The Non-Poker Voice

We have been considering the use of a single card as a key card which reveals the position of a chosen card, and now we shall describe still another use to which this stratagem may be placed.

Preparation. Remove from the pack and pocket any four cards, one of which is a heart. Place six cards of the heart suit at the top of the pack and the remaining six at the bottom.

Procedure. The steps are as follows:

1. Assert that you are convinced that there is no such thing as a poker voice; that, no matter how a person may school himself, he cannot keep the inflections which betray the inner emotion from his voice. You claim further that you can infallibly determine which of a number of cards a person may be thinking of merely by listening to his voice as he calls out the names of the cards of a pack.

2. To offer proof of your assertion, hand someone the prepared pack of cards, turn your back and walk away as you request the spectator to deal six piles of cards, one by one from left to right in turn, thus secretly placing a heart at the top and bottom of each pile. This done, instruct him to remove any card from any one of the piles, show it to the others present, and drop it at the top of one of the other five piles. Next have him gather the piles in any order he likes, without disarranging the cards, and cut the pack two or three times, completing each cut.

When this has been done there will be six pairs of cards of the heart suit, side by side, spread at intervals throughout the pack. Between one of these pairs there will be an indifferent card, and this will be the chosen card.

3. Instruct the spectator to take the cards in his hands and, while you still have your back turned, to call out the names of the cards one by one. Warn him that although he may attempt to make his voice expressionless, you will detect the name of his card from the tone of his voice when he names it.

4. As he calls out the names of the cards, pretend to listen attentively. Whenever he names cards of the heart suit, note if a card of another suit intervenes; for example, he may call, "Nine of spades, ten of diamonds, four of hearts , seven of spades, nine of hearts ." The intervening card, in this case the seven of spades, will be his card. Let him call off a half dozen cards more and then stop him.

"You have already named your card. That's right, isn't it?" you say.

"Yes."

"A few moments ago, when you named the spade suit, your voice quivered almost imperceptibly. Your card is a spade. That's correct?"

"It is."

"When you named the value of this spade card, your throat tightened. Do you remember? You were afraid that I would know that the seven of spades was the card. That's correct, is it not?"

He agrees that it is. You say: "A word of caution, sir. Be careful in poker games!" Take the pack from him, shuffle it absent-mindedly, and place it to one side, thus destroying any possible clues to your method.