DAI VERNON’S POKER DEMONSTRATION Magicians are indebted to Jay Marshall, well-known magician, past editor of The New Phoenix and current Dean of the Society of American Magicians, for this effect.In 1954, Dai Vernon, demonstrated his poker deal during a lecture he was giving at the SAM. Convention in Chicago. Jay sought his permission to include it in an upcoming issue of The New Phoenix, however Dai was reluctant to release it to the fraternity. Jay later challenged Dai to decide the matter over the chess board. Dai couldn't resist the challenge. Jay won two out of three chess games and the rest, as they say, is history. The effect later appeared in The New Phoenix; Magic Inc. publication, “Early Vernon;” and of course, Lewis Ganson’s wonderful tribute to the Professor,"‘The Dai Vernon Book of Magic.” Most people are interested in gambling in some form or another and although some members of an audience may not personally indulge in gambling or even approve of it, even the most antagonistic will be curious to see the methods used by crooked operators. An entertainer with cards is often asked if he knows these methods and will have an interested audience if he offers to demonstrate. The poker demonstration about to be described is ideal for such a situation, as the magician confesses that he is going to cheat. In fact, he states that he is going to stack the cards in the manner a crooked gambler would in play. Although the audience are shown what they believe to be a method of stacking as the cards are shuffled, they still will have no clue as to how the final result is brought about. The secret isin a pre-arrangement of the pack before the demonstration commences, and the reader is referred to the photo on the next page (page 2), which, together with the following instructions, wll make this clear. On the left-hand side of the illustration is shown five hands of cards (five cards in each hand). From a pack of fifty-two playing cards remove the corresponding twenty-five cards and lay them out on a table in the same order as in the illustration. Also remove from the pack the ‘cards shown on the right-hand side of the illustration and place them on the table, but apart, from the five hands — in fact, place all the cards out exactly as you see them in the illustration.