I recently wrote about using two Faro shuffles and an overhand shuffle to stack four aces for a five handed game of poker. (Obviously for a magic/gambling demonstration.) I kept playing around and here is another variation using second deals instead of an overhand shuffle.
Continúa leyendo "Just a second, a five handed poker stack with Faros"Milking the Faro, 5 hand poker stack
This is something I am playing with. Start with four aces on top of the deck. Perform two in faros, which stack the aces for a four handed game. Now you can show the top three cards and the bottom three cards to the spectator to show that the deck is “well shuffled”.
Continúa leyendo "Milking the Faro, 5 hand poker stack"Prior Commitment simulator
Simon Aronson published a great card trick titled Prior Commitment first published in his book Simply Simon in 1995. This book is a collection of Aronson’s original card magic and includes detailed explanations of his principles, including the Undo Influence that powers Prior Commitment.
Prior Commitment was performed on Penn & Teller: Fool Us by British mentalist Graham Jolley, and it successfully fooled them.
Continúa leyendo "Prior Commitment simulator"My Streamlined Handling of Larry Jennings’s “Larry’s Favorite”
This routine is a simplified adaptation of a classic effect by the legendary Larry Jennings, originally published in his book, The Cardwright. While Jennings’s method was a masterpiece of impromptu magic, this version uses a single, pre-set breather crimp card to make the performance smooth, reliable, and completely baffling to an audience.
The Effect
The performer asks a spectator to freely select a card from a deck and remember it. The card is returned and appears to be genuinely lost. The performer then asks the spectator to think of a number between ten and twenty. With a magical flourish, the magician cuts off a packet of cards from the deck, proving that they have cut to the exact number the spectator was thinking of. The final card in that packet is, impossibly, the spectator’s selected card.
Continúa leyendo "My Streamlined Handling of Larry Jennings’s “Larry’s Favorite”"Stacking a Royal Flush for a five handed game.
I just finished writing up the trick “Just Lucky“, which ends with you having found a Royal Flush. So I thought a good follow up trick would be to demonstrate how a card cheat could take those cards and stack them to be dealt to the dealer in a five handed game of draw poker.
Continúa leyendo "Stacking a Royal Flush for a five handed game."Just Lucky
This trick, attributed to Roy Walton, is a variation of a routine by Howard Adams that was featured in Genii magazine. It’s a self-working card trick, meaning it relies on a specific setup and mathematical principle rather than sleight of hand.
Continúa leyendo "Just Lucky"Free cut poker deal
This is not for everyone, but it is something I have been playing with. It is based on the “Free Cut Principle”, and sets up the deck for a five handed poker game, with the four aces going to the dealer. For more on the “Free Cut Principle” see:
Finnell, Gene. Free Cut Principle. Self-published, 1967.
- This booklet is a landmark publication. Gene Finnell independently rediscovered the principle and published several applications, including one titled “Aces at Random,” which is a direct application of the principle to find the four aces.
Marlo’s Stacking Two Sets of Three
This is from “Riffle Shuffle Systems”. I found it easier to do by swapping the right hand and left hand actions, so this is that description. This method sets up the deck so that in a five-handed poker game, the first player receives all three Kings and the dealer receives all three Aces. The instructions below have been rewritten to reverse the left and right hand actions from the original text.
Continúa leyendo "Marlo’s Stacking Two Sets of Three"Marlo’s Two-and-Two Combination riffle stack
Ed Marlo was a prolific and brilliant creator, but his writing style was dense, technical, and often difficult to follow. He wrote for experienced magicians, using highly specific terminology and offering exhaustive variations without always clarifying the core method. As a result, powerful ideas—like his two-and-two combination riffle stack—can be buried beneath layers of complexity.
What follows is a clearer, more accessible explanation of Marlo’s two-and-two combination stack. I’ve aimed to preserve the mechanics and intent while making the method easier to understand and apply.
Continúa leyendo "Marlo’s Two-and-Two Combination riffle stack"Prediction Effect
This is my handling of a “self” working effect from one of Bob Longe’s books. He’s written many well‐regarded card‑trick books—notably Mystifying Card Tricks, World’s Best Card Tricks, y 101 Amazing Card Tricks—which offer a mix of sleights and self‐working effects.
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