A Poker Player’s Picnic
Taking a pack of cards which has been thoroughly shuffled, a spectactor cuts it into four piles. Turning the top card of each packet himself, he finds that he has actually cut to the four aces.
Preparation. If you make this your first trick, you must beforehand place the four aces on the top of the pack. If you wish to do it following other tricks, or with a borrowed deck, then you must get the aces to the top secretly. Never attempt to do that furtively. Run over the faces of the cards, holding them so that no one else can see them and at the same time saying, “I suppose these are ordinary cards?” Watch for an ace, cut the deck to bring it to the bottom as you look up and say, “Is there a joker in the pack? If so, I don’t want that card.” Continue running through the cards; each time you find an ace separate your hands just enough to be able to push it to the bottom with the left thumb as you glance at the spectators and make some casual remark. If there is a joker, discard it. If you do the work openly and casually, to the onlookers you are merely toying with the cards and your actions pass without special notice.
Procedure. The steps are as follows:
- If you are beginning with this trick and you have the aces at the top of the pack, well and good. If, however, you have had to sort them to the bottom as we have just explained, then you turn the pack face downwards and make an ordinary overhand shuffle. When you reach the last half-dozen cards run them–that is to say, pull them off with the left thumb one by one, thus bringing the four aces to the top.
- Execute the overhand shuffle control, retaining top stock, again leaving the aces on the top.
- Offer to demonstrate how gamblers cheat at cards and comment casually that their skill is greatly overrated. “As a matter of fact,” you say, “almost anyone can duplicate their feats with very little practice.” Single out one of the spectators. “You look as though you might be a good poker player. Will you help me?”
- Place the pack before your assistant and request him to cut it into four packets about equal. He does this, and for the purpose of our explanation we shall call these packets A, B, C, and D, the four aces being the four cards at the top of D (Fig. 9).
- Instruct him to pick up A, remove three cards from the top of the packet and place them at the bottom, then deal one card from the top on to each of the other three packets.
- Have him take B and repeat exactly the same process, putting three cards to the bottom and dealing one card on each of the other three packets. Have him do the same with C and D. (Follow this procedure with the cards and you will at once see that the three cards that are placed one by one on D are finally moved to the bottom of that packet, and then three aces are placed on top of each of the other packets quite unwittingly by the spectator himself.)
- Recapitulate what has been done. “You will recall that you yourself cut the cards and that I did not touch them at any time. I picked you for this demonstration because you have a poker face. Let’s see if I judged you correctly–let’s look at the cards at which you cut.” At your direction, the assistant turns over the top card of each packet and to his astonishment finds each card to be an ace.
Note particularly that at the end of the trick you emphasize that the assistant cut the cards, but do not mention that he also moved cards about. You do this deliberately because you want him to forget about this part of the trick. The average person has great difficulty in recalling the details of any fairly complex action. Capitalize on this weakness by stressing a part of what he did and suppressing another part. This expedient is often used in magic. You will be amazed, sometimes, to hear the assistant describe the trick and state that he shuffled the cards and then cut to the four aces, which he certainly did not do. This unconscious distortion will enhance your reputation and at the same time bring you considerable secret amusement.
A Pocket Discovery
A card having been freely selected by a spectator, noted and replaced in the deck, the pack is shuffled and then placed in a spectator’s pocket. Any number having been chosen, the magician draws cards from the pocket singly and produces the selected card at the number chosen.
- Begin by handing the pack to a spectator and asking him to shuffle it and while doing so to think of any card. When he has done that, instruct him to take that card out of the pack and hand the remaining cards to you. Turn away and have him show the card to the rest of the company. This method of having a card taken by a spectator is a good one, not only because it is obvious that he has a free choice but also because the onlookers will think of it as merely having been “thought of,” which enhances the effect immensely. Note, too, that it is wise to have a chosen card shown to the audience. Nothing is more annoying than to find, on reaching the climax of your feat, that the drawer has forgotten which card he chose. That precaution also prevents a spectator from naming a card wrongly in order to embarrass you; this, sad to relate, some people are tempted to do.
Note: This approach takes advantage of psychological principles such as the illusion of free choice and the importance of audience management. By having the spectator show the card to others, you prevent memory errors and reduce the risk of deliberate sabotage—common issues noted by magicians since the 19th century. The idea that the card is only “thought of” adds a layer of mystery, enhancing the trick’s impact.
- You now have to control the chosen card for your own purposes, and this you do by using the overhand shuffle control. That is, you shuffle off about half the pack on to your left hand, have the card replaced on this packet, run three cards flush, injog the next card, and shuffle off. Undercut below the injogged card and throw on top. The chosen card now lies fourth from the top of the pack.
[Note: The overhand shuffle control is a classic sleight that allows the magician to maintain precise control over a selected card while appearing to shuffle the deck. This technique is described in detail in foundational texts like S.W. Erdnase’s “The Expert at the Card Table” and is central to both magic and card cheating. Its effectiveness relies on the audience’s assumption that the shuffle is genuine.– RJW]
- It is necessary for you to know the chosen card, and to secure this information you must glimpse the index of the fourth card, as follows: Continue, as explained in the section referred to above, by remarking that the shuffle may have brought the chosen card near the top or bottom. Lift off the top three cards, show them, and drop them face down on the table. Turn the pack face upwards in your left hand, take off several cards with your right hand, at the same moment pressing the top card of the pack (the chosen card, now resting against the left palm) to the left just enough to expose the index (Fig. 10). Since this action takes place on the side of the deck away from the audience, it is imperceptible to them. Show the cards in your right hand, replace them on the bottom of the pack, turn the pack face downwards, and drop it on the three cards on the table. You have the chosen card on the top of the pack and you know what card it is, although everyone should be convinced that it is unknown to you and buried in the deck.
[Note: The glimpse is a subtle but powerful move in card magic, relying on the principle of “directional attention.” By performing the action on the side away from the audience and combining it with a natural gesture, you exploit inattentional blindness—a well-documented psychological phenomenon—making the secret action invisible to spectators. – RJW]
- “Let us put the cards to a harder test,” you say. “Will you, sir, kindly empty your breast pocket.” As he does this you can generally contrive to cause some amusement over the heterogeneous articles thus brought to light. Hand the pack to him telling him to put it in his pocket, but you must note carefully which way the cards face as he does so. “Now that the cards are out of my possession, will you, sir, name any number you please–say between one and twelve, just to save time.” Suppose he says, “Eight.” “Very well, this is what I propose to try: Seven times I will take a single card from your pocket and at the eighth draw I will order the chosen card to jump into my hand. Ready?”
- Draw out seven cards in succession from the face of the pack, counting them and laying them face downwards on the table. “Eight, you said. Very well, now for the eighth card.” Plunge your hand into the pocket, calling out, “Allez oop!” Then, without withdrawing the hand, “A card has leapt into my hand!” Lean forward, let your right ear rest against the pocket. “The card tells me it is a seven. The seven of “Then take the card out and hold it face downwards. “Will you, sir, be kind enough to complete the name?…. The seven of hearts.” Turn the card face upwards and show that you have succeeded. The feat is made up of the simplest possible elements, but properly presented it never fails to create amusement and wonderment.
[Note: The use of humor and theatrical presentation here is essential. By involving the spectator’s pocket and adding playful patter, you increase engagement and make the effect more memorable. Psychological research shows that humor and audience participation increase both attention and recall, making the magic more impactful.
Note: Today it is less likely to have someone with a “breast” pocket. You can, instead, place the deck in your own pants pocket and withdraw cards from there. – RJW]
Telepathy Plus
Having turned the conversation to the subject of mind reading, an easy matter at the present time, ask permission to attempt an experiment of that nature. Explain that you have had some success with objects that can be pictured mentally and pretend to select with great care some person as concentrator and transmitter.
- Hand him a pack of cards and have him shuffle it thoroughly, then instruct him to deal a row of five spot cards of differing suits and values. If picture cards or cards of the same value turn up, they are to be discarded. Suppose that the row, when completed, consists of 9H 5S AD 3S 7C. Everyone must be convinced that these cards have been chosen by chance alone.
[Note: Emphasizing the randomness of the selection process is a classic method for increasing the perceived fairness of a trick. Magicians have long known that the illusion of chance strengthens the magical effect, as described in works by Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin and modern magic theorists. – RJW]
- Take back the pack and invite the spectator to select, mentally, any one of the five cards and to concentrate deeply on its suit and value. In order not to be suspected of detecting the card by the direction of his gaze, turn your head away as he looks at them. When he announces that he has set his mind upon a card, turn the five cards face downwards as they lie, but in the meantime you have memorized their values, taking no notice of the suits, by saying to yourself, “Ninety-five, one thirty-seven.” In memorizing figures always divide them into groups in this fashion; never try to remember separate figures.
[Note: The memorization technique described here is an application of chunking, a psychological principle identified by George A. Miller in the 1950s. Grouping information into meaningful units dramatically increases memory capacity and is widely used by both magicians and memory experts. -RJW]
- In order to understand the following process of shuffling the cards, we should explain that its object is to place the five cards secretly at positions from the top of the pack corresponding with their values. Thus at the conclusion the ace of diamonds must be the top card, the three of spades the third card, the five of spades the fifth card, and so on. To do this, assume a poker face, look steadily at the spectator, and pick up the nine of hearts (the card of the highest value of the five), its face towards yourself, letting no one else get a glimpse of it. Look at it gravely, then lay it on the top of the pack in your left hand. Recalling that the next highest card is the seven of clubs, begin an overhand shuffle by running one card flush on top of the nine of hearts, injog the next card, and shuffle off. Undercut at the injog and throw on top.
- Repeat your pantomime of studying the spectator’s face as if to read his innermost thought, take up the seven of clubs, look at it, and then put it on the top of the pack. The next highest card being the five of spades, again you have to run one card flush, injog the next card, shuffle off, undercut, and throw on top.
- Repeat the same process with the three of spades; but with the ace of diamonds, after placing it at the top, you must injog the first card, shuffle off, and undercut. When the undercut is thrown on top, the five cards will now be at the numbers from the top denoted by their values, and you are master of the situation. Needless to say, throughout the shuffling you have refrained from staring at your hands and have kept up a running fire of entreaties to your subject to concentrate upon his card.
[Note: The apparent fairness of the shuffling, combined with the performer’s feigned mind-reading, creates a powerful illusion. The technique of acting as though you are reading the spectator’s thoughts is a form of cold reading, a method used by magicians and mentalists for over a century. – RJW]
- Hand the pack to the spectator, addressing him somewhat after this fashion: “I have obtained from you a distinct impression of a certain card. If I were to name that card and you agreed that it is the one of which you are thinking, others would almost certainly believe that you were merely being complaisant. There would be no certainty that I really have read your thoughts. For this reason I have arranged matters so that the proof must be accepted by all–that is, If I have succeeded. The pack is in your hands; I cannot tamper with it, and my proof is this: I have placed your card in a certain position which I could only have done by knowing what card it is. Please name the card upon which you have… concentrated. The five of spades! I knew it! And, knowing it is a five, I placed that very card fifth from the top. Deal four cards face down, please. Now turn up the fifth card. The five of spades! Thank you, sir;! have never worked with anyone possessing greater powers of concentration.” Take back the pack, gather up the cards just dealt face downwards, and shuffle the pack. In tricks of this nature it is always advisable to carry on at once with another that depends on an entirely different principle.
[Note: The final revelation is strengthened by the fact that the magician does not touch the cards during the climax, a technique known as “hands-off magic.” This increases the impossibility of the effect and is a hallmark of advanced card magic, as recommended by experts like Dai Vernon and Juan Tamariz. -RJW]