Werner Miller

TRICKS WITHOUT NAMES

Trick #1
Openly sort out the thirteen Spades, and set the rest of the deck aside. Keep the Queen and the
King for yourself, and hand the remaining eleven cards to a spectator.
Ask the spectator to shuffle these cards. Then instruct the spectator to deal them singly back and
forth into two piles until only one card is left, to note and remember this last card, to place it on
either pile, and finally to drop the other pile on top of it.
Take the combined pile and square the cards (the spectator’s card is sixth from the top down). If
you can, give the packet a convincing false cut.
Point to your Queen. Spell aloud “Q-U-E-E-N”, with each letter dealing off the top a single card
down to the table, into a new pile. Then drop the remaining cards onto this new pile, as a block.
Continue by spelling the same way “O-F” dealing out two cards, and put all the in-hand on top of
this pair afterwards as you did before. Finally spell similarly “S-P-A-D-E-S”, but before placing the
remaining cards on top of the 6-card packet insert your Queen, face up. (Fig. 1)

Point to your other card. Repeat the spelling/dealing procedure with its name: Deal four cards
(“K-I-N-G”), place rest on top of them; deal two cards (“O-F”), place rest on top of them; deal six
cards (“S-P-A-D-E-S”), insert face-up King, place rest on top of all. (Fig. 2)
Ribbon spread the cards. Draw attention to the fact, that the Queen and the King are only one
face-down card apart. Have the chosen card named by the spectator, then slide out the trapped
card and turn it face up: It is the spectator’s card.
Alternative Version
Use the thirteen Clubs only. Separate the Queen and the King from the other Clubs, then turn
your back. Ask the spectator to leave the Queen and the King face up on the table and to pick up
the remaining cards. Give instructions to turn these eleven cards face down, to shuffle them, to
square them, and to note and remember the final top card leaving it on top.
Now it’s time to add the royal couple, first the Queen, then the King. (Fig. 3)
Ask the spectator to spell “Q-U-E-E-N” with each letter dealing off the top a card down into a new
pile, then to drop the face-up Queen on top of that pile, and finally all the remaining cards on top
of all. The King is to be positioned similarly: The spectator is instructed to spell “K-I-N-G” dealing
out four cards reversing their order, to place the face-up King on top of them and the remainder of
the packet on top of all.

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Turn to the table and pick up the combined packet. Announce that you are going to complete the
names of the royal couple. Spell “O-F” (deal out two cards, put rest on top of them), then spell
“C-L-U-B-S” (deal out five cards, put rest on top of them). Have the packet completely cut by the
spectator, then ribbon spread the cards to show the spectator’s card trapped.

Trick #2
You need an ESP deck, cyclically stacked as usual.
Give the cards a Charlier Shuffle or a series of complete cuts, then fan the deck face down and
have a card freely removed by the spectator. Break the fan at that point and cut all the cards be-
low the gap to the top, so that duplicates of the spectator’s card are now 5th and 10th from the
top down.
Mention some of the myths concerning the number 13, openly reverse count the top thirteen
cards into a new packet (thus positioning the two duplicates of the spectator’s card 4th and 9th
from the top down), and set the rest of the deck aside.
Pick up the 13-card packet and spell aloud “T-H-I-R-T-E-E-N”, with each letter dealing off the top
a single card down to the table, one on top of the other, making a new pile of eight cards. Then
place all the in-hand cards on top of the dealt cards, as a block, remove the final top card, and
place it separately, still face down.
Square the remaining twelve cards, pick them up again, and repeat the whole procedure as de-
scribed: Deal out the top eight cards while you are spelling “T-H-I-R-T-E-E-N”, drop all the re-
maining cards on top of this new packet, remove the final top card as you did before, and place it
next to the card you removed after
the first spelling/dealing.
Ask the spectator to turn his chosen
card face up, then turn over the two
cards you located: All three cards
match!
(Fig. 1 illustrates the dealing pro-
cedure. The numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 are
representing the five symbols. It is
assumed that the spectator’s card is
showing symbol #5.)
Alternatives
Because the German word for 13
also has eight letters (“dreizehn”),
you can perform this trick in German
language as well.
Slightly adjusted, you can even perform it in Italian language (Fig. 2). The Italian word for 13 is
“tredici” and is one letter short. To make the trick still work, reverse deal the thirteen cards you are
going to use not singly but in pairs, so that the duplicates of the spectator’s selection end up 5th
and 8th from the top down.

Trick #3
Use a standard ESP deck, with the cards being cyclically stacked as usual.
Ask the spectator to give the deck two or three complete cuts, then have the final top card
removed by the spectator as his/her chosen symbol. (Because of the symbols’ rotation, replicas
of the spectator’s card are now fifth from the top down and fifth from the bottom up, too.)
Explain that you are going to reveal the chosen symbol by means of several random cards from
the deck, taken either from the top or the bottom. “Shall I turn over the deck so that everybody
can see the faces of the cards, or shall I leave the deck face down so that nobody can know for
sure whether a duplicate of the chosen card happens to be among them or not?” Let the
spectator decide.
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Case #1: We’ll assume the spectator opts for keeping the deck face down.
Deal the top seven cards “zig-zag” style into three piles (Fig. 1), then pick up the third pile and flip
it onto the second pile (Fig. 2, Fig. 3). Pick up the combined second pile, flip it similarly onto the
first pile (Fig. 4), and turn over the combined pile (Fig. 5). You end up with the top four cards face
up and the bottom three cards face down (Fig. 6).
Repeat the dealing and flipping as described. After the final turnover the cards positioned second,
fourth, sixth and seventh from the top down are the only face-up ones.
Repeat the dealing and flipping once more. After the final turnover the card in the middle of the
pile (fourth from the top down, fourth from the bottom up) is automatically the only face-down
card. Ribbon spread the cards, push that card out of the spread, and turn it over: It matches the
spectator’s selection! (Or, if you prefer, skip the final turnover and end up with the duplicate of the
chosen card as the only face-up card in the spread.)
Case #2: If the spectator opts for turning the deck face up, also proceed as described. The out-
come will be exactly the other way round, i.e., every face-down card is now face up and vice
versa, so that, at the end, the duplicate of the chosen card is the only reversed card in the spread,
again.

Trick #4
Have a 12-card stack as shown in Fig. 1 secretly on top of the deck.
Sort out the four Jacks (or produce them via any method you like), show them openly, then deal
them face down into a row, in any order.
From the top of the deck, deal the first three cards singly onto the left-most Jack (thus reversing
their order), the next three cards similarly onto the next Jack and so on, until each Jack is buried
under three cards, then set the rest of the deck aside.
Assemble the four packets from left to right, i.e. place the first (left-most) packet on the second,
then both on the third, and finally all three on the fourth (right-most). From the top down, the cards
are now in the following order: 2S, 6S, 3H, J, 2H, 6H, 3S, J, AS, 5S, 4H, J, AH, 5H, 4S, J.
Openly reverse count the packet in pairs, calling out the number of cards already tabled: “2, 4, 6,
8, 10, 12 cards. I’ll give them a mix to randomize the order of the Jacks.” Execute a Klondyke
Shuffle (Fig. 2), i.e. “milk” off the top and bottom cards until the packet is exhausted, dropping
each pair on top of the foregoing one. “Another shuffle, and the Jacks are definitely lost. They
could be anywhere, couldn’t they?” Repeat the mixing, then deal the cards into a row.
“Let’s check out.” Using both hands, turn over the end cards of the row and place them back, face
up: the AH and the AS. Continue turning over cards, proceeding symmetrically from both ends
toward the middle, thus showing in ascending order Twos, Threes, Fours, Fives and Sixes,
Hearts on the left and Spades on the right. (Fig. 3)

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 Finally, turn over the
four remaining cards
and slide them a bit
out of the row: the
four Jacks. Use them
in your next trick.
Alternative Version
Have the Queens and
Kings secretly on top
of the deck, stacked
alternately. (Fig. 4)
Sort out (or produce)
the four Aces, show
them, place them face
down in a row (Fig. 5),
deal the top eight
cards onto them (red
arrow), discard the
rest of the deck, and
assemble the twelve
cards from right to left
(blue arrow).
(Note: The order of
the suits of these
cards does not really
matter. But if you want
to end up having
Aces, Queens and
Kings in the same suit order
stick to the depicted example.)
Give the combined packet two
Klondyke Shuffles, then deal
the cards singly into a face-
down row.
Spell “F-O-U-R”, with “F”
picking up the left-most card,
with “O” placing it on the next
one, with “U” placing this pair
on the third card of the row,
and with “R” placing these
three cards on the fourth. In a
similar manner, spell “A-C-E-S”
from the right end of the row,
piling up another 4-card packet.
Turn the cards left over in the
middle of the row face up: the
four Aces. (Fig.6)
Climax: Turn over the 4-card packets too, and fan them face up showing four Kings on the left
and four Queens on the right.
Use some or all of these cards in your next trick.

Trick #5
Have the deck secretly stacked as shown in Fig. 1.
When performing, false cut/shuffle the deck, then deal the top six cards singly and alternately into
two piles, place the left-hand pile on top of the right-hand pile and square. Remove the top card of
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the combined packet, table it unviewed, take away the top card of the deck and place it – also
unviewed – on your packet so that there are still six cards. Deal the cards of your packet back
and forth again, put the left-hand pile on top of the right-hand pile, and square. Place the top card
of the combined packet on the table as you did before – it goes to the right of the first tabled card
– and top up the packet by placing on the next card from the deck. Continue this way until you
have a row of six tabled cards and you are still holding a 6-card packet. Deal the cards of your
packet straight into another row just below the first one, from left to right, and discard the rest of
the deck. Turn the tabled cards face up: Each row contains only cards of the same suit, and the
values in each row are Ace to Six in numerical order. (Fig. 2)
Assemble the cards of each row separately from left to right (A on 2, both on 3, etc.), then place
one 6-card packet on the other, and turn the combined packet face down.
Ask the spectator to give the cards a few complete cuts, and finally to remove the top card as
his/her selection.
Pick up the remainder of
the packet, and mix
these eleven cards by
executing a Monge
Shuffle (Fig. 3): Hold the
packet face down in the
left hand and use the
thumb to push off the top
card into the right. Now,
with the left thumb, push
off the next card so that
it goes on top of the first
one. The left thumb then
pushes off a third card, but this is taken on the bottom of the right's packet. The fourth goes to the
top, the fifth to the bottom and so on, alternately placing the left hand's cards above and below
the right's. The value-matching card of the spectator’s selection ends up third from the top down.
Ask the spectator to tell you the name of the selection, but stress that the spectator is free to lie;
he/she can name any Spade or Heart, even one of the missing values Seven to King. No matter
what answer you get, spell the full name of this card the same way as in Trick #1, i.e., for each
letter deal out a single card into a new pile, and after each word place all the remaining cards
together on top of the dealt cards.
Turn over the final top card – it tells you the whole story: the actual name of the chosen card (its
value matches automatically the spectator’s selection, but the card is of the other suit) and
whether the spectator lied or answered truthfully.
Note. The first phase of this routine can be used to produce suit-matching pairs as well. Let’s
assume you need the four Aces and the four Kings, both in the same suit order. In this case start
with the cards stacked as shown in Fig. 4, deal the top four cards back and forth, place the left
pair on the right pair, replace the top card with the deck’s top card, etc.

Trick #6
Secretly have the AS on top of your deck and the backs of the bottom nine cards lettered as
shown (Fig. 1).
To perform, force the AS to a spectator without disturbing the bottom stock of the deck or flashing
the lettered backs. The Goldin Force, e.g., fills the bill nicely: While you are holding the deck in
your left hand, your left thumb riffles down its outer left corner until the spectator calls stop. Open
a break between the riffled and unriffled cards, release the riffled portion and let it roll over and off
the left fingertips so that it lands on the fingers of the palm-up right hand. By closing the right
fingers, cause the riffled packet to turn over and end up face down in dealing position, then lower
the hand and, with your thumb, push the top card to the left and place it before the spectator, still
face down.

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Announce that the deck itself
will reveal the name of the
spectator’s card. Turn the deck
over, and deal the bottom nine
cards face up into three piles,
singly and rotationally, from left
to right. Discard the remainder
of the deck.
Flip the third pile onto the
second one, then the combined
second pile onto the first pile
(as in Trick #3). Spread the
cards: The top three cards are
face down and their backs are
displaying a word, the value of a
card (Fig. 2). Read it out aloud
(“Ace…”), close the spread (“…
of …”), turn the cards over and
spread them again: Now the top
six cards are face down, and
their backs are displaying another word, a suit (Fig. 3) – “… Spades! Obviously, your card is the
Ace of Clubs.” Ask the spectator to confirm this by turning over the selection.
Variations: Force the JD. Have the bottom twelve cards lettered D-J-O-I-A-N-A-C-D-M-K-S, and
deal them similarly into three piles. Or: Force the KC. Have the bottom nine cards lettered C-K-B-
I-L-N-S-G-U, and deal them “zig/zag” style into three piles (Fig. 4a). Or: Force the QH. Have the
bottom eleven cards lettered H-Q-R-U-E-E-T-E-A-N-S, and deal them “zig/zag” style into three
piles (Fig. 4b). Or: Force the 7C. Have the bottom ten cards lettered C-S-U-E-B-E-L-V-S-N, and
deal them “zig/zag” style into four piles (Fig. 4c).

Trick #7
To prepare, sort out nine spot cards, one of every value from Ace to Nine (suits do not matter),
and fifteen indifferent cards. Arrange them as shown in Fig. 1, then square the cards and turn the
packet face down. Set the remainder of the deck aside.
To perform, false cut the packet, then table it before a spectator. Ask the spectator to cut off
about half of the packet. Take care that the spectator cuts off at least ten cards but not more than
nineteen.
Instruct the spectator to deal his cards singly to the table, into a new pile (thus reversing the
original order), and, in the course of dealing, to count them
aloud. They turn out to be, for instance, sixteen cards.
Square the spectator’s pile and place it next to the original
bottom portion.
“Pretty much equal, aren’t they? Probably it’s better to
make the difference in size more significant. Sixteen
cards, you said. The number sixteen has two digits, 6
ones and 1 ten. Let’s use these digits to reduce your cut-
off packet.”
From the top of the spectator’s packet, remove singly
seven cards (first six, then one) and place them on the
other packet. You are automatically left with a 9-card
packet (the original top nine cards in reversed order) and
a 15-card packet (the fifteen indifferent cards from the
original bottom stock), provided that the original number of
cut-off cards is – as already mentioned – within the range
of 10-19.
“Much better now.”
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Move the larger packet toward the spectator. Ask him to count the cards and to announce the
result. In the meantime, deal the cards of the other packet into a square layout, three rows of
three cards each, one row below the other, all the cards dealt from left to right, still face down.
After you were told that the larger packet contains fifteen cards, turn over the top row of your
layout and call attention to the values of the three cards: 8, 3, 4 – totalling 15!
Let this sink in, then turn over the middle row: 1, 5, 9 – the total is also 15! And the bottom row: 6,
7, 2 – 15 spots, too! (Fig. 2)
And as if that were not enough, show that the values in each column also add up to that number:
8 + 1 + 6 = 15, 3 + 5 + 7 = 15, 4 + 9 + 2 = 15. And finally the diagonals: 6 + 5 + 4 = 15, 8 + 5 + 2 =
15. It’s a magic square!

Trick #8
You need an ESP deck (cyclically stacked as usual). The spectator cuts the deck and removes
the final top card as his/her selection.
Take the deck and deal off the top seventeen cards in pairs into a new pile (eight pairs and a
single card); discard the remaining cards.
Turn the top card and the bottom card of the 17-card pile face up, leaving each card where it was.
Both cards are showing the same symbol, but this symbol does not match the selection. Let’s
assume that the spectator selected symbol #1, so that the two face-up cards are both showing
symbol #3. A dupli-
cate of the spectator’s
selection is 9th from
the top down. (Fig. a)
Announce that the
two face-up cards will
find the spectator’s
chosen symbol. Deal
the cards of the 17-
card pile singly back
and forth. You get a
9-card pile on the left
and an 8-card pile on
the right (Fig. b). The
two face-up cards
end up both in the
left-hand pile (one on top of it, the other one on the bottom), so pick it up and repeat the dealing
with that nine cards. This time you get five cards on the left and four cards on the right (Fig. c). As
before, it is the left-hand pile that contains the two face-up cards, so pick it up and deal once
more: left, right, left, right, left. The two face-up cards are still on the left, and they are
sandwiching a single card. Slide it out and turn it over: It’s a duplicate of the spectator’s selection!
Extended Version
Let two spectators (A, B) participate. Spectator A cuts the deck and removes the top card, then
spectator B removes straight away the next card. Let’s assume that A got symbol #5, B symbol
#1.
Reveal the B’s symbol first, by following the above description. Then assemble the three discard
piles from right to left (Fig. e), turn the two face-up cards face down and place them on top of the
combined pile, and put the duplicate of B’s card (symbol #1) face up on top of all. Snap your
fingers, lift up the packet and show the face of the bottom card: It’s also B’s symbol. Turn that
card over and return it face up to the bottom of the pile. In our example, the order of the symbols
is now 1-3-3-2-5-2-3-4-5-2-4-1-3-5-2-4-1, from the top down.
You are now ready to let the two replicas of B’s symbol find A’s symbol. Simply repeat the dealing
and eliminating (Fig. b, Fig. c, Fig. d), and you end up with symbol #5 trapped between the two
face-up cards.

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Trick #9
When marching in a single line, the one at
the back runs the highest risk. In Germany,
they say “Den Letzten beißen die Hunde”, in
France “Malheur au dernier”, and the corre-
sponding English proverb is “The devil takes
the hindmost”. This gives you a suitable
patter theme for the following dealing trick.
To represent the devil, use three 6-spots
(666 – number of the Beast). Sort them out
openly and table them side by side, face up.
Hand the deck to the spectator. Ask the
spectator to give it a thorough shuffle, then to
deal off the top two 7-card packets and
discard the remainder of the deck. Instruct your participant to decide on either packet, mix these
cards once more, note and remember the final bottom card, and place the packet on top of the
other one.
Pick up the combined packet, false cut it, and start the revelation (Fig. 1): Deal the fourteen cards
singly back and forth. The last card goes to the right-hand pile, so cite “The devil takes the hind-
most” and place one of the 6-spots face up on top of it thus ruling out the entire pile. Pick up the
other pile and deal these seven cards similarly into two new piles. This time, the last card ends up
on top of the left-hand pile. Say “The devil takes…” as before, place another 6-spot face up on
that pile to eliminate these four cards, too. Three cards remain. Deal them left, right, left, point to
the card dealt last (“The devil…”), and place the third 6-spot face up on the pair on your left. This
leaves you with a single card. It’s automatically the one that was originally 7th from the top down,
i.e., the spectator’s selection. Ask the spectator for the name of the chosen card, then turn it face
up.
Alternative Version
You can use fifteen cards as well. After the spectator has dealt two 7-card packets, let him/her
pick any card from the balance of the deck, note and remember it, place it on either packet and
put the other one on top of it to bury it. Do a false cut, then go into the dealing/eliminating
procedure as described above. “Taken by the devil”, it’s always the left-hand pile that drops out
(Fig. 2), and you end up with the card that was originally 8th from the top down.

Trick #10
Decide on any ESP symbol (say, the Wavy Lines), and sort
out and discard all its replicas. Stack the remaining twenty
cards of the ESP deck cyclically, so that every fourth card is
showing the same symbol.
To perform, have the deck completely cut by the spectator,
then deal out four 3-card packets, side by side in a row. But
don’t deal rotationally; do it this way: Starting on the left, deal
out a pair and place the next card on top of it, then proceed
to the right doing the same three more times.
Pick up the leftmost packet and move it to the other end of
the row, jumping like a frog over the three packets in be-
tween. Repeat this once or twice, then similarly hop with the
rightmost packet back to the left end, thus demonstrating
that it’s allowed to reverse the direction whenever one likes.
Now encourage the spectator to do a couple of leaps until
he/she is happy with the order of the packets. Finally ask the
spectator to assemble the packets, either from left to right
(1st on 2nd, both on 3rd, all three on 4th) or from right to left
(4th on 3rd, both on 2nd, all three on 1st), remove and table
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the final top card of the combined packet, face down and unviewed. (Among the remaining eleven
cards, a duplicate of the tabled card is automatically 7th from the top down.)
Request the spectator to pick up the packet, then guide your participant verbally through an
Under/Down Deal by giving step-by-step instructions. Take care that these are carried out
correctly and the current top card is really alternately shifted to the bottom of the packet (“under”)
and dealt to the table (“down”), until only one card remains. This card is to be placed beside the
face-down card tabled earlier.
Turning both cards face up brings a surprise: Their symbols match!

Trick #11
For this ESP card trick, it isn’t sufficient that the five symbols rotate; they must rotate in Circle-
Cross-Wave-Square-Star order, from the top down (Fig. 1), and you have to know this order by
heart. You can easily memorize this sequence by associating each symbol with the number of
lines necessary to draw it (Circle = 1, Cross = 2, Wave = 3, Square = 4) or – in case of the Star –
the number of its points.
The spectator gives the deck a couple of complete cuts, then he/she removes the top card as
his/her selection, and places it face down on the table, unviewed.
Pick up the deck, and openly turn it over, thus bringing the face of the bottom card into view. Deal
this card to the table, face up. Let’s assume it is showing a Square (4).
Rise the deck and fan it with the faces toward you. Look for a card showing the next symbol of the
sequence (5 = Star). Find one and deal it face up on top of the face-up Square. Continue similarly
with a Circle (1), a Cross (2) and Wavy Lines (3), so that the resulting pile finally contains one
card of each symbol.
Say, “Without any doubt, one of these symbols must
match the symbol on your selected card. Let’s find out
which one it is.” Turn the deck face down. Remove the
top two cards and place them face down on top of the
face-up 5-card pile. (Fig. 2)
Mix the 7-card packet by executing a Down/Under Deal
(top card to the table, next card to bottom of the packet,
etc.) until the cards run out. Place the mixed packet
before the spectator and ask him/her to give it a com-
plete cut. Have the selected card turned face up (in our
example it’s a Star), then ribbon spread the mixed packet
showing the card with the matching symbol sandwiched
between the two face-down cards.
A Variation
Two spectators (A, B) participate. Spectator A cuts the deck and removes the top card, B takes
the next one. Pick up the deck and turn it over. You see, e.g., Wavy Lines (= 3). Deal this card
face up to the table. Rise the deck and fan it with the faces toward you. Look for a replica of the
next symbol (4 = Square), remove it and place it face up on top of the Wavy Lines. Continue this
way until you have dealt a replica of each symbol (5 = Star, 1 = Circle, 2 = Cross), then turn the
deck face down, remove the top card, and slide it face down under the 5-card pile. (Fig. 3)
Pick up the six cards and give them an Under/Down Deal (top card to the bottom of the packet,
next card to the table, etc.), but don’t deal the “down” cards into a new pile; deal them into a row,
from left to right. The face-down card will be dealt third, and the card on its left will be showing A’s
symbol (in our example a Square), the card on its right B’s symbol (in our example a Star).

Trick 12
This trick can be used to pep up your business card. Simply draw or print three dice on the card,
as shown in Fig. 1. Use dice of different colors in an easily memorable order, e.g., red – yellow –
green. It’s necessary that three adjacent sides of each die are clearly visible, and the numbers of
spots on these sides are vital, too: 1 – 3 – 5 (red), 2 – 3 – 6 (yellow), 4 – 5 – 6 (green).
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Hand your business card to a spectator, also an invisible (!)
die. Invite your “victim” to check the die (it isn’t loaded!),
then request to roll the die obtaining a secret random
number from 1 to 6.
Now ask three questions:
1. “Is the red die showing your number?” (If the spectator’s
answer is “yes”, remember 1.)
2. “Is the yellow die showing your number?” (If the
spectator’s answer is “yes”, remember 2, or – if this
happens to be the second “yes” – mentally add 2.)
3. “Is the green die showing your number?” (If the
spectator’s answer is “yes”, remember 4, or – if you already
have a number or subtotal in mind – mentally add 4.)
It’s done: The spectator’s number is no longer a secret! The
result of your mental addition tells the story, for instance:
“yes” regarding yellow and green = 2 + 4 = 6, “yes”
regarding red and green = 1 + 4 = 5, “yes” regarding yellow
only = 2.
By the way: You can perform this stunt using real dice as
well. Here’s an alternative method that doesn’t require
different colors. (Fig. 2)
Place three dice side by side so that their top faces, from
left to right, read out the numbers 3 – 1 – 5, then ask: “Is
one of the top faces showing your number?” Count a “yes”
as 1.
Pick up the middle die (1), move it to the left of the first die and push both dice back to the right
(new order: 1 – 3 – 5). Turn over the left die and the right die, thus bringing their complementary
numbers to the top (6 – 3 – 2), and repeat the question. Count a “yes” as 2.
Again, pick up the middle die (3), move it to the left of the first die and push both dice back to the
right (new order: 3 – 6 – 2). As before, turn over the left die and the right die, so that their
complementary numbers come to the top (4 – 6 – 5), and repeat the question. Count a “yes” as 4.

Trick #13
Strip an ESP deck down to 20 cards by discarding one symbol set, but keep the usual cyclical
stack of the symbols.
Invite two spectators to assist. Each of them gives the deck a complete cut, then you deal out two
packets, one in front of each spectator. Deal the cards face down singly off the top, first a 6-card
packet (a), then a 7-card packet (b) emphasizing the various numbers of cards. A block of 7 cards
remains; this is your packet (c).
Introduce two versions of “random
sorting procedures”, the Under/
Down Deal and the Down/Under
Deal, but avoid using these terms
(unless you are performing for
fellow magicians). Instead of that
give a short explanation and de-
monstrate the basics with packet c:
Start an Under/Down Deal, stop
after the fourth card (the second
“down” card); place the “down” pair
back on top of the in-hand cards (thus seemingly undoing the sorting); start an Down/Under Deal,
stop also after the fourth card (this time it’s the second “under” card, of course); place the in-hand
cards on top of the “down” pair. (Justify the cut short demonstration with the simplicity and
monotony of the procedure that, once understood, can be easily applied to any number of cards.)
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Situation check: Let’s assume that, after the spectators’ cuts, the order of the symbols is 1 – 2 – 3
– 4 – 5 and so on, from the top down. If you followed the above instruction, the symbols’ order in
your packet is now 5 – 4 – 1 – 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 (d). The top five symbols are irrelevant; not the
bottom two: They are matching the bottom two symbols of packet b, and replicas of them can also
be found third and second from the bottom up in packet a.
Let one of the spectators decide on either sorting procedure , i.e., ask if the first card has to be
dealt out (“down”) or shifted to the bottom (“under”). Then have this procedure simultaneously
applied to all three packets à la Do-As-I-Do, with the two spectators following step by step your
lead. Finally the top card of each packet is turned over: The three symbols match! In the depicted
example they all show either symbol #3 (if Down/Under Deals were carried out) or symbol #2 (if
Under/Down Deals were carried out).

Trick #14
A standard ESP deck (25 cards, cyclically stacked), three participating spectators (A, B, C).
Have a card freely removed and tabled by spectator A, the card still face down and unviewed
(Fig. a). Cut the deck at that point, so that replicas of the selection are then fifth, tenth, fifteenth
and twentieth from the top down.
Deal off the top two 7-card packets, in a rather strange way to obscure the actual numbers: Deal
all the cards in pairs, except of the first card and the last card which you deal singly, and
simultaneously count the cards aloud, in one packet down from 7, in the other one up to 7.
Start with a packet for spectator B
(Fig. b): Deal out a single card and
call “7”; remove a pair und place it
on top of the single calling “5”; deal
another pair calling “3” and a final
pair calling “1”. Continue with a
packet for spectator C (Fig. c): a
pair (“2”), another pair (“4”), an-
other pair (“6”), and finally a single
card (“7”). Set the rest of the deck
down (Fig. d).
Address spectators B and C: “Oh, I
see you are not really convinced
that each of these packets is
holding the same number of cards.
Sorry for my unorthodox way of
counting! To convince you, I will
reverse deal the cards singly, both
packets simultaneously, thus giving you the additional chance of swapping cards if you like.”
Using both hands, remove the top cards from b and c holding them still face down and well apart,
and ask B if he wants to interchange them; if the answer is “yes”, swap their positions by crossing
your arms. Table the cards separately in front of b and c. Remove similarly the next card from
each packet and repeat your question, this time addressing C. Continue this way, asking
alternately B and C, until the original packets b and c are completely restacked. (In both packets,
the center card is still a replica of A’s selection.)
Explain what B and C are now expected to do: to singly deal off cards, alternately from the top
and the bottom of the packet, until only one card remains. Point out that this can be done either
way, i.e., the dealing can start with the top card or the bottom card, and emphasize the freedom
and importance of this decision. (In fact, it is absolutely irrelevant, because each packet holds an
odd number of cards.)
If the procedure is clear, have it carried out by both, simultaneously. Finally, when each of them is
left with a single card, have these two cards turned face up: the symbols match! Ask spectator A
to turn over his selection too, and, at the same time, you turn the top card of packet d face up:
another match, and it’s the very same symbol, so that the routine ends up with four of a kind!

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Trick #15
A 2-phase card routine for two spectators, using only the thirteen Diamonds.
Phase 1: Openly set the Queen and the King temporarily aside. Have the other cards genuinely
shuffled and two of them freely removed and remembered by two spectators (A, B). Deal the
remaining nine cards into three 3-card piles, face down. Ask A to place his selection (a) on any
pile and to drop one of the other piles on top of it. Instruct B to place his selection (b) on either
pile – either on the last 3-card pile or on A’s combined pile – and to drop the other one on top of it.
Call attention to the set-aside Queen and King, and drop both cards – face up and in any order –
on top of all (Fig. 1). You get a 13-card packet with one selection sixth from the top down, the
other one tenth. (Try to keep track of the selections so that you know for sure which one is now in
the upper half and which one is now in the lower half.)
Let each spectator give the packet a complete cut to randomize the order of the cards, then get
them back and give them two Reverse Forward Faros. After two more straight cuts by the
spectators (optional), you finally ribbon spread the cards: Queen and King are now exactly two
cards apart, and these two cards prove to be the selections! (The left-hand card of the
sandwiched pair is the one from the lower half of the packet, the right-hand card is the one from
the upper half.)
Phase 2: Discard the King, and explain that
the Queen – being on her own – is going to
duplicate this effect. Start as described (Fig.
2, Arrows 1 and 2), then drop the Queen on
top of it, but face down (Arrow 3). The
selections are now fifth and ninth from the
top down (and you hopefully know which one
belongs to which spectator).
Carry out a Klondyke Shuffle. Situation check
afterwards: The former fifth card is now third
from the top, the former ninth card sixth, and the Queen second from the bottom.
Spell the full name of the Queen: first “Q-U-E-E-N”, with each letter dealing off the top a
card reversing their order; remove the next card and table it face down in front of the spectator
who’s card was in the lower half; place the five dealt cards back on top of the in-hand cards, as
a block; then spell the same way “O-F”, dealing two cards; remove the next card and table it
face down in front of the other spectator; place the two dealt cards back; finally spell similarly “D-I-
A-M-O-N-D-S”, dealing eight cards; remove the next card and table it beside the other two.
Discard the remaining card.
Point to the last dealt card, and turn it face up: It’s the Queen of Diamonds! Ask each spectator to
name his card and to turn over the one dealt to him: Each spectator turns over his own selection!

Trick #16
A spelling version of the “Hypothetical
Card” plot.
Preparation: Sort out the 2H, the 7H, the
2C and the 7C. Place the 7H back on top
of the deck, insert the 2C third from the
top down, then place the 2H and the 7C
on top of all, in any order (Fig. a).
To perform, force the top two cards on a
spectator without disturbing the order of
the next three cards. I recommend the
Goldin Force: While you are holding the
deck in your left hand, your left thumb riffles down its outer left corner until the spectator calls
stop. Open a break between the riffled and unriffled cards, release the riffled portion and let it roll
over and off the left fingertips so that it lands on the fingers of the palm-up right hand. By closing
the right fingers, cause the riffled packet to turn over and end up face down in dealing position,

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then lower the hand and, with your thumb, push the top two cards singly to the left placing them
side by side on the table. (See Roberto Giobbi, Card College 1, pp. 88-89.)
Place the rest of the riffled packet back on top of the deck. Ask the spectator to turn the two
“selected” cards face up and to note their values (2, 7). Because the total of these values is 9,
count off the top of the deck nine cards, dealing them out in pairs, one on top of the other (Fig. b),
and set the remainder of the deck aside. Give the nine cards you just dealt a Reverse Forward
Faro to bring the 7H back on top and the 2C next to it (Fig. c).
Let the spectator combine the value of either selection with the suit of the other one to get a
“hypothetical card” (7H or 2C). Locate this hypothetical card by spelling its full name as follows:
To locate the 7H, spell “S-E-V-E-N” dealing out a card with each letter, then place all the in-hand
cards on the dealt cards (Fig. d); spell “O-F” dealing out two cards, then place the rest on top of
them as before (Fig. e); spell similarly “H-E-A-R-T-S” dealing out six cards, and drop the rest (Fig.
f); turn over the final top card: it’s the 7H! If the spectator decided on the 2C, spell/deal the same
way “T-W-O”, “O-F”, “C-L-U-B-S” (Figs. g-i), and you will end up with the 2C on top.
(Note: If you want to deal off the nine cards singly instead of in pairs, you have either to add an
extra indifferent card above the 7H, or, at the end of the Reverse Forward Faro, to shift the
outjogged cards to the top instead of to the bottom.)

Trick #17
Let the spectator name any suit. Sort out the ten
spot cards of this suit and arrange them face up in a
spread, in descending order as depicted (Fig. a).
Close the spread, square the cards, and turn over
the packet. Pick it up, hold it with the faces toward
you, and fan though the cards obviously looking for
something. Finally remove the Ace and the Two and
table them face down as your secret prediction.
Square the remaining eight cards (which are still in
numerical order), place this packet in front of the
spectator and turn away. Ask the spectator to give the packet a complete cut to bring a random
card to the top, then to remove this random card tabling it face up, note its value and shift that
many cards singly from the top of the packet to its bottom, e.g., five cards if a 5-spot happened to
be removed and turned over. Next, the removed card is to be placed back on top, still face up,
and lost in the packet by means of a complete cut.
Now instruct the spectator to deal the cards singly and alternately into two packets and then to set
aside the packet made up of four face-down cards (Fig. b). With the other packet (which contains
three face-down cards and the face-up random card) it goes on: Again, the cards are to be dealt
singly back and forth, and then, also as before, the uniformly face-down half is to be eliminated
(Fig. c).
The spectator is left with two cards, one face up, the other one face down. Request him to discard
the face-up card, then you turn back, point to the left-over face-down card, and ask him if he has
a clue about its identity (Fig. d). No matter what he replies, turn over your prediction cards, add up
openly their values (“1 + 2 = 3!”), then encourage him to turn over his last card: it is (always) the
3-spot.
Alternative Version
Start as described above, but use the Ace and the Ten as your secret prediction. Then mix the
remaining eight cards by carrying out a series of three Klondyke Shuffles, place the packet in
front of the spectator, and turn away.
Ask the spectator to cut the packet completely, to turn over the new top card, to place it back (still
face up), and to give the packet another complete cut.
Then guide the spectator verbally through the 2-phase binary elimination deal as in the above
version, down to two cards – one face down, one face up. Give instruction to turn the face-down
card also face up and to add up both values: The result is (always) 11, thus surprisingly matching
the added-up values of your prediction cards.

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Trick #18
You can use the same ten spot cards as in Trick #17, but
this time have the values running the other way round
(Fig. a).
Invite two spectators to participate, A on your left, B on
your right. Remove two more cards from the deck as your
“prediction”, an Ace and a Ten, both in the contrasting
color, but don’t let see their faces. Place the face-down
Ace in front of A, the face-down Ten in front of B. (The rest
of the deck is no longer required.)
Close the 10-card spread, turn the cards over, fan the
cards face down, and ask A to remove a card, somewhere
from the middle (so that the Ace and the Ten both retain their positions). Then address B, and
have him also picked out a card from the middle of the fan.
Close the fan. On top of this 8-card packet is still the Ace, on the bottom the Ten. Ask your
spectators to note and remember their chosen cards.
Split your eight cards in two 4-card packets, one for each spectator, by dealing two pairs to A (the
Ace ends up third from the top down) and tabling the rest (with the Ten still being the bottom card)
in front of B.
Request both spectators to drop their chosen cards onto the respective packets, face down, then
place A’s packet on B’s and carry out a Monge Shuffle.
Take away the final top card, turn it over (it’s the Ten!), and table it face up. Ask your participants
to turn over the two prediction cards. Is one of them a Ten? Yes, B’s card is, so this Ten is
obviously referring to B.
Count aloud from 1 to 10, with each number shifting a card singly from top to bottom. Turn over
the final top card: It’s B’s card; deal it to B.
Remove the next card, turn it over (it’s the Ace!), and table it face up. Does that mean something,
too? Yes, it does: A’s prediction card is an Ace, and because the value of an Ace is 1, you
transfer only one card from top to bottom before you turn over the next card: It’s A’s card; deal it
to A.
Alternative Version
The Monge Shuffle can be replaced with an Under/Down Deal provided that you deal both 4-card
packets singly (so that the Ace becomes the bottom card of A’s packet, and the Ten becomes the
top card of B’s packet). After the Under/Down Deal, the final top card (the Ace) is leading to A’s
card, the next one (the Ten) is leading to B’s card.

Trick #19
You need a cyclical stacked ESP deck, all symbols
uniformly colored. The spectator gives the deck a
complete cut, then he removes the top card and
tables it face down, unviewed. Take the deck and
deal off the top ten cards in groups of 3 and 2: two
triplets to the left, then two pairs to the right. (Fig. 1)
“2 x 3 = 6, 2 x 2 = 4; without doubt, the packets are
unequal, aren’t they?” (In each packet, the card
second from the top down is automatically a duplicate
of the spectator’s card.) Discard the rest of the deck.
While your back is turned, have the spectator turn
over the chosen card, note and remember the symbol, drop the card face down onto either pile,
and place the other pile on top of it. (In both cases – Fig. 1a, Fig. 1b – a card with the spectator’s
symbol ends up seventh from the top down: either the original selected card or its duplicate.)
Turn around, take the 11-card packet, do an Under/Down Deal, and turn the last card face up: it’s
showing the spectator’s symbol!

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Alternative Version
Start as described above, but deal off the top nine
cards only and deal them singly (Fig. 2): a 4-card
packet on the left, then a 5-card packet (with a du-
plicate of the spectator’s selection on the bottom) on
the right. Let the rest of the deck (with another replica
of the spectator’s card on top) within reach.
Give the same instructions as above, and turn your
back. No matter on which packet the spectator may
place his card, dropping the other packet on top of it
(Fig. 2a, Fig. 2b) guarantees that the card seventh
from the top down is showing the selected symbol.
Do a Down/Under Deal until you are left with a single
card. Table this card still face down, remove the top
card of the deck and use it for scooping up and
turning over the tabled card: the spectator’s symbol
shows up. Then, as a final surprise, turn over the card
in your hand displaying a matching replica.
By the way…
Are you aware that there is basically no difference
between doing an Under/Down Deal and playing a
counting-out game where every other item starting
with the second one drops out? (Fig. 3)

Trick #20
Any six cards are dealt face down into three
pairs and the pairs arranged side by side in
a row.
Ask a spectator to decide on any pair, to
note and remember the bottom card, and to
place that pair on either of the other two.
Take these four cards and give them a
Down/Under Deal announcing that the
spectator is expected to duplicate this
“random sorting procedure” afterwards.
(Done with four cards, a Down/Under Deal does not alter the position of the card second from the
top which is, in this case, the one the spectator noted and remembered.) Then turn the remaining
pair face up and place the pile containing the spectator’s card on top of the face-up pair. (Fig. 1a)
Give the combined packet to the spectator and encourage him to repeat the sorting procedure
just showed by you. (Guide him verbally step by step, if necessary.) Finally spread the cards and
call attention to the single card trapped between the two face-up ones. (Fig. 1b)
Slide this card out of the spread and turn it over: It is the spectator’s card!

Alternative Version
Use eight card pairs. The spectator is instructed to note and remember the top card of any pair
and to place any other pair on top of it. Then these four cards are dropped onto either of the
remaining pairs (so that the resulting 6-card packet contains the spectator’s card third from the
top down).
Take this 6-card packet and “randomize” the order of the cards by demonstrating an Under/Down
Deal (which leaves the position of the spectator’s card unchanged). Then turn the last pair face
up and place the six card you just mixed on top of it. (Fig. 2a)
Now it’s the spectator’s turn: He follows your lead and gives the 8-card packet another
Under/Down Deal, and when the cards are spread afterwards (Fig. 2b), a single card is seen
caught by the two face-up ones which turns out to be the spectator’s selection.

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For more (and more elaborate) math-based magic by Werner Miller visit
http://www.lybrary.com/werner-miller-m-7881.html

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