and form a break at the in-jog. Then as I start the second part of the shuffle, I let the cards below the in-jog drop onto the top of the deck as I run one less than the number of players. This effectively hides the throw and reduces the right hands shuffling motion.
I think it makes the shuffle more deceptive.
Variation on trick that fooled Pen and Teller
This is a mathematical based trick that is explained at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI7o95rGT9c. It is the revelation of two chosen cards using Jokers that were pre-set in the deck. I like good self working tricks and this is a good one. However I wanted to be able to perform it without having to use Jokers.
Continue reading “Variation on trick that fooled Pen and Teller”Faro stack from a cull
In playing around with the faro stack I started to set the five handed stack up with a cull, instead of “losing” the aces.
Continue reading “Faro stack from a cull”Faro stack for 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 hands, four aces
This was a “problem” I gave myself. Obviously you can stack four aces for a four handed game with two faro shuffles, but what if you want to deal a five handed game. Using my faro shuffle simulator I found a pattern that once the aces are in the correct locations a single faro out shuffle will stack them. (I used my faro shuffle simulator to work out the pattern)
Continue reading “Faro stack for 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 hands, four aces”Pick up stack variation
Here is a variation of the pick up stack I described at https://robertjwallace.com/pick-up-stack/. This variation uses overhand shuffling to position the aces.
Continue reading “Pick up stack variation”5 HANDS – ONE RIFFLE SHUFFLE
This is from Marlo’s Magazine Volume Number 6. As he states, this requires a great deal of practice to accomplish. But I find it fun to play with. Read through Marlo’s instructions and then below that I have some of my own notes.
Continue reading “5 HANDS – ONE RIFFLE SHUFFLE”Another Bottom Riffle Runup
Still playing with the bottom riffle concept. I was looking for a single shuffle stack using the bottom run up, but without the need to have a crimped card. This is where I am at this moment. It is a work in progress.
Continue reading “Another Bottom Riffle Runup”