Home Entertaining: Amusements for Every One

by William Eastman Chenery

The explanation is as follows: The pack is pre-arranged in this manner: on an ace, laid face downward, place a deuce; on this a tray; on this a four; and so on to ten; and then a jack, queen, and king. These thirteen cards are on top of the pack, and when the pack is cut, the performer notes which packet contains the arranged cards. He now requests some one to select one of the packets, forcing the bottom packet. That is, if he selects the bottom packet, use that, if he selects the top packet, say “I will take the other.” In any case arrange to use the bottom packet. A spectator takes any number of cards up to ten from the selected packet and passes them on the other packet, the performer turning his back while this is done. The two packets are now placed together, taking care that the packet on which the transposed cards were placed is uppermost. Now, no matter how many cards were placed upon the arranged packet, the fourteenth card from the top will always give the correct number, so that in dealing off the cards, the performer must not lose sight of the fourteenth card. Deal off about twenty cards, throwing them carelessly on the table, but allowing the fourteenth card to be a trifle more exposed than the others. This will facilitate the choice of the card. The performer now asks the number of cards transposed, and after the spectator has replied, the selected card is turned over, and the number of its spots correspond to the number of cards transposed.

The Three Packets. Tell a person to choose as he pleases three cards from a euchre pack, informing him that an ace counts for eleven, a picture card for ten, and the others according to the number of spots. When he has chosen these three, tell him to put them on the table and to place on each as many cards as spots are required to make fifteen. That is to say, eight cards would have to be put on the seven of clubs, four cards on the ace, and a five above the ten. Let him return you the rest of the pack, and (while pretending to count something in them) count how many remain. Add sixteen to this number, and you will have the number of spots in the three bottom cards.

A Card Found at the Second Guess. Offer the cards to some person, and let him draw one. You then hold the cards behind you, and tell him to place his card on top. Pretend to make a great shuffling, but only turn that card with its back to the others, still keeping it at the top. Then hold up the cards with their faces towards the spectator, and ask him if the bottom card is his. (While doing so, you inspect his card at your leisure.) He of course denies it and then you again put the cards behind you, turn over his card so it will face with the others and begin shuffling again furiously. “Let me do that,” he will probably say; so, as you are perfectly acquainted with his card, let him shuffle as much as he likes, and then when you get the cards back again, shuffle, and show him his own card.

Pocketing a Chosen Card. The performer exhibits four cards, held fanwise in his left hand and requests a spectator mentally to select one. The performer then takes one of the cards and places it in his pocket. Upon spreading the cards again the spectator’s card is missing and the performer draws the mentally selected card from his pocket.

Four cards are arranged as follows: king of clubs, jack of hearts, jack of spades, and queen of diamonds.

Behind the king of clubs, the top card of the pack, arrange these three cards, queen of clubs, king of spades and jack of diamonds. At the outset, the seven cards can be on the top of the pack, the last named three cards, of course, on top of the king of clubs.

Give the pack a shuffle, taking care not to disturb the seven arranged cards on top. Rapidly count off these cards in such a manner that the audience cannot see how many cards you take. Arrange the king of clubs, jack of hearts, jack of spades, and queen of diamonds fanwise in the left hand, keeping the three extra cards, the queen of clubs, king of spades and jack of diamonds concealed behind the king of clubs. It does not matter in what order the suits of the three concealed cards are arranged. The proper method of holding the fan of cards is with the left side of the king (and the three concealed cards) pressed tightly in the crotch of the left thumb, the opposite edge being held by the tip of the first finger of the left hand. This will keep the cards from spreading and bringing the trick to a premature and disastrous conclusion. The other three cards of the fan are held between the tips of the left thumb and second and third fingers.

Turn your back to the spectators and hold the fan high above your head, the faces of the cards toward the audience, and request a spectator to think of one of the cards. When the choice has been made, square the cards, inserting the little finger between the king of clubs and the three cards back of it. Then you say: “I shall now place one of the cards in my pocket,” and, suiting the action to the words, take the four cards you have just shown, and holding them as one card, place them in the pocket, leaving the three extra cards in your left hand. Ask the spectator to name his card. Let us suppose he chose the king of clubs. The performer replies, “The king of clubs? Ah, then I read your mind correctly, for I placed the king of clubs in my pocket. Let me show you first that the king has left the pack.” The performer spreads the three cards, the queen of clubs, the king of spades and the jack of diamonds, on the table. He then produces the desired card from the pocket. As the order of the suits is known, this part of the trick is a simple matter. If the chosen card is the jack of spades the performer picks out the third card. A little practice is necessary in order to make the selection quickly, for there must be no fumbling in the pocket.

The spectator will never detect the substitution of the cards; for the ingenious arrangement of the suits tends to confuse the mind.