The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[Cec]

Not sure where to post this one. Here's an intriguing card trick I came across today.
Of course it's a trick but how is it done?

I allow a person - who is not an accomplice - to shuffle a pack of cards and who hands the pack to me for a few more shuffles. I hold the pack in one hand and slowly "fan" the pack with the thumb of my other hand from one end of the pack to the other asking the guest to tell me when to stop "fanning" the pack. At no time can I or the guests see any card while they are being "fanned".

When the guest says"stop" I ask him to remove and identify that card taken from that particular position without me seeing it. Still holding the pack of cards in my same hand I again "fan" the pack as before and again ask the guest to say "stop" at any time and to return the card, without me seeing it, into the pack at their chosen position.

Within a few seconds I can hand the selected card to the guest.

How can this be done?

Cec

[MCC]

How about this - all the cards in the pack are the same value, e.g., all the three of hearts or all the ace of spades etc.


MCC

[Cec]

Sorry MCC but not the answer to this particular trick. The trick can be done even with a brand new pack of cards opened for the first time and all cards shown face up to the guests prior to performing the trick. It's now 1am here so I'll reveal all tomorrow.
It's difficult to give too much of a hint without revealing the trick but it does relate to an assumption people make when looking at a pack of cards.

Cec

[Pi]

This is a pretty easy trick

I have done one similar

The pack is not a normal pack. The cards are not quite rectangular but are slightly wider at one end. You can't see this with a naked eye but when one card is the other way around to the others you can locate it by rubbing your finger along the side of a pack of cards

You get your guest to take out any card and then replace it the other way around, it can quickly be identified.

[Cec]

This is a pretty easy trick....The pack is not a normal pack.."

You're right Pi that it's an "easy" trick to perform but your answer is not what I'm after. I did mention that even a new pack of cards can be used to perform the trick so it's highly unlikely that the pack would "not be normal" with one end wider than the other. I'll reveal all in another hour or so as I have to go out now.

Cec

[underquark]

Hand them the pack. Mathematically speaking, since the selected card is part of the set called "pack of cards" then by handing over the whole set you are, of course, handing over the chosen card.

[Cec]

"..by handing over the whole set you are, of course, handing over the chosen card.

"
Still not the answer I was after. ...nevertheless underquark your reply is extremely clever. Anyway, thanks for all the replies and hopefully this will explain how the trick is done....

The trick is based on false assumptions by observers. In simplicity, place a pack of cards face down on a table or show the pack (top card face down) to an observer who will naturally assume all the cards in the pack are face down. Prior shuffling of the cards by yourself or the guest can be done as previously mentioned to increase the mystery.

Now, discretely turn the bottom card over which means this card is now "face up" at the bottom of the pack whilst the remaining fifty-one cards are still "face down. When the cards are "fanned" out and the guest withdraws one, you ask them to look and concentrate on the card they have withdrawn.

At the same time you discretely turn the pack upside down in your hand before it is "fanned" out for the guest to return their card into the pack at any chosen position. If done discretely, the guest should not detect the pack has been turned upside down because the "top" card is still in a "face down" position.

The chosen card returned to the pack is now the only card which faces the opposite way to the rest of the cards apart from the top card which was previously turned upside down. It is then easy to detect and reveal the chosen card much to the surprise of the guest.

Cec

[Cec]

I'm embarrassed posting this but I must now confess this trick isn't as "intriguing" as I thought it would be. After turning the pack upside down and "fanning" the cards the second time it is difficult to disguise from the guest that the cards are now facing the opposite way. Now, where's an empty match box that I can hide in.

Cec

[ab]

might work if you didn't fan the pack when asking them to replace the card.

[MCC]

As with any thing to do with magic tricks, loads of practice and distraction at the crucial moment.


MCC

[Cec]

might work if you didn't fan the pack when asking them to replace the card.

Thanks ab. I had actually experimented with this idea. I'm dubious of its success because when the guest replaces the card into the pack, even a slight parting of the cards to do this reveals the cards have been turned upside down.

I've came up with another idea which I think would work. It includes a normal A4 sheet of "magic" paper being part of the trick. This time the second "fanning" of the cards is done with the back-face of the cards visible as they should be (which wasn't the case before) and the A4 sheet of paper is inserted into the pack at the guest's chosen position. Whilst holding the pack of cards in your hand which now includes the secured sheet of paper, you explain the usual "magic" talk which distracts the guest's attention as you discretely turn the hand held pack of cards upside down.

You then ask the guest to return their selected card to the pack by placing it on top of the A4 sheet. This prevents the guest from seeing the other cards have been turned upside down. You then remove the sheet of paper and complete the trick to reveal the guest's selected card.

Thanks also to MCC's above reminder that "loads of practice and distraction at the crucial moment" are necessary for card tricks to work.

Cec

[udosuk]

I personally think Pi's method works the best... Anyway using a trimmer to cut off one of the corner slightly could be enough... Seldom do we need to use a brand new pack of cards to perform (unless you're a professional magician) as party tricks... And I think the use of the A4 paper looks a bit too intentional...

[Cec]

I personally think Pi's method works the best.."

I'd agree with that...Of course, performing the trick could only be done with that particular pack of cards, presumably kept at home unless you took the pack with you to a party, etc.

".. Seldom do we need to use a brand new pack of cards to perform ...."

I agree. I only mentioned that the trick could be performed even with a brand new pack of cards to eliminate any doubt that the cards were pre-marked in some way. For example, Pi would have a problem if he was handed a new pack of cards

".. And I think the use of the A4 paper looks a bit too intentional...

Yes... I again agree the trick would appeal more if the A4 paper wasn't used. However, even with the paper, if I was a guest unfamiliar with this trick I would still be baffled to know how a person could reveal the identity of a random selected card I chose from a concealed shuffled pack and, after identifying the card, to then replace it in the pack, again at any position I choose, without the dealer having any obvious opportunity to identify it. I'd probably finish tearing my hair out wondering what the paper had to do with the trick

Thanks for commenting and go the "Socceroos"

Cec

[udosuk]

Thanks for commenting and go the "Socceroos"

Go where? Go home?

Now you can watch your beloved AFL... BTW which is your favourite team? I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be the Swans... Don't tell me it's the Saints or the Magpies...

Anyway good luck for the magician business...

[Cec]

"...Now you can watch your beloved AFL... BTW which is your favourite team?.."

I barrack for Richmond (known as the "Tigers").. the're 9th on the ladder in a 16-team competition.

On the card trick again, I've just realized one concern with Pi's alternative method of using "doctored" non-rectangular cards (one end of all the cards are wider than the other end). When the guest removes the card from the pack to identify it then he/she would return the chosen card into the pack, either narrow end first or the wide end first. The situation could therefore arise that no card differs in width to the rest of the pack which then prevents knowing which card was selected?

Am I missing something Pi in seeing this as a possible problem?

Cec