"The Expert at the Card Table is the most famous, the most carefully studied book ever published on the art of manipulating cards at gaming tables." —from the Foreword by Martin Gardner.
For almost a century, this book has been considered indispensable to attaining the highest level of card mastery. In it, S. W. Erdnase, a supreme master of card manipulation, teaches card enthusiasts how to perform the dazzling tricks and sleights — many of them his own creations — that made him famous.
The first section of the book deals with card table artifice, or, to put it more bluntly, cheating at cards. Step by step, Mr. Erdnase demonstrates his own systems of false shuffling, false riffling and cutting, dealing from the bottom, and such slick moves as palming cards, "skinning the hand" — even three-card monte.
The second section covers legerdemain: the art of forcing a card, one- and two-hand transformations, the devious "slide" and more. Card handlers will love Erdnase's selection of dazzling card tricks, including The Acrobatic Jacks, The Exclusive Coterie, The Divining Rod, The Invisible Flights, A Mind Reading Trick, and many others.
In an informative Foreword to this edition, Martin Gardner relates the unhappy details of the author's personal life, and recounts the history of this famous book, whose methods, Mr. Gardner asserts, "are as useful today by magicians and card hustlers as they were in 1902. This book is still the bible of card 'mechanics,' and as much a delight to read as it was in the early years of this century."
Author(s): S. W. Erdnase
Publisher: Dover Publications
Year: 2012
Language: English
Tags: magic;magic tricks;card tricks;card manipulation
Cover
Title
Copyright
Table of Contents
FOREWORD TO THE DOVER EDITION
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
# CARD-TABLE ARTIFICE
TECHNICAL TERMS
ERDNASE SYSTEM OF BLIND SHUFFLES
- POSITION FOR SHUFFLE
- BLIND SHUFFLES
- I. To Retain Top Stock
- II. To Retain Top Stock and Shuffle Whole Deck
- III. To Retain Bottom Stock and Shuffle Whole Deck
- ERDNASE SYSTEM OF BLIND RIFFLES AND CUTS
- BLIND RIFFLES
- I. To Retain Top Stock
- II. To Retain Bottom Stock
- BLIND CUTS
- I. To Retain Bottom Stock. Top Losing One Card
- II. To Retain Complete Stock
- III. To Retain Top Stock
- IV. To Retain Bottom Stock
- COMBINATION RIFFLE AND CUTS
- V. To Retain Bottom Stock. Riffle II and Cut IV
- FANCY BLIND CUTS
- I. To Retain Complete Stock
- II. To Retain Complete Stock
- ONE-HANDED FANCY TRUE CUT
- TO INDICATE THE LOCATION FOR THE CUT
- I. By Crimp
- II. By Job
- III. By Crimp
- IV. By Jog
BOTTOM DEALING
TOP AND BOTTOM DEALING WITH ONE HAND
SECOND DEALING
ORDINARY METHODS OF STOCKING, LOCATING AND SECURING
STOCK SHUFFLE
ERDNASE SYSTEM OF STOCK SHUFFLING
- Two-Card Stock
- Three-Card Stock
- Four-Card Stock
- Five-Card Stock
- Twelve-Card Stock
- Euchre Stock
- Euchre Stock
ERDNASE SYSTEM OF CULL SHUFFLING
- To Cull Two Cards
- To Cull Three Cards
- To Cull Four Cards
- To Cull Nine Cards
ERDNASE SYSTEM OF PALMING
- Top Palm, First Method
- Top Palm, Second Methods
- Bottom Palm, First Method
- Bottom Palm, Second Method
- Bottom Palm, When Cards Are Riffled
TO MAINTAIN THE BOTTOM PALM WHILE DEALING
TO HOLD THE LOCATION OF CUT WHILE DEALING
SHIFTS
- Two-Handed Shift
- Erdnase Shift, One Hand
- Erdnase Shift, Two Hands
TO ASCERTAIN THE TOP CARDS WHILE RIFFLING AND RESERVE THEM AT BOTTOM
MODE OF HOLDING THE HAND
SKINNING THE HAND
THE PLAYER WITHOUT AN ALLY
- Dealing Without the Cut
- Replacing the Cut as Before
- Holding Out for the Cut
- Shifting the Cut
- Dealing Too Many
- Crimping for the Cut
- Replacing Palm When Cutting
- The Short Deck
THREE CARD MONTE
- Mexican Three Card Monte
# LEGERDEMAIN
SHIFTS
- Single-Handed Shift
- The Longitudinal Shift
- The Open Shift
- The S. W. E. Shift
- The Diagonal Palm-Shift
THE BLIND SHUFFLE FOR SECURING SELECTED CARD
FORCING
PALMING
- The Back Palm
CHANGES
- The Top Change
- The Bottom Change
- The Palm Change
- The Double-Palm Change
TRANSFORMATIONS. TWO HANDS
- First Method
- Second Method
- Third Method
- Fourth Method
- Fifth Method
- Sixth Method
TRANSFORMATIONS. ONE HAND
- First Method
- Second Method
BLIND SHUFFLES, RETAINING ENTIRE ORDER
- First Method
- Second Method
- Third Method
- Fourth Method
- Fifth Method
METHODS FOR DETERMINING A CARD THOUGHT OF
- A. By the Riffle
- B. By Springing Flourish
- C. By the Cut
- D. By the Gaze
TO GET SIGHT OF SELECTED CARD
THE SLIDE
FAVORITE SLEIGHTS FOR TERMINATING TRICKS
- Catching Two Cards at Fingertips
- Leaving Selected Cards in Hand of Spectator
- The Revolution
- Cards Rising from the Hand
# CARD TRICKS
TRICKS WITH THE PREARRANGED DECK
- The Traveling Cards
- The Row of Ten Cards
- The Acrobatic Jacks
- A Mind-Reading Trick
- Power of Concentrated Thought
- The Acme of Control
- The Card and Handkerchief
- The Top and Bottom Production
- The Three Aces
- The Card and Hat
