Royal Road to Card Magic The

upwards, a couple of inches to the left of and a little above the tips of the right fingers. Bend the middle of the pack outwards by pressing outwards, with the right forefinger at the middle and the thumb and fingers inwards at the ends. Allow about half the cards to fall forwards on to the left fingers in a horizontal position (figure 17).

    3. Place the tip of the left thumb momentarily on the back of this packet and move the left forefinger up to take its place.
    4. With the tips of the right fingers, bend the left-hand packet upwards and place the left thumb on the middle of its upper end. The two packets are thus held facing each other and with exactly the same grip by each hand - thumbs at the top, index fingers at the middle of the backs, and the other three fingers gripping the lower ends (figure 18).

    5. Turn both hands palm downwards, bend the ends of both packets upwards by pressure against the forefingers, and hold the packets with the inner ends close together in the shape of a shallow V, the point of which is away from the body.
    6. Allow the cards to slip from each thumb alternately, interlacing the corners.
    7. Press the packets flush by bringing the hands together, then square the pack.
    If the positions are taken correctly it will be found that the lower end of each packet will be held firmly between the first phalanx of the index finger at the back and the first phalanxes of the other three fingers at the face. The grip must be held firmly until all the cards have been riffled off by the thumbs.
    TRICKS WITH THE RIFFLE SHUFFLE
    An Instinct for Cards
    The purpose of the riffle shuffle is to mix the cards thoroughly, its very essence being that after a genuine shuffle the position of any particular card cannot be known. You may therefore find it hard to believe that a card unknown to you can be placed anywhere in the deck and the cards then genuinely riffle shuffled and cut, yet you can infallibly find that card and reveal it. The secret is so ingenious, and yet so simple, that this is one of the few feats that can be repeated without fear of discovery. The only skill required is the ability to riffle shuffle the deck.
    1. Before you begin this trick, place the thirteen cards of one suit, say, diamonds, in sequence from ace to king, at the top of the deck. Put the deck in its case and the case in your pocket.
    2. Take the case from your pocket and remove the cards and shuffle them, retaining the diamond sequence at the top by means of the overhand shuffle control, retaining top stock. Cut off about two-thirds of the deck and complete the cut. The sequence of diamonds will then run from about the twentieth card, the ace, to the thirty-third, the king.
    3. Place the pack before a spectator, request him to cut it, remove the card he cuts to, replace the cut and square the deck perfectly. You may add, 'Better cut somewhere near the middle, so that I cannot possibly know the card to which you cut.' But even without this admonition most people will cut somewhere near the middle, between the twentieth and thirty-third cards; thus they are sure to remove one of the diamonds. Turn away and move a pace or two from the table so that no one can suspect you might see the card.
    4. With your back still turned, instruct the spectator to show the card to everyone; then ask him to cut the pack anywhere he likes, replace the card at that exact point, square the deck and give it a riffle shuffle.
    It is most effective to have the spectator himself make the shuffles and cuts, but if there is no one present who can shuffle cards neatly, you may make the shuffles yourself. In such a case call particular attention to the genuineness of the shuffles.
    5. Next have the spectator cut the pack and complete the cut, riffle shuffle again, and finally cut again and complete the cut. Under these conditions you will find that everyone will be confident that you cannot possibly discover the selected card.
    6. Turn around and take the pack, run through it slowly, glancing at the spectator from time to time as though studying his expression. You will find that despite the shuffles and cuts, which seemingly mix the cards indiscriminately, actually the diamonds have been distributed among the other cards
in sequence
, with each succeeding higher value to the right. This is because the first shuffle distributed them through
half
the deck and the second shuffle throughout the
entire
deck. The cuts do not have any effect upon the