Pages from precursor no 86 39194

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PRECURSOR

LXXXVI

This is PRECURSOR LXXXVI and is published in May 2003. PRECURSOR is edited by William P. Miesel and is published by unikorn magik. The editorial offices are at 2215 Myrtle Street, Erie, Pennsylvania, 16502-2643 (phone 1-814-454-8802). unikorn magik can be reached through Ed Eckl, "Clutter Cottage," 3 Gregg Street, Beverly, Massachusetts, 01915-2913, (phone 1-978-927-9388. PRECURSOR will be published more than three times a year, and it will be sold for $21.00 (U.S.) for three issues. Outside the United States, Canada, and Mexico, three issues are sent Air Mail for $25.00 (U.S.).

This issue of Precursor is devoted to Gambling Demonstrations, all of which were provided by Tony Econ, who has been performing as a Card Sharp for over forty years with an act entitled, "The Magic of the Card Sharp Begins Where Fiction Ends."

In "The Supreme Card Sharp," Tony Econ, starts off with a complete gambling demonstration including Second Dealing, Bottom Dealing, Ace Cutting, and stacking that does not require sleight-of-hand. There are also some suggestions where the addition of a little sleight-of-hand makes the routine even more convincing.

One of the most talked about stories in Card Magic is the one about John Scarne "Cutting High Card" with several gamblers, hosted by Arnold Rothstein. "Cutting High Card" is Tony Econ's simulation of Scarne's presentation before Arnold Rothstein.

"Erdnase Four Card Stock - Plus" is Tony Econ's expansion of the "Erdnase Four Card Stock Shuffle." In a hand of Poker, all five players get a four-of-a-kind with the dealer getting the four Aces.

In "Any Player - Any Hand" the spectators decide upon how many players in a game of Poker and then designate the hand to receive the four Aces.

Tony Econ's "New Deck Triumph Stock" is performed with a brand new deck and combines a "Triumph Shuffle" with a "Poker Deal" to achieve a very pretty effect.

In the "New Year's Eve Bridge Deal" all four hands in a game of Bridge get a "Perfect Bridge Hand" to go along with a story about a New Year's Eve Party.

Tony Econ has come up with a routine called "New Deck Demo" wherein the poker hands get progressively better with each deal and all dealt from a new deck.

In "Winning Hand Poker," the four Aces are shuffled into the deck. The second player gets the four Aces and the dealer gets a King-High Straight Flush. Tony Econ provides us with two different methods.

"Technicolor Poker Deal" is similar to the previous routine, "Winning Hand Poker," but the backs of the four Aces have contrasting color backs compared to the rest of the deck. There are three different handlings to choose from.

"The Technicolor Stack Routine" is a three phase Four Ace stacking routine. The first phase is a regular Riffle Shuffle Stock, the second phase is a Triumph Riffle Shuffle Stock, and the third phase, again, uses a Riffle Shuffle Stock with four Aces from a deck with different colored backs and ends with a surprise kicker climax.

William P. Miesel January 1,2003

THE SUPREME CARD SHARP The magician puts on a non-sleight-of-hand display of crooked gambling technique, starting with a demonstration of second dealing, continuing with bottom dealing, cutting the Aces, a hand containing the four Kings with all of the other hands containing a four-of-a-kind, and finally a flawless demonstration of palming. The requirements for this effect include four extra Aces, a prearranged deck, and lots of acting.

To set up, place the four Kings, Queens, Jacks, Tens, and Nines as well as the Four Aces from the deck along with the four extra Aces on the table. Below is the prearrangement of the deck:

k-(4 9's) - A4- - (4 K's) (4 J' • ) - A * - ( 4 Q ' s ) - X - X _ X - A 4 > - A V - ( 4 1 0 ' s ) (a few cards) - AfP - ( a few more cards) - A * - (a few more cards) - A+ (balance of the deck) 1. Introduce this routine with whatever patter suits you; I'll leave the actual patter up to you.

Pick up the deck, look at and miscall the top card, "The Ace of Spades. " 2. Deal four cards into a pile on the table. Turn the top card face up showing the Ace of Spades.

Turn the Ace of Spades back face down and deal eight more cards onto the tabled pile. Turn the next card face up showing the Ace of Spades again. Drop the Ace of Spades face up on top of the tabled packet. Now, pick up the entire packet and replace it back on top of the deck.

Phase II 3. "Explain" how a Second Deal works by actually dealing three Seconds slowly with the Ace of Spades face up. To do this, merely push over the top Ace with the left thumb as if to deal it, but actually deal the exposed card under it. Repeat this Second Deal twice more and then deal the face-up Ace of Spades on the table. Push the three tabled face-down cards off to the side.

4. Turn the deck so that the faces are toward yourself and start running through the deck looking for the other three Aces. Remove the first Ace of Diamonds, Ace of Clubs, and Ace of Hearts you come to on the bottom of the stock and drop them face up on top of the Ace of Spades.

5. Now for the Bottom Dealing sequence of the routine, place the four Aces on the bottom of the deck with the Diamond first, then the Club, Heart, and Spade. The reason for observing this strict order is to duplicate exactly what would happen if they were really dealt from the bottom.

6. Turn the deck face down into dealing position and deal five hands of Draw Poker. Be sure to deal all five cards to all five hands. Also, be careful not to tip the deck back and expose the face card of the deck.

7. Show that your hand has the four Aces. Gather up the other hands and replace them on top of the deck. Replace the three cards that were set aside earlier along with the fifth card that came with the four Aces. The four Aces are still lying face up on the table.

Phase III 8. For the Ace Cutting Sequence, insert the tabled Aces into the center of the deck, making sure they go below the top twenty-card stock required for the finale and above the four Aces still on the face of the deck. That leaves a block of twenty-four cards where the Aces can be safely inserted. Still be careful not to expose the Ace on the face of the deck.

9. Give the deck a good False Cut - here's one that requires no skill whatever. Undercut the deck from behind Hindu Shuffle style, with the right hand. The right hand turns slightly and taps the back of the deck as if to square up the cards.

10. After squaring up, carry the bottom half of the deck over the top half and forward, placing it on the table. The half-deck remaining in the left hand is taken in the right hand and placed on top of the tabled packet. Pick up the deck and reveal the Ace on the face of the deck. For obvious reasons, turn the deck face down before removing the Ace, placing it face up on the table.

11. Repeat the Cutting Sequence in step #10 three more times producing the other three Aces.

Phase IV 12. For the finale I've always said, "It was easy to find the Aces so, having a little time left over, I located and stacked another hand. " Deal out five hands of poker as before and turn over each hand starting with the hand to the left of the dealer's. If the deck was properly stacked, the first hand contains the four Nines, then the four Tens, four Jacks, four Queens. Finally, the four Kings are found in the dealer's hand.

Climax 13. The audience thinks that the demonstration is over and during this pause, turn the faces of the cards towards yourself and quickly locate the Ace of Spades near the face of the deck. Cut the Ace of Spades to the face of the deck.

14. Gather up the five poker hands from the table and replace them on top of the deck. Four Aces are still lying on the table. Gather them up, making sure that the Ace of spades is on the face and place this packet on the face of the deck.