Royal Road to Card Magic The

arrangement of clubs directly above it.
    3. Pick up the pack and make an overhand false shuffle, which will not disturb the order of the cards. 'I give you my word of honour that I do not know the position of your card in the pack at this moment,' you say. This is true. 'But I do not need to, because I am not going to find your card. You're going to find it yourself.' Hand him the pack. 'Please deal cards face downwards on the table, ten or twelve or fifteen, as many as you like. When you feel an impulse to stop the deal, stop.'
    4. The spectator deals a number of cards and stops the deal. 'Kindly turn over the last card you dealt,' you say. Let us assume that it is a four of diamonds. 'You stopped on a four-spot. Very well, deal four cards.' He deals four cards and you have him turn the last card face upwards as before. It is, say, the eight of clubs. You then know that, if he deals eight cards and turns the last card dealt, it will be his chosen card. In other words, sooner or later he will turn a card of the club suit face upwards, and whatever its value, if he deals down that many cards more, the last card dealt will be his card.
    5. You therefore announce, 'You are being guided as inevitably as if by destiny itself. You have turned an eight-spot. Deal eight cards.' He does so. 'Now name your card.' He does so. 'Look at the last card you dealt.' He turns it face upwards and it is his chosen card!
    Pick up all the cards and idly give them a riffle shuffle, thus removing any possible clues to the feat. As in the preceding trick, jacks, queens and kings are valued at eleven, twelve and thirteen respectively.
    The Educated Cards
    In this excellent trick, a spectator finds his own card and has not the faintest idea as to how he found it.
    First you must secretly place an arrangement at the top of the pack. Run through the pack and place any nine, seven, five, three and ace at the bottom in sequence, the ace being the face card. Turn the deck face downwards and grasp it at its ends between the left thumb and fingers, the hand being arched over the pack.
    With the right thumb at the top and the fingers at the bottom of the pack, draw off the top and bottom cards and drop them on the table. Repeat this six times. You will have a pile of twelve cards which run, from the top down, x, x, x, 9, x, 7, x, 5, x, 3, x A.
    Push this packet to one side without disturbing the sequence of the cards, and draw off six more sets of two cards in the same way as before. Glance up, saying, 'Ever seen this before? It's the faro shuffle, the only shuffle the faro dealers use.' Drop the pack upon this pile you have just dealt, then carelessly scoop up the first pile and place it on the deck. Thus you have placed your arrangement of twelve cards at the top.
    1. Shuffle the deck, retaining the first fifteen cards at the top, then place the pack in your left hand and spread it as if to have a card removed, secretly counting the first twelve cards (figure 125). Square the deck as if you had changed your mind, and secure a little finger break under the twelfth card in preparation for a twelve-down riffle control.

    Riffle the cards upwards with the right hand, saying, 'Take any card you like. I'll riffle slowly so that you have a free choice. Please show your card to everyone.' Split the pack at the twelfth card, have the drawn card replaced and drop the twelve cards on it, thus placing the chosen card thirteenth from the top. This is the twelve-down riffle control.
    2. Undercut the lower half, injog the first card and shuffle off. Undercut at the injog, forming a break and shuffle off to the break. Throw the cards under the break on top, thus returning the arrangement and chosen card to the top. As you do this, say, 'Let me show you how simple it is to find your card, even after a genuine shuffle. In fact, to show you how simple it is, I'll let you find the card yourself.'
    3. Take the pack face downwards in your left hand and begin to deal cards slowly face upwards on the table. 'Tell me when to stop the deal.' The first three cards you deal are indifferent and every other card thereafter is one of your arrangement. When the command to stop the deal comes, glance at the card face upwards on the table. If it is one of the cards of your arrangement - a nine, seven, five, three or ace - point to it, saying, 'You stopped me on a five [or whatever it is] so I'll deal five cards.' Deal the five cards, pushing the last card dealt to one side. 'This is