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Mathematical Card Tricks
Mathematical Card Tricks
Ask the spectator to return one card from the left hand pile to the
main deck. Ask him how many he would like to discard from the
right hand pile. Suppose he says 3. Remember that number.
Spectator returns 3 to the main deck from the right hand pile.
Now tell him to take as many cards as are left in the right hand
pile from the left hand pile and put them back with the main deck.
This done, you remind him you did not know how many cards he
dealt in the first place so could have no idea how many remain.
Yet you call the correct number, in this case, 2. Sure enough, he
has 2 cards left.
The answer must always be one less than the number he called
out. In the case assumed he called 3, so the answer is 2 cards
left.
Add a Pair
Hand pack to spectator. Turn your back to him. Tell him to remove
any 2 spot cards and add the spots together. A 7 and a 5 would
total 12. So he puts his 2 chosen cards to one side while he deals
a pile of cards equal to the total of their spots, in this case, 12. He
then deals another heap of the same number.
He assembles these 2 heaps into one, then puts his 2 chosen
cards on top of the combined heap. Finally he puts the balance of
the pack on top of all. Cards are face down at all times.
You turn, take the cards, stressing that you do not know the 2
cards chosen, therefore you could not know the number dealt.
Likewise you could not know where his 2 cards lie in the deck. He
must agree.
Fan the pack face up in front of you, passing the cards from one
hand to the other, counting from the face of the deck. Begin your
count at O. Count the first 2 cards as 0, the second pair as (41,"
the 3rd pair as "2," the 4th pair as "3" etc.
Removing them 2 by 2, when you arrive at a pair of cards, the
spots on which total the same as your mentally counted number,
those will be the 2 selected cards. In this case the spots on a pair
of cards will total 12 as you mentally count Credited to Torn
Sellers.
Perfect Force
World's easiest force. Only trouble, you need more than one
spectator. Top card is the force card. Put pack on left fingers, out
near fingertips. With left hand held out flat, go to "A." Ask him to
cut the deck. He cuts off' the top portion. You motion with your
right hand for him to put the cut-off part on your palm, (back of
bottom portion.)
Numerology
Ask him to count off any 8 cards. Have him hold these 8 behind
his back in order to shuffle them behind him. Say: "Shuffle these
without looking at them." As you put the cards in his hands held
behind him, just turn the bottom card face up. Doing this behind
his back, he can't see it.
Say "After you've mixed the cards behind you, turn the top and
bottom cards face up. Next, shuffle them again, and again reverse
the top and bottom cards. Repeat this as often as you wish. When
you finish spread the cards on the table. Since your numbers are
5 and 3, you should have 5 cards facing one way and 3 the other.
Note: Have your spectator stop at either 3rd, 5th, or 7th time they
do this, as it is not probable, it is possible to undue your 5/3
spread and you will end with a 7/1 spread, as you did at the start
of the routine. The chances of it happing are low, but it can
happen.
Your prediction proves correct. The trick works automatically. This
is credited to Bob Hummer.
It makes no difference how many you cut off except you must
know the number. Let us suppose you cut 4 cards from the
bottom and transferred those 4 to the top of the packet.
Hand back the packet to him. Ask him to put the cards behind his
back where you cannot see them and to transfer his number from
the top to the bottom, that is, the same number his card was from
the top of the packet when he first decided upon it.
Easy Reverse
A spectator shuffles his deck and deals 2 piles of 10 cards each.
He picks up either pile and from it chooses a card which he puts
on the table face down. He then deals this pile on top of his card,
dealing the first card face down, the next face up, the third face
down, and so on, alternating.
He deals the other pile on top of those 10, dealing the first card
face up, the second face down, and so on. He cuts the 20-card
packet to lose his card, then hands the packet to you behind your
back.
You put the top card between thumb and first finger, the second
card between first and second finger, the third card between
thumb and first finger, and so on with all 20. Finally you take one
group (either one) and turn it over, then combine the two groups
into one.
Bring the cards into view and ribbon spread them across the
table. All cards will be facing one way while the chosen card will
be reversed in the spread.
Tell him that if he can't find his own card, there is no way that you
can find it except to look at their backs and locate the one with
his initials. Turn over the cards. Pick out the one with his initials on
the back. Show that it is the very card on which you wrote yours
on the face. Credit to Ned Rutledge.
Back In Place
A spectator shuffles his deck, thinks of a number between 1 and
10, then looks at the card at that number from the top. He now
transfers the Same number of cards from the bottom to the top.
You sec none of this as your back is turned.
You now take the deck and place it behind your back. You stress
the fact that since you do not know the number he thought of,
and since it is no longer at that number inasmuch as some were
transferred from the bottom on top of it, you wiII attempt the
impossible. That is, with no knowledge of his number you will find
it and restore his card to its original position.
Behind your back count off 20 from the top, placing the first
between a thumb and first finger, the second between the first
and second finger, the third on the card between thumb and first
finger, the fourth under the card between first and second fingers,
and so on, until you have dealt 20. Now put the 10 that are
between the first and second fingers on the 10 that are between
thumb and first finger, then place all 20 on top of pack.
Bring pack into view. State that you have located his card and
placed it back in its original position. Ask him his number.
Suppose he says 7. Count down to the 7th card and toss out. Ask
him the name of his card. He says, for instance, the 3 of clubs.
Turn the tossed-out card face up. Sure enough, it is the 3 of clubs.
Perfect Location
Perhaps the closest approach to the perfect card location, as the
spectator does everything with the deck in his own hands. Hand
deck to spectator. Have him shuffle. Ask him to remove any card,
to note and remember it, then put it face down on the table. Tell
him to cut the rest of the deck into 3 piles ABOUT EQUAL.
Tell him to put his card on anyone of the 3 piles, then take the pile
with the chosen card on top, turn the whole pile over and put it
face up on either of the other 2 piles. He then puts the remaining
pile face down on top of all. Thus the pile with his card will be face
up sandwiched between 2 face down piles.
Ask him to give the deck one riffle shuffle. After this he may give
the pack a complete cut or two. The cards will consequently be
well mixed, some face up, some face down. Take the deck and
turn it over. Run through the deck and you will find a few face up
followed by a few face down cards, then a whole batch of face up
cards. The rest of the pack will consist of small batches of face up
and face down cards.
The first face down card after the big batch of face up cards will
always be the selected card. You can then reveal it in any manner.
In seeking his card, what you do is to look for the longest run of
face up cards. His card will be the one immediately following this
run.
Pointers: Make sure the 3 piles are nearly equal. For the riffle
shuffle, make sure the pack is cut as nearly in the center as
possible, then riffled.
Impromptu Card To Pocket
No Sleights
Hand a spectator the pack and turn your back to him. He is asked
to cut a small packet of cards from the top of the pack. He counts
his cards silently, then puts them in his pocket. He then turns the
deck FACE UP and looks at the card from the face of the deck
corresponding to the number pocketed. Thus if he removed 5
cards, he will note the 5th from the BOTTOM.
Spectator cuts the pack so that his noted card will be brought to a
now unknown position. When you turn around you take the pack
and rapidly deal 26 cards onto the table, explaining you intend to
use only the half containing his card. Spreading these 26, ask the
spectator to see if his is among them, and simply to say yes or no
without indicating the card. It is not there.
You say then the other half obviously must contain it. You fan the
rest of the pack face up but he still doesn't see his card. You then
produce it from your pocket. And no sleight of hand is involved.
Once you cut the short card to the top, the chosen card becomes
27th from the top. As outlined above, you say you will divide the
pack in half. So you deal off 26, this leaves his card right on top of
those left in your hands.
Hold these in your left hand while you lean forward to turn those
on the table face up and spread them with your right. The balance
of the pack comes naturally over the opening of your left coat
pocket. At the moment you turn over the cards on the table you
thumb the selected one into the pocket. Thumb just slides it off
from the rest. This misdirection is absolutely perfect.
When spectator cannot find his card, you turn over the other pile.
When he vainly seeks it there, you produce it from your pocket for
a surprise climax.