The Educated Cards

In this excellent trick a spectator finds his own card and has not the faintest idea as to how he found it.

First you must secretly place an arrangement at the top of the pack. Run through the pack and place any nine, seven, five, three, and ace at the bottom in sequence, the ace being the face card. Turn the deck face downwards and grasp it at its ends between the left thumb and fingers, the hand being arched over the pack.

With the right thumb at the top and the fingers at the bottom of the pack, draw off the top and bottom cards and drop them on the table. Repeat this six times. You will have a pile of twelve cards which run, from the top down,

x, x, x, 9, x, 7, x, 5, x, 3, x, A.

Push this packet to one side without disturbing the sequence of the cards, and draw off six more sets of two cards in the same way as before. Glance up, saying, "Ever see this before? It's the faro shuffle, the only shuffle the faro dealers use." Drop the pack upon this pile you have just dealt, then carelessly scoop up the first pile and place it on the deck. Thus you have placed your arrangement of twelve cards at the top.

1. Shuffle the deck, retaining the first fifteen cards at the top , then place the pack in your left hand and spread it as if to have a card removed, secretly counting the first twelve cards. Square the deck as if you had changed your mind, and secure a little-finger break under the twelfth card in preparation for the twelve-down riffle control .

Riffle the cards upwards with the right hand, saying, "Take any card you like. I'll riffle slowly so that you have a free choice. Please show your card to everyone." Split the pack at the twelfth card, have the drawn card replaced, and drop the twelve cards upon it, thus placing the chosen card thirteenth from the top. This is the Twelve-Down Riffle Control .

2. Undercut the lower half, injog the first card, and shuffle off. Undercut at the injog , forming a break, and shuffle off to the break. Throw the cards under the break on top, thus returning the arrangement and chosen card to the top. As you do this, say, "Let me show you how simple it is to find your card, even after a genuine shuffle. In fact, to show you how simple it is, I'll let you find the card yourself."

3. Take the pack face downwards in your left hand and begin to deal cards slowly face upwards on the table. "Tell me when to stop the deal." The first three cards you deal are indifferent and every other card thereafter is one of your arrangement. When the command to stop the deal comes, glance at the card face upwards on the table. If it is one of the cards of your arrangement–a nine, seven, five, three, or ace–point to it, saying, "You stopped me on a five–" (or whatever it is) "–so I'll deal five cards." Deal the five cards, pushing the last card dealt to one side. "This is the card at your number," you point out. "What was the name of your card?" He tells you and when you turn the card you placed to one side, it is the spectator's card.

If, however, he stops the deal on an indifferent card, you remove the next card from the top of the pack, saying, "You stopped the deal on this card." Whatever its value, deal that many more cards and the last one will be the chosen card.

The trick has an effect out of all proportion to the simple means involved.