The Expert at the Card Table: Classic Treatise on Card Manipulation (Dover Magic Books)

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I still need to watch my DVD set, but I wanted to read the book first. It's easy to get through if you don't worry too much about visualizing the moves exactly. Get a general idea of what he's describing, and what each move does, and remind yourself that you'll be able to see them in action when you watch video instruction.

The passion for play is probably as old, and will be as enduring, as the race of man. Some of us are too timid to risk a dollar, but the percentage of people in this feverish nation who would not enjoy winning one is very small. The passion culminates in the professional. He would rather play than eat. Winning is not his sole delight. Some one has remarked that there is but one pleasure in life greater than winning, that is, in making the hazard. Demarest, Marty (Winter 2013). "Montana's Conjurers, Con Men, and Card Cheats: Wilbur E. Sanders, S. W. Erdnase, and "The Expert at the Card Table" ". Montana The Magazine of Western History. 63 (4): 3–93. JSTOR 24419968 . Retrieved April 7, 2021. Sierra, Gabrielle. "Guy Hollingworth Performs His Show At Menier Chocolate 4/2-4". BroadwayWorld.com . Retrieved February 20, 2023. Some players make a practice of marking cards during the process of the game. The most desirable cards are creased or indented at certain locations as they happen to come into the player’s possession, with the finger or thumb nail, which is kept pointed for the purpose; and in the course of an hour the principal cards can be readily distinguished. Another plan is to darken the edges with different prepared inks that are conveniently adjusted in pads. These manoeuvres, while making nothing sure in a given instance, always net the operator a favorable percentage in the long run.The influence of this book is such that it has been issued in annotated form; [8] [9] translated into Japanese, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, [5] and korean; and issued as a series of DVDs by a professional magician, demonstrating and explaining Erdnase's techniques and methods. [3] A featured show of the story of Expert of the Card Table is also performed regularly by UK magician Guy Hollingworth. [10] Adaptations [ edit ] In an informative Foreword to this edition, Martin Gardner relates the unhappy details of the author’s personal life, and recounts the history of this famous book, whose methods, Mr. Gardner asserts, “are as useful today by magicians and card hustlers as they were in 1902. This book is still the bible of card ‘mechanics,’ and as much a delight to read as it was in the early years of this century.” Hold Outs. — Many mechanical contrivances termed hold outs have been invented to aid the card player. The simplest form is a steel spring with an awl-like attachment at one end which can be pressed into the under side of almost any table in an instant. The spring snaps up against the table, the end curving slightly downwards to receive the cards. The thumb of either hand can put in or take several cards from the apparatus without the hands leaving the table. Prepared Cards. — The subject of prepared cards is almost as foreign to the main purpose of this work as the preceding one of hold outs, but a cursory review of the commoner kinds and their uses may not be out of place.

It's tough to learn the moves from the book alone. While Erdnase explains them in detail, they're the sort of moves that are much easier to learn if you can see someone performing them. Because of this, I recommend getting one of the various DVD instructional sets for "The Expert at the Card Table." Dai Vernon actually produced a copy of the book with his own personal notes, which are I can tell you: Expensive… The Expert at the Card Table, is an extensive book on the art of sleight of hand published in 1902 by S. W. Erdnase, a pseudonymous author whose identity has remained a mystery for over a century. [1] As a detailed manual of card sharps, the book is considered to be one of the most influential works on magic or conjuring with cards.Stanley, T. L.; Times, Special to the Los Angeles (July 15, 2011). "Magic, mystery and double-crosses in 'The Expert at the Card Table' ". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved February 20, 2023. One of the reasons that Expert at the Card Table has become so widely read and garnered so much praise from the magic community is due I believe in large part to the legends Darwin Ortiz and of course… Dai Vernon.

The Expert at the Card Table is the most famous, the most carefully studied book ever published on the art of manipulating cards at gaming tables.” —from the Foreword by Martin Gardner. The Mystery Author admits at the beginning of the book that he wrote it purely for financial gain and adopted Erdnase as a pen name. Hold outs that are adjusted to the person are of most ingenious construction and very expensive. A sleeve machine which passes the cards into and from the palm by spreading the knees may be worth from seventy-five dollars to several hundred dollars. Some are worked by arm pressure, some pass the cards through an opening in the vest about the usual height the hands are held. One of the most novel and perfect machines ever constructed makes the sneak by simply expanding the chest an inch or two, or taking a deeper breath than usual.Vanishing Inc. UK Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 09430707. Prices shown excluding UK VAT. Interview Partners: Richard Turner, Laura London, Guy Hollingworth, Jason England, Richard Hatch, Chris Wasshuber, Bill Mullins, R. Paul Wilson, Joseph Cranford In our film the greatest magicians of our time go in search of the long-lost genius. They talk about the rumors of his supposed suicide and other stories that will chill you to the bone. No proof of the many legends appears to exist, but in searching for him we learn about the true significance of hisbook. Along the way, we are given valuable insights into the history of deception through the ages and the origin of some of the best-kept secrets of the contemporary world of magic. Now, don't cheat at Poker. Instead, study this book and learn to cheat at cards, because it will help you become a better magician. A more complicated table machine passes the cards from below completely over the edge of the table, and the hands, held naturally on the table top, receive and make the discard without a sign to denote the procedure.