The Count’s

Inquisition of Shuffling and Dealing: An assortment of ideas on shuffling, stacking, and dealing

New World of Card Magic Volume 8

Part Three

Table of Contents:

Note Regarding Publication................................................................................................ 6

Author’s Note...................................................................................................................... 7

Prologue .............................................................................................................................. 8

A Note Concerning How to Read This Manuscript........................................................ 9

Part 3, Dealing: ................................................................................................................. 10

Introduction................................................................................................................... 10

Two-Handed Tops ........................................................................................................ 12

One-Handed Tops ......................................................................................................... 18

False Dealing Theory.................................................................................................... 29

Tip-offs & How to detect a false deal ........................................................................... 30

Covering Against Getting Caught................................................................................. 43

Dealing Seconds (Two Hands) ..................................................................................... 44

Push-off Seconds ...................................................................................................... 45

Method 1 ............................................................................................................... 45

Variation 1 ............................................................................................................ 62

Variation 2 ............................................................................................................ 65

Variation 3 ............................................................................................................ 67

Variation 4 ............................................................................................................ 69

Method 2 ............................................................................................................... 72

Variation 1 ............................................................................................................ 77

Variation 2 ............................................................................................................ 79

Variation 3 ............................................................................................................ 80

Variation 4 ............................................................................................................ 84

Method 3 ............................................................................................................... 85

Count’s Push-off Cover ........................................................................................ 87

Sound .................................................................................................................... 87

Strike Seconds........................................................................................................... 88

Method 1 ............................................................................................................... 90

Variation 1 ............................................................................................................ 96

Variation 2 ............................................................................................................ 98

Variation 3 ............................................................................................................ 99

Variation 4 ............................................................................................................ 99

Method 2 (Shifted Grip)...................................................................................... 102

Variation 1 .......................................................................................................... 105

Method 3 ............................................................................................................. 107

Sound .................................................................................................................. 108

Other Points ........................................................................................................ 109

Side Strike Seconds................................................................................................. 109

Stud Seconds........................................................................................................... 113

Push-off Method 1 .............................................................................................. 113

Push-off Method 2 .............................................................................................. 117

Push-off Method 3 .............................................................................................. 122

Strike Method 1................................................................................................... 126

Strike Method 2................................................................................................... 129

Side Strike Method 1 .......................................................................................... 132

Which is Best? ........................................................................................................ 134

Dealing Seconds (One Handed).................................................................................. 134

D’Amico Seconds ................................................................................................... 135

Spin Seconds........................................................................................................... 144

Visual Retention Seconds ....................................................................................... 149

Drop Seconds .......................................................................................................... 152

Throw Seconds........................................................................................................ 154

Bullet Seconds ........................................................................................................ 158

Stud Seconds........................................................................................................... 161

Double Dealing (Two Hands)..................................................................................... 163

Push-off Double Deal ............................................................................................. 164

Strike Double Deal.................................................................................................. 167

Side Strike Double Deal.......................................................................................... 169

Double Dealing (One-handed).................................................................................... 171

Push-off Doubles .................................................................................................... 171

Visual Retention Doubles ....................................................................................... 172

Throw Doubles........................................................................................................ 174

Double Dealing Seconds (Two Hands)....................................................................... 174

Push-off Second Doubles........................................................................................ 174

Side Strike............................................................................................................... 174

Double Dealing Seconds (One-handed)...................................................................... 175

Visual Retention Second Doubles .......................................................................... 175

Dealing Thirds, Fourths & Fifths (Two Hands).......................................................... 175

Dealing Bottoms (Two Hands) ................................................................................... 176

Strike Bottoms ........................................................................................................ 178

Method 1 (Shifted Grip)...................................................................................... 178

Variation 1 .......................................................................................................... 188

Method 2 ............................................................................................................. 191

Variation 1 .......................................................................................................... 193

Method 3 ............................................................................................................. 194

Universal Variation 1.......................................................................................... 195

Universal Variation 2.......................................................................................... 197

Push-off Bottoms .................................................................................................... 197

Method 1 ............................................................................................................. 198

Method 2 ............................................................................................................. 203

Method 3 ............................................................................................................. 208

Side Strike Concept................................................................................................. 211

Stud Bottoms........................................................................................................... 212

Strike Method 1................................................................................................... 212

Push-off Method 1 .............................................................................................. 218

Greek Dealing (Two Hands)....................................................................................... 220

Buckle Greeks......................................................................................................... 220

Method 1 ............................................................................................................. 221

Variation 1 .......................................................................................................... 222

Method 2 ............................................................................................................. 223

Method 3 ............................................................................................................. 225

Pre-Emptive Greek Deal ......................................................................................... 228

Drawbridge Greek Deal .......................................................................................... 229

Alternative Pre-emptive Greek ............................................................................... 230

Multiple Minus Bottom Deals ................................................................................ 230

Stud Greeks............................................................................................................. 230

Strike Method 1................................................................................................... 230

Push-off Method 1 .............................................................................................. 231

Push-off vs. Strike................................................................................................... 233

Dealing Bottoms (One-handed) .................................................................................. 233

Throw Bottoms ....................................................................................................... 234

Spin Bottoms........................................................................................................... 234

Stud Bottoms........................................................................................................... 237

Greek Dealing (One-handed)...................................................................................... 237

Throw Greeks.......................................................................................................... 237

Spin Greeks............................................................................................................. 238

Stud Greeks............................................................................................................. 239

Multiple Minus Bottoms......................................................................................... 239

Double Dealing Bottoms (Two Hands) ...................................................................... 240

Dealing Centers (Two Hands) .................................................................................... 244

Step Centers ............................................................................................................ 245

Full Step Centers..................................................................................................... 247

Angle Separation Grip ............................................................................................ 250

Pre-Emptive Centers ............................................................................................... 250

Drawbridge Centers ................................................................................................ 251

Side Strike Centers.................................................................................................. 252

“V” Style Strike Centers ......................................................................................... 255

Push-off Centers...................................................................................................... 260

Stud Centers ............................................................................................................ 266

Dealing Centers (One-handed) ................................................................................... 267

Throw Centers......................................................................................................... 267

Spin Centers ............................................................................................................ 267

Stud Centers ............................................................................................................ 269

Evolution to the Count’s Dealing Grip ....................................................................... 269

The Count’s Dealing Grip........................................................................................... 271

Dealing Seconds...................................................................................................... 274

Dealing Doubles...................................................................................................... 283

Dealing Bottoms ..................................................................................................... 286

Dealing Greeks........................................................................................................ 287

Dealing Centers....................................................................................................... 289

Stud dealing ............................................................................................................ 293

Advantages of the Count’s Grip ................................................................................. 294

Disadvantages of the Count’s Grip ............................................................................. 295

Practicing False Deals................................................................................................. 296

Benzais Cop ................................................................................................................ 296

Snap Deal Notes.......................................................................................................... 303

Applications of Snap Deal – Benzais Cop Combination ............................................ 309

Notes on Punch Dealing.............................................................................................. 309

Thoughts on Dealing from a Tabled Deck.................................................................. 312

Tops......................................................................................................................... 312

Seconds ................................................................................................................... 317

Doubles ................................................................................................................... 319

Bottoms ................................................................................................................... 319

Greeks ..................................................................................................................... 321

Centers .................................................................................................................... 322

Tabled Punch Dealing............................................................................................. 323

Thoughts on Card Type and Design ........................................................................... 323

Future Ideas for False Dealing.................................................................................... 325

Other Sources for Dealing .......................................................................................... 325

Closing Thoughts ............................................................................................................ 326

Special Thanks ................................................................................................................ 328

Credits ............................................................................................................................. 328

Notes on Copyright ......................................................................................................... 330

Author’s Thanks & Contact ............................................................................................ 331

Note Regarding Publication

The document you are now perusing and I sincerely hope you shall carefully study was

not originally one of three. Rather, all three manuscripts were written as a single book.

Though I explain the point briefly later on in the work, I shall simply inform you that in

my view the subject matter is related. Shuffling techniques become relevant in culling

and stacking procedures and though dealing is perhaps less related, it is nevertheless a

subject of study in due course. For example, one might cull several cards to the bottom

of the deck and then bottom deal them off at an opportune moment. Applications are

endless, and I shall attempt to address the issue at a later time in a later work.

Of greatest relevance to you, oh passionate student of the art is that concepts build upon

one another in many cases. For example, I fail to teach the subtleties of the move

described in part one as the undercut in part two where it is employed; or the process of a

faro for that matter. Thus, reference to earlier sections is frequently useful. I do

apologize for this inconvenience, it was incidental rather than intentional on my part,

since it seems the world of magic functions somewhat differently from what I expected.

It seems the investment of time in large projects is too great when measured against the

returns. And so, though it saddens me, it brings us to the present.

I have for obvious reasons not completely re-written the work in order to avoid references

past and present…I suppose it is not uncommon for books on the given material to

assume prior knowledge anyway. I would however, highly recommend you consult the

subtleties I list in the related sections as they do offer a certain relevance. Later I shall

attempt to bridge the gaps to a somewhat greater degree and offer you some additional

material. In the mean time, I have seen fit to include both the introductory and

concluding elements of the whole into each of the three parts so those who choose only to

read one might not find themselves disadvantaged on the context of the material in

question.

You may find some of these comments fit best with a particular part of the total volume;

this is due to the fact that they were written for a particular position within the work and

have now been transcribed for your convenience. Also worth mentioning is the lengthy

publishing process. Roughly two years have elapsed now since some of the material was

written, at least a year in all cases and sometimes much more since the hasty scribbling of

notes. It is therefore a good foundation point, but an incomplete analysis, a flaw I shall

correct within the near future.

Finally, I would like to offer my thanks to Aaron Smith for his support and guidance in

the project.

I trust you shall all venture forth to offer a flawless account of yourself and your

technique, where problems arise; the forums are continually a good place to start as I

shall personally assist you there. Best of luck then, and without ado, let’s get started.

Author’s Note

I wish to take a moment to comment on the title that I have so selfishly taken and so

presumptuously bestowed upon myself. I have for many years considered writing in

various fields, it is an area where I feel my creativity is allowed to roam unrestricted and

where I can contribute my own individuality. However, the idea of writing under my true

name has never held much appeal, as fame is something I have endlessly shunned. It

happened therefore that as I was first considering composing this work I finished reading

Alexandre Dumas’ masterpiece “The Count of Monte Cristo” and became enamored with

the title. It seemed to me to be a title denoting refinement and elegance by at the same

time a sense of mystery and so, I have adopted it as the title under which I shall write all

my magic material, which, at this time, is expected to encompass twelve volumes and

cover various fields that interest me. Certainly, as with all things we do, I will find in it,

some sense of ridicule from some, certainly considering my own lack of experience the

notion that I have much to contribute seems strange. With some luck it will provide a

few insights to some who are struggling and offer some ideas or at least the seeds of

creativity to others who have a passion as I do for the subject in question.

Prologue

Much of my writing begins as merely a series of notes I make so as to keep from

forgetting what I have learned. To be honest, I don’t exactly remember what prompted to

me write this one. Perhaps it was some romantic delusion of grandeur that led me to

believe I could offer something to this field that someone else could not. I do recall

thinking however that in spite of what seems like a vast quantity of material on the

subject of false dealing, there seems to be remarkably little material on the subject of

stacking. Furthermore, having developed my own methods independently prior to

reading the only two documents I have been introduced to on the subject, I found that the

material available, at least according to my limited exposure, seemed dreadfully

insufficient. It strikes me that most false deals are only really useful once you have a

stack in place, thus it seems natural that false dealing would be coupled with stacking. I

have also noticed that, at least from my perspective most of the stacking that takes place

is horribly unrealistic due to the fact that the cards seem to start on the top of the deck.

When I began teaching myself riffle stacking, the entire point as far as I was concerned

was to work with a deck in random order, after all, how often do you really end up with

four aces or a royal flush on the top of the deck, even using discard stacking? Let alone

ending up with two killer hands on the top of the deck in a usable manner? These

conditions seem to me to be so altogether improbable that I begin by assuming they do

not exist. Of course, they may, but it would be a rare occasion that they did. Now in

reality one would not typically control such exotic hands as a four of a kind or royal flush

for themselves, especially not consistently as it arouses suspicion, thus the use of skills

based on discard stacking as opposed to a random deck become more understandable

from the perspective of a real gambler, which I most certainly am not. However, my

interests have always leaned towards the exotic. I have a flare and a passion for the

extremes of card manipulation and since I am not a gambler trying to win without

arousing suspicion, stacking a royal flush or four of a kind holds a much greater appeal to

me than stacking three of a kind and remaining safe.

It is with all of this in mind, that I approach this book, which will cover both shuffling at

the basic levels, controls for magicians, stacking along with culling and of course, the

false dealing I feel is tied so closely to the stacking. To explain how this all came about

perhaps I will take you back to my very beginnings in card control and even before that.

I remember as a child sitting around with a babysitter who was teaching me how to play

poker. Once when it came his turn to deal he ended up with some exceptional hand, I

don’t recall anymore what it was, but I was amazed and was of course easily beaten. He

informed me however that this was not his real hand, he had stacked the deck, I had been

oblivious to it. I watched him closely from then on and to my relief or perhaps,

subconsciously, to my disappointment he never did it again, stating that he couldn’t do it

while shuffling so fast. Nevertheless, my interest in the whole process was sparked. In

the years that would follow, I did very little in an attempt to learn the process, but the

seeds had been planted.

A Note Concerning How to Read This Manuscript

While it is my sincere hope that the material I have labored to lay down before you, the

gracious reader, will be of benefit I realize that I cannot possibly hope to inform you all

of new ideas at each turn. As such, it would seem natural for those who feel you have

refined your skill sufficiently to omit certain portions of this work from your reading.

This would, in great likelihood, be how I myself would go about it, but I must offer a

word of caution. For the sake brevity and my own sanity I will not be repeating, or at

least not often, points that I have made in earlier sections and so as we progress you may

find yourself missing out on certain portions of the explanation which were given earlier

in the volume. Be warned therefore that you may find yourself needing to refer to earlier

sections in order to garner the utmost benefit from the later ones.

Part 3, Dealing:

Dealing is the process by which one distributes the cards from the deck to the various

players in a game. False dealing is the process of altering the general dealing pattern in

order to obtain a favorable for a particular player while making it seem as though you

are dealing fairly.

My cautions to you in this particular section of the book must be similar to those in past

sections, that is to say, I have received very little instruction in the subject of false

dealing. After working with the concept considerably on my own I did watch the Ed

Marlo DVDs “The Cardician” and “Legend”. I own a copy of Seconds, Centers &

Bottoms (available in “Revolutionary Card Technique” for those interested), but I have

avoided reading it in order to put forward my own views on the subject into this

manuscript rather than those of Mr. Marlo. Finally, I have read Guy Hollingworth’s

thoughts on the subject as outlined in his book “Drawing Room Deceptions”, though I

will attempt as best I can to leave his thoughts to him so as not to infringe on the

creativity of others. Creativity is for me of great importance and I attempt in most cases

particularly of late, to develop my own ideas rather than learn the ideas of others. On the

other hand, I do not wish to compromise the educational experience of you, my readers

and thus while I attempt to protect the creativity of those whose ideas I exposed myself

to, I will attempt also to convey a clear and effective portrait of the subject matter to you

all.

Introduction

While what I have stated above about receiving little instruction is true, I have been

exposed to the ideas of others, in fact the mere concept of false dealing was not my own,

but something I heard about from others and read more about as my study of cards

continued. As such, I owe a debt of gratitude to a multitude of nameless faces, to whom I

can never convey my appreciation. My first expose to the notion came when I saw

someone demonstrate a second deal and though it would be a considerable period of time

before I attempted to learn this somewhat difficult sleight it planted in me the idea. Over

the course of the next few months I read more and more on the subject of false dealing,

how some people could deal the second card in the deck, deal from the bottom of the

deck, or even the middle of the deck. At first the concept had me baffled, I couldn’t

grasp how I would get a card off the bottom of the deck, but I realized that bottom

dealing at least would be extremely useful. An understanding of just how one might

bottom deal came when I witnessed the finger position of someone who was bottom

dealing as a demonstration in a short video clip. I began to experiment with that idea and

soon developed some acumen of skill. The idea of a Greek deal (which is when you deal

off the second card from the bottom) remained seemingly impossible to me. A strange

thing happened though in the early days of my practice. I was sitting at a desk dealing

off I believe it was every fourth card as a bottom when someone asked me what I was

doing. I explained to him that it was very difficult and required a great deal of practice,

to which he commented that it didn’t look so hard. Feeling somewhat irritated I handed

him the deck of cards and asked him to try so he said all I was doing was dealing cards

off the deck and every once and a while pulling one out of the middle. I mentioned that I

wasn’t pulling it from the middle but rather the bottom and that the key was to make it

invisible. He pointed out that he could see my deals weren’t real which prompted me to

mention that this was in fact why it required so much practice. The point of interest

however came when he attempted to perform the deal himself. I was using a modified

mechanics grip, but he, being completely unfamiliar with cards grasped the deck in a

somewhat rough and clumsy manner…or so I thought.

I later examined the grip and realized that it had numerous advantages. Over the course

of the next few months I then refined that grip to what will be described later on as “The

Count’s Grip” for what I call “invisible dealing”. One of the key advantages of the grip

was the ability to perform Greek deals quite easily, which was naturally quite desirable.

Now, I found that it was relatively easy to fool an unsuspecting audience; in fact you can

have many blatant tip offs and skill pull the wool over their yes with ease so to speak.

What I had always been taught and still adhere to in some regard is the notion that you

should practice either in front of a mirror or on video and when you are good enough that

you can fool yourself, then it is enough, then you can fool others who don’t know what

you are doing. In practicing in front of a mirror, I noticed one tip off that was more

troublesome than all the rest and it remains for most card workers I think the most

difficult tip off to avoid by far. The problem was that often no one could tell where the

false deal was coming from, but if you kept your eyes fixed on the top card of the deck,

you would see that it never moved. My idea then was for invisible dealing, the idea of

which is to make it so that you can’t tell where the top card comes from either and in so

doing tops would become the same as seconds, centers, bottoms, Greeks etc.

Over the coming pages I will describe many false deals as well as numerous methods and

variations for each, and you may choose to learn and apply whichever suit you, but you

would do well to keep the above and all the other tip offs I mention in mind as you

proceed. I have practiced false dealing for many hours, in fact it is probably the group of

sleights I have devoted the most time to, rarely going a day without putting in perhaps an

hour of practice or more on false dealing alone. While I have tested these methods on

audiences in magic effects and on more savvy spectators in fun bouts of gambling, it is

rare to demonstrate and receive criticism from someone who knows the techniques and

can truly help detect disparities. In this regard I owe a debt of gratitude to a young man

without whom this project would not have occurred, someone who assisted me by taking

the pictures necessary and who would sit close while I dealt off cards using various

methods and identify for me when I was false dealing and how he could tell.

With that in mind, I dedicate the rest of this book to Kevin, thank you.

I alluded above to a slightly different approach and concept, at least not as common as

the others approaches from what I have seen, namely a focus not on the false deals, but

on the tops. (Tops of course referring to the fact that we generally deal cards from the

top of the deck.) See, the key to a good false deal is a good top deal, if the tops are well

done and well planned then you can mirror them perfectly with the false deal. All too

often, a false deal may be perfect, but what gives it away is the top. This is I think the

case with a D’Amico one-handed second deal. It is not too terribly difficult to perform

the sleight so that it is completely invisible, in fact when well perform it should appear

almost as though the card simply appears at your finger tips. The problem, is that making

a top deal look the same is extremely difficult and a subject I will address more in the

relevant section. This is however, how I will make my descriptions, focusing not so

much on the false deal (though I intend to give the false deals a great deal of attention),

but focusing instead of what the top deal that the false deal is mirroring should look like,

in order to ensure that the two are the same in every aspect. Bear in mind then, the key to

a good false deal is an excellent real deal.

Two-Handed Tops

There are three basic methods of two handed dealing that I will describe, in addition to

this there are methods of dealing stud, but I will save those for later. The methods I

describe here occur from the mechanics grip and there are many variations with many

other grips, but again, I am preserving them for later in order to preserve my own sanity

and allow myself the motivation to actually complete this project. My goal is simply to

inspire in you the general theories involved in false dealing.

The first method is the push off and it seems quite common amongst lay people. You

will begin with the deck in the left hand in the mechanics grip with the thumb lying

across the top of the deck pointing towards the upper right corner. (See figure 328.)

Figure 328.

Now, the thumb will dig into the top card slightly and pull towards the base of the thumb

while pushing outward, cause the top card to pivot on the base of the thumb and move

partially outward. (See figure 329.)

Figure 329.

Alternatively, the thumb could more horizontally across the card dig in and push the card

off sideways. (See figure 330.)

Figure 330.

Many other slight variations are possible, but I will touch upon them in other sections, the

concept to be noted is that the card if pushed off, hence the term “push-off dealing”.

Once the card has been pushed off slightly, the right hand will take hold of the card with

the thumb, forefinger and middle finger and deal it to the table. (See figure 331.)

Figure 331.

This action is called “the take” and there are numerous variations to this aspect that I will

further describe later along with advantages, reasons etc. For now, this process is the

basic push off deal.

Next, we have what is called the strike deal because the fingers of the right hand

(typically the thumb) strike the deck and pull the card from the top. Again you begin

with the deck in mechanics grip as per figure 328, then the right thumb comes across the

deck making contact along the upper edge around the border area and pulls the card off.

(See figure 332 & figure 333.)

Figure 332.

Figure 333.

We will examine subtleties of this process later according to how they suit the false deals.

For now, this is the basic idea behind strike dealing and the method similar to how an

amateur would perform it.

Finally, there is the side strike deal. The story behind this is quite simple. When first I

read about dealing seconds I heard that there were two methods, strike seconds and push-

off seconds. At the time I had no idea how to perform either but I had heard of a strike

double lift and thought that a strike second must use this principle. After attempting the

process I decided that this made sense and was truly, why people called a second deal

difficult, after all, being fluid using this method seemed tough. Now, when I learned that

a strike deal was something different I still wanted to keep the method based on the strike

double lift, which I had grown fairly proficient with and so I changed the name to side

strike, which seems fitting due to the fact that you strike the side of the deck. For some

time I figured I was the only person who used this method, but I discovered that Marlo

has a method based on the same idea that he calls the hit second. Having never studied

his method I cannot say how the two are technically similar or different, but for now I

will instruct you in my technique under the name side strike dealing.

You begin as before with the deck in the mechanics grip. The right hand middle finger

then moves over and strikes the edge between the right side of the deck and the top of the

deck and pulling the top card up away from the others as it does so. (See figure 334.)

Figure 334.

The right middle finger now lets the card down slightly as the thumb moves in from

above and slightly to the left to pinch the card between the two fingers and in a

continuing motion pulls it from the deck. (See figure 335 & figure 336.)

Figure 335.

Figure 336.

This isn’t a method you see used, I don’t believe I have ever seen anyone except myself

use it in practice, but once the technique has been refined it can be very practical in a

number of ways which I will explore more later. You are now saddled with the theory of

side strike dealing.

One-Handed Tops

We now move on to the subject of dealing cards one-handed. I have to admit, doing so

seems horribly impractical and more a process for showing off than anything else.

Generally, you don’t want to deal cards one-handed, though it may be slightly more

convincing in theory than dealing with two hands is not nearly as clean or undetectable.

It is however of interest and perhaps a matter of pride, not to mention enjoyment,

particularly if it is merely done to look good. Since I will be describing numerous

methods of false dealing one-handed I will offer you a few of the methods one might

employ for legitimately dealing one handed.

Bullet dealing was, from what I have heard, developed by Paul LePaul and is a simple

flourish, but nevertheless an effective dealing method and a rather attractive one. You

begin by holding the deck in a modified mechanics grip with the forefinger curled under

the deck and the pinky at the bottom end. (See figure 337.)

Figure 337.

The thumb will reach to the front end up of the cards and apply pressure buckling the

card back towards the pinky and then releasing it, causing it to spring forward. One must

be careful not to hold the card too long in the buckled position, but rather release

immediately so that the card retains its spring. Some people have difficulty getting the

card to release properly; I have found personally that this is due to the portion of the

thumb that is used to buckle the card. Rather than using the thumb tip, which makes the

release difficult, I find it is easier to use the portion of the thumb around the top of the

joint allowing for a clean and easy release. (See figure 338.)

Figure 338.

Many people find this to be a nice one-handed flourish, though it is not my favorite and I

don’t use it often, it is still a somewhat attractive method of dealing at a card table.

Spin dealing is my favorite type of one-handed dealing by far and I think the best method

in most cases of doing one-handed false deals. To the best of my knowledge I am the

only person who uses it but that is probably an absurd claim due to the simplicity of the

process, others must use it. It is however something I have refined on my own and it is I

who gave it the name spin dealing, because the card spins (very dull I know, I’ll have to

correct that in future techniques), so if someone else uses it and has given it another name

I apologize for not crediting them. The idea comes from a technique I learned from

Oliver Macia in his “Control Freak” DVD and involves shooting a card out of the center

of the deck.

You begin with the deck in mechanics grip by performing a push-off, pivoting on the

base of the thumb. As the card comes off the deck, the left middle finger moves between

the top edge of the card and the edge of the deck providing a new pivot point. (See figure

339.)

Figure 339.

Underneath the card, the left ring finger applies an upward and forward force on the card

causing it to swing out pivoting around the middle finger. (See figure 340 & figure 341.)

Figure 340.

Figure 341.

This movement will be accompanied by a flicking motion of the wrist first in towards the

body as the card is pushed off and then out again towards the location you wish to send

the card. The flick of the wrist helps to heighten the strength of the spin throw and direct

the card as desired. With practice you will learn to make the process simple, controlled

and elegant.

Drop dealing takes two forms, the more refined and difficult form and the less practical

but easier form…easier that is for performing the false deal. Essentially this method is

based off a visual retention drop (for those not familiar with the technique it was I believe

created by Ed Marlo and is available in some of his material, it will be covered in later

works), but accordingly has two variants. (It is a source of annoyance to me that the

method most people seem to perform the visual retention drop is rather clumsy and

unrefined, but like I said, I will cover that in a later work). I will explain the easier

version first.

You begin with the cards in the mechanics grip, with your thumb on the upper left corner

of the deck. Now, the thumb pushes the top card off the deck slightly separating it from

the others. Then, the thumb pulls the card back, and while twisting the wrist so that the

deck is perpendicular to the table, draws the card up onto the side of the deck. The hand

now lifts slightly while at the same time twisting so the face of the deck (backs of the

cards) is at a forty-five degree angle to the table. Finally, the hand descends twisting

back the way it came about ninety degrees and slap the card down on the table in the

same motion. The key is to release the card when it is parallel to the table so it falls flat.

(See figure 342, figure 343, figure 344, figure 345 & figure 346.)

Figure 342.

Figure 343.

Figure 344.

Figure 345.

Figure 346.

With this method, actually with most methods, you want to be quite loose and relaxed,

you will find it helps improve. The more advanced and difficult version, what I refer to

as improved drop dealing involves skipping the middle steps. You begin with the deck is

mechanics grip with the thumb in the upper left corner as before and push the card out

just slightly so that it moves onto the tips of the three fingers on the right side of the deck

and out of the crotch of the hand at the base of the thumb. Next, you drop the hand in a

swinging motion twisting the wrist so the deck moves out from under the top card of the

deck and allowing it to fall to the table. (You may wish to use your thumb to control the

top card slightly and ensure it moves cleanly to the table.) (See figure 347, figure 348, &

figure 349.)

Figure 347.

Figure 348.

Figure 349.

The final and one of the most useful one-handed deals when it comes to false dealing is

the throw deal. This mimics a push-off second where you push the card off to the side.

You begin with the deck in mechanics grip, thumb positioned on the left side. You then

push the card out to the side with the thumb, using the forefinger across the top edge as a

guide. At this point you are going to move your entire hand and arm deck first in the

direction you want to toss the card and when you reach the extent of the movement you

will release the card and pull back the deck allowing the momentum to carry the card

away from the deck. The motion should be rapid and somewhat abrupt. (See figure 350,

figure 351 & figure 352 (observe the small piece of wood as a reference point for

motion).)

Figure 350.

Figure 351.

Figure 352.

I caution you for all these deals not to become too absorbed in the mechanics as I will

offer various pointers and subtleties that will vary depending on exactly which false deals

you wish to perform. For that reason I have deliberately withheld some thoughts and

ideas for now and merely given you some basics to grow familiar with.

False Dealing Theory

The theory of a false deal is quite simple. It is to deal cards from various portions of the

deck besides the top (or to control the card you are dealing) while making it appear as

though you are dealing normally. It is this idea of making it appear as though you are

dealing normally that is so key. Obviously the process is not the same, after all, no

matter how much attention you give to the concept when you are dealing cards off the

bottom of the deck they will always be coming off the bottom and thus not appear as

though they are coming off the top. As such, we must do things to obscure the reality

that a false deal is occurring.

The basis of this is in the mind, since most people automatically assume that you are

dealing cards off the top of the deck as per normal. Due to this simple fact, you can get

away with false dealing even when it is quite sloppy. However, in any company you

should avoid giving the audience any reasons to suspect that you are false dealing, thus

you aim to make all your deals uniform, regardless of whether they are true or false.

Now, someone who is aware of false deals may offer you some degree of additional

scrutiny, which will mean you need your deals to be somewhat better, many of the sloppy

habits must be forcefully eradicated! If the person is unversed in the art of detecting a

false deal or invisible false dealing they will likely be watching for the false deal itself

and perhaps paying attention to a couple common tip-offs. These are generally fairly

easy to avoid and shouldn’t cause any major trouble for the concerned professional.

However, if the individual watching is a master at detecting false deals, he or she will be

observing the top card to see whether it is being dealt from the deck and depending on the

angle of observation this can be a very difficult point to conceal.

Essentially, based on what I have just stated I consider there to be fairly broadly, four

levels of skill at false dealing. First, you have the point at which you cannot fool

amateurs, where someone watching you deal will see that you are dealing cards from

another portion of the deck (note that generally they won’t be able to tell where, merely

that it is not from the top). Do not perform until you are well past this level. Then there

are those who can fool amateurs and laypeople, they have numerous tip offs, but the false

deal isn’t obvious to someone unaware of the possibility or paying close attention and so

the psychology takes over causing them to assume the deals are real. Next, comes the

ability to deceive most professionals. There are very few tip-offs, the tip-offs pass

quickly and are very subtle, but angles are often used to make the deals seem invisible.

Few people move past this level and honestly, it isn’t particularly necessary to move past

this level. The final level and I must admit, I cannot perform all my deals to this level, is

the invisible deal, where there are no tip offs from any angle and tops themselves are

invisible. Meaning that someone looking to see if the top card was dealt will not be able

to tell on the true deals and thus not recognize the difference in false deals. It is

extremely difficult and in some cases arguably impossible to reach this level with most

one-handed deals, but fortunately, as I mentioned, it really isn’t necessary.

Tip-offs & How to detect a false deal

This brings us to the question of just what things will give away a false deal. Initially I

planned on covering the subject of detecting a false deal at the end, but I have since

decided that if you know what things to watch for it will help to improve the quality of

your false deals. From the beginning it is important to realize that there is no one thing to

watch for, meaning that, false deals do not look a certain way or sound a certain way

while real deals look and sound another way. There is no real consistency from one

method to another and from one performer to another.

The first thing to examine is the grip, and this is not a good one, but it can serve as an

indicator. You should watch for two points. First, watch for a shift in the grip while

dealing. In other words, someone may deal the first three cards and then when he goes to

deal the fourth his grip shifts. Now this may be natural, but generally, it indicates some

reason for the change. The change is however, usually fairly subtle and designed to

facilitate a particular action. (See figure 353 and figure 354 for an example.)

Figure 353.

Figure 354.

One of two things may occur in cases such as this, the first and I find it to be the most

natural, is for the later grip to remain. In other words, after making the shift from the grip

in figure 353, to the grip in figure 354, the dealer would continue using the grip shown in

figure 354 for the remainder of the cards. (Just in case I have inadvertently created some

confusion, the grips shown are not the only possibilities, virtually any shift could occur,

the photographs merely illustrate how a subtle change may occur quite easily.) The

second possibility is that the dealer will shift to a particular grip and then back. If this is

the case you should watch to see if the shift is consistent. For example, each time the

dealer reaches the fourth player his grip changes, then for the fifth or sixth player the grip

changes back. This would be a fairly obvious tip off.

Another possibility, and something you as a dealer should attempt to avoid is using

different grips depending on what deal is to be performed. For example, on one

particular round the dealer may not be cheating and thus use a grip like that shown in

figure 353, but on the next round may wish to bottom deal and thus shift to a grip such as

that shown in figure 354. A further shift may occur if he desires to perform a second deal

or a Greek deal etc. Caution must be exercised on this point since it is possible to

perform false deals from a variety of grips and a different grip doesn’t necessarily

indicate anything. For example, I personally like to shift from one grip to another on

different occasions to maintain my edge with each grip and each method and I have

numerous methods I can use to perform most or all of my false deals from the same grip.

The next tip off is the position of the dealer’s right hand fingers on the card after

performing the take. While variation can occur here, there should be general consistency.

Again, watching for consistency in exactly when this grip on the card changes is

important. For example, if the dealer is dealing cards for five players and the cards dealt

to the fourth player are consistently different from the other four players then you likely

have a case where false dealing is occurring. (See figure 355 and figure 356 for

examples of subtle differences in the finger position).

Figure 355.

Figure 356.

Another potential tip off, though one that is very easy to avoid involves the position of

the cards when they end up on the table. This occurs most often when the dealer is

dealing cards off the side of the deck and then performs a bottom deal. What happens is,

the fingers used for support on the deck catch the card and twist it, causing its orientation

to change as demonstrated in the photographs. (See figure 357 and figure 358.)

Figure 357.

Figure 358.

Again, this is an inconsistency to watch for, though it isn’t likely to occur often.

In regards to the action of performing the take there are numerous potential tip offs, one

being, clearly performing the take in a location that is unsuitable for the card. For

example, with a strike second, if you were to push off the top card and then perform a

strike in the top corner of the deck. (See figure 359 and figure 360.)

Figure 359.

Figure 360.

Now naturally this may vary considerably depending on the deal, so I will examine these

accordingly later, but it is a point to be aware of.

Another issue, common to the likes of a push-off second deal is that the take will be

performed with a different finger than it should be. The common approach, is to perform

the take on the bottom of the card with the middle or ring finger rather than from the top

with the thumb. This is a very subtle difference and difficult to detect, though also

difficult to disguise. A different sort of motion characterizes it, namely the take it

performed outward instead of downward. I must stress at this point how there is no

correct way or assured point to examine, what you are paying attention for are

inconsistencies.

Along these same lines, I will teach you to perform a squaring take when performing a

double deal, yet few people employ such a take when not double dealing, which serves as

another tip off. (See figure 361 and figure 362.)

Figure 361.

Figure 362.

I will elaborate later on specific tip offs when it comes to the take and a specific deal, but

as always, the issue is simply to watch for inconsistencies and to avoid them yourself.

Then there is the issue of card flash, which occurs most commonly in push-off deals,

where basically, the dealer flashes the fact that there is either another card being

removed, or that a card (the top card) is being pulled back and not removed. This often

becomes a tip off when performing stud deals among other things, particularly one-

handed dealing. It is difficult to illustrate in terms of photographs, but for your reference

I am including a photograph of a push-off second deal flash as well as a stud second

flash. (See figure 363 and figure 364.)

Figure 363.

Figure 364.

You will notice that the corner of the top card in the first photograph is flashing, specific

details such as this will be covered later.

Next, there is the issue of thumb movement, most notably for second deals. If you notice

the thumb is moving for some deals and not others, that is a problem. You may also

notice that the timing of the movement changes. For example, when performing a push-

off second, the pullback of the top card may occur sooner than the pullback would occur

on a legitimate deal. Finally, the thumb movement may be inconsistent on the vertical

plane, to illustrate this disparity, try pushing off two cards and then sliding the top one

back. Now simply try pushing off the top card and dealing it off and watch the difference

in the thumb. The tendency is to lift the thumb off the deck when performing the real

deal and to allow it to slide across the top of the deck on the false deal; naturally, this

difference in procedure provides a tip-off that something is amiss.

Particularly for push-off bottom and Greek deals there becomes the worry of the get

ready as a tip off. This occurs in two forms. The first, is that the finger or fingers

involved in the get ready will move or disappear from the side of the deck. (See figure

365 and figure 366.)

Figure 365.

Figure 366.

Second, there is the concern of what we refer to as knuckle flash where the knuckle can

be seen to drop down and facilitate the push-off. (See figure 367 and figure 368.)

Figure 367.

Figure 368.

Then there is a major concern for most dealers, and one that arises most specifically in

attempting to perform all false deals from the same grip, namely finger flash. Essentially

what happens is that certain fingers get in the way of performing the false deal and in

order to facilitate the action it is necessary to open one or more of the fingers. This flash

is quite obvious and also often fairly difficult for people to avoid when they are working

on their technique. It is most often a concern when dealing bottoms. (See figure 369 and

figure 370.)

Figure 369.

Figure 370.

Naturally, the finger flash will vary depending on the deal and the grip, but this provides

you with a general indication of what may occur and what to watch for.

You will find I think that the last tip off is the most difficult to avoid by far, namely

sound. For various reasons, different deals will cause the cards to talk (make noise) and

do so in different and inconsistent manners. This occurs to such an extent that one can

often close their eyes and detect a false deal merely by sound. Again, there is no

particular sound to listen for, the tip-off comes when a particular deal sounds different,

this is especially true when it is consistently different. For example, if the cards dealt to

the fourth player in a game consistently sounds different.

Naturally, if the false deal is terrible you will be able to see that the card isn’t coming off

the top of the deck, but this is a tip-off that cannot be relied upon. Ideally, you will be

able to fix your eyes on the top card and ensure that it is in fact dealt from the top of the

deck, as almost no one’s deal is good enough to avoid this tip-off. The problem is that

most of the time you are unable to see the top of the deck and thus this method is not

effective.

Ultimately, there is also the issue of telegraphing to consider. Telegraphing is not the

same as a tip-off since it doesn’t refer to technique, but rather to mannerisms of the dealer

in question. Someone who is cheating may appear nervous, give extra attention to a

particular action, create unnatural breaks in procedure etc. You should be avoiding such

indications yourself and watching for them yourself.

Covering Against Getting Caught

While I will address each particular tip-off according to the relevant deal, there are four

general rules that should be applied to all false dealing and should lessen your chances of

being caught. These are abstract principles and as any serious card worker will discover,

mastery of card technique ultimately has nothing to do with individual techniques

themselves and everything to do with principles.

The first such principle is angles. I mentioned earlier that if someone can see the top card

of the deck it is very difficult to deal invisibly. There are two potential solutions to this,

the first, and generally the easiest depending on the environment, is to make use of angles

in such a manner that the top card is not visible to the audience. Depending on the false

deal and circumstances, this generally occurs by a simple tilt in the wrist. This idea of

angles goes well beyond simply hiding the top card though, you can use it to cover

knuckle flash, finger flair, a get ready etc.

Second, we have the all important question of speed and smoothness. For a lot of deals

speed is extremely helpful, in fact I would recommend dealing fast essentially all the

time. Ideally, your deal will begin so quickly that someone watching can’t even see the

top card coming off the top of the deck. In addition to this, it is important to be very

smooth. There is some concern about dealing too quickly, as it may not seem natural. To

avoid this, or rather, to create the illusion that you are in fact dealing slower than you are,

you can accelerate certain portions more than others. In other words, you pull the card

off of the deck extremely quickly and then slow down slightly as the deal continues.

Furthermore, by leaving a sufficient period between one deal and the next you further

enhance the illusion that the deal is natural rather than rushed. Again, adding smoothness

to this process helps; you don’t want the deal to possess a staccato flow. Finally, you can

help to create artificial speed, through relative motion by moving both hands at once. If

the hand performing the take is moving in one direction and the hand holding the deck is

moving in another then each hand must move only half as fast to offer the same effect of

speed and thus add to the deception of a slower deal.

Third, we have the surprisingly deceptive notion of covering a small motion with a larger

one. For example, if you are going to move your thumb slightly, either in a push-off or

pullback motion, you should move your entire hand at the same time, and typically in the

same direction. Performing both motions at once helps to decrease the attention given to

the smaller action and make it seem less significant. In each case where small actions are

required and larger actions are possible, they should be used as cover, allowing the action

to be performed openly yet deceptively.

Fourth and finally, there is the idea of using one motion or action to cover another. By

this, I am referring to something like using natural hand cover offered by performing the

take, to cover a pullback action and obstructing the view of the audience. Another good

example would be the concern of sound. At times it will become virtually impossible to

eliminate a difference in sound, but you will find that it is possible to create other sound

to cover this disparity. This could be as simply as talking while you are dealing, both as a

means of distraction and also as a means of creating obscuring noise to lessen the chances

of detection. I’m sure there are many ways you will find to make use of this and the

other principles in order to help improve the artifice of false dealing.

Dealing Seconds (Two Hands)

From the genesis of this chapter I must stress that I cannot and will not cover all the

methods and variations of dealing, nor can I conceivably detail every subtlety or point of

concern, for each individual is different and thus better suited to particular ideas and

methods. It is up to you to develop and refine the method that works best for you, I am

merely going to describe, in as much detail as I can, some of the methods I use and the

theory behind the basic deals. While some may fault me for not providing a complete

guide, I hope at least to provide the meager offering of a comprehensive guide in the

concerning the subject matter I choose to address. Having personally all but abandoned

the study of the methods of others, I am a zealous proponent of creativity and wish for

you, my inquisitive reader, to discover and explore such creativity for yourself.

The concept of a second deal, is to hold back the top card and instead deal off the second

card. It is perhaps a mistake of mine to begin my exploration of false dealing with the

second deal as it is in my opinion more difficult than the bottom deal, but the organized

concept of working, at least to some degree from the top of the deck to the bottom

appealed to me. There are three basic methods in my view of dealing seconds. The first

is the push-off deal, in which you will push off two cards as one and deal off the bottom

of the two. Second, is the strike deal, which involves moving the top card slightly out of

position thereby exposing the second card and allowing it to be dealt in favor of the top

card. Finally, there is the side strike method, which involves peeling up two cards and

dealing off the bottom of the two. I need not mention that in each case the notion is to

make the second deal appear to be a top deal.

This odd deal, has numerous uses, though personally, I use it somewhat rarely in

gambling, favoring the bottom and Greek deals which will be explained in further detail

later. In gambling, the basic use of a second deal is to use marked cards. As the marked

cards become visible you will hold them back until you reach the player you are

attempting to assist and then deal the card off to that player. Alternatively, you could cull

an ace to the top of the deck and hold it back for the appropriate player giving that player

an advantage in say a game of blackjack, or perhaps giving the player the high card and

thereby allowing the player to make the game decisions, all depending on the game and

the rules in effect. Additionally, in stacking, you could use the technique to simplify the

stacking process as I will cover in detail towards the end of this final portion of the book.

In magic, it can be used to perform a sort of color change, a force or a number of other

effects. It is a great demonstration technique as well, but you may use it as you see fit.

You will notice in numerous cases as the descriptions progress that I offer various

modifications and refinements that may not seem relevant at this tenure. The reason for

these changes is that I always attempt to use the same grip for various deals and certain

subtle changes are necessary in order to make those other deals possible.

Push-off Seconds

I have heard, though I can neither confirm nor deny that Dai Vernon considered push-off

seconds to be a much more convincing and natural method than strike seconds and

honestly, when I began learning to perform a second deal I began with this notion in

mind. I have since discovered that a well-executed strike second is every bit as natural

and effective as a push-off second, though there are certain appeals to each. I found, for

myself, that it took me less time to learn and master the strike second than it did a push-

off second, though I have also found that it depends on the handling, some methods being

more difficult and deceptive than others. What follows are a few handlings and ideas for

you to consider and adjust as you feel appropriate.

Method 1

This is the method I first learned and first began using. The deal is designed to look like

the following top.

Begin with the deck in the mechanics grip. The most important point here is that bottom

left corner of the deck is planted firmly at the base of the thumb, this will serve as your

pivot point when pushing off the cards. The forefinger is wrapped around the front of the

deck and the three last fingers are spaced evenly along the right side of the deck. (See

figure 371.)

Figure 371.

Now the left thumb is going to pull in a downward motion towards the base of the thumb

where the lower left corner is resting securely. As the pressure of this action builds rather

than allowing the card to buckle you will allow it to pivot to the right. The middle and

ring fingers need to be positioned on the side of the deck low enough that they allow the

card to pass over them, but high enough that they ensure it is a single card. The pinky on

the other hand is positioned higher so that as the card pivots it presses against the pinky,

which glides up the right side of the card. (See figure 372.)

Figure 372.

Now, when the card reaches its maximum pivot point the right hand moves across and

takes hold of the card at the upper right corner, in such a manner that the right forefinger

presses on the top edge near the corner. Simultaneously the right middle finger presses

inward on the right side of the deck and slightly upward as it makes contact with the

bottom of the card. The right ring finger presses inward along the right side of the card

and the thumb comes from above in a downward and forward motion. (See figure 373.)

Figure 373.

At this point the left pinky descends slightly allowing the card to pass over it as the card

is dealt slightly forward and to the side in a slightly downward motion. This downward

motion is quite important in some regards though it may be substituted for a graceful

sideways motion depending on what false deals you intend to attempt. (See figure 374

and figure 375.)

Figure 374.

Figure 375.

The fingers now return to their initial positions within the process of the deal. In other

words, by the time the card has left the deck completely the fingers of the left hand have

returned to their initial positions. Caution should be drawn at this point to the motion of

the thumb, which should not rise, but rather move smoothly back over the deck while

remaining as close to its face as possible. (See the difference between the incorrect

action in figure 376 and the correct action in figure 377.)

Figure 376.

Figure 377.

This brings us to the second deal that mirrors this deal. Now, the most difficult aspect of

a push-off second deal, at least initially, is in my opinion, learning to push off two cards

together as one. Ultimately, and ideally you will learn to perform this action simply by

applying the correct force on the top card of the deck. However, in the mean time I will

suggest to you the method I used when learning. That is, you will slide the top card of

the deck down slightly, less is better, and you should not go further down than the width

of the border. How large you wish to make this edge is up to you, but over time you will

find that you are able to decrease the size of this glide. The purpose of this is to allow

your thumb to make contact with both the top and the second card in the deck and push

the two off as one. (See figure 378.)

Figure 378.

Note the position of the thumb on the upper left square portion of the design on the card

back; this will be relevant later when we discuss the punch deal.

Now, you may be concerned that this edge is visible and provides a tip off to the alert

observer and this is true, however you are able to avoid this problem with two slight

adjustments. The first is to tilt the deck slightly so that the face of the deck is not visible

to the audience. Your tilt should be neither too great nor too little, but rather occur as a

natural bend in the wrist. Second, you should keep the cards in motion, making a smooth

and continuous deal, as the motion will cover this slight discrepancy very effectively. In

this manner, you can actually perform the second deal easily and effectively using the

slight glide to make the process easier.

The false deal itself is exactly the same as the real deal I just described, with the

exception of the fact that you will now push off two cards instead of one. There are a few

details you should notice as they have particular relevance as well as some additional

points not relevant to the normal deal.

First, we have the downward pull of the thumb on the cards, which is designed to move

them together as well as well as provide a slight squaring force. This is important since

the cards must remain as closely squared as possible, should the bottom card fall behind

the top card it will provide a sort of flash when the take occurs. Second, you have the use

of the pinky, which helps to square the cards and control the push-off.

When it comes to the take, the forefinger applying pressure on the upper edge of the

cards helps to square them further, while the thumb’s forward motion squares the cards

into the forefinger. The middle finger, which is the only finger to make contact with the

bottom of the card will be the one to actually perform the take, while the ring finger

provides additional squaring on the side of the card.

The reason for the downward take is to create the illusion that the thumb performed the

take rather than the middle finger. The advantage of this process is that if the thumb were

to perform the take then a second deal would be impossible as the thumb would naturally

make contact with the top card rather than the second card. This is also going to be

invaluable when it comes to addressing the concern of sound. If you prefer a graceful

sideways take, it is possible to do so smoothly using the left thumb to lift just ever so

slightly on the top card and make the deal soundless. The reason I do not personally use

this method is that I find it natural to deal with some measure of sound and this is

important on various other false deals where I am not able to perform a similar soundless

deal. You should make the take in the form of a slightly forward action in order to

conceal the pullback of the top card. (See the difference between the incorrect method in

figure 379 and the correct method in figure 380.)

Figure 379.

Figure 380.

Note that you do not want to make the take in an overly forward motion, but just enough

to cover the pullback of the top card. It is important that the pinky adjusts itself correctly

allowing the card to move freely from the deck and not to hook. (See figure 381 for the

incorrect action and figure 382 for the correct action.)

Figure 381.

Figure 382.

This leads us to the next point. The card is initially swiveled slightly due to the pivot,

you want to avoid hooking it with the pinky partly to avoid swiveling it further. In this

case you actually want to reverse the swivel in the process of the take by twisting the card

slightly back into alignment with the deck. The reason for this, is that you want to

diminish the length of time the take lasts and consequently the interval of potential

detection. There are two factors that enter into the determination of that length of time,

they are the speed at which the take is performed and the distance the card needs to move

in order to clear the deck. Thus, we wish to reduce the distance as much as possible.

Since the card is not as wide as it is taller and longer diagonally than both the height and

width we want to ideally remove the card sideways in order to minimize the dealing

distance. (See the difference between figure 383 (the correct handling) and figure 384

(the incorrect handling, for an illustration of the subtle differences.)

Figure 383.

Figure 384.

There is another point of notice and interest here, one that is not always apparent,

depending on the type of cards you are using, but one of which you should nevertheless

be aware. This has to do with the borders of the cards. I should perhaps introduce to you

a basic piece of information when it comes to noticing disparities visually. There are

three areas of which one needs to be aware in any aspect of visual deception, from

physical movement on a battlefield to gambling at the card table. These are, silhouette,

shadow and shine, the concern in this case being silhouette. It is amazing how much

more obvious a card becomes when the borders do not line up, highlighting further, why,

in addition to economy of motion the card should not be pulled too far forward during the

take. (Note, shadowing on the table can also be a concern and this method minimizes or

eliminates that risk.) (See figure 385 for the correct method and 386 for the incorrect

method; notice the difference in the borders.)

Figure 385.

Figure 386.

I mentioned economy of motion above, I would point out to you then that a sideways

motion is more efficient (yes at this point we are talking about very tiny subtleties) than a

more forward motion as the momentum and movement of the card are more directed at

getting the card off the deck with the sideways motion.

This leaves us with one final area of concern in regard to the take and that is the lower

right corner of the top card. I drew attention earlier to the flash that is often created at the

upper right corner of the cover card and we addressed that. I personally find it is very

difficult to perform the take just precisely enough that there is no silhouette or potential

flash on the lower right corner at all, though you do naturally wish to eliminate that

where possible. For myself, the greater concern is the upper corner since it is more

visible to the audience and thus of greater focus, I therefore tend to over compensate on

the upper corner at the risk of exposing of the lower corner rather than take the chance

with the more obvious upper corner. There is another reason to give less concern to the

lower corner, namely the fact that the covering card protrudes less and thus offers less in

the way of silhouette and shadowing.

There is the question of how far you should pivot the card out before performing the take,

in the initial description I mentioned that you perform the take when the card reaches the

maximum pivot point or close to it depending on the length of your fingers. (It is

possible to pivot too far depending on the length of your fingers and so generally I pivot

to the point where the tip of my thumb is in line with the right edge of the deck, but again

it will vary for each individual.) I would like to briefly examine the alternatives, the

reasons for each and the reason I recommend pivoting out as far as possible. The

advantage of minimizing the distance you pivot the card out, is that it decreases the

distance you need to pull the card back. You could of course compromise and go

halfway, however, due to the effects of collective velocity, I feel it is best to pivot out as

far as possible. This is because you aren’t going to pivot the card out more than half the

width of the card anyway, and the ideal velocity, if you were performing the pull back at

the same speed as the take, would be to push the card out halfway. This is because you

want to minimize the period of time in which the second card is covered by the top card.

Now assuming that at the highest speed at which you perform the pull back is the same as

the highest speed you perform the take, then the push-off that would yield the ideal

results would be a half card push-off. For those of you who really want to get into the

science of it all, you may wish to perform experiments to see whether a larger or smaller

pivot works better for you. The other advantage of a smaller pivot is of course that you

have less risk of flashing the upper right corner during the pullback and have an easier

time lining up the borders during the take.

Those are just some things for you to consider. Many people prefer a smaller push-off, in

a sense it feels a bit better I find, but there are two additional reasons I tend to mention

the larger push-off/pivot, actually, three. First, I feel it is more convincing as the whole

point of a push off deal is in part that you can emphasize psychologically that you have in

fact pushed off the top card and can decrease attention given to the deal by your

audience. It is more convincing simply due to clarity, the push off is more obvious and

thus possesses that clarity. The second is because it makes a clean take somewhat easier.

Third, it allows better (yes, only a fraction better, but still better) hand cover, which

factors into a later one-handed deal.

Since I just brought the point up I should mention that one must work with all his or her

tools, in this case that means you have two hands to work with and should make use of

both of those hands. Thus, you should use the hand performing the take (in my case the

right hand) in order to obstruct the view of the ever curious spectator. This is achieved

by twisting the wrist of the right hand so that it is facing palm down and performing the

take overtop of the card rather than from the side of the card. (Note the difference

between the correct method and a take from the side in figure 387 and figure 388.)

Figure 387.

Figure 388.

This is a minor subtlety, and not as applicable using this particular method of dealing, but

it is a good thing to keep in mind and a principle that will apply to a much larger degree

when we begin to examine other deals and variations. Naturally, you will want to vary

the take in the legitimate deal to match that of the false deal.

I now find myself confronted with the pull back of the top card, something that does not

occur mechanically as a part of the regular deal and which must thus be treated with

caution and accuracy. Initially when I was teaching myself the deal I found I would

encounter a problem where, as I pulled back the top card, it would slide slightly out of

alignment with the rest of the cards. In particular, the lower right corner seemed to pose

a problem. It is largely with this in mind that I mentioned the earlier use of the pinky as I

discovered that one can effectively solve this problem and ensure the card comes square

with the rest of the deck by pressing the lower right edge with the pinky in the motion of

the pull back. (See figure 389 for a photo of the problem and figure 390 for the use of the

pinky.)

Figure 389.

Figure 390.

Another potential problem is that in one’s zeal to pull back the top card rapidly, he may

on occasion allow the momentum of the left thumb, which is dragging the top card, to

carry it beyond the edge of the deck at the top. Placing the forefinger around the front of

the deck as I described before and thereby creating an automatic stop for the top card as

you drag it back corrects this problem. (See figure 391 for an example of the problem

and figure 392 for the correct method,)

Figure 391.

Figure 392.

In addition to these points there is concern over the movement up the thumb during the

pull back. I mentioned earlier that your action of pulling the thumb back to it’s original

position during a real deal should involve keeping the thumb as close to the deck as

possible. The reason for this is because in order to move the top card back during the

false deal the thumb will remain flat on the top of the deck. I find it is helpful to provide

a bit of a “jump” with my thumb in the way I perform my pullback just very briefly and

to an extremely minor degree lifting the thumb (the card should come with it, but you

don’t want it to rise too high for fear the edge of the card will flash). This helps to

establish greater consistency with a legitimate deal.

Finally, in regard to the pull back, there is the question of the card itself flashing in the

pull back movement. This is mostly a concern for if the spectators are able to see the top

of the deck, but nevertheless an important concern to address and one whose solution

provides numerous other advantages. There is a simple principle in sleight of hand and

indeed in motion and perception, that a larger motion will cover a smaller motion, we are

going to make use of it here. As the thumb pulls the top card back, the thumb should not

be the only portion of your body to move, the entire arm should pull back as well (I tend

to perform a rotation at the elbow in order to accomplish this feat). The act of pulling the

entire hand back using the arm makes the fact that the thumb has moved at all nearly

invisible due to the fact that the larger motion is the obvious motion and covers the subtle

thumb movement. Naturally, the benefit to this aside from covering the smaller motion,

is it increase the collective velocity of the move and thereby accomplishing one of two

things. First, you could simply before the move faster and hence more invisibly or

second, you could slow down the individual motions to make the move a bit more

natural. The point is simply that moving both hands rather than just the hand performing

the take makes for a much more deceptive deal.

There is sound to address, but I am going to cover that at the end of the section on push-

off seconds, since it is universally applicable. With that in mind I return to the concept of

gliding the card in order to allow you to perform a push-off with relatively little skill.

Aside from the obvious aesthetic concerns and a distinct lack of elegance this tends to

create a problem, namely, it is difficult to vary quickly and smoothly from a second to a

top and back again since naturally you must be able to perform the slight glide in the

course of the dealing motion. This is going to be a problem, that is just a reality and you

will need to practice in order to help alleviate the concern, which becomes most apparent

when you need to shift from dealing tops to dealing seconds. When you want to go from

dealing seconds to dealing tops, the trick is merely to roll your thumb back slightly so it

no longer makes contact with the second card of the deck. Demonstrating this with

photographs is difficult so I hope you can understand the description. Now, ultimately

you will progress to one of two levels, which one you prefer is up to you, though I

recommend the later, which, incidentally is also the more difficult of the two. The first,

is that you will learn to decrease the glide to the point where you no longer have one,

instead, your thumb will engage the top edge of the deck and naturally pivot, one, two,

three etc. cards together as one in the appropriate motion. The mechanics for this are the

same as those I described, pulling towards the base of the thumb and rotating the card, it

simply requires a sensitivity to be able to pivot whatever number of cards you desire.

Alternatively, and more difficultly, but more desirably, you will learn to push on the back

of the top card and thereby push-off one or two cards at will, making the shift from tops

to seconds very easy. I can’t really tell you how to do this, it’s a knack thing, but it

involves learning to dig in just right with a specific portion of the thumb (I find it to be a

bony portion). You will have to discover for yourself what works for you.

Variation 1

The first variation I will suggest to you on this technique and one I have actually spent a

lot of time using myself involves changing the push-off I described above. I find it

makes a very clean and even push-off much easier. The problem with it is that it doesn’t

allow for a punch deal like the one above allows. It is identical to the method above,

except for the push-off and thus I will merely describe this variation rather than boring

you with the specifics I have already mentioned.

In this case, when the deck is sitting in the left hand in the mechanics grip, the left thumb,

rather than being positioned on across the face of the deck runs along the left edge. (See

figure 393.)

Figure 393.

From this point the thumb pushes against the left edge of the cards pushing off however

many it is that you desire. With practice you will learn to push off one, two, three etc. at

will quickly and smoothly. In this case the pinky must provide a counter force pushing

the base of the card into the base of the thumb. This makes for a very nice, square push-

off and, relatively speaking, an easy manner to push-off two cards as one, though as with

all such moves it will require practice. (See figure 394.)

Figure 394.

You are likely to encounter a difficulty when it comes to the pullback. If you leave the

thumb on the edge of the card you will find that you scrap the cards just below the card

you are pulling back and cause them to pivot upwards out of position. In order to avoid

this, it is necessary to roll your thumb right slightly onto the face of the top card as you

execute the pull back in order to keep the thumb clear from interfering with the other

cards. (See figure 395 for the potential problem and figure 396 for the correct method.)

Figure 395.

Figure 396.

I personally like this method quite a lot and find that if you are just dealing seconds it is

quite effective and elegant.

Variation 2

The next variation involves a shift in the original grip, quite a significant and important

one actually. In the conventional mechanics grip the deck is held in a loose but very

controlled manner. The touch can be light and effective, yet elegant and professional, it

is however far from the best when it comes to gaining access to the cards. In this case,

the deck is held entirely between two points, the base of the thumb and the upper right

corner with the forefinger. It is held in such a manner that you should be physically able

to release all other points. When the other fingers return to their correct positions they

should be spaced so that the middle finger is up near the forefinger, while the ring finger

is positioned perhaps halfway or slightly more than halfway down the right side of the

deck, leaving the pinky about a quarter from the bottom of the right side. (See figure 397

for a view of the support with only the forefinger and figure 398 for the view of the

working grip.)

Figure 397.

Figure 398.

There are a few key points here, first of all there is the fact I mentioned earlier, that the

deck is gripped between the forefinger and the base of the thumb. The second is the gap

you should notice between the middle finger and the ring finger. Though this gap is not

always necessary depending the on appropriate false deal I call your attention to it now

before you form a habit that may be difficult to break. In this case the thumb wraps over

the top of the deck from roughly the upper left corner of the square design to the top edge

allowing for an easy push-off of multiple cards. There may be a tendency when gripping

the cards in this manner for the bottom of the deck at the upper left corner of the deck to

press into the forefinger just above the base. You should avoid this practice, it is a

difficult thing to do, but you must learn to control the cards so that there is little or no

pressure on the bottom of the deck, as I mentioned the cards are held entirely between the

base of the thumb and the forefinger.

The whole point of this entire exercise and the reason for changing grips is to facilitate

various other false deals later, particularly a bottom deal from the same grip as the second

deal. There is a certain lightness that is difficult to express to you at this moment that is

crucial to your understanding. The tendency is to squeeze hard on the deck with the

forefinger in order to maintain stability, but this actually will ruin your stability later.

Rather, your grip needs to be quite light and allow free movement of the cards while at

the same time ensuring that only those cards you desire to move, slide as you perform

your manipulations. I hesitate to recommend certain finger positions to you too heavily

as which you prefer will depend later on whether you wish to perform a push-off or strike

bottom deal. I will however offer you this piece of advice. It is easier to perform the

second deal with the middle, ring finger and pinky pressed against the right side of the

deck so you should probably use that method. However, ultimately you want to learn to

perform the deal with those fingers slightly open and very relaxed. This is much more

difficult technically, but offers some important possibilities later on related to strike

dealing.

Again, the basic mechanics will be the same as in the original push-off second deal I

described, this grip is merely a little more awkward and technically difficult. It is

noteworthy that the forefinger no longer provides a stop for when you are pulling back

the card and so you must learn to stop the pullback when the top card comes square with

the deck, you can actually feel this somewhat effectively with the tip of the left thumb as

well as operate by estimation. Later if you practice with the three last fingers of the left

hand open you will need to control the card more closely still as the pinky will be unable

to provide her former assistance.

Overall I do not recommend this method, it is certainly much more difficult for dealing

seconds, but I wanted to introduce you, first of all to this very important grip and also to a

grip that can be used for dealing other false deals besides just seconds.

Variation 3

This grip is similar and for similar reasons. In this case, the deck is held between the

middle finger in the upper right hand corner and the base of the thumb. The forefinger is

somewhat useless running along the top of the deck behind the middle finger, however it

is able to provide the stop that was lacking in the previous deal. The pinky and ring

fingers are relaxed on the right side of the deck, but the pinky is again able to close

slightly to provide a squaring action when necessary. An important consideration with

this grip is that the middle finger should apply pressure to the upper right corner via the

front end of the deck rather than coming from below. This allows easy access to the

bottom card later. (This is a rough and slightly modified Erdnase grip, more on this

later.) (See figure 399 for top view and figure 400 for bottom view.)

Figure 399.

Figure 400.

If you wish to prepare for the bottom deal there is a variation to the take you should begin

using. When you reach for the card with the right hand, the middle finger should initially

move all the way under the deck before returning to perform the actual take. This will be

discussed in more detail later in the section on bottom dealing.

Other than that, the mechanics should be essentially the same as those described

originally, though again the grip is more awkward and difficult.

Variation 4

The variation here brings us back closer to the initial deal and merely alters the manner in

which the take is performed. The reason for this change is in order to facilitate the use of

a Benzais cop later on. The difference in this case, is rather than performing the take at

the upper right corner, you will perform it, with the thumb at least, from the upper left

corner. In order for this to be possible, when the right thumb reaches the upper left

corner of the card, the left thumb will pull the top card down slightly exposing an edge

for the right thumb to make contact with. Simultaneously, the right ring finger will apply

an upward force on the bottom of the card in it’s upper right corner, he middle finger next

to it will assist in this action. When the upper left corner of the card clears the deck the

right forefinger provides a squaring force on the upper left corner of the card and assists

in dealing it to the table. (From above, see figure 400, figure 401 and figure 402.)

Figure 401.

Figure 402.

Figure 403.

(From below see figure 404 and figure 405.)

Figure 404.

Figure 405.

Note that when the ring finger makes contact with the card it draws the card up and out

swiveling it slightly so it is not skewered as it reaches the table.

You will find this is an awkward deal, another that I don’t particularly recommend,

though the difficulty of the deal is saved by the cover your right hand will offer over the

dealing action.

I need not point out to you that in all of the cases where I list variations on the primary

technique that you should make these variations to the original top deal as well.

Method 2

The distinction at this point between methods and variations blurs quite substantially

because fundamentally all push-off deals follow a similar method, that is to say, they

involve pushing off the card or cards you intend to deal, a true difference in method then

would be the strike or side strike concepts we will mention later. However, for the sake

of some reasonable disparity, a thorough explanation and to impress on you various ideas

I have divided these deals into methods and what I consider to be variations on those

methods. We emerge then to the second actual method, though it shares many of the

same variations with the first method and we could thus address this entire concept in

terms of permutations of methods. Semantics aside however, this is I feel a fairly

substantial departure from the original method, and though it is one I find to be quite

deceptive and effective, it is nevertheless one I find to be more difficult, at least initially.

I will begin by describing the form the top deal should take, that is to say, the deal you

will be emulating with the second deal.

You will begin by holding the deck in the mechanics grip, the forefinger runs along the

top edge of the deck, almost to the upper right corner. The tip of the middle finger should

be positioned on the right side of the deck just below the upper right corner, with the ring

finger and pinky positioned slightly below that point, but not evenly spaced down the

remainder of the side. The left lower corner of the deck rests comfortably at the base of

the thumb. Your thumb should be curled slightly and resting on the upper left corner of

the internal border design on a bordered card. For those of you who find yourself lacking

such a border, I am referring to a point perhaps half an inch or a centimeter from both the

left side of the card and top edge, the entire point will relate to the use of the punch deal

later. From this point you will use your left thumb to push the card off to the right by

about a third its width. Now you want to card to remain parallel with the deck on both

the top and bottom edges as you perform this motion. Naturally, because your thumb is

pushing from a point high on the card rather than the exact middle of the card, which

would be quite awkward, the card will you have tendency to twist slightly. In order to

circumvent this potential pitfall, you will cleverly push not merely to the left, but

upwards and to the left, using the forefinger along the top edge of the deck as a guide for

the card you are pushing off. (See figure 406 and figure 407 and take note of the

incorrect method in figure 408.)

Figure 406.

Figure 407.

Figure 408.

Keep in mind, for most people; depending on the length of their fingers they could easily

push the card well past the one-third mark on the card’s width. You should avoid doing

so. The reason I suggest one-third, is because in my testing I determined that I can

perform the take of the second with the right hand at roughly twice the speed I perform

the pullback. Therefore, if I push off the card by one-third its width and perform both the

take and the pullback as quickly as possible, the top card will become square with the

deck just as the second card (note I am still describing the top deal at this point but since

the two are so closely related and dependent on one another…) leaves the deck

completely, thereby maximizing the economy of motion and efficiency.

This brings us to the take itself which is performed virtually identically to the take in

described in method one with the exception of the fact that the take should be performed

in a sideways movement, rather than a slightly forward and sideways movement. The

difference of course being that in this case there is no need to cover the upper right corner

from flashing during the pullback. Again, the take should be performed in a downward

motion of the thumb rather than a sideways pull. The forefinger should approach from

the front making contact with the forward edge to provide a squaring force. Your middle

finger should approach from the right side and make contact with the bottom of the card,

while the ring finger offers a squaring force on the right side. In this case however the

thumb comes downward and right rather than forward as in method one. Again, you

should twist your wrist so the right hand is roughly palm down, the hand coming farther

over the card and providing better cover.

You will find this is a relatively simple deal and mimics quite accurately the deal of a

layperson. This situation is also ideal in that you are guaranteed to use the minimum

width of the card and thus the maximum efficiency during the deal itself as described

earlier.

So having addressed the basic deal, we shall proceed with the second deal. It may be

expedient to remind you at this tenure that those specific pointers, which apply from the

first method, are applicable to this method. For example, while, I never mentioned it,

care should be shown in regards to elevation of the thumb on the pullback, it should

barely rise on the normal deal in order to better emulate the pullback on the second deal,

which by necessity involves little to no lift. Likewise, the pullback action of the entire

left hand should exist with both methods.

Now, ideally, you will simply be able to push off two cards by pushing on the face of the

top card, however, I realize this is more easily said than done, as such a I have a few

recommendations. First of all, I find that digging in with the bone seems to help, as does

digging in at a point on the card where you are away from the middle of the card and

therefore exert a certain amount of leverage to facilitate the process. Should you find this

difficult, or desire more immediate results, I find it works well to apply pressure on the

left edge of the cards with the joint of the thumb, thereby performing a similar, but

slightly more elegant version of the glide described in method one and expediting the

learning process. Finally, if you find this to be too much trouble (note you should aim for

the first approach through concerted practice), you could apply a slight variation of the

technique described in variation one of method one and move your thumb to the side

edge of the deck where you can push on the edge of the cards. Due to the manner of the

push off, I personally find this to be quite awkward and don’t use it, but then again, I am

able to use the earlier methods. Note that if you resort to this final approach you will

create some problems when it comes to punch dealing.

There is a point I failed to mention in my description of method one and it applies to both

method one and the current method. One sometimes has the tendency to “strike” the

bottom of the card with the right middle finger as the right hand moves in and performs

the take. Avoid this at all costs! What happens is that you raise the card bending it

upwards and revealing the presence of two cards in the process of the rapid take. The top

card should never bend upwards; it should remain flat or bend downwards with the take

and thereby avoid any flash. (See the difference between figure 409, the incorrect

method and figure 410, the correct method.)

Figure 409.

Figure 410.

There really aren’t as many details and subtleties to mention on this second method, in

part because it is a fundamentally simpler deal and in part due to the fact that I covered

them under method one and for the sake of brevity, will not repeat myself. For those of

you who skipped ahead, you may benefit from going back and reading over method one

for additional pointers and reasoning.

Variation 1

The first variation of method two is actually the same as the second variation of method

one, with a few minor refinements. Please note that we are treading very close to the

master’s grip at this point and you may simply wish to refer to that grip, which Marlo

describes in “Seconds, Centers & Bottoms”. Again, finger positioning will vary

depending on whether you intend to perform a strike bottom or push off bottom later. If

you are going for a push-off bottom then I recommend keeping the three last fingers

closer to the upper corner of the deck and curled under slightly so the tips are resting on

the side, or even as low as the bottom edge. If you are going for a strike bottom then the

middle finger should be positioned towards the upper right corner with the ring finger and

pinky lower down the side, offering sufficient space for a finger to reach between the

middle finger and ring finger. In addition to this, the fingers should have a more open

and relaxed feel, but again, these points will be addressed later in the section concerning

the bottom deal techniques.

The push-off becomes more difficult at this point because if you push-off from the left

side of the deck as you did originally you will find that it creates some instability in the

deck by altering the pressure on the base of the thumb. Thus, I adjust to perform the

push-off from the equivalent location on the right side of the deck, that is to say the point

one centimeter in from the right side and one centimeter down from the top. Naturally

this means you need to be able to perform the push-off without any access to the edges of

the cards and so that may require some practice.

Furthermore, the forefinger no longer offers as effective a guide and so you must be more

careful in performing the push-off that you keep the card square with the front and back

ends of the deck. I didn’t mention before, but the pullback using the method two

handling doesn’t have the same concern of carrying too far as it should stop naturally due

both to the limitations of the thumb and also to the natural wall formed by the base of the

thumb. (See figure 411 and figure 412 for some examples of the grip as per push-off

bottoms later.)

Figure 411.

Figure 412.

Variation 2

This particular variation is actually the grip from method one variation three, which

involves holding the deck primarily between the middle finger in the upper right corner

and the base of the thumb. I never mentioned it in the earlier description, but I believe

this grip is roughly the Erdnase grip, though having never studied “Expert at the Card

Table” (a classic that you should probably invest in if you haven’t already), I can’t say

for sure what subtleties may differ between the two. Out of respect for Tom Stone’s view

that developments should be recorded I will mention how I myself reached this particular

grip. I began learning to perform a strike second deal that will be described in the next

section. It was performed from roughly the mechanics grip or the master’s grip and

worked quite well except that the finger placement only allowed for a second deal and

not a bottom deal. This irritated me and so I altered the handling slightly to another

variant that will be taught in the next section and involved the movement of the right

middle finger under the deck in order to allow contact with the bottom card. The

problem was that the fingers on the right side of the deck got in the way and made for a

problematic take. In order to compensate for this problem I decided to hold the deck

between the forefinger and base of the thumb, much like the grip I just finished

describing in method one variation one. When I began testing with this grip I found the

take on the seconds was a little messy due to the face that the tip of my forefinger lacked

flesh to regulate how many cards I was removing at a time. Thus, I shifted from using

the forefinger to control the deck, to using the fleshier middle finger, which helps to

improve the takes and lessens the influence of fingers on the bottom deal.

My story of how one might evolve to this grip will hopefully give you some idea of the

anatomy of the grip. In this case, the grip itself should be the same as the one I described

earlier under method one variation three, the push-off is of course tailored to method two.

Unlike in variation one, I find that a push-off from the left works fairly well with this

particular grip. So for the purpose of clarification, using this Erdnase style grip I push off

the cards from the point around half an inch down from the top edge and half an inch in

from the left side of the card. In this case you do of course have access to the forefinger,

which can serve you as a guide during the push-off. Other than that, the grip is

essentially the same, depending of course on variations that might be introduced

depending on the nature of the bottom deal involved. This is really not a very easy grip

to use for this style of push-off, I know Erdnase was a big fan of his grip, but I find this

grip lacks the stability that should be present in what one might term the ideal grip.

Variation 3

This grip is roughly what I believe is called the straddle grip, since the fingers straddle

the deck and a grip that is quite suited for the method two style push-off, though quite

unlike the other grips. You will begin by holding the deck almost as though you were

going to perform a Charlier cut, with the forefinger on the front end of the deck, the

pinky on the bottom end, but with the deck resting lower in the fingers so that the middle

and ring fingers can slope out from the deck gracefully. The deck will sit on the lower

portion of those fingers, depending on the lengths of your fingers. I believe the method I

use here involves a slightly more open hand than that of most, though I could be mistaken

there. This variation is actually almost a method of its own as there are many issues to

discuss.

From the basic grip I push the card from roughly the middle with the thumb (note that I

am no longer pushing on the upper portion and this will alter the application of the punch

deal), close to or on the edge of the card itself. Again, the card is pushed out about a

third its width at which point the right hand moves close to perform the take. (See figure

413 and figure 414.)

Figure 413.

Figure 414.

Now, in performing the take, the right hand will take hold of the card, not on the upper

corner, but in the middle, pinched between the thumb and middle finger. The key is to

accustom yourself to reaching past the card and under the deck with the middle finger

before pulling the hand back and taking the card. This is because on some occasions you

may wish to take hold of the bottom card and deal it off, though that will be covered later.

Naturally this motion of over reaching should occur so quickly that it is not noticeable,

especially since generally the thumb is taking hold of the card initially anyway. (See

figure 415 for a view from the top and figure 416 and 417 for views from the bottom.)

Figure 415.

Figure 416.

Figure 417.

Honestly, I don’t like this grip, thus I tend not to practice it much and don’t have a lot of

tips for you, I’m sure that by applying principles found in other techniques though you

could come up with methods of improving what I have described here. Some may ask,

why does he describe it if he doesn’t like it? Essentially I do so because some people

find it to be an effective grip from which to deal bottoms and I like to encourage dealing

all of your false deals from the same grip. As to reasons I don’t like it, I find it

uncomfortable, I don’t think it looks at all natural and I find it to be too limited and

uncontrolled.

Variation 4

At this point I would like to return to the idea of performing a deep take by making

contact with the upper left corner of the card rather than the upper right corner of the card

in order to facilitate the Benzais cop. This is quite difficult to do if you are performing

the second deal and so essentially what you will need to do take hold of the card from the

bottom with the right ring finger and pull it out, while apparently doing so with the

thumb. Naturally the motion occurs quickly and so it should not be evident to the

spectators that you have in fact performed the take with the ring finger rather than the

thumb. (See figure 418 from the top and figure 419 from the bottom.)

Figure 418.

Figure 419.

You probably aren’t likely to use this variation often, but I wanted to include it for the

sake of completeness.

Method 3

I almost hesitate to include this method because it is difficult, unrefined and unseemly.

The reason I include it is because it mimics the mechanics of the cover used for the

common Cigar bottom deal and thus I offer it to you as a means of performing a second

deal from this standard mechanic.

You begin with the deck in mechanics grip, thumb in the same position, as you would

place it to perform the method two push off. From this point you push forward and

slightly to the right. The difficulty is learning to push off two cards together as one in

this manner. When you perform the push off, the middle finger of the deck will shrink

down below the edge to allow the card to pass over it, but the ring finger and pinky will

hold their positions. This will allow the card to swivel slightly as it moves forward,

pivoting around the ring finger. (See figure 420 and figure 421.)

Figure 420.

Figure 421.

The take is performed between the thumb and ring finger in a forward motion. You

should again get into the habit of reaching under the deck between the forefinger and

middle finger to later perform a bottom deal. When you perform the pull back on the

second deal you should pull your entire arm back as a part of the motion in order to cover

the smaller motion.

I do not recommend this as a second deal when you can avoid it, as I mentioned, I am

including it here for the sake of completeness.

Count’s Push-off Cover

The final point in regard to a push-off second deal is an idea that occurred to me one day,

I can’t recall exactly why. The thing is that often a dealer will flash that there are two

cards or that he is pulling back a card and thus tip off that he is cheating. It is also

sometimes difficult for amateurs to switch quickly and gracefully between tops and

seconds. The notion then was to push off two cards for every single deal, regardless of

whether the dealer was going to perform a second deal or not. The difference then would

be, not in the push-off or pullback, but merely in the take, whether the top card or the

second card was taken. Now at first this may seem to border on madness, after all, in a

sense you could be tipping off your audience to something that was not in fact happening.

The issue becomes one of consistency. Recall that earlier I mentioned that tip offs tend

to come, not in the form of what happens, but rather, when something different happens.

By using this push-off cover and pushing off two cards in all cases you are effectively

attempting to eliminate some of the disparities that inevitably arise from performing a

push-off second deal.

It also offers another interesting advantage, and that is the ability to verify and make use

of the punch deal not during the push-off, but rather the take. In other words, as the

thumb and middle finger make contact with the cards to make the take they can feel to

determine if the card should be held back or dealt off. Note two advantages here. First,

using the correct marking system it allows you to feel two cards at once. Second, it

allows you to use a method of pushing off the cards (for example the one in method one

variation one) while still using the punch deal.

It is a crazy idea, but one that you may wish to consider, though I don’t expect it to be the

standard in either the world of gambling or magic.

Sound

I have left the issue of sound till the end of the push-off deals because they all share a

similar situation albeit in varying degrees. The issue here is that the sound on a second

deal is virtually impossible to eliminate. I will then briefly discuss the specifics of sound.

You must start by recognizing where the sound is coming from, in the case of dealing, it

tends to be due to cards rubbing on something, though not always. As far as we are

concerned in regard to a second deal however this is the case. Now most often cards

rubbing on cards cause this sound. In the case of the second deals we described the

sandwich effect of the second card contributes to this is a way that can not be eliminated

particularly effectively, especially given the downwards take I have suggested. This take

increases the sound by putting lever pressure on the top card of the deck. In order to

eliminate this sound we can perform a perfectly level take and eliminate the pressure on

the top card, but this is very difficult and removes some of the deception involved in the

take itself.

There are then a few things to consider, first the attempt to decrease the sound in general.

Second, the attempt to increase the sound of a top and alter both sounds so that they

mimic each other. This can be done by establishing where the card is creating the

pressure and consequently the sound in the second deal and attempting to simulate that

same pressure in the top. For example, if there is pressure against the edge of the deck

during a second deal due to a downward force on the second card and the resisting

pressure above the card due to the top card, one can apply a similar downward force on

the top card when dealing, then applying an artificial resisting force with the thumb.

Next, once we have created some continuity between the sound of a second deal and a

real deal, we can look at providing some distortion to the sound. This is accomplished by

providing a great deal of sound in a small period of time, essentially finding the point at

which the second deal sounds the same as the top, heightening the sound at this point, and

making the action leading up to this point extremely quick. What happens then is that the

ear is unable to recognize the sound differences as clearly because the differences

become fused with similarities. I tend to focus in this regard on the point after the card

leaves the deck, particularly if you can snap it down onto the table creating quite a

focused and distracting sound. This sound will be the same regardless of whether it is a

top or a second and so it provides a very effective diversion.

Finally, you can create sound to cover the sound of the deal and in particular the disparity

in sound. This could come in the form of something as simple as talking, playing music

while you are dealing, or some odd quirk you may devise with a deck, the options are up

to you.

Strike Seconds

In my opinion, the strike second is fundamentally easier to learn than a push-off second,

however, I would suggest at the same time that it is equally difficult to master.

Originally, I honestly didn’t understand what a strike second was. I had read that there

were two basic ways in which to deal seconds, these being push-off and strike seconds.

Due to the push-off double lift, push-offs made sense, but I thought the strike second was

a reference to the strike double lift. Having no learning materials before me I set out to

begin examining ways in which to perform various second deals, it was then that I saw

the obvious concept of a strike second, but at the time, due to my technique which was

unrefined at best, I didn’t feel it was a convincing or effective method. It happened at

this time that I learned the true nature of a strike second, which happened to coincide

with someone mentioning that Vernon, a legend in the world of card magic, had stated he

considered the strike second to be very unconvincing.

Now, before I move on I should explain to you the exact nature of the strike second, for

those who are not familiar with it, for those who are, I apologize for the unnecessary

review. The basic concept is that you will move aside the top card and peel the card

underneath off. To give you a general impression of how this might work, I would refer

you to method one of the push-off second, that is to say, perform a pivot push-off with

just the top card. You will notice that when the top card pivots off the upper right corner

of the one below it becomes exposed. At this point your thumb would “strike” this upper

right corner and peel that card from the deck. (See figure 422.)

Figure 422.

The difference then between a strike second and a push-off second mechanically lies in

the fact that with a strike second the second card is exposed rather than pushed off and in

terms of appearance, that the card is apparently dealt directly from the deck rather than

pushed off and then dealt. This last point is critical to your understanding since it must

impact how you handle your top deals and whether your strike second is convincing or

not.

Now, using the mechanics illustrated I described in order to illustrate the nature of the

deal, that is to say, the major push-off the strike second is not at all convincing. There is

a huge problem due to the fact that you are pushing off a card but then never reaching for

it, you are reaching in a noticeably different place. At the time of my introduction to the

concept then, which was when I considered this to be the method, I felt Vernon couldn’t

help but being right, after all, this strike second seemed to me to be nothing but

unconvincing when I performed it for myself in a mirror.

Needless to say, I later discovered that this was the concept and not the practice. I later

read some discussion by professional card cheats mentioning that they had seen a well

executed strike second and it was as good as a well executed push-off second (I will get

into my thoughts on the subject at the end of this section). Having then seen some

performances of the deal myself and having refined my push-off second to an acceptable

level (I was using the pure method one I described earlier), I turned my gaze and my

practice to the strike second, which I found developed considerably more quickly than the

push-off second and with less details to concern me.

The refined concept of the strike second then for those who are unfamiliar with it,

involves, yes, moving the top card in a sort of pivot action, but doing so to such a minute

extent and covered sufficiently by larger motion that it appears as though the top card has

not moved at all. The space created between the top card and the second card is what we

call the brief. To give you an idea of what size we are talking about, my brief tends to

vary between an eighth of an inch and a sixteenth of an inch, some people can get theirs

as low as a thirty-second of an inch, which, while impressive, is in my opinion

unnecessary. If you watch some individuals perform the deal slowly you will find

yourself wondering where the second card came from, it’s as though it came out of

nowhere. I remember offering such a performance to my grandmother, first performing a

magic trick that used the deal and then performing the deal before her eyes, first with a

face down card and then with the card face up, her comment was “that is a magic trick in

itself”.

Method 1

Earlier I alluded to the fact that it is very important to understand the nature of the top

deal, as it is easy to ruin the top and by consequence ruin the second. With that in mind,

we begin again with a description of the top deal you are attempting to emulate as best

you can.

You begin with the deck in mechanics grip, or perhaps more like master’s grip if you

prefer. The forefinger should run along the front edge of the deck, the three last fingers

along the right side. The middle finger should be positioned up near the top right corner.

You should bevel the deck forward slightly. If you sit the deck correctly in the crotch of

your hand you will find that you can use the flesh at the base of your thumb to help create

and maintain this bevel. In addition, the forefinger at the front of the deck can provide

assistance in this regard. Special note should be given to the tips of the last three fingers,

they should maintain their position on the edge of the deck just high enough that they are

below the level of the top card, but above the level of the third card. Essentially the goal

is that you should be able to deal the card off the top of the deck smoothly without any

interference from the fingers. Finally, the thumb should be curled across the deck

pointing towards the upper right corner, but not reaching the corner. Rather it should be

resting on a both roughly half an inch down from the top and in from the side of the card.

From this position the right hand moves in to perform the take. Your right thumb will

perform the take by gracefully making contact with the upper right corner of the deck and

deal the card smoothly off. An initial note should be given to the position of the thumb

during the take. Now, there are a number of options and I don’t know that one is

necessarily better than another, but the issue to stress is consistency. Often when people

deal tops the position of their thumb on the card is slightly different than when they deal

seconds. In order to eliminate this concern I use a method of measurement as follows.

When I strike the upper right corner of the deck, or at least when I begin performing the

take, since I may move the thumb tip briefly from a point further left over to the right

where I perform the take (I would recommend you just focus on striking and performing

the take at this point, ignore the broader action of the thumb), I feel with the thumb to

ensure that my thumb is just under half over the top edge of the deck and that the joint on

the thumb is on the right edge of the deck. In this manner, if I must adjust the position of

my thumb slightly to perform a consistent take I am able to do so by feel in a consistent

manner. You will notice that this gives you a great deal of flesh on the deck making

physical contact with the card, this is good because it offers substantial surface area,

offering a good grip and a clean take. (See figure 423 and figure 424.)

Figure 423.

Figure 424.

Now, as you begin the take you want to perform the action mostly not by moving the

hand, but by rotating the wrist and bending the thumb all in order to move the card

sideways. Just as the card begins to move off the deck the right middle finger will make

contact on the bottom of the card in the upper right corner and help to control it as it is

dealt from the deck to the side. (See figure 425, figure 426 and figure 427 from below.)

Figure 425.

Figure 426.

Figure 427.

It is important to note that the card should move to the side exactly in order to maximize

both economy of motion and minimize silhouettes. (See figure 428 for the incorrect

method.)

Figure 428.

Now then, I will continue with my description of the second deal. The second deal is, as

usual, exactly the same as the top, except that as you go to perform the take, the left

thumb is going to pivot the top card to the right very slightly. It pivots the card against

the left middle finger and uses the finger to ensure that only one card pivots. You will

pivot the card as far as necessary in order to perform the take of the second card, but also

as little as possible. You want to minimize the brief so that it is at most, the width of the

border, in other words, if you are using cards with borders, the interior design is never

visible. (See figure 429 for the correct method and figure 430 for the incorrect method.)

Figure 429.

Figure 430.

Now it is possible to glide the top card backwards rather than pivot it to the side, but I

find the risks that you will accidentally glide two cards instead of one, or worse, that you

will glide the top card and partially glide the second card, are too great. If you perform

the pivot the middle finger ensures that only one card pivots and increases the security of

a proper take on the second card.

I mentioned earlier that you should bevel the deck forward; this is so that when you pivot

the card and create the brief you will be certain to take one and only one card. If the deck

is not beveled or in particular if it slips, two cards may be partially exposed and you end

up taking two rather than one.

You will find that keeping the card square at the top and bottom of the deck as I

mentioned is difficult due to the natural pivot action in accordance with the top corner

take. In order to help avoid this you will make use of the middle finger, allowing it to

take the card from below as early as possible and using it to correct any twist in the card’s

alignment. If you are having particular trouble, you may wish to move your left hand

slightly forward as you perform the take in order to conceal the momentary shift in the

card.

Note that the method I am suggesting here is the ideal method for avoiding detection, but

another method, one I noticed Marlo tends to use, is to purposely skewer the alignment of

the card with all the deals, both tops and seconds while tilting the deck fairly

substantially, so that with each deal the audience sees the upper left corner of the card

peek over the top of the deck during the process of the deal. This method does of course

compromise economy of motion and deception to some extent, but is easier to perform.

If you decide on this approach ensure the upper left corner of the card crests the edge of

the deck at the same point regardless of seconds or tops.

Naturally, when you have completed the take the thumb will rock back that fraction of an

inch to its original position. In order to cover this thumb movement, you should rock

your whole hand back and forth to correlate with the thumb. This, along with the fact

that the movement is subtle to begin with, should render it invisible.

Variation 1

A very slight variation to the original method yields one of the second deals I use most

frequently. The difference lies purely in the take. You must be sure in this case that the

left hand grip of the deck involves a gap between the middle finger and ring finger of

sufficient size to fit the right middle finger into that gap. Now, when the right hand

moves to perform the take, the thumb will come from the top as usual, but the hand

should approach from the side so that the right middle finger slips under the deck

between the left middle and ring finger. The thumb then performs the take as usual and

the middle finger moves up from below to continue and control the take from the bottom.

This offers a more comfortable take and a slightly better controlled take. It also sets you

up for the possibility of a bottom deal later. (See figure 431 and figure 432 from the

bottom.)

Figure 431.

Figure 432.

You may wish to use your forefinger as in push-off seconds method one to square the

cards at the top of the deck as there is a tendency not to move the top card back far

enough after the strike.

Variation 2

This grip is the same as the grip from push-off second method one variation two and

method two variation one. It involves, as I described before, holding the deck between

the forefinger and base of the thumb. Your left middle, ring finger and pinky should be

loose and only slightly bent at the side of the deck. There should be a gap as per

variation one, between the middle and ring finger. The take is the same as that in

variation one, with the right middle finger moving under the deck. You will find that this

deal is slightly less controlled in terms of second dealing than variation one, since in the

first variation the middle finger is able to better control the top card as it is pivoted and

better ensure that the deck remains controlled. The advantage however to this method is

that it becomes much easier when you wish to perform a bottom deal. Note specifically

that the bevel in the deck helps to give the left forefinger greater control over the cards in

light of this somewhat unstable grip. (See figure 433.)

Figure 433.

Variation 3

This grip is the rough Erdnase grip described in push off method one variation three and

method two variation two. The deck is held securely between the left middle finger and

base of the thumb. The left forefinger runs along the front edge of the deck and the left

ring finger and pinky sit loosely on the side. A note concerning the left middle finger,

which could also be applied to the forefinger in variation two, it should wrap slightly

around the side of the deck in the upper right corner in order to better control which cards

are able to come off the deck. You perform the now familiar take described in variations

one and two, while maintaining as usual the notes on thumb position and take action from

the original method. In this case you have the added benefit of being able to use the left

forefinger along the front of the deck to ensure the cards do not skewer excessively as

you perform the take. I find personally that performing the take using this grip is slightly

more challenging, but it should come with minimal practice. (See figure 434.)

Figure 434.

Variation 4

I now bring you back to the concept of the Benzais cop, one we will explore in a fair

amount of detail later. In association with this, is, of course, as I stated before, a deep

take, that is to say, performing the take from the upper left corner rather than the upper

right. In order to accomplish this we return to the original method and the mechanic’s or

master’s grip.

Naturally, in order to maintain a consistent thumb position a different measurement must

be determined. Here, I simply note a specific position on feel near my thumb tip and

ensure the left edge of the deck makes contact with this point. In terms of position at the

top of the deck, I use the same feeling as before with the thumb just under half on the

face/back of the card. The take then proceeds as per the original method.

In this case however we do encounter the trouble of an insufficient brief, since the normal

pivot motion is designed to create the brief at the upper right corner, not the upper left

corner. In this regard then I perform a slight glide downward of the top card, using the

left thumb in the same position as normal.

This time, in order to provide further stability, while maintaining a semi comfortable

position with the hands, the right ring finger will initially perform the action of taking the

upper right corner of the card from underneath. Once it becomes convenient the right

middle finger will join the ring finger in offering that stability and guidance. (See figure

435 for a view of the brief, figure 436 for the thumb take and figure 437 from below for

the ring finger action.)

Figure 435.

Figure 436.

Figure 437.

Method 2 (Shifted Grip)

At this point, I would direct your attention to a grip we have not yet examined and one

that is roughly the grip I first began using for bottom dealing. The advantage here is a

firm and stable, which by consequence makes it a fairly easy grip to use. The trade off is

that it involves a roughly forward take, which doesn’t maximize economy of motion and

creates some undesirable silhouettes. First, as usual and I feel is beneficial, we have the

basic deal, which I will describe and then the second deal variation.

You begin with the deck in the right hand in a sort of modified mechanics grip, though

visually it resembles the Erdnase grip. The pressure on the deck ensuring it is stable

should be between the pinky and the base of the thumb. The ring finger should be

slightly uncurled but rigid; this will determine the angle at which you take the cards from

the deck. You should wrap your middle finger around the upper right corner, with the

forefinger just behind it. Finally, you will curl your thumb across the deck as per the

basic strike second deal. (See figure 438.)

Figure 438.

When you perform the take, you will strike with your thumb as in the original deal on the

upper right corner of the deck using the same measurement as before for consistency.

Likewise, your middle finger will move below the deck between the left middle and ring

fingers during the take, which will later facilitate a bottom deal or potentially a Greek

deal.

The take differs most notably in the fact that you will pull the card forward and to the

right so you deal it off at an angle rather than the more appealing deal to the left. Here is

where the left middle finger comes into play. You will perform the take with a force both

forward and to the right, but because the left middle finger is rigid, the right motion will

cease almost immediately as the edge of the card gets caught on the finger and swivels

slightly. There is one quick note concerning the take action with the thumb that may help

you. Normally in the strike deals I have described formerly I strike directly on the upper

right corner, but in this case I do not. Rather, I strike lower and to the left of the upper

right corner and slide my thumb across the deck at an angle until I feel the correct

position at which I perform the take. (See figure 439, figure 440 and figure 441.)

Figure 439.

Figure 440.

Figure 441.

There are numerous possible adjustments to this basic deal that I will mention further

under the descriptions of bottom dealing so you may wish to keep those in mind should

you choose to make use of this particular deal.

This brings us to the second deal itself, which, as usual is very similar to the regular deal.

As usual, and this applies for the regular deal as well, I bevel the deck forward to offer a

cleaner take. You will use the tip of your middle finger to ensure only one card is taken

at a time (though this point will vary depending on the bottom deal variation you choose

later). Of particular note is the slight difference in the movement of the top card to

expose the bottom card, which occurs by shifting not simply in terms of a pivot, but also

by sliding it back slightly. Other than that, the take should be the same as normal.

Variation 1

This variation is based on the Cigar bottom deal. The deck is held in mechanic’s grip

with the pressure applied as previously described between the pinky and base of the

thumb though this time it is a more natural mechanic’s grip, the three last fingers on the

right side of the deck and the forefinger running along the front. You perform the take

with the thumb on the upper right corner as usual, but this time it is performed in a

forward motion. Furthermore, rather than moving the middle finger under the deck, the

ring finger will move under the deck between the left forefinger and middle finger. Other

than that, the deal is essentially the same as the previous deal. (Note, this deal is

sometimes performed using the middle finger rather than the ring finger for the take as

described in strike bottom method one variation one). (See figure 442, figure 443, and

figure 444 for a view from below.)

Figure 442.

Figure 443.

Figure 444.

Method 3

Here we return to the straddle grip described in push-off method two variation three. As

I described earlier the deck is cradled in the hand in a sort of deep Charlier grip with the

forefinger and pinky straddling the deck on the top and bottom ends and the middle

finger and ring finger stretched out from the deck in a loose manner. In this case,

because you don’t have to perform a push-off the thumb can rest near the corner of the

inner border design on cards with borders, roughly half an inch down from the top and

half an inch in from the left side.

You will use your thumb to perform the take in roughly the middle of the card while the

right middle finger moves under the deck. The thumb will strike on the top card and pull

it slightly, at which point the middle finger will assist by pinching it securely. Should the

deck become disorganized it can be roughly squared fairly quickly merely by tightening

up the left middle and ring fingers.

You should keep the deck slightly beveled to the right in order to make for a clean second

deal and assist in covering against the bottom deal we will cover later.

In order to perform the second deal the only modification you must use is to pull the top

card back to the left slightly with the left thumb and perform the strike on the second

card. (See figure 445 and figure 446.)

Figure 445.

Figure 446.

If you find the take is less than clean or that the cards are sliding all over the place in your

left hand, bend your middle finger and ring finger in slightly in order to better control the

cards.

Sound

The general concepts in regard to sound and avoiding making it a tip off which I

mentioned under the push-off second section apply here, however generally one is, I find

more prone to making sound a concern when performing a strike second. This is due to

the fact that I find adding a twist of the left wrist just as the take is performed helps to

make the take more deceptive but also alters the sound involved. If however, you can

perform the take of the card in a completely level manner you can render the sound very

similar to that of a top.

An additional point that I neglected to mention earlier when discussing the subject of

sound is the potential to cast off suspicion by creating a disparity between the sounds

created with each top. When there is no consistency in the sound of the tops, the

different sound of the second will not stand out in the same manner. You can achieve

this simply by altering the pressure applied to the card either in an upward or downward

take, or with the left thumb.

Other Points

I will reiterate at this point the advantage of moving both hands, not merely the hand

performing the take. The large motion (relatively speaking) of the left hand helps to

cover any subtle motions as well as adds speed to the take itself, which is crucial in

maintaining a sufficient level of deception when viewed directly.

In addition to this, you should learn to tilt the deck slightly as you move the left hand to

perform the take. Essentially, you want the deck sitting in your hand at an angle that

allows the players at the table to see the top card. Then, as you move the left hand to the

right to perform the take you will tilt the deck just ever so slightly and naturally (do not

over tilt, it only takes a subtle shift in order to make the top of the deck invisible) for a

fraction of a second while you perform the take and then tilt it back. The goal here is to

conceal any chance of a silhouette flashing while you perform the take and giving away

the second deal. At the same time you want to give them as much time when they can

see the top of the deck as possible so that they have the illusion that they saw it while you

performed the take and are thus convinced the deal was legitimate.

Side Strike Seconds

I mentioned earlier that when I first read about second deals I didn’t understand the

nature of the strike second, rather, I figured it referred to the strike double lift and on that

basis surmised that strike seconds must indeed be difficult. Naturally, this wasn’t a true

strike second, but I kept the concept of using a mechanic similar to a strike double lift and

have given it the name, side strike second, since you strike the side of the card. Later I

learned that Marlo had also explored this idea and applied the title “hit second”, however

having not studied his work on the subject I’m not sure how it compares.

For this method, you begin with the deck in the mechanics grip beveled slightly to the

right. The last three fingers are along the right side, the forefinger curls around the front

and the thumb lays across the face of the deck ending in up the upper right or upper left

corner, as you prefer, roughly half an inch down from the top and in from the edge.

You will perform the take by bringing the right hand in from the right side and striking

the edge of the deck with the right middle finger, bending the top card upwards. Then, as

the hand sweeps back left, the thumb will make contact with the top of the card, pinching

it between the middle finger and the thumb and pull it from the deck to the table. (See

figure 447, figure 448, and figure 449.)

Figure 447.

Figure 448.

Figure 449.

There is a question of exactly where to strike at this point. The natural possibilities are

either higher up on the deck between the middle and ring finger, or lower on the deck

between the ring finger and pinky. I personally find the former is slightly more natural,

while the later is more deceptive. The idea behind striking further down on the deck

rather than further forward involves laying the left thumb across the deck directed at the

upper right corner rather than the upper left corner. In this manner the number of cards,

being pulled up by the right middle finger is concealed from the front. (Note the

difference between the ideal in figure 450 and the less desirable method in figure 451.)

Figure 450.

Figure 451.

Now, the bevel of the deck I mentioned initially facilitates a second deal as it makes it

easier to determine the number of cards you are pulling up at one time. If you wish to

perform a second deal, you will simply pull up two cards rather than one (this is simply a

matter of knack and practice). Then, just a fraction of a second before the thumb makes

contact with the top card the right hand will pull along with the middle finger, slightly to

the right and you will deal off the second card rather than the top card. If you have

trouble drawing only the second card off you can make use of the right thumb to actually

apply pressure on the top card and hold it in place during the course of the take in order

to cleanly remove the second card. Naturally, you will want to perform this take directly

to the right in order to maximize economy of motion and avoid flash as we have

mentioned previously.

You will find that when executed quickly and smoothly, this is a very deceptive deal and

one where sound is not a large problem, which is an added advantage of the mechanics.

Stud Seconds

The concept of a stud deal is to deal the card face up. Naturally, you could simply

perform a regular deal and then turn the card face up, but for the sake of interest and

elegance some techniques have been devised that involve turning the card face up in the

process of the deal. Since these methods have become the standard, one should have

false deals he or she may employ when dealing in the stud poker fashion. What follows

are a few ideas relating to how this may be made possible. You should note that from

this point on I will be referring extensively to the original dealing descriptions and will

cite them rather than repeating the basics of the explanation.

Push-off Method 1

The real difference between a stud deal and a regular deal lies in the take, as such, with

the exception of the take; you may refer to push-off second method one, and the variation

you are most comfortable with for the remainder of the handling. For the sake of

simplicity, I am going to refer to and make use of the basic push-off method one

handling.

You will begin with the deck in mechanics grip as usual and perform the push-off as

usual. However, at this point the left wrist will twist inward slightly towards your body

and the right hand will approach the deck palm down and oriented so the right thumb is at

the base of the deck while the right pinky is running along the upper edge of the deck.

What this hand position accomplishes is to effectively conceal the entire motion that is

about to follow. To give you a little more detail here, you should position the tip of the

right finger at the upper left corner of the deck with the whole finger running along the

front edge. You should bring your hand it at such and angle that your right thumb tip

moves below the lower right jogged corner of the card from where it will apply an

upward force in a moment. The remainder your fingers you should hold together and

extend fully. (See figure 452 for a view from the front and figure 453 for the dealer’s

view.)

Figure 452.

Figure 453.

At this point, you will use your right thumb to apply an upward and inward force on the

lower right corner of the card, pulling it up towards the second joint of your forefinger.

(See figure 454.)

Figure 454.

Once the corner of the card makes contact with the right forefinger, you will execute two

motions simultaneously. The first is to slide the thumb, under cover of the right hand,

back to the initial push-off position. Second, you will pull the card the rest of the way out

by rotating your right wrist forward towards the front of the deck. This motion should

occur quickly and smoothly in such a manner that, if you are dealing stud tops, there will

be a snapping sound as the lower left corner of the card frees itself from the crotch of the

left hand at the base of the thumb. This is important because while dealing seconds there

is a tendency for the top card to make a snapping sound as it pops back against the deck

and the snap as the card frees itself from the base of the thumb will cover this. The angle

to watch in during this process is directly to the left where, if you do not execute the

technique correctly, the card may flash as the top card and second card divide. When

executed correctly this technique should be invisible from all angles including to the

dealer. (See figure 455.)

Figure 455.

This whole process should result in you holding the card, at the end of the deal, pinched

between the thumb and primary joint of the forefinger, from which point it may be laid

on the table or tossed to a given player. (See figure 456.)

Figure 456.

This is my preferred method of dealing stud not in terms of elegance, but in terms of

invisibility.

Push-off Method 2

While the former method is excellent in terms of invisibility and consequently deception,

it is a variant of a method with less cover, where all the fingers take hold of the side of

the card and flip it over. The disadvantage of offering a greater level of cover is that it is

somewhat less elegant and somewhat less natural that one might like. As such, I offer

you a method, which, though it is more difficult and lacks the deception of the former

method, makes up for it in elegance. You may think of this method as a push-off double

lift without the double. Again, the push-off mirrors that of your preferred method one

variation and varies when it comes to the take, I will assume for the sake of example that

you are making use of the original method itself.

So, as I mentioned, you begin with the deck in the mechanics grip and perform a push-

off, however, you want to minimize the push-off in this case, generally so there is no

more than a pinky width of the card protruding in the upper right corner. At this point,

you will approach the upper right corner of the deck with the right hand palm down and

middle finger leading. You should insert the middle finger into the empty gap between

the card or cards you have pushed off and the rest of the deck. Now, if you are

performing a second deal, you will pull back the top card under the cover of the right

middle finger so that the corner doesn’t flash in the gap. In the same motion, move your

right hand in toward your body and out slightly so that it makes contact with the

protruding upper right corner of the card and pivots it out further. You should pivot the

card out on the base of the thumb as far as possible, until the left side of the card is

parallel with the bottom edge of the deck. At this point, your forefinger should join the

middle finger on the corner of the card from above, while the thumb pinches the corner

lightly from below and, in a rotating action of the right wrist, you twist the card turning it

over, still using the base of the thumb as a pivot point. (See figure 457, figure 458, figure

459, figure 460 and figure 461.)

Figure 457.

Figure 458.

Figure 459.

Figure 460.

Figure 461.

From this point, you may toss the card on the table or to a player. You should perform

the whole action lightly, gracefully, and quickly, as there is a danger of flashing what is

occurring if performed witnessed from the wrong angle. Of special note, you should

consider the manner in which you pivot the card from the deck, namely, this action

should occur in such a manner that the card is completely level with the deck. This is of

concern because there is often a tendency to bend the card or apply a downward force.

This provides upward pressure on the top card of the deck, which will flash and provide

quite an obvious tip-off. (See figure 462 for an example from the front of the wrong

method as compared with figure 463, the correct method.)

Figure 462.

Figure 463.

I tend to like this method in general for the elegance is offers, though don’t feel it is the

most practical either in terms of consistency with later deals or invisibility as an existing

deal. Finally, you will notice I haven’t mentioned sound here at all, and that is simply

because the whole process is virtually completely silent when executed correctly, which

is another added benefit.

Push-off Method 3

There are in my opinion two really natural methods of dealing stud. The first, is a more

open modification of method one, which you can play around with if you so desire, here I

am more interested in giving you different ideas to apply than all the possible variations

themselves, but then again, I said so from the outset. The second, is what we will attempt

to mirror with method three. As usually, it begins with a standard push off, though it is

noteworthy that you would could use either a method one push-off or a method two push-

off, depending on which you are more comfortable with. I again, shall assume the basic

method one push-off from the mechanics grip.

When it comes to the take, you will differ in that, in this case you will perform the take in

a forward motion by lifting the front of the card. The basic idea behind this motion is

that ideally, the card will provide a sort of shield to cover the pull back of the top card.

Now, there is an area of dispute that I will address in a moment, but for now you perform

the push-off and approach, the out jogged card or cards (depending on whether you are

dealing a top or second) with your right hand as follows. The right hand should be

perpendicular with the table palm pointing towards the deck, pinky nearest the table and

thumb nearest the ceiling, as opposed to approaching from either a palm up or palm down

position. This will help to create a barrier to the vision of anyone on your right.

Furthermore, you should tilt your left hand slightly so the right so that the right side of

the deck is lower than the left side, this creates a visual barrier to those on your left and

may be applied to virtually all of your false deals. Keep in mind that the left hand tilt

should occur as a natural part of the push-off action and should not remain constant;

rather the wrist should rock back and forth as the hand performs its portion of the deal.

As I mentioned in an earlier description on angles, this sort of shift helps to sell a view

that does not exist and makes the whole process seem less suspicious.

Now back to the take, the finger position is essentially the same as in a regular push-off

deal, minus the ring finger action. That is to say, the right forefinger makes contact on

the forward edge, the middle finger makes contact underneath the card in the upper right

corner and the thumb makes contact with top of the card so that, if it is a normal deal the

card is pinched between your middle finger and thumb. Naturally, when you are dealing

seconds, while the action is apparently the same, the middle finger will actually perform

the initial portion of the take until the thumb can make contact with the second card.

Now we encounter the question of dispute, namely, how does one go about turning over

the second card while pulling back the top card? There are two basic approaches to this

issue. Essentially, you don’t want to just turn the card over directly, because doing so

will lift the edge of the top card and provide a tip-off. (See figure 464 for the tip off.)

Figure 464.

Thus, you can either move the right hand closer to the left hand, essentially moving the

second card of the deck back overtop of the deck as you pull the top card back and

flipping it over at the front of the deck. Alternatively, you can move the right hand

farther to the right in the action of flipping the card over so it does not interfere with the

top card. Now, I realize those descriptions may be a little unclear and so I will clarify

slightly. In the first case, (which I think is best from a technical standpoint, but also

somewhat awkward and thus I tend not to use it) once the right hand makes contact with

the second card and performs the initial take, it will continue its motion right while at the

same time moving somewhat forward and beginning to turn over the second card. This

will result in the completion of the stud deal immediately in front of the deck. (See figure

465.)

Figure 465.

The problem with this action is that it seems contrived and is not economical in most

cases where the card is going to be dealt to a position right of the left hand anyway.

However, if you choose to execute this method, ensure that you keep the borders of the

top and second card lined up while you are moving them left.

In terms of the second option, you will mimic the basic process outlined in the push-off

method one description, but just as the second card clears the deck and the top card

comes square with the deck, you will turn the card face up. The manner in which you

will turn the card over is quite simple and consists of a three-fold action. First, the thumb

will provide downward leverage on the card. Second, both the forefinger, hooked around

the front edge, and the middle finger, positioned just slightly further forward than the

thumb will apply upward pressure. Thus, the two forces should begin a rotation of the

card. Finally, you will twist your wrist so the palm turns downward. (See figure 466 and

figure 467.)

Figure 466.

Figure 467.

This is not necessarily the most desirable of methods, but one of the most natural. These

are not all the possible variations on the stud second deal, but these three illustrate a few

ideas for you to experiment with and develop in a manner that suits your own dealing

style.

Strike Method 1

Strike dealing tends to be simpler in my opinion than push-off dealing, but in this

particular case, I’d say it’s more difficult. This particular method of dealing stud in a

strike deal manner is once again based off the push-off double lift, or my personal

variant, which I will teach in another book. As such, you may refer in some regards to

push-off stud method two. Aside from that, the basic mechanics of the left hand mimic

those of strike seconds method one with a variation on the take to render the deal a stud

deal.

I will state from the outset that this is a difficult deal to perform well and one that you

probably won’t use, but again, it gives you some ideas to play around with. You will

begin as usual with the deck in mechanics grip. In this case, your right hand approaches

the deck palm down middle finger leading. Your middle finger will strike the upper right

corner where you will have created a brief, and pull the second card out slightly, before

pivoting it, as in the push-off stud method two description or a push-off double lift. It

may help you, as well as provide cover, to trace your middle finger across the upper edge

of the deck before actually performing the take in the corner. Finally, as per the earlier

description, once the card has pivoted sufficiently, your right thumb will aid in pivoting it

until the card is perpendicular with the deck as which point you will spin it by using the

base of your thumb as a pivot point. (See figure 468, figure 469, figure 470, figure 471

and figure 472.)

Figure 468.

Figure 469.

Figure 470.

Figure 471.

Figure 472.

I cannot stress to you enough that this motion should be performed quickly and fluidly

and that it helps a great deal to tilt your left hand back slightly (again, following the

earlier cautionary notes on tilting the hand) to cover the fact that it is the second card and

not the top card you are dealing off.

Strike Method 2

This method is based on a combination of strike second method one variation one and

strike second method two; you may use it to accommodate either grip. I shall approach it

as though using the method one variation one handling, or a typical mechanics grip.

Your right thumb will perform the take as usual and your right middle finger will move

under the deck between your left middle and ring fingers. The issue here is that you will

perform a forward take, or rather, forward and slightly to the right, as per the strike

second method two take. In the process however, you will rotate your wrist and apply the

appropriate pressure with your fingers to turn the card over. This lifting and turning

action of the top card should be both sudden, immediate and fast. The goal is this. If I

have a red deck of bicycle cards and I place a blue card cover card on top, I want to be

able to deal stud seconds without ever flashing that I am actually dealing red backed

cards. Now if you wish to be vulgar you can neck tie the deck severely, but in my world

we favor elegance and nuance in technique. In order to accomplish this, you will use

your right forefinger to bend the card upward immediately and position your left thumb

across the deck in such a manner that the top card does not rise. (See figure 473, figure

474, figure 475 and figure 476.)

Figure 473.

Figure 474.

Figure 475.

Figure 476.

Note the movement of the forefinger from the front. Also, observe that the card is taken

both forward and to the right in order to create an easier surface to access from below as

well as to increase the effectiveness of the left thumb. The method I described, using a

cover card, is a good way of practicing this method, which you will find, is not that

difficult once you learn to perform it quickly and fluidly.

Side Strike Method 1

I am not going to give much of a detailed description when it comes to the side strike

except to mention that here, instead of pulling the card out by moving the hand right, you

will turn it over by twisting the hand at the wrist. This actually makes for a potentially

more deceptive deal than the initial side strike second. (See figure 477 and figure 478.)

Figure 477.

Figure 478.

Most people tend not to use side strike dealing, but for those who do, I think you will find

that to be an effective method.

A quick note regarding sound where stud deals are concerned. When there is sound

created during the deal, it is relatively easy to conceal because of the fact that the natural

method of turning over the top card during a stud deal tends to involve scraping the card

on the top of the deck. If you capitalize on this and create sufficient inconsistency in the

regular deal you should have no problem with sound in the false stud deal.

So then, two general closing thoughts you may apply to second dealing, but really to all

dealing. First, deal as fast as possible without making the deal seem rushed. A very fast

deal is much more difficult to detect than a slow deal. However, you do not wish to draw

attention to your deals or indicate that you may be false dealing and as such, your deals

should seem natural and not hurried. Part of this comes as a result of speeding up your

regular dealing, but another part comes from learning to vary your dealing pace as

follows. Deal the portions where you are likely to get caught quickly (in other words,

perform the take quickly), but slow down immediately after the take is complete. Keep

in mind this action of slowing down shouldn’t be sudden, but rather gradual and

deliberate so that your return to take the next card is relatively slow. This process will

make the whole deal seem slower and allow you to capitalize on the speed. For those of

you who lift weights, it is much like explosive weight training, performing the lift as

quickly as possible, but lowering the weight more slowly. Second, move both hands! I

cannot impress upon you enough how much more deceptive it makes a false deal when

you move not just the hand performing the take, but the hand performing the deck as

well. I was recently demonstrating a second deal for a friend who could not tell which

were seconds and which were not and he commented, “yeah, but what if you stopped

moving your left hand”. Yes, it is still possible to perform the deal effectively while

keeping the left hand stationary, but the question is, why would you? Your goal here is

to make your deals as deceptive as possible and keeping both hands moving certainly

adds to this.

Which is Best?

A lot of people ask, “which is the best method of dealing?” and it is a question I will

review a couple more times as we progress through the various false deals, but I wished

to shed some light on the subject here. The first simple answer is, which ever you can

perform best, but that really seeks to avoid the heart of the question and so I will mention

a couple considerations. I think a push-off deal is more natural than a strike deal. If you

watch laypeople, they almost always push the card off and thus from that perspective a

push-off deal is the way to go. Along these lines, they tend not to pivot the card and they

tend not to use a straddle grip. In other words, the deal that best mimics the actions of a

layperson is probably push-off method two. Incidentally, the economy of motion is best

on push-off method two. I personally tend to feel push-off deals are a bit more deceptive

because they are more convincing, though you will notice when we come to the Count’s

grip that everything is based on strike deals, which is designed to favor the invisible

dealing concept. There is another consideration though, namely one’s ability to perform

all his or her deals from the same grip. I personally use strike deals far more often than I

use push-off deals and that is largely because I find it easier to shift from a false deal to a

true deal and because I can perform most or all of my false deals from the same grip

using these methods. Later, I will cover different handlings for the various false deals

and you can get a better understanding for how this works and make the decision for

yourself. Ultimately, it depends on your level of comfort and perhaps much more

importantly, the circumstances as certain deals are better suited for certain situations. We

do the best we can to develop an “ideal deal”, but in the end there is still work left to be

done.

Dealing Seconds (One Handed)

At this point, we shall continue our journey into a somewhat more interesting and

somewhat less useful realm, that is to say, dealing one handed. Ultimately, I consider

dealing one handed to be more a matter of showing off than one of practicality. After all,

dealing two handed is virtually always possible, virtually always easier, and more

convincing, why then would one wish to deal one handed? I suppose the answer lies in

two areas. First, dealing one handed is a flourish of sorts and thus holds a certain interest

in that regard. Second, it is psychologically more convincing as the thought that some

might be false dealing one handed is much more incredible than the well known practice

of false dealing two handed. I think that for myself, I like the novelty of dealing one

handed, it is fun for me to lean back casually in my chair with a drink in one hand and

flick cards around the table with the other. But, perhaps some do not share my

enthusiasm and for those who are not interested in this practice I would certainly

encourage you to skip forward to sections of greater interest. There will be little in this

section of worth regarding two handed dealing that has not been covered or will not be

covered in other sections.

D’Amico Seconds

I begin with a deal that is not particularly difficult, but also not terribly practical. Not

that it is a poor deal, far from it, the deal, when executed correctly is totally invisible.

But rather, that it is a second deal, not easily adapted to function as a center or bottom

deal (so much so that I will not even attempt to describe the process in this manuscript)

and a stud deal at that. Thus, it’s applications are primarily in blackjack and stud poker

for all but the hole card. You may ask then why I am including it. The first reason is that

I simply love it. The first time I saw a video of Marlo performing it I was under the

illusion that the card virtually materialized at his fingertips and originated somewhere in

the middle of the deck. Second, because I think it illustrates perhaps better than any other

deal the need to and difficult in creating consistency between the false deal and the real

deal. As I mentioned, the false deal itself is not terribly difficult, however, making the

false deal look the same as a top, or making the top look the same as the second is a

challenging task that I have worked on for hours on end.

I should mention that the technique I will describe is not the proper technique, it is a

variation based on Carmen D’Amico’s original premise. Over time, I’ve taken the

handling I saw Marlo use, first played with the concept myself, then observed his

handling in detail then passed the technique through a number of refinements. Gradually,

I have developed what I will describe, which resembles Marlo’s handling quite closely,

but also has a number of differences. The reason I settled on the handling I will describe

here is that first, it is one of the best methods for making the deal consistent and invisible,

but much more importantly, I found it was the method bar with which you could deal

either tops or seconds and have them appear identical. For the record, during my

experimentation I found quite a number of methods of dealing either seconds, or tops

invisibly, but it was rare that I could find a method where both looked the same and what

follows is I believe the best method of achieving this. For the record, I found this

variation was one of the more difficult to learn initially out of those in my repertoire, but

ultimately I think it will benefit you the most. (For those interested in learning the

original handling, Marlo teaches it in “Seconds, Centers & Bottoms”.)

Now, we shall proceed, beginning as always with the top before continuing on to the

second deal. The deck begins as usual in the mechanics grip (right or left hand, it doesn’t

matter, though I should point out that in this case the right hand is better because it allows

you to peek), but this time give special attention to the forefinger. Essentially, you

should position your forefinger in such a manner that you are able to curl it onto the top

of the deck in roughly the middle. I should also point out that your thumb should run

along the left edge of the deck, a significant point for later. (You may wish to bevel the

deck slightly to the right, this will help with the riffling action the thumb must perform.)

Rotate your hand at the wrist turning the deck so the faces are facing up, the regular top

of the deck is facing down, in other words, your hand is palm down. In the process of

this motion, when your hand is about half to three quarters of the way into the palm down

turn, use your left thumb to riffle off the top card (as you complete the turn, if you are

using your right hand instead of right you will be able to glimpse the pip). Hold a small

thumb break at the front left corner and rotate your hand back so it is again palm up.

Now ask the audience member or player in the game etc. “would you like another card”

or something of that nature depending on the circumstances (say for something like

blackjack). (See figure 479 for the riffling action of the thumb during the wrist turn and

figure 480 for a front view of the small thumb break while asking if the player would like

a card).

Figure 479.

Figure 480.

Now that you have obtained a break below the top card, you are ready to perform the deal

itself. (Note that the method I described above to obtaining a break is not necessary, it

simply gives you cover for when you want to get the break under two cards instead of

one and allows you to peek under certain circumstances.) A number of actions are going

to occur in rapid sequence and while I will break the process down into steps, you must

learn to perform the entire action extremely quickly. First, you will insert your thumb

into the break and move it a little more than halfway across the card on along the upper

edge. To describe better, your thumb tip should be roughly around the right side of the

upper pip on a card with the value three.

Second, you clamp down on the right edge of the card with your middle finger, ring

finger, and pinky, while at the same time extending your forefinger out from the deck.

(See figure 481.)

Figure 481.

You will now use your forefinger to strike the top card around the center (the location of

the thumb) while the thumb provides slight upward pressure on the card to counteract the

downward pressure of the forefinger. In a continuing motion, your forefinger will sweep

to the left slightly causing the top card to revolve. (See figure 482 and figure 483.)

Figure 482.

Figure 483.

It is important that the card apparently revolves around the left edge of the deck and not

in the middle, thus you need to use the forefinger in such a manner that the right edge of

the card (in the initial position on top of the deck) kicks over to the left edge. This

process should leave you holding the card face up between your forefinger on the bottom

of the card and the thumb on the top. Your thumb should be pinching the card at roughly

the middle position, and held roughly parallel to the upper edge. During experimentation

I found that getting the correct finger position consistently was perhaps the most difficult

part of this whole ordeal and so I suspect you will have to practice, alternating between

tops and seconds in order to create consistency in such details. It is also important that

when the card turns over it does so parallel to the deck so as to maximize the economy of

motion and not twist, which it may have a tendency to do when you first begin practicing.

Finally, at this point the deal is not entirely invisible, thus, to accompany the revolving

action of the card you should twist our wrist to the right by perhaps ninety degrees. This

action, when executed properly and accompanied by the quick execution of the main

dealing action makes the move entirely invisible. (See figure 484 for the final

positioning.)

Figure 484.

You will notice that executing this deal is not silent, there is a snap as the one corner of

the card releases, and the revolution occurs. This is a good thing, if you handling doesn’t

include this snap you are doing it wrong and it is important for the sake of the later

second deal that you alter your handling in order to create this sound. It is also

noteworthy that the action responsible for this sound is one of the actions that make this

deal so deceptive because the revolution occurs so quickly.

Keep in mind; though I broke down the steps for you in the description, the actual deal

itself occurs extremely quickly with almost no time gap between the actions. While it is

valuable to practice the deal slowly in front of a mirror to ensure your handling is correct

you must ultimately speed it up significantly after all, the point is to create an invisible

deal.

Those details addressed I shall continue on to the second deal. You begin in the same

manner with the second deal as you would with a top, except that rather than riffling off

one card you riffle off two obtaining your break under both of them. Again, as per

dealing tops your thumb is inserted into the break to the point where it is roughly halfway

across the card. A point of interest here, you want the top cards aligned to the far right

edge of the deck, often there is a tendency for them to slide slightly to the left, which will

hamper your deal later. By inserting your thumb first, you raise the left side of the cards

so they are at an angle and will naturally slide into the right edge alignment you desire.

Next, as per the top deal, your middle finger, ring finger, and pinky will press down on

the cards at the edge. This process is important because during the second deal they will

hold this top card in place while the second card revolves in a manner consistent with the

revolution of a top card. Note that though visually this action is the same in the top deal

and second deal the pressure is much lighter in a top deal because you are going to

release while in the second deal it is being held in place. This is somewhat of a knack

and feel thing that you will develop with practice.

Continuing with the method outlined for the top deal, your forefinger flares out to the

front of the deck somewhat and then strikes the card around the position of the thumb. I

should mention here, that this point that the initial strike location of the forefinger must

be just a fraction of an inch to the right of the thumb in order to provide the correct

pivoting action. Now, while the forefinger applies pressure downward and to the left, the

thumb provides what I will call a stationary pressure (meaning the thumb hardly moves at

all) upward and to the right. This combination will cause the second card to free itself

and revolve. It is interesting to note that in this case the purpose of the forefinger is not

so much to revolve the second card, but rather to push the top card down so it is again flat

on the deck. (See figure 485, figure 486, figure 487 and figure 487a.)

Figure 485.

Figure 486.

Figure 487.

Figure 487a.

Consequently, to the actions of the forefinger, there will be a snap similar to the one in

the top deal, but this time caused by the top card snapping back from its raised position

and striking the deck. Again, I caution you about the finger positions on the card you

have just turned over, practice making them the same as those of a top deal, altering both

handlings if necessary so that they mesh.

Just as in the top deal, you must revolve your wrist slightly while performing this action

in order to render it truly invisible. Ensure that when the card revolves it actually appears

to revolve rather than the common tendency for it to be drawn over the left edge of the

deck and turned over, which is not only less deceptive, but inconsistent with the top deal.

Practice both of the deals in front of a mirror until you are unable to tell the difference

between the two. I assure you with this handling that it is possible, though it may take

some work and experimentation.

Finally, you may occasionally run into problems with getting the second card to pop out

and revolve without drawing it left. In order to correct this problem I find it is easiest to

make use of your three last fingers on the right hand using them to draw the top card right

and out of the way of the left card as allowing the top card to slip left seems to be a

common problem responsible for this difficulty. If you continue having problems, try

performing the strike with the forefinger farther to the left. This change will require that

you shift your thumb at the same time, but will hopefully solve your problems. This is a

beautiful deal if you learn to use it effectively and I hope that you do it justice.

Spin Seconds

What can I say, spin dealing is my preferred method of dealing one-handed. Though it

doesn’t quite have the splendor of the D’Amico deal, it isn’t a stud deal and is in my

opinion much more flexible. I’ve never seen anyone else use the deal, it was an idea of

my own, but given my limited knowledge of a decidedly vast subject I cannot assume I

am the first to make use of the concept. I’m going to skip the potential variations, which

are alluded to in the earlier section on dealing one handed and refer directly to the more

flexible handling of the deal, as this is one of the few handlings from which I can deal

tops, seconds, centers, Greeks and bottoms all one-handed.

You begin by holding the deck in your right hand between your forefinger and base of the

thumb as described in push-off seconds method one variation two. As in the reference

handling, you will push-off two cards at an angle using your thumb, though generally,

unlike in the original push-off handling, I tend not to use my pinky to provide a squaring

force. This is of course up to you, but I’d advise you refer to the original push-off

handling to gain a good understanding of exactly how to perform the two card push-off.

Naturally, if you are performing a top deal rather than a second you will push-off only

one card, but since the handlings are so remarkably similar and I touched on the concepts

of a legitimately deal twice already (once in the form of a basic spin top and once in the

form of the two handed push-off), I will simply describe the second deal.

There is one difference between the spin second push-off and a regular push-off, namely,

as you perform the push-off, you will twist your arm and wrist in towards your body.

This is important for a number of reasons, first, it allows you to cover what is going on

and second, it gives greater force to the action of sailing the card to the desired player.

Now, as you begin pushing off the cards, your middle finger will enter into the open

corner between the angle jogged card (in this case two cards) and the remainder of the

deck, and apply a squaring force on the top edge. (See figure 488.)

Figure 488.

At the same time, your ring finger will apply an upward force on the bottom of the angle

jogged card or cards. (See figure 489 for view from the bottom.)

Figure 489.

At this point, you are ready to deal off the second card (or top card if you were dealing

tops) and thus three things will happen almost simultaneously. First, the thumb will pull

back the top card so it is square with the deck (if you were dealing tops the thumb will

simply move back to the starting position without dragging a card). Second, your ring

finger will apply outward and forward force on the card causing it to pivot around the

middle finger. The middle finger itself will extend outward so that both the middle finger

and ring finger flare outward and forward sending the card spinning from the deck (hence

the term, spin dealing). Third, to cover all of this and assist in it, your arm and wrist will

uncoil much as they would if you were throwing a Frisbee. (See figure 490, figure 491,

figure 492 and figure 493.)

Figure 490.

Figure 491.

Figure 492.

Figure 493.

You should probably practice this method by dealing tops first before progressing to

dealing seconds. You’ll find that the flinging action of the middle and ring fingers almost

involves pinching the card in order to facilitate a rapid pivot followed by the release that

sends the card flying across the table. In order to ensure that the correct number of cards

are pushed off during the initial push-off action, as the forefinger is not the best for

controlling such things, you may make use of your middle finger to help separate the top

card or two from any others that may stick together. This process is a strict matter of

timing as you don’t want any observers to see you pull back the top card, or to see that

the card is not in fact coming off the top of the deck. While the larger action of the hand

and wrist help to cover this, you should choreography the motion so the visibility works

as follows. The deck is visible and you begin to push-off the card or cards. Now the

deck tilts back slightly and curls inward so the top is no longer visible. The thumb pulls

back, the fingers flick out, and the arm uncoils again revealing the top of the deck. If you

handle this correctly, the period where the top of the deck cannot be seen is very brief and

not at all suspicious due to the manner in which the flick of the wrist assists the toss of

the card. The weakest angle then is to your right if you are dealing with your left hand as

I do, or to your left if you deal with your right hand, caution should be exercised then that

your angles, the direction you sit facing etc. are appropriate while performing this deal.

With practice you can learn to perform the deal fairly deceptively even without the use of

such angles but it is not advised. Also, be cautious about how much you tilt your wrist,

while twisting in a lot is good, tilting too much will cause problems later for a bottom

deal.

In order to determine where the card flies, that is to say, to which player (and it is

important that you learn to control the trajectory of the card, for there is little more

embarrassing than trying to show off with a one-handed deal and having the cards go all

over the place in a chaotic manner), you can apply a principle similar to that of pitching a

ball. In other words, the place you end up pointing at the end of the deal is where the

card will sail (roughly). Naturally, the way in which you control the flick of your middle

and ring fingers will impact this point, but generally by uncoiling your arm in such a

manner that you hand points to the desired player you can easily direct the card to them.

Again, this is not something that is likely to come in your first hour of practice, you will

need to spend some time gaining a feel for the technique until it is merely second nature

and you are able to deal rounds of poker in this manner all day without thinking about it.

Finally, there is the issue of the silhouette created by the card you are pulling back with

your thumb as you deal off the top card. Hopefully, this is invisible due to angles, but in

the event that it is not I figured I should cover it. First, it is noteworthy that the silhouette

is not as bad as it would be with a two handed deal since you cannot pivot the card back

directly, the middle finger is in the way. This requires that you pivot it back by drawing

it slightly to the left and then forward while pivoting slightly to avoid contact with the

middle finger. Thus, the flash is brief and minimal. In addition to this however you have

the natural cover I wanted to mention, namely, at the time when this action occurs, your

middle finger is stationary and thus blocks any possible corner flash that may otherwise

be visible from the front.

Ultimately, this leads to one of the more deceptive and effective false deals as well as a

nice flourish for those who are willing to put in the effort to learn it and learn it well.

We’ll return to it numerous times later as we examine various other false deals.

Visual Retention Seconds

I consider this method quite impractical and thus I shall not digress upon it at any length.

Rather, I wished to share it with you in hopes of inspiring future ideas on the subject of

dealing one handed. I find that when toying with cards, thinking about ideas etc. I will

initially find a concept to be difficult or seemingly impossible, but once I get the initial

concept worked out, ideas fly at me by the dozen. It was the case here, when I was

considering one handed dealing and the difficulties it offered as well as, I think, various

magic sleights that all sorts of ideas began coming to me and I stumbled upon or

developed half a dozen or so methods of dealing seconds one-handed, of which this is

one. I find it quite frustrating at times because when I will dedicate myself to the subject

I have on average five ideas per day, which I record, but have no time amid everything

else to explain in detail and expound upon. In fact, generally I have time to cover only

one per day and thus find myself getting behind by four ideas per day. Thus, I often end

up either abandoning the subject out of frustration or at least shutting myself off to the

consideration of new ideas once it becomes overwhelming. This may ultimately mean

that I do not discover some ideas I might have considered brilliant, but by contrast, I will

at least, be able to record those ideas that do come to me, I hope.

In a show of foresight, I am pleased to announce that I actually described the basic deal

fairly well in my earlier description of drop dealing and thus refer you to that original

description while I expand upon using the concept to deal seconds. (As I write this final

part of the book I realize my approach was not particularly ideal, for those who attempt to

do the same, I recommend you begin by describing the grips and then from there proceed

into the individual deals as I should have done. At this point you will thus be left

referring to earlier deals, which is not quite as ideal as referring to earlier grips, but

nevertheless saves the time of explaining each grip over and over with each new deal.)

When dealing tops, you push-off one card and pivot it up while rotating your hand, in the

case of a second deal, you push-off cards slightly, obtain a break under the second card

with your pinky and pivot the top card up as with a top while rotating the wrist. (See

figure 494 and figure 495.)

Figure 494.

Figure 495.

Now, as per the top deal, you will raise your hand and swing it downwards toward the

table, but this time, rather than letting go of the top card, you will release at the break,

and use your thumb to pull the top card back onto the top of the deck. This is basically

the concept of a visual retention change, but performed with only one hand. For those

who are having difficulty, I suggest you refer to instructions for the visual retention

change and practice that technique first. (See figure 496 and figure 497.)

Figure 496.

Figure 497.

It is important that this all occurs quickly and in a fluid motion. Also, the weak angle is

the angle where the top of the deck is visible thus anything you can do to reduce audience

view of the angle is advantageous.

Drop Seconds

If you were to go back and refer to my original comments on drop dealing you would

recall it is very similar to visual retention dealing, in fact it is really just a one handed

visual retention deal the way it should be executed. Unfortunately, while performing the

standard visual retention drop well is fairly easy, doing so with one hand is another

matter and also not so deceptive. The concept flows naturally from the combination of a

visual retention second deal and a basic drop deal. That is to say, you obtain a break

below the top two cards and hold the deck relatively level, then rapidly move your hand

out from under the cards in a sort of swinging motion. Unfortunately, there is a need to

remove the top card and doing so tends to catch the second card. Thus, in the process of

moving your hand down and out of the way you must slide the top card left onto the edge

of the deck and allow it to pivot up just slightly and briefly as the second card is released.

(See figure 498 and figure 499.)

Figure 498.

Figure 499.

I consider this deal impractical and so I shall not pontificate upon it further, however

perhaps you will be able to make something more of the concept and render it useful.

Throw Seconds

I should perhaps begin by apologizing, the name is, I must admit, less than creative, the

same goes for the spin deal, which I debated renaming, perhaps gyration deal would have

been more interesting, but it also seems odd even by my standards, trebuchet deal might

have been a better name, but it doesn’t feel appropriate. So, perhaps out of a lack of

creativity and laziness, you my dear readers are left with the unexciting title “spin deal”

and now “throw deal”…at least both are appropriate.

The whole concept for this deal goes back, at least for me, to Marlo, who teaches a one-

handed bottom deal, similar to the one I’ll teach, in the DVD “The Legend”. I’m going

to cover this deal slightly differently since, while I included some rough concepts in the

section on throw dealing and push-off seconds method two, there are some subtleties you

should be aware of for this deal which is really a fairly decent one-handed deal.

To begin with, you have the grip, which is really the tested and true grip from earlier and

involves holding the deck securely between the forefinger and base of the thumb. (For

those who are familiar with it and feel it is more comfortable, you may shift the deck

slightly lower in the hand and make use of the master’s grip). This grip was described in

push-off seconds method one variation two if you would like to refer to it. Now this grip

actually isn’t important or necessarily ideal for the throw second, but since we are going

to learn later to perform throw bottoms and centers where this grip is necessary I’ve

decided to use it here. For those who have no interest in one-handed bottoms or centers,

a mechanics grip offers slightly more stability.

From here, your thumb, which normally rests across the top of the deck, moves back to

the left edge and pushes off the top card. (If you are comfortable pushing off two cards

from around the center of the deck that is fine as well, I simply find pushing off two cards

as one at the edge of the deck to be more comfortable). You should push the card off

roughly halfway and ensure it remains square with the deck. At this point, the last three

finger tips of the hand should be on the right side of the deck just high enough that the

card is resting on top of them without creating a visible gap from the front, in other

words, the fingertips are not lifting the card off the deck.

Up to this point the mechanics should be somewhat familiar, again I would suggest you

refer to the earlier deals for references on subtleties of keeping the card square with the

deck, controlling the number of cards you are pushing off, the grip itself, etc. It is the

delivery of the card that is of greatest importance, the timing should be perfect and you

endeavor through rigorous practice to obtain this perfect timing. You will start by

moving your arm and hand in the direction of the person or position to which you wish to

deal. The manner in which you should do so is the right side of the deck first. In other

words, you’ve pushed the card off to the right, if you want to deal to someone across the

table from you, you should twist your hand or body (whichever is most comfortable) so

that the action of extending your arm involves directing the right side of the deck towards

the individual in question. This may feel awkward at first, but it is important as it renders

the mechanics easier and it keeps the cards square at the top and bottom of the deck. At

the precise moment your arm reaches the fullness of it’s extent (not that you should

extend it fully but when it reaches the point where it is as far as you plan on moving it)

the last three fingers of your right hand will open up. Since the card is resting lightly on

those fingers, they will toss the card. This action combined with movement of the hand

and arm should make for a decent toss of the card, though it is noteworthy that you

probably won’t use this deal if you are dealing to someone who is any more than a couple

feet from you. (See figure 500 and figure 501.)

Figure 500.

Figure 501.

Now, at this point your hand will pull back and prepare for the next deal. I should point

out that due to the function of this deal you probably don’t want to perform certain false

deals to certain individuals, or in certain circumstances, though I will emphasize this

point when it is of greater relevance on other false deals.

Proceeding to the second deal, the beginning is exactly the same with the exception of the

fact that you are pushing off two cards instead of one, again, refer to earlier methods on

learning to do so. The beginning of the throw is also the same, with the movement of

extending the hand followed by the opening of the fingers to project what is in this case

the second card from the deck. The difference and actually it shouldn’t be a difference,

but rather an added point that is not relevant to dealing tops though the mechanics of tops

should facilitate it, lies in the pull back action. Naturally, you need to pull back the top

card and cover the pull back. Here we resort to the concept of using a large motion to

cover a small motion, in other words, as you open your last three fingers to propel the

second card from the deck, you will simultaneously begin pulling back your hand and

arm. In this motion of pulling back your hand and arm, your thumb will slide the top

card of the deck back into position, ready for the next deal. (See figure 502 and figure

502.)

Figure 502.

Figure 502a.

You will probably need to practice with this until the handling makes sense in a deceptive

manner, but I believe you’ll find this to be one of the more deceptive one handed second

deals and one of the more practical ones. (Note that a wrist action similar to that of the

spin second deal is also effective, and perhaps less awkward for throw seconds and for

the throw deals that follow in later sections, but I included this particular description to

add variety and emphasize the pull back action.)

Bullet Seconds

Paul LePaul came up with what is called bullet dealing years ago, it’s a nice flourish and

an interesting deal, but using it as a false deal is questionable. I’ve not read his

comments on bullet seconds, but I understand he mentions some ideas along these lines

in “The Card Magic of Paul LePaul” published 1959, though having not read the book I

can’t confirm this source. However, since the bullet deal is credited to him as far as I can

tell it seems logical that the bullet second deal would also be credited to him. When I

heard someone mention that he discusses how to perform a bullet second deal I decided

to work on the concept myself, after all, it’s an interesting concept and always nice when

you’re false deals flow naturally from the same method as your real deals.

Please start by referring to the basic bullet deal technique I outlined earlier under the

heading of one-handed deals, as an understanding of the basic deal is important if one is

to make use of the false deal. You start in the basic bullet-dealing grip, but this time

rather than “bending up” one card, you “bend up” two cards as expected. Ideally, you

want to do so with the cards as closely squared as possible, but you may encounter some

difficulties on that count. You’ll release the second card from the tip of the thumb much

as you would release cards when springing them in order to fire off the second card in the

standard bullet deal fashion. (See figure 503 and figure 504.)

Figure 503.

Figure 504.

At this point, you encounter a problem. While you were able to deal off the second card,

the remains somewhat buckled, giving away the fact that it was a second deal. (See

figure 505.)

Figure 505.

Now, while I have yet to fully eliminate this problem, I will offer you a couple

suggestions to help avoid it, beginning with the worst, and ending with the best. The first

consideration is that immediately after bullet dealing off the second card you press

downward with your thumb in order to eliminate the profile of the other buckled card.

The problem with this I find is that you have a tendency to catch the second card and ruin

the deal. In addition to that problem, I find it isn’t the most deceptive method even when

it works, however, you may experiment with it and perhaps garner a greatly level of

success than I have. Second, you may perform what I call an illusionary quick deal. In

other words, you bullet deal the second card in the deck to one player and immediately

without pause deal the top card to the next player. Basically, what you are trying to do is

create the psychological impression that either you actually dealt the top card and were

simply very quick on the get ready for the next deal. Or, that you unintentionally pulled

back two cards as one and are simply proceeding with a regular deal, in which case your

manner should be casual as though you messed up and you are trying not to let it matter.

This option no matter how you twist it is less than ideal but it gives you something better

than a really obvious second deal. Finally, you have a third option which takes place

more on a technical level. The idea, is to fire off both cards and stop the top one. The

manner in which you will do this, is to buckle both cards at the front with the tip of the

thumb, then to release them, but rather than performing a traditional release, you’ll adjust

your thumb, releasing with the tip in order to make contact at roughly the joint. This is

not the world’s easiest process, but it is certainly an effective process if you take time to

learn, or perhaps you will find a better method, perhaps LePaul or someone since has

developed a better method.

Stud Seconds

I’m not going to mention much here but rather refer you to earlier methods. Generally,

the concept of one-handed stud seconds is simply to turn your hand over as you perform

the deal and that’s roughly the technique here. Of course, I don’t have to mention that

the D’Amico deal was really a stud or blackjack deal and you could use it as such.

I invite you then to refer with me to the throw seconds as a starting point. The beginning

mechanics are the same, you will hold the deck securely and push off the top card to deal

a top or the top two cards as one to deal a second. Now, rather than moving your hand

suddenly, you are going to move it to the place where you wish to perform the deal and

then execute the procedure as follows. Revolve your hand at the wrist as though turning

the hand palm down (so the top of the deck is directed towards the table). The revolution

of the hand should occur in such a manner that your thumb ends up closest to your body.

In other words, you will revolve the hand clockwise towards yourself. You are doing it

this way in order to conceal the top of the deck as best you can.

The crucial issue at this point becomes when you release the card. If you release it too

early, it won’t land face up and/or it won’t appear very elegant, if you release it too late,

then you’ll have all kinds of problems with unnatural seconds. For example, if you wait

till the hand is completely upside down (palm down) a second won’t release without the

assistance of the fingers. Or, if you release it when the deck at roughly a forty-five

degree angle there will be a noticeable glide as the second card slide along the top card

before freeing itself from the deck. It seems then that the perfect point of release is

roughly fifteen degrees past the point where the deck is perpendicular to the table, fifteen

degrees past the ninety-degree point. You should perform this motion in a rapid and

casual manner, I don’t even complete the revolution of the hand, as soon as the card is

released I turn my hand back for the next deal. (See figure 506.)

Figure 506.

A quick note about releasing the card is important to consider. The card will fall almost

as though it is sliding off the top of the deck; you want this because seconds will slide off

the top of the deck. As you release the card, open our last three fingers slightly, in order

to expedite, or at apparently expedite the process of moving the card from the deck,

ensuring it turns over cleanly and allowing it to slide freely from the deck. In reality, you

won’t be doing the later, but it is necessary to create this consistency now since later stud

deals will require that you open the fingers slightly. (See figure 507.)

Figure 507.

Now naturally, if you’re dealing seconds, you need to pull back the top card, you will do

so at the earliest opportunity possible, in other words, you pull back the top card in the

motion of revolving your hand as soon as the top of the deck is no longer visible. There

are a few points worthy of consideration here. First, make sure you pull back the card

square with the deck, second it back completely and securely. The reason for this is that

there is a tendency for the pressure (weight) of the second card to pull the top card down

slightly and for the top card to flash as you deal the second card to the table. If you look

at this in a mirror, it will appear much as if you are holding a break. Turning your wrist

back immediately a quickly also helps to disguise this fact. That then summarizes the

stud second deal, simply a two-card push-off with top card pull back version of the top

deal.

For those interested, you may apply the same principle I mentioned here, to a spin deal in

order to make it a stud deal, though I tend not to use that technique very often.

Double Dealing (Two Hands)

The double deal is an odd deal and one I use seldom, it’s design is essentially intended to

give a player a slight advantage by allowing him or her to play with a hand consisting of

more cards than normal. One accomplishes this feat by dealing two cards at once as

though you are dealing only one card. One can also employ the technique with

reasonable success to the field of card magic.

I will caution you from the beginning that the main problem with this deal lies in keeping

the cards squarely together and thereby creating the illusion that only one card is present

when there are actually two. Honestly, I find this is one of the more difficult deals for me

to perform well for that very reason, though perhaps a much lower level of practice is

also to blame. Whatever the case, generally, it is best not to double deal on the first deal,

but rather to wait as late as possible, until a small pile of cards has accumulated in case

the cards separate slightly, one will not likely notice that the number of cards is wrong.

Naturally, one cannot always avoid a direct double deal, but it is generally desirable.

Push-off Double Deal

You’ll notice that I already laid the ground work for double dealing in the section on

second dealing and so I will rely heavily on and consequently refer you often to the

procedures outlined in the second deal section. Essentially, the two deals are exactly the

same…except for the take. Normally, when performing a second deal one makes use of

the thumb, forefinger and middle finger during the take. There is a disparity then

between the take procedures I described earlier and this standard take. The reason for

that lies in a plea for consistency. In other words, your take should be the same whether

you are dealing seconds or doubles and so in my earlier descriptions I added the ring

finger to the take as it is necessary (or at least desirable) during a double deal and one can

apply it successfully to a second deal. I will point out then that for those who are not

interested in double dealing (a category I frequently find myself a part of) you may revert

to a three finger take for your second deals, which I believe you will find is somewhat

more comfortable.

All of these points having been made, my description then will focus around the take and

action of dealing the double to the table. You begin as you would in any push-off second

deal, (with the exception of push-off method one variation four and push-off method two

variations three and four, which I will not cover or address) by pushing off two cards.

(For those who have not familiarized themselves with earlier descriptions I recommend

you refer to first to the push-off second deal descriptions. For those who are familiar

with the push-off second deal handling, I invite you to follow along with your preferred

method.) Now, I described the take earlier, but I will do so again giving particular

attention to the squaring forces present, as keeping the cards square is in this case the

primary concern. The right forefinger presses downward on the upper edge of the card,

the middle finger takes the card from below, the thumb pinches down from the top and

the ring finger applies a squaring force to the right edge of the card. From this point, you

perform the take of both cards as you would one card. Naturally, you can’t very well

“sail” the card across the table so you’ll have to restrict double dealing to positions within

arm’s reach.

Now, when it comes to laying the card on the table, you want to maintain the familiar

snapping sound used earlier to cover the sound created by a second deal. In order to

accomplish this feat you’ll press the card down at the lower left corner first and continue

the pressing action up towards the upper right corner. About the point when the thumb

pins the cards to the table you will remove your forefinger and ring finger, then finally

release with the middle finger allowing the upper right corner to snap against the table.

(See figure 508, figure 509, and figure 510.)

Figure 508.

Figure 509.

Figure 510.

I have discovered that the lower right hand edge of the cards seems to be the weak spot

where the two lose their alignment slightly. In order to avoid this, ensure the cards are

square initially, ensure your right hand does nothing to skewer the alignment and finally

ensure that as you take the card from the deck, the tips of your left hand fingers don’t

make contact with the card or it will move slightly.

This technique works for essentially all the push-off second deals I described, it may take

a little practice, but hopefully you will figure out the process fairly quickly.

Strike Double Deal

This is an odd technique that I debated not including. For quite some time I was under

the belief that one could not perform a strike double deal and indeed this is not only an

awkward deal, but somewhat of an odd one. Again, you may refer to the strike second

deal techniques, though in the case of strike seconds I did not prepare you as well as with

push-off seconds. Virtually any handling will work, with the exception of method three

and you could adapt it if you wanted to make use of the handling for double dealing.

Again, the key lies in the take. You’ll notice that when performing a strike second there

is generally a period of time when you could strike and catch not only the second card or

the top card, but both cards and that is exactly what you will do here. Honestly, I haven’t

practiced the move extensively and so I’ll outline concepts and ideas more than handling,

perhaps at a later time I’ll cover individual handling. My examples will flow from strike

seconds method one variation one.

Obviously, when you perform the strike you will leave the cards very much skewered in

their alignment and in need of immediate correction. The first and most obvious source

of a squaring for is your forefinger on the upper edge near the right corner. (See figure

511 and figure 512.)

Figure 511.

Figure 512.

Next, you may potentially pull the cards against the tips of your right hand fingers

momentarily to offer a squaring force in another dimension. (See figure 513.)

Figure 513.

Finally, your ring finger may provide the same assistance as in the push-off deal. The

dealing of the card to the table is also the same as in a push-off double deal.

I apologize for the somewhat brief description, but with some measure of good fortune,

this decidedly insufficient examination of the concept will endow you with a level of

inspiration sufficient to improve on the method and deduce specific handling.

Side Strike Double Deal

Of all the methods of double-dealing, I find side strike double dealing the easiest. Again,

refer to the earlier description of side strike seconds. For some reason this method is

almost effortless. When you lift two cards ala a strike double lift they are already in

perfect alignment and I find that for some odd reason they remain in perfect alignment

most of the time. The only issue to address then is the actual placing of the cards on the

table. Rather than occurring diagonally as in the push-off deal, you’ll apply pressure in

such a manner that the left side makes contact with the table first and the pressure then

carries over to the right side where the thumb pins the cards at which point the middle

finger releases. (See figure 514 and figure 515.)

Figure 514.

Figure 515.

That brief description then concludes the question of double dealing with two hands,

quite a shock I know, that so little paper was invested but it should be kept in mind that I

am not terribly fond of the double deal, though perhaps you are. If that is the case, I

apologize for not offering greater assistance.

Double Dealing (One-handed)

Few sleights have given me such trouble and been as seemingly inconsistent as the one

handed double deal. If keeping the cards square when double dealing with two hands is

difficult, doing so with one hand is unquestionably more difficult. I once spent an entire

night simply dropping doubles on a glass table trying to sort out what sort of motion was

required to keep them together. There are obvious issues, if momentum is carrying the

cards in a given direction and one makes contact first, the difference in resistance will

generally cause the cards to separate. It is with this in mind that I recommend you find

yourself some cards that tend to stick together, quite the opposite of what we often

pursue. I find plastic cards are often helpful in this regard. In spite of these and

numerous other tests I have devised no perfect method, there seems to be an element of

chaos at work that eludes me. However, since often we are able to get away with slightly

less than perfection I’ll offer you the techniques that work best for me.

Push-off Doubles

This deal simulates in many regard the push-off technique with which we became

familiar in throw dealing, in differs in the control of the cards to the table. The first, is an

attempt to lay down the cards on the table from the deck. I find this to be less than

effective or even acceptable, instead, I would advise the following technique. Push-off

the top two cards a little less than halfway, in the manner described in push-off seconds

method two. Now, and very critically, make sure the last three fingers of your left hand

are not touching the cards. If this means you must stop and lower them slightly, do so.

During experimentation, I found that very often the fingers would make slight contact

with the cards and cause them to lose their alignment.

Continuing, pull back your thumb so the cards are balanced on the edge of the deck.

Make sure the deck is level, and ensure it stays level for the following action. Bring your

hand upwards slightly in a quick vertical motion and then pull it down and twist it out of

the way, much as you would do for a drop deal. The goal here is to keep the cards level

from the beginning to the end. If they hit the table level, they will mostly retain their

alignment and you’ll be good.

It is difficult to take any picture of this process because it occurs in motion, certainly one

disadvantage of opting for photographs instead of drawings. Nevertheless, the process is

fairly simple and I’m sure you’ll catch on to it quickly. This is a very reliable action for

me and seldom fails so long as you train yourself not to disturb the cards and to keep

them level at all times. Unfortunately, this deal is a bit awkward and you may have

difficulty fitting it into a routine, but at least you now have a one-handed double deal in

your repertoire.

Visual Retention Doubles

This is a somewhat daunting deal, but at least one that is consistent with an earlier one-

handed deal. It can be divided into a few important steps, the first being the easiest and

mirrors the visual retention seconds, that is to say, you use your thumb to push-off two

cards, then pull them back, obtaining a break under both of them. In the action of pulling

the cards back and obtaining the break you use your middle finger and ring finger to

square the cards against the thumb, which you position along the left edge of the deck.

You may also tighten your hand at the top slightly, using your forefinger to press the

cards downward into the base of the thumb and ensuring you have squared the cards

completely in all dimensions.

Now comes the somewhat difficult process of levering the cards as one up onto the left

edge of the deck. In order to accomplish this process, you apply pressure with my middle

finger twisting them as one slightly to the point where the upper right corner moves over

the front edge slightly. From here, I use my forefinger to pivot them further and press

them towards the left edge of the deck. You’ll notice that given this alignment the upper

left corner of the cards is jutting out slightly over the left edge. Therefore, to bring the

cards onto the right edge of the deck you press down on that protruding edge of the top

two cards levering them up. This motion must occur carefully and gently or else the

cards will not retain their alignment. (See figure 516, figure 517, and figure 518.)

Figure 516.

Figure 517.

Figure 518.

Finally, you must deal the cards to the table, a process that is somewhat difficult. The

trick, lies in the release of the thumb. You will lift your hand upwards, then bring it

down rapidly, ensuring that you keep the cards level, then quickly release the cards by

lifting your thumb and pulling it back, at the same time as you swing your hand out of the

way. This process requires considerable practice and does not seem to be entirely

reliable, but generally suffices for those who are willing to dedicate themselves in what I

consider to be a fruitless pursuit.

Throw Doubles

I saw Marlo perform a throw double on “Prime Time Marlo”, it was incredible and I must

admit, not only is my own technique inferior, but I have no idea what Marlo uses as a

technique. Nevertheless, it inspired me to work on the concept myself, and what I have

developed is a concept that generally yields satisfactory results.

The beginning of the deal is the same as that for the one-handed push-off double. The

difference comes when in the push-off double you lowered your fingers to keep from

making contact with the cards. In this case, you will raise your fingers, most notably the

middle finger and ring finger so that you actually lift the cards slightly off the deck.

Then, in the motion you normally make for a throw deal, with your arm, and as you do,

open your finger slightly to send the balancing cards flying. Amazingly, if done correctly

they actually stay together fairly often, another one of these chaotic double deal oddities

that elude me.

Double Dealing Seconds (Two Hands)

This oddity of a deal and one as far as I can tell, has no practical application is one I

started performing by accident when practicing and figured I would include here for

novelty. Due to the circumstances, I will make the explanations brief and simply leave

you with the concept, if you are able to derive an application, then superb!

Push-off Second Doubles

The concept here is to use the same handling as a push-off second, but to push-off three

cards instead of two. Doing so consistently requires some practice and isn’t really my

forte but works satisfactorily in the manners outlined earlier for second dealing. The take

is the same as for double dealing, with one exception. You need some method of

separating the top card from the other two, so you’ll pull the top card back slightly then

pinch the other two between your thumb and middle finger while performing the squaring

mechanics. From this point it is simply a matter of a standard double deal handling in

order to deal the cards to the table.

Side Strike

A similar procedure is possible for the side strike deal where you lift three cards instead

of two. In order to separate the top card from the other two, apply forward pressure with

your thumb against the forefinger slightly separating the top card, then continue with

your take as usual. This process is not the most deceptive of all possibilities, but it is one

of the most certain.

Double Dealing Seconds (One-handed)

Again, this is a novelty item, but what I found curious about the method I’ll discuss is

that it was actually easier for me than the double deal using the same method.

Visual Retention Second Doubles

Referring as usual to the original procedure for visual retention dealing, this deal differs

in the fact that initially you will push-off three cards. You will then obtain a break under

the bottom two and square them up (methods described previously) while you pivot the

top card onto the right edge of the deck. Bring your hand up rapidly as you would for a

normal visual retention deal; twist your wrist slightly, counter clockwise. As you do,

when you reach roughly the high point in the motion, release your break and move your

hand out of the way, returning the top card to the face of the deck.

I realize this description may not make a lot of sense, however again, due to the

impractical nature of this deal, combined with the uselessly of the concept, I’m not going

to elaborate at this time, but rather expound on the more important deals.

Dealing Thirds, Fourths & Fifths (Two Hands)

It seems I’ve inadvertently bunched all the useless deals together, though in all honesty,

this group of deals are not as useless as the previous deal, it is nevertheless somewhat

nonsensical. It seems to me, that generally, people learn to deal thirds, fourths and fifths

to show off. Now, don’t get me wrong, the deals can be employed to great success. For

example, rather than stacking four aces on the top of the deck you can deal fifths till the

first ace, then fourths till the next, then thirds till the next and so on. The problem with

this concept is one must ask, “Why don’t you just bottom deal?” The reality is that

bottom dealing to accomplish the equivalent of this feat is much simpler. I personally

have a case where I use thirds to help facilitate a ten-hand poker stack concept but it too

shares a similar fault. If one is going to use false deals, then why bother stacking at all?

It’s a curious question, because some uses of a second deal may be classified in the same

manner. You can use a second deal in order to simplify the stacking procedures you

intend to use (though I hope that given the stacking concepts described earlier no one

encounters the need in the future), but why not simply bottom deal? You could argue

that perhaps the individual possesses an excellent second deal, but a poor bottom deal.

That may be so for a second deal, but it is much easier to learn a good bottom deal than to

learn to deal thirds, fourths and fifths. Thirds, fourths and fifths are then in my opinion a

show-off technique.

Which method of performing thirds, fourths and fifths is best, is I suppose a matter of

debate. Briefly, the concept of doing so is roughly the same for both a push-off deal and

a side strike deal, namely, the take is slightly different than that of a second. The reason

for this is that you encounter difficulty with getting one and only one card as often the

other want to come along for the ride so to speak. In order to solve this problem, with

you perform the take, while your middle finger pulls the card out, you want to use your

thumb at the edge of the card rather on top of the card and push towards the deck,

effectively causing the bottom card (the one you want to deal) to free itself and come

separately. Now in the case of a side strike deal it ends there, the deal is quite simple and

quite deceptive, but with the push-off deal you encounter a second problem in pulling the

cards back onto the deck, since often the cards will separate and you’ll end up with so

called “hangers”, if you merely pull back with your thumb. In order to adjust for this

fact, rather than performing your take to the side as normal, you perform your take in a

much more forward direct away from yourself. This exposes the lower right section of

the cards slightly to your pinky so that you may square up the cards with your pinky

rather than attempting to use merely your thumb.

Strike thirds, fourths and fifths are perhaps more popular, however, these constitute strike

seconds of a different form. In essence, you push-off two, three, or four cards, but do so

just slightly as you would for a push-off deal. Then, you strike the deck in the upper right

corner much as you would for a strike second and perform a forward take, this allows you

to make use of your last three fingers on the right side of the deck to square it and for you

to continue with the next deal. There are numerous potential tip offs here, but the method

is nevertheless quite deceptive and I won’t traverse too deep into the concept. I will

mention however, that I prefer this method to push-off thirds, fourths, and fifths, for

myself.

For those interested in the one-handed concept, I’ve heard stories of numerous methods

in existence, but have developed none myself, though I have experimented with bullet

thirds, which function virtually identically to bullet seconds. Since I tend not to use

bullet seconds in practice and tend not to use thirds, I’m sure you can deduce how rarely I

use bullet thirds. If anyone is supremely interested in the subject, perhaps I shall explore

it at a later time in a later manuscript.

Dealing Bottoms (Two Hands)

Having dispensed, at least for the time being with the majority of the useless deals, we

shall waste no time exploring the meat of false dealing, and what I consider the most

useful false deal in existence, the bottom deal. Along with the second deal, this is

probably the most common, well-known, and well-used deal by far. When you

understand the concept and its use, this is no surprise. Naturally, it involves dealing cards

from the bottom of the deck, but how this is useful may not be immediately apparent to

all, though my earlier mentions under the part of this volume on stacking should provide

some indication. Essentially the issue is, the bottom of the deck is one of the most

convenient locations to place cards, from here you can either palm or cop them off, as

well as place them there via the same methods. Furthermore, on the bottom of the deck is

very accessible during shuffles of all types, but perhaps most importantly, the bottom is

rarely disturbed. It is this final point that renders the deal so well loved, since it

essentially replaces stacking. One can easily cull a hand or two to the bottom of the deck,

then, rather than stacking, deal those hands off at will and as convenient.

The bottom deal was the first deal I really attempted to learn, and I maintain that it is the

easiest false deal to learn…at least initially. I’ve heard a lot of talk about how a bottom

deal takes years to learn, as with any of these things, it isn’t a matter of years, but a

matter of time, practice and technique. If you practice for an hour per day, it will take

you much longer than if you practice for five hours per day. If you practice simply

throwing effort at a poor mechanic it will take you much longer than if you approach

your study methodically, examining the weak points of the deal and working to correct

them. Likewise, if you practice simply sitting at a table dealing you are not as likely to

be effective as if you practice in front of a mirror or videotape yourself in order to

identity how the deal looks from the perspective of an audience member. Finally, if you

are practicing a very difficult or poor bottom deal it will take you considerably longer to

master the move than if you practice an easy and well constructed handling. Ultimately,

it is possible to gain a working bottom deal quite quickly and an effective bottom deal

with perhaps a couple months of practice. I have no idea how long it took me as unlike

learning the pass, I never kept track, I would suspect it was probably around a couple

months of practice before I developed a tolerable bottom deal.

While one may acquire a tolerable bottom deal relatively quickly and even an effective

bottom deal within a reasonably short period of time, mastering all the subtleties and

nuances takes considerably longer. Two that plagued me during the intermediate period

of my study were finger flare and sound, though they may not have presented a problem

for as long had I been aware of concerns to a greater extent at an earlier point. The sad

reality is that often those who feel they possess an excellent bottom deal don’t and most

seem never to correct the problems perhaps in part because they are unaware of the

various tip offs. In light of the fact that many card experts possess poor bottom deals, I

suppose the misguided view that the deal takes years to master is not altogether

surprising, though it strikes me as odd that many of these individuals have not refined

their techniques. To some extent I feel magic is to blame. Often magicians study the

bottom deal for presentations and get away with heinous handling merely due to the

ignorance of the audience, who, I can tell you from experience, are easily deceived. This

results in overconfidence on the part of the performer and an over-estimation of his or her

skills. Hopefully, the information I provide here will give you the insights necessary to

avoid such pitfalls, and to those who are experienced, offer some finer points on

refinement.

Finally, I must caution you as usual, that I have received no instruction in dealing

bottoms; the techniques explored are my own in the sense that they are the result of

practice, experimentation, and modification, both due to reflection and in some rare

cases, performance videos. There is one exception to this case, I watched the Marlo

videos “The Cardician” and “The Legend”, in which Marlo teaches the cigar bottom deal.

While, I had at this point examined numerous methods on my own, I did benefit from

both his performance and his instruction, both offered ideas and inspiration on handling

outlined herein. I also read “Drawing Room Deceptions” by Guy Hollingworth fairly

recently. Though it came too late in most regards to alter my study, Mr. Hollingworth

has a brilliant take on the push-off bottom deal that I will mention further later. I do owe

a debt of gratitude both to those whose performances I witnessed, those who explored the

topic with me by providing inspiration and to those who offered me criticism on my

performance and handling. I cannot claim credit for the handlings derived in this section,

nor do I lay claim to the methods, which certainly date back much further than myself, in

those cases where my descriptions are inferior to the originals, whatever those may be, I

humbly apologize. And now, having heard enough of my ranting, I’m certain, you wish

to proceed.

Strike Bottoms

I’m not going to teach every possible bottom deal, for one, because I don’t know them all

and second, because I don’t feel it’s necessary. Rather, I will attempt to cover the main

concepts and ideas I feel are relevant. Ultimately, each person has to find a deal that

works well for them. Most of the time, when I’m bottom dealing, I use a strike bottom

and it is partly for this reason that I am teaching the strike bottoms first. I consider the

strike bottom deal considerably easier than the push-off bottom, particularly to perform

well, but it is far from perfect in most cases. One of the main advantages in my opinion

is the ability to shift easily from tops to bottoms as, at least the way I teach it, the strike

bottom is virtually identical mechanically to the top. While the push-off bottom is

naturally designed to appear identical to the top, the mechanics differ somewhat

significantly.

Method 1 (Shifted Grip)

This is the first method I ever used to bottom deal, along with a few minor refinements; it

is based off the handling of strike seconds method two, albeit originally I used a slightly

different take. As usual, I invite you to review the original description of the grip and

take outlined earlier, but given the importance of the bottom deal, I’ll provide somewhat

of a review. The deck sits in the left hand in a rough mechanics grip, but one that appears

much like an Erdnase grip (if my description of the Erdnase grip is accurate). The

pressure holding the deck in place occurs between the pinky and the base of the thumb,

allowing free movement of all the fingers with the exception of the pinky. Now, I should

caution you, that I will alter this grip slightly from the original second deal grip and if

you intend to deal both seconds and bottoms from this grip you will have to reconcile the

two. Thoughts on how to do so depend largely on what route you chose in solving the

primary problem with bottom dealing from this grip.

To give you some idea of where this grip comes from, at first, while learning how to

bottom deal I was baffled, I held the deck in mechanics grip and couldn’t figure out how

to get the bottom card out because the fingers were in the way and the bottom card was

virtually resting on the hand. I began experimenting and discovered (partly due I must

admit to watching the performance of someone else) that I could reach under the deck

with my right middle finger, between my left middle finger and ring finger. It took some

practice, but I discovered I could pull the card out using my middle finger by opening my

fingers slightly. (At the time my study was not particularly methodical and I didn’t

realize I was holding the deck between my pinky and the base of my thumb, I figured I

was using a mechanic’s grip as I had before.) I practiced this action quite slowly for

quite some time, learning to gradually speed the process up and then practicing dealing to

various players in mock rounds of poker. Speed I discovered was crucial to a good

bottom deal. (I should point out at this point that while neck tying is effective for a

second deal, it really isn’t for a bottom deal due to the distance between the cards, speed

is generally the way to go. However, other illusions also help and I still suggest you

don’t allow anyone to see the top card of the deck as you’re dealing. Many magicians

seem to feel you should deal bottoms with only half the deck, as it makes the process

easier and more deceptive, I will recommend you don’t do this during practice. It is

completely possible to deal using a full deck and it is better to become proficient in this

manner since in a game you’ll be required to use the full deck.)

When I practiced at high speeds, I began to notice something, because of the nature of the

deal, the card would pull my left middle finger upwards on the deck slightly and that it

wouldn’t return to its original position. Essentially, the grip would shift ever so slightly

from the initial mechanic’s grip after the first bottom deal. I then decided that perhaps I

should simply begin with this shifted grip (the name I’ve given it). So what you have

now is a grip much like the Erdnase grip in appearance, but also resembling the

mechanic’s grip. Your pinky holds the deck secure, the ring finger is slightly loose, but

not completely open (this controls the angle of the cards) with the middle finger running

along the top ending around the upper right corner and the forefinger above and slightly

behind it.

In order to perform the take, you use your thumb, forefinger, and ring finger (yes, I know

I’m essentially ruling out a double deal but keep in mind that I don’t use the deal often).

Your thumb strikes the upper right corner of the deck using the familiar measurement

examined during strike seconds, namely placing the joint at the right edge with the rest of

the thumb running along the top edge. (Initially, I performed the deck closer to the center

of the card, but have since changed in order to facilitate dealing seconds from the same

grip.) Your middle finger descends under the deck between your left middle and ring

fingers, while the forefinger remains “free”. Now, the only difference between a top and

a bottom is whether you perform the take with your ring middle finger, or your thumb.

The visual mechanics are identical regardless. Since we’ve covered the top deal under

strike seconds method two, I’ll focus on the bottom deal, again, you my wish to refer to

the earlier description. (See figure 519 and figure 520 as well as figure 521 and figure

522 for a view from the bottom.)

Figure 519.

Figure 520.

Figure 521.

Figure 522.

Now, there are various points to consider. First of all, ensure when you perform the take

that you do so on the level. If you perform a slightly downward take the bottoms will

behave differently than the tops since they lack the resistance of the deck. Second, be

careful when it comes to sound, due to the finger positions some people encounter

problems where they drag the bottoms against the fingers differently than they drag the

tops. This problem is solved partially by the level take, but there are some other relevant

points I’ll mention later. Third, it is often difficult to ensure the thumb position is the

same on bottoms as it is on tops, practice getting them exactly the same and refer to the

top thumb position, also ensure that the middle finger pinches the card in the same

location when dealing tops as bottoms. In order to smooth any discrepancies, make the

deals quick and table the cards almost immediately rather than pausing with a card

between your fingers.

The other points mentioned earlier for the second deal may naturally be applied. One of

these I will refer to in particular relate to the angle at which the cards are dealt from the

deck. Sometimes you may find yourself skewering the angle of the bottom card so it is

slightly different than that of the top card. Refer to the earlier advise under the second

deal description regarding how to use your left ring finger to control the angle of the card.

However, keep in mind that because the ring finger is bent at an angle, the angle of the

card coming off the top of the deck will differ somewhat from those on the bottom. In

order to correct this problem, you may wish to adjust your ring finger slightly and also

apply somewhat firmer control to the bottom deal than the top. I find that the card

skewers the most towards the end of the deal and if you allow the ring finger to control

the angle only momentarily and then follow through on that angle with your right hand’s

dealing action you will encounter much greater success. (Actually, if you pull the cards

against the pinky instead of the ring finger that tends to work even better.) Finally, in

regard to this point, when you practice you will perhaps find it is helpful to perform the

deal slowly and take both a top and bottom card at the same time to ensure they maintain

the same alignment as each other. You’ll find that if the alignment is the same this also

helps with consistency in finger positioning on the card. (See figure 523 for standard top

position, figure 524 for a skewered bottom positioning and figure 525 for two cards in

alignment.)

Figure 523.

Figure 524.

Figure 525.

Now this is a fairly simple bottom deal and so I suspect the above description will

suffice, but there remains one lingering concern to which I shall address a considerable

amount of effort. Tops are easy from this grip, they make sense, and certainly, bottoms

are accessible, unfortunately, when you perform a bottom, you still encounter the

problem of fingers getting in the way. In other words, generally, in order to get that

bottom card off the bottom, you need to open your middle finger and forefinger slightly,

thereby providing a tip off. (See figure 526.)

Figure 526.

I’ve looked at a number of ways to deal with this problem and I’ll suggest three of them

here. The fourth, I’ll address in variation one of this deal and you can choose to make

use of it if you like. Now, the reality is, those two fingers of the left hand are in the way

and they do actually serve a purpose, particularly when second dealing however, their

necessity is questionable. As with many details on a technique, the presence of the

middle finger in the upper right corner makes a clean second deal easier, but performing a

clean second deal is possible without it, but we’ll get to that shortly. The simplest

solution to this problem and the most immediate, since the fingers are virtually

guaranteed to open, is to adjust not the bottom deal, but the tops. In other words, if you

open your fingers not only for the bottom deal, but for all deals, then there is no longer a

tip off. In fact, if you raise your forefinger and middle finger slightly above the level of

the top card you are able to easily force the fingers to open as they would for a bottom,

thus coordinating timing accurately. (See figure 527 and figure 528.)

Figure 527.

Figure 528.

While this is functional, I don’t believe it is the most elegant solution. Thus, I proceeded

to the next alternative, namely, a slight, but not apparent readjustment of the fingers. In

this case, you lower your middle finger slightly on the front of the deck, though no so

much that it is below the lower edge of the deck, while raising your forefinger slightly so

it is above the lower edge of the cards. There is one important detail in regard to the

middle finger that you should observe. Coming off the hand, the first knuckle is just

below the edge of the deck at the upper left corner, while the tip of the finger reaches

perhaps halfway up the deck on the front. This means, that when a bottom card is dealt,

rather than moving the forefinger or middle finger, it will slide between the two fingers.

This is where the position of the knuckle of the middle finger relative to the tip becomes

important. Since your performing the take slightly to the right, the upper left corner of

the card will crest the edge of the deck first and will end up above the knuckle, allowing

you to use your middle finger as a sort of ramp along which the card will pass. (See

figure 529 for a view from the front.)

Figure 529.

This creates an interesting illusion of the card originating from higher than it actually did

and minimizing the distance between the tops and bottoms while at the same time

eliminating any finger movement. Unfortunately, in the process, you create an

inconsistency, namely, the tops pass above the forefinger while the bottoms pass below it.

Hopefully, you are dealing fast enough that this doesn’t become apparently, however,

viewed from above this is a less than desirable option. This brings us to the third option

and while you are free to choose whichever you please (I personally most often employ

the method I’ll mention in variation one of this deal), I’d recommend this particular

choice for the time being. This third option is to lower both fingers enough that they are

at the level of the lower edge of the deck and thus allow free passage of cards you are

bottom dealing overtop of them. (See figure 530.)

Figure 530.

Hopefully, those give you some ideas you could employ when working on the bottom

deal that is ideal for you. I’ll likely not cover many of these subtleties or concept again in

the future bottom deals, but I’m confident you’ll easily figure out how to adapt them for

other circumstances.

Variation 1

This variation is based on the cigar bottom deal as presented by Ed Marlo on the

Cardician video and refers to the handling taught previously in strike seconds method two

variation one. (Note a correction to this later on in the book; Marlo was actually using a

master’s grip). The grip is a mechanic’s grip, the forefinger is loose, and the pressure

you exert is mostly between the pinky and the base of the thumb though the ring finger

and middle finger arguably assist. I must admit, I had not for some odd reason,

considered performing the take between the left middle finger and forefinger, prior to

seeing Marlo perform…disgraceful I know and a terrible oversight on my part. Be that as

it may, I played around with the concept and quickly discovered that it was quite

effective.

To make myself very clear then, you perform the take in virtually the same manner as

method one, except that you perform a forward take between the left forefinger and

middle finger instead of between the middle finger and ring finger. I’d advise you look

ahead to universal variation two at this point as I feel it increases the quality of deal for

this particular grip and is the take Marlo uses in his demonstration. All other points

relevant to the second deal described earlier and the original method of the bottom deal

hold true including sound, finger position etc. (See figure 531.)

Figure 531.

With this particular deal, you have the advantage of only one finger in the way instead of

two, but still the problems relevant to that finger. Naturally, you may approach the issue

via one of the three methods described earlier, but there is another odd method I wish to

suggest, and one that is extremely deceptive due to an optical illusion it creates.

Essentially, you will perform a strike first on the bottom of the deck in all cases and do so

with such force and in such a manner that you actually lift the front of the deck slightly,

leaving the lower edge at the front just slightly above the forefinger. (See figure 532 and

figure 532a.)

Figure 532.

Figure 532a.

At this point, if you’re dealing a top or a second, the thumb strikes as usual in a sweeping

downward motion as you release the deck with your middle finger. If you’re dealing a

bottom, the thumb also sweeps downward in an apparent striking action, but instead the

middle finger takes the bottom card which is pinched between the middle finger and

thumb as usual. It is critical that you strike the upper right corner of the deck regardless

of whether you’re performing a bottom or not as it creates a superb illusion, the only

difference is whether the thumb performs a take or not. I find this mechanic works very

well for seconds as well as bottoms and thus refer to it frequently. The premise is that as

you lift the front of the deck the top card slides back slightly (no significant thumb

movement) and as the deck falls back down the top card returns to its initial position

(again, no significant thumb movement).

This is one of those techniques that is difficult to illustrate with a photograph and makes

me wish I had decided on making a video instead of writing a book, be such is life, we

make choices and we live with them. The process described, when executed properly and

I hope the explanation is such that you can understand it, is by necessity quick and very

deceptive. Essentially, due to the falling deck you need to perform the initial portion of

the take quickly, but it is well worth it since the falling deck and the high point at which

you perform the take creates the optical illusion when viewed from the front that the card

came from the top of the deck and not the bottom. It is an idea I find quite appealing,

though granted rather odd mechanically and use somewhat frequently. (Note, I reviewed

the Cardician video and Marlo actually performs the take to the right instead of in a

forward manner, though he does so between the forefinger and middle finger. The

forward take then is my adaptation based on a lack of attention when watching the video

previously, the method nevertheless works well and I will reference it in terms of the

forward take in the future.)

Method 2

This method is based on the now very familiar grip found in push-off seconds method

one variation two and strike seconds method one variation two. The deck is held between

the forefinger in the upper right corner of the deck and the base of the thumb. You may

refer to these earlier descriptions in order to obtain some understanding of how the deal is

to proceed. This particular grip is quite difficult and unstable I find. I mentioned under

strike seconds method one variation two that your last three fingers are somewhat open

and this is by necessity since you will perform a mostly sideways take. However, I also

mentioned that the gap is between you middle finger and ring finger. While this is both

feasible and potentially effective, you could also lower your middle finger and perform

the take closer to the upper corner of the deck below the forefinger.

Now, as you perform the take, your middle finger moves under the deck between the

middle finger and ring finger, where it strikes the card and takes it out in a sideways

action to the right. There is a certain grace required here in order to ensure you take only

one card and the that card comes easily. You should watch when you perform the take of

the bottom card that the upper left corner doesn’t protrude past the edge of the deck as

often occurs if the card becomes skewered. If the card twists, ensure it does so in a

manner that avoids this pitfall. (See figure 533 for correct handling and figure 534 for an

example of this potential tip-off).

Figure 533.

Figure 534.

Unfortunately, due to the inconvenient position of the fingers, trying to ensure

consistency of finger placement during the take is difficult when performing bottoms and

will require some practice, but is ultimately fairly important. Again, dealing the card to

the table quickly will reduce the chances of detection, but is not a method on which you

should rely. In order to help performing a smooth and clean take I find pulling the card

slightly forward (away from you) as you pull sideways helps in freeing the card as well as

ensuring the troublesome corner doesn’t flash.

Fortunately, in this case there are no fingers in the way, unfortunately, there is a distinct

lack of control and so I tend not to make use of this deal.

Variation 1

We now turn to the much more effective Erdnase grip, or at least my take on the grip if

my description itself isn’t entirely accurate. If you missed out or need to refresh yourself,

earlier descriptions exist push-off seconds method one variation three and strike seconds

method one variation three. The grip pressure is between the middle finger in the upper

right corner and the base of the thumb in the lower left corner. The pinky and ring finger

extend almost fully with a gap between each of them while the forefinger runs along the

upper edge of the deck above the middle finger.

The take in this case is essentially identical to that in method two, a sideways grip,

performed with the right middle finger by reaching between the left ring finger and

middle finger. As in the previous deals, attention to finger position, sound etc. are

important. In this case, you don’t have to worry about the card jutting out along the

upper edge because it’s covered. (See figure 535.)

Figure 535.

While not the simplest, the process is quite self-explanatory I think and given earlier

pointers you should pick it up fairly quickly.

Method 3

This brings us to the not often used straddle grip as described in push-off seconds method

two variation three and strike seconds method three. Again, my description of the grip is

probably somewhat off from the original, as I have never studied a particular source on

the subject, but this is the method as I’ve employed it. This is actually a really easy grip

to perform fairly decent bottom deals from as it is secure, though I personally favor

method one.

For those who skipped the previous section, a brief refresher, the deck is held in a sort of

deep Charlier grip between the forefinger on the front end of the deck and the pinky on

the back end of the deck with the middle and ring fingers extended on the sides. To

perform the take you reach in under the deck with your right middle finger and perform a

sideways take. The cards remain properly aligned necessitating a sideways take and

sound seems not to be a problem in my experience. I find if you have a hard time

performing the take of the bottom cards (the cards are getting caught) lift the deck

slightly higher in the grip to relieve pressure on the edges of the lower cards. Also, to

make the grip appear more natural bend your hand in slightly to the point where your

thumb can extend almost to the right side of the deck. Personally, I find the grip a little

awkward and as I mentioned, I feel it is unnatural, but it works fairly well for bottom

dealing and has the potential to facilitate a second deal as well. (See figure 536.)

Figure 536.

Universal Variation 1

This is a concept that you may apply to all strike deals, hence the term universal. It’s a

concept I remain somewhat undecided about, though I feel that in regards to economy of

motion it ranks as superior to a regular strike deal provided you perform the pull back

correctly. That is, using push-off cover for a strike bottom deal. For example, in the case

of method one variation one, you would push the top card forward as though to deal it

from the deck, but instead perform a take of the bottom card. The advantage of this is

first that it is psychologically deceptive creating the impression that the top card was in

fact dealt to the table. Second, in many cases it covers potential finger flare and assist in

that regard, though in the case of the method one deals it arguably provides a hindrance

in this regard. Third, it allows you to remove the card up to half way or so from the deck

before it becomes visible and thus provides a smaller window of time in which the false

deal is visible. The disadvantages are first, that you must perform the pull back

effectively, which will generally mean adding some formerly nonexistent wrist and arm

movement. Second, you must now deal push-off seconds in order to remain consistent

and this is often much more difficult if not impossible (such as in either method one or

method one variation one). (See figure 537, figure 538, and figure 539 for examples on

how the variation works based on method one variation one.)

Figure 537.

Figure 538.

Figure 539.

I find this is often preferably if you want to slow your deal down and if you are either not

performing seconds from this grip, or if you are performing the appropriate push-off

seconds from this grip. Naturally, you’ll need to experiment somewhat and determine

which possibility works best for you.

Universal Variation 2

This idea is based on the Marlo cigar bottom deal. Basically, the way Marlo was

performing his take was somewhat inconsistent, reaching further when he performed a

bottom deal than when he performed his tops and consequently his wrist would turn when

he performed the bottom deal. He noticed this while practicing dealing with a cigar in his

hand because the cigar kept hitting the surface of the table. He then determined that if he

performed the take with his ring finger rather than his middle finger no such

inconsistency would be apparent. You can listen to Marlo tell the story himself on the

“Cardician” DVD. The idea of this variation is then simply to use your ring finger

instead of your middle finger to perform the take. This actually works quite well once

you have it figured out and I use this handling often, but particularly for method one

variation one, which effectively becomes Marlo’s cigar bottom deal when performed with

a ring finger take. The disadvantage of the ring finger take is of course that you

effectively lose the use of the forefinger on other deals from the same grip and thus

potentially restrict your dealing capabilities.

Again, you are free to play around with each grip, each deal and each variation to

determine what works best for you.

Push-off Bottoms

The inquisition now progresses to a considerably more difficult and complicated bottom

deal, the push-off. There are a number of concerns that arise inherently in regard to this

deal, but also a number of advantages, most often, a clean take, the ability to perform

Greeks deals, the potential to perform one handed deals and often better economy of

motion. Unfortunately, the risk of knuckle flash becomes an almost insurmountable

obstacle and one of the main forces keeping me from performing push-off bottoms

regularly.

The general concept is, rather than going to the bottom cards with your right hand, you

use your left hand fingers to push the card out along with the top card. While in the case

of a strike bottom a push-off top is optional, I will say that in the case of a push-off

bottom, a push-off top is mandatory. While I once practiced performing push-off

bottoms fast enough that even without the push-off top it was deceptive, it isn’t a practice

I would recommend at all. Thus, while I may not always refer to it explicitly, in each

case where I describe a push-off deal, it is assumed that I am pushing off the top card in

the same manner (angle) as the bottom card.

Method 1

This is a variation of the first push-off bottom deal I learned to perform, it uses the same

grip as strike bottoms method one, also found in push-off seconds method three and

strike seconds method two. From now on I will merely refer to this grip as the shifted

grip and you may refer to it accordingly. In this case, your forefinger and middle finger

on your left hand sit at the base of the deck (just below the bottom edge on the front),

rather than positions higher up as usual. (See figure 540.)

Figure 540.

Note that both fingers are somewhat curled and the tip of the middle finger is on the

upper right hand corner of the bottom card around the position of the pip.

In order to perform a top deal, your thumb will push the top card forward and to the right,

using the fixed positions of the pinky (which is applying pressure on the deck holding it

in place). You push with the thumb from just above the halfway point on the card to the

point where the thumb extends fully. (See figure 541 and figure 542.)

Figure 541.

Figure 542.

At this point your right hand approaches from the front and right to perform the take in

the upper left corner of the card with the thumb on top, middle finger underneath and

forefinger on the front edge. (See figure 543.)

Figure 543.

This angle of the hand is important because it will help offer better cover later when you

perform the bottom deal.

Now, in order to perform the bottom deal, after you have pushed the top card forward and

while your are moving your hand in to perform the take, you will push the bottom card in

the same manner as you did the top card with your left middle finger. I find it helps to

push to the card right and then forward, as it seems to make it easier to push than if you

just push forward. (See figure 544 for a view from the bottom.)

Figure 544.

Note that the left forefinger remains curled back as normal during this action, it does this

in order to cover the knuckle flash that would otherwise be visible while pushing out the

bottom card. Knuckle flash involves seeing the knuckle move as the card is pushed out

when normally it would be stationary. Your right hand also helps to cover this from the

front and right side. You may find it is difficult to push the card out or to do so

singularly, if this is the case, try buckling the card prior to performing the push-off, this is

valuable anyway because it gets you prepared for performing Greek deals. (See figure

545 from the bottom front.)

Figure 545.

Now, as your right hand is about to perform the take, you will pull back the top card with

your thumb and take the bottom card instead. It is crucial that this action is both quick

and smooth in order to make it deceptive. Practice dealing tops and then ensure dealing

bottoms flow just like dealing tops. (See figure 546 and figure 547.)

Figure 546.

Figure 547.

Unfortunately, due to the angle of the top card it is more difficult to pull back than many

pull backs as it tends to catch in the crotch of your thumb. In order to avoid this, I

recommend you perform the pull back in a pivot manner around the pinky and ring

finger. This will probably take a fair amount of practice, but is worthwhile in order to

obtain a good deal. You may also wish to consider pulling back your hand during this

portion of the deal to cover the pullback with a larger motion.

Really, although this was the first push-off deal I learned I don’t recommend it at all. It is

awkward and doesn’t lend itself well to second dealing from the same grip. Nevertheless,

it will hopefully give you some ideas for push-off bottom dealing. As an alternative, you

can use your forefinger to perform the push-off, but again, I don’t recommend this as it

makes the knuckle flash very obvious.

Method 2

By now you are probably intimately familiar with the grip taught in push-off seconds

method one variation two, method two variation one, strike seconds method one variation

two and strike bottoms method two, where the deck is held between the forefinger in the

upper right corner and the base of the thumb in the lower left. This is a borderline

master’s grip really, with perhaps the deck slightly higher in the hand and you are of

course free to lower it if that is more comfortable for you.

Now the key in this case revolves almost entirely around the last three fingers of your left

hand. (For the sake of demonstrations I’m going to focus on the side push-off at this

point and cover the angle push-off in a moment.) These last three fingers should be

positioned in such a manner that the first joint from the tips of the fingers is along the

bottom edge of the deck, while the tips extend upwards just above the top edge of the

deck. You should have a gap between your middle finger and ring finger large enough to

insert your right middle finger into it. Now, I found it is impossible to eliminate knuckle

flash with this grip, but that’s ok because we can minimize it and combine some

misdirection in order to make this one of the most deceptive deals going and one I quite

like.

The misdirection is a good place to start. Each time you deal a top card, because the

fingertips are slightly above the edge of the deck, or at least using that as an excuse, you

are going to open those fingers slightly in an outward/extending motion. (See figure

548.)

Figure 548.

Then you’ll perform the take and bring the fingers back to their regular position. This

action will mirror perfectly, the push off action you’re going to perform later and thus

eliminate suspicion of the action.

The get ready involves buckling the bottom card slightly with the aforementioned joint of

your middle finger simply by shifting it downwards slightly. This loosens the card, but it

also allows you to gain control of it, you need it positioned so that you can push it out

from the deck by pushing your fingers out in an extending motion. That is to say, the

edge of the card is caught just above the joints and so the joints apply a force on the card

pushing it from the deck to the right. (See figure 549 for an exposed and exaggerated

view.)

Figure 549.

Now that the buckling motion is completed (I have to admit you must practice the

buckling motion watching to minimize visual movement in the joints of the fingers and

ensuring you obtain a clean take quickly and easily) you are ready to perform the actual

deal. This occurs as follows. Your thumb pushes the top card to the right and as it does

the tips of your last three fingers naturally move down and out of the way. In this

motion, they transfer their force slightly, lowering first at the first joint from the tip, then

moving outwards from the second and it is in this outward motion that you push-out the

bottom card. Now, the bottom card is only pushed out roughly half as far as the top card.

(See figure 550 for a view from the bottom.)

Figure 550.

You must be careful not to push the bottom card out too far, you want it out just far

enough that the edge of the card is covered from the front by the tip of your left

forefinger. The cover offered by the left forefinger will also help later with the pull back

of the top card. You also want to be careful that, when you’re pushing out the bottom

card you do so in a manner than none of the card protrudes beyond the front edge of the

deck. It tends to do so if you apply too much pressure with your middle finger high on

the card and not enough with the other fingers low on the card.

It is time to perform the take. Here, your middle finger reaches under the cards, between

the left middle and ring fingers and takes the bottom card. Naturally, the right thumb

feigns taking the top card. At about this point you should turn your wrist inward slightly

and, just as the bottom card reaches the point where it is roughly in line with the top card,

you’ll pull the top card back with your left thumb. (See figure 551.)

Figure 551.

I cannot stress to you how beautiful this illusion is. I can perform this action extremely

slowly and leave a very powerful impression that I did in fact real the top card from the

deck. This is partially due to the fact that the left forefinger and angle of the hand cover

the pull back beautifully, but also because the take is so graceful. Also, perhaps most

curiously, the left middle finger, ring finger and pinky, act as a sort of ramp for the

bottom card, eliminating much of the distance between the top card and bottom card (be

sure you don’t let them rub together) creating a much stronger illusion such as that of a

second deal. Finally, I find it helps a lot to twist the wrist in slightly as you deal off the

bottom card and perform the pull back as it creates a superb retention of vision.

Now, if you’re performing an angled push-off instead of a side push-off there are only a

few minor refinements that you need to make. The first is that, instead of merely

extending your last three fingers, you’ll also direct them downwards following the angle

of the top card. You should also take care to note that your middle finger runs above the

top edge of the bottom card preventing anyone from seeing it. Second, and more

importantly is the issue of the top card pull back. There’s a tendency of the upper right

corner of the card to flash and so what you want to do is cover the upper right corner in

the action of performing the take and then pull the card back before the thumb has moved

out of it’s position of cover. (See figure 552.)

Figure 552.

Naturally, you need to ensure you pull your thumb back before performing the regular

take when dealing tops in order to maintain consistency here. Ultimately, I don’t like the

illusion created in the bottom deal as much when you perform an angle push-off, but it is

up to you, I do find the performing seconds is sometimes easier in this regard.

Method 3

This brings us back to the grip described earlier as the Erdnase grip, but with a twist, that

I believe brings us to a more accurate version of the original. The deck is still held

between the middle finger at the upper right corner of the deck and base of the thumb at

the lower left and the forefinger maintains it’s position, but this time instead of extending

your ring finger and pinky they are curled under the deck. It is from this point that we

begin, naturally you adapt your seconds and tops accordingly. Honestly, I find it very

difficult to perform the bottoms with a side push-off, they’re simply too unstable and so

I’m merely going to describe the angle push-off technique, which is very deceptive.

The basic deal has been covered numerous times, the thumb pivots the card over at an

angle, and the right hand performs the take. Now, obviously as you’ve surmised, we’re

going to push the bottom card out using the fingers under the bottom of the deck. Now

you’ll notice that it is virtually impossible to perform any significant push-out with the

ring finger without creating obvious knuckle flash as such, you’re going to do something

that is difficult, but very deceptive. If there is a need to buckle the bottom card, do so

with the ring finger as it shouldn’t cause too much disturbance. However, you’ll perform

the push-off itself with the pinky. You’ll notice if you try this that the curled ring finger

provides a perfect shield to cover the actions of the pinky.

So, we must examine the timing. The left ring finger buckles the bottom card as a get

ready, separating it from the others. Your thumb pushes off the top card, and then your

right hand moves in to perform the take. Only when your right hand is blocking the

view, will you use your pinky to push-out the bottom card at an angle just like the top

one. Then, your right thumb in an apparent take action will cover as you pull back the

top card (the presence of the middle finger also helps) and in the same motion your right

hand will take the bottom card and deal it to the appropriate player. (See figure 553,

figure 554, figure 555 and figure 556.)

Figure 553.

Figure 554.

Figure 555.

Figure 556.

There is one point I want to caution you on very strongly here, because I’ve seen a

number of people make this simple mistake. When you take the bottom card from the

deck, be sure you actually take it far enough out so it is completely free of the shadow of

the deck. I’ve seen some clips on the internet where people will deal the card to

themselves and they deal it off in such a manner that it couldn’t possibly come from the

top, it’s dropping from the bottom. Simply because the dealer doesn’t take it far enough

away from the deck before dealing it down.

Aside from this, the finer points of dealing from this grip have been addressed in other

descriptions and so I’m sure collectively they provide ample information on dealing

correctly and deceptively.

Side Strike Concept

The side strike bottom deal is really a strike bottom deal, but I felt it was necessary to

create the illusion of a side strike bottom deal for those who wanted to perform side strike

dealing and consequently all false deals in this manner. The concept involves starting in

the mechanic’s grip common to the side strike deal, with special attention to using the

forefinger to hold the deck in place. In the process of apparently performing the side

strike, you’ll strike lower than normal so the tip of your right middle finger passes below

the edge of the deck. You’ll lift the entire corner of the deck as though you’re only

lifting the top card and then in the strike motion of the thumb you’ll push all the cards

except the bottom one to the left, while taking the card out the side. Naturally, this will

require moving the three last fingers of the left hand out of the way. The deal is less than

ideal, but for a lay audience not paying too much attention it is functional.

Alternatively, you could perform a slight push-off of the bottom card to make the take

easier and potentially make for a more convincing deal. On reflection if you can do so

effectively that is probably the way to go.

Stud Bottoms

Stud bottoms are quite useful because stud poker is one of the most useful places for a

bottom deal. Really, the deal has little to no application in the likes of Texas Hold’em

where you can calculate from the beginning the positions of all the cards. On the other

hand, in a game of stud poker players drop out and alter the order of the cards, making a

bottom deal very practical. Naturally, this means a stud bottom is also advantageous.

You could of course simply bottom deal the card and turn it over, but there’s a certain

elegance to performing a stud deal, it also makes the process somewhat more convincing.

I’ll give two methods and leave out the others as I consider many of the front turnovers to

essentially be a forward take with turnover.

Strike Method 1

This is a deal off the back of the deck and I realize I really haven’t covered any methods

in this style, however, at the least this offers you another idea on how to perform stud

deals and the concept is easily applied to dealing seconds. You hold the deck in the

mechanic’s grip in your left hand. For dealing tops, your right hand approaches palm

down thumb going under the end of the deck, while your forefinger and middle finger

strike at the back of the deck. The tips of these two fingers should extend to roughly the

halfway point across the deck. (See figure 557.)

Figure 557.

In a very quick and smooth motion, the fingers now pull the card off the back of the deck

towards you. As soon as the card is part way off the deck your thumb pinches it aiding in

the action as you then flip the card over. (See figure 558 and figure 559.)

Figure 558.

Figure 559.

This process is very natural and I’m sure you’ll catch on quickly, but it’s the basis of the

bottom deal of the same appearance. I’m sure you have already surmised (or perhaps you

have not in which case you may wish to take time now doing so) the basis of the bottom

deal. Naturally, rather than performing the take with your forefinger and middle finger,

you’ll perform the take with your thumb. Now interestingly enough, the resistance on the

bottom card, makes dealing stud bottoms in this manner more difficult than any other

stud false deal from the same grip. Basically, the problem is getting the bottom card out.

The reason for this is the tendency to pull upwards on the card prematurely. Thus, to

make getting the bottom card out easier you’ll start by buckling it. Next, as your thumb

enters below the card to perform the take, you’ll stick it in slightly further than is normal

and draw the card out just slightly by pulling on it gently with the thumb (no hand

movement at this point, just the movement of the thumb). You’ll draw it towards the

lower right corner of the deck. The goal, is to get a slight edge of the card out beyond the

edge of the deck as it makes the take much easier. (See figure 560.)

Figure 560.

Now, your forefinger and middle finger perform the fake take of the top card as you pull

and lever the bottom card out. You then pinch the card between the two first fingers and

the thumb as you turn it over and deal it to the table. Speed is important here in

enhancing the deception, it may also help you to tilt the deck slightly as you apparently

perform the take and turn over so it is less obviously that you didn’t take the top card of

the deck. (See figure 561 and figure 562.)

Figure 561.

Figure 562.

Performed on the fly as a portion of a dealing sequence this method is very effective,

assuming of course that you use it quickly and with grace.

Push-off Method 1

We now progress to a method based on the angled push-off from push-off bottoms

method two and stud seconds push-off method one. You may wish to refer to these two

descriptions as I’ll not repeat their contents and once you understand them this deal

makes perfect sense. Essentially, it involves performing an angled push-off of the top

card along with the angled push-off of the bottom card described earlier, then moving

your hand over in the covering action taught under the stud second deal. This time

instead of taking the second card, you’ll reach your thumb under the lower right corner of

the bottom card and take it. (See figure 563.)

Figure 563.

Now, you need to be very careful in exactly how you perform this take action. Naturally,

as in the case of the second deal the pullback of the top card is covered by the hand and

occurs prior to the take. However, there is a tendency not to take the bottom card in the

same manner as you would take the top card due to the distance involved, or to uncover

the front of the deck as you perform the take. Thus, it is important that your hand remain

stationary on the top of the deck as your thumb pulls the bottom card up to it and then the

entire hand with the card clipped between the top of the forefinger and the thumb rotate,

pivoting on the pinky, lying across the front of the deck. (See figure 564 and figure 565.)

Figure 564.

Figure 565.

Now generally, there is a tendency for the cards to make a different sound when

performing this action than when you perform a top. I find the sound is subtler and in

order to eliminate that problem performing it fairly rapidly and focusing on enhancing the

sound created by the bottom card as you perform the take is helpful.

Greek Dealing (Two Hands)

Next to the bottom deal I probably use the Greek deal the most, though it is fairly close to

the second deal depending on application. Mind you, I also most frequently use the

variation I’ll describe later under “the Count’s grip”, which is incredibly easy to the point

where I doubt if you’ll even invest the time in learning the methods I describe here once

you learn it. Essentially, I feel a Greek deal simply offers a nice convincing alternative to

bottom dealing and I began resorting to one when I was playing poker with a couple

friends whom I had explained bottom dealing to. The problem was, once they knew

about bottom dealing they’d ask to see the bottom card of the deck before I dealt, which

was naturally a problem if the bottom card would change later one (plus the ace of spades

was usually a tip off). By Greek dealing, I could place a cover card on the bottom and

eliminate suspicions. I later discovered that this offered another simple alternative

without actually showing the bottom card I was able to “accidentally” flash the bottom

card of the deck just prior to and just after dealing. I thereby demonstrated in a subtle

manner that nothing had occurred in regard to the bottom of the deck while in fact

dealing cards from the bottom of the deck rather than stacking. Acquiring this skill is

also useful for any cases where you may find yourself confronted with a cover card on

the bottom designed to prevent bottom dealing.

Initially, I found the concept of bottom dealing difficult enough, the possibility of Greek

dealing was unfathomable, it was simply so difficult to get past that bottom card and

honestly, most Greek deals are extremely difficult to learn. However, once I caught on to

the idea of eliminating the bottom card I discovered numerous methods of performing

this odd sleight, some with greater levels of success than others. In this case, however,

I’ll describe not only the best methods, but some of the odd ideas I developed in order to

acquaint you with the concept and hopefully inspire you to create your own techniques.

Buckle Greeks

Performing a Greek deal by buckling the bottom card is probably the most used and

simplest initial approach to the subject of Greek dealing. Just considering the issue

initially, this was the concept I came up with, though I found some measure of difficulty

when it came to execution. I’m sure just thinking about it now in the context of previous

methods you have an idea of how you could go about performing such a deal, here then

are a few examples in execution. Note, that all of them relate to previous bottom deals

and thus you may find it an asset to refer to such bottom deals as we progress.

Method 1

Based on the so called shifted grip found in the push-off bottom method one and strike

bottom method one descriptions, however in the each case you must refer to the grip

variation found under the push-off bottom regarding your middle finger position. It is

possible to perform either a strike or push-off deal at this point, though I feel that from

this particular grip the strike is somewhat unnatural and thus would recommend the push-

off, which is somewhat of a contradiction since I dislike push-off bottoms from this grip.

If you decide to perform strike Greeks from this grip you’ll also need to alter your strike

location somewhat, as such I’ll offer an alternative based on the variation one grip which

I prefer greatly.

Now, the important issue here is the buckle, you want to ensure the middle finger of the

left hand buckles the bottom card towards the back of the deck rather than towards the

left. If you buckle the card towards the left a large visible gap will form and provide a

massive tip off to what you’re doing. Honestly, in this grip, the buckle is less than ideal

anyway, but it is better if you buckle towards the back of the deck than towards the left.

(See figure 566 for a bottom view.)

Figure 566.

You want to obtain the buckle just as you are moving to perform the take so you

maximize coverage of the hand. Naturally, you will also want to minimize the finger

movement in performing the buckle. Now, at this point you could perform a take by

striking the exposed card second from the bottom, or you could push out the bottom card.

I’ll assume you are going to push-out the bottom card, in which case, the middle finger

shifts forward as usual to perform the push-off of the bottom card and releases the buckle

in this same action. It then shifts back once you’ve performed the take. (See figure 567

for a bottom view.)

Figure 567.

As I’m sure you are able to tell, this is less than the most elegant process, but it serves in

introducing you to the concept.

Variation 1

For this deal, refer to strike bottom method one variation one, preferably with the

addition of universal variation two. Fortunately, this deal is quite acceptable offering a

fairly flexible and deceptive deal as an alternative to the crude method I just described.

Again, the issue in question is the buckling action that exposes the card second from the

bottom. In this case, the buckling action occurs due to inward (towards the deck) and

downward (towards the lower end of the deck) pressure on the part of your three last

fingers on the right side of the deck, most notably the middle finger. This is very much

the same concept as the buckling you performed in push-off bottoms method two. (See

figure 568 for a view from the bottom.)

Figure 568.

As you can easily tell, this action is subtle and exposes the corner of the card second from

the bottom allowing you to perform your take based on that point. You’ll find due to the

buckle that there is diminished resistance and thus the take goes very well.

There is a quick note for you to consider at this point. I didn’t discuss sound in any detail

when examining bottom deals because there was none, or no major discrepancies to

speak of, the same is not true when examining Greek deals, here there is different

resistance at work. Consequently, it is necessary to keep the potential differences in

sound in mind. The ideas I examined earlier under the section on second deals naturally

apply, but I find the simplest basic process with Greek dealing is simply to start by

ensuring you perform the take in a level manner in order to minimize the amount the

cards rub against one another.

Method 2

Now here you may refer to the Erdnase grip as considered in push-off bottoms method

three. This is an excellent grip in that the front edge of the deck is covered completely

and affords you some flexibility. Now, with this grip you have two options, performing

the buckle with your pinky, or your ring finger, each has it’s advantages and

disadvantages. If you want to perform the buckle with your pinky, you reach it over the

right edge of the cards slightly and pull the bottom card inward then perform your push-

off. However, I feel this method is less deceptive than using your ring finger and thus

that is what I shall explain.

You use your ring finger as you would expect to buckle the bottom card inward and

down, with emphasis on inward since in this case, you’ll need to slide your pinky along

the length and perform the push off. Incidentally, this handling also offers the possibility

for a strike deal should that become desirable. (See figure 569 and figure 570 for views

from the bottom.)

Figure 569.

Figure 570.

Again, as with the bottom deals, this is quite a deceptive deal when performed well, but I

tend not to employ it often, largely due to the instability and prefer method one variation

one for dealing Greeks.

Method 3

We now return to the beautiful push-off bottom method two handling. Practice of the

bottom deal should have made you intimately familiar with the buckling technique in this

deal, if not, I recommend you practice the bottom deal extensively before referring to the

Greek handling. Our description begins just after the buckling of the bottom card in the

push-off bottom handling for at this point it becomes necessary to push out the card

second from bottom. While technically you are able to access the card in much the same

manner as you accessed the bottom card, I find this process somewhat difficult and thus

prefer a more reliable alternative.

You’ll notice that when you buckle the bottom card it creates a large opening between the

card and the bottom of the deck. In order to produce the card second from the bottom,

you must insert your pinky into this gap and, with a light touch, push it out slightly to the

right. (See figure 571 and figure 572.)

Figure 571.

Figure 572.

In performing this action, you’ll notice the pinky movement is hidden from the front by

the middle finger and ring finger and hidden from the left by the hand. Your only weak

angle then is the right, which you can block partially using your right hand and arm,

however it is still important to be mindful of potential detection. You may find that it

helps to buckle the second card before pushing it out as well, but I personally find a light

touch is generally sufficient so long as you don’t apply any pressure to the card with your

other fingers. From here, you’ll find that pushing the card out as per a push-off bottom

deal is a simple and works quite well. (See figure 573.)

Figure 573.

As a push-off Greek I think this is probably my preferred method, though of course you

may make the decision for yourself.

Pre-Emptive Greek Deal

This is probably one of the simplest and most obvious methods of performing a Greek

deal possible and yet I am completely unaware of anyone who employs this method, all

the more reason I should take time to mention it I suppose. Basically the concept is this,

you’ll bottom palm the bottom card thereby leaving the card second from bottom exposed

and allowing you to bottom deal with the effect of Greek dealing. Now I’m not going to

entertain the details of how to bottom palm a card, I use one of four methods that I’ll

describe in another piece of writing, the most common method is probably an Erdnase

bottom palm which is taught all over for those who are interested. (Consult Expert at the

Card Table for a certain source).

Now, assuming you already have the bottom card palmed, I use the strike bottom method

of dealing known as the cigar bottom deal, effectively strike bottom method one variation

one plus universal variation two. I think once you master the bottom palm you’ll find

this works quite well and eliminates most of the hassles typically associated with Greek

dealing. There is the minor concern of an audience member seeing the palmed card

particularly from the right, but if you are mindful of this possibility and practice your

bottom palm in such a manner that there is as little of the card visible as possible you

should find yourself in good hands.

Drawbridge Greek Deal

I demonstrated this to someone once and he felt it was better than the buckle method

when I performed it, personally I’m not so sure as the risk of detection seems gargantuan.

Essentially, this deal uses the grip in strike bottom method one and method one variation

one, which I shall employ here for the sake of example.

The most important thing to consider here is the position of your left middle finger,

which rests on the side of the right side of the deck in the upper corner. Now, as your

right hand moves in to perform the take, this finger will pull down the upper right corner

of the bottom card and allow you to insert your middle or ring finger (depending on what

is appropriate for the deal) to perform the take. (See figure 574 for an exposed view.)

Figure 574.

Now this is surprisingly easy to do, but if you’re having problems you may find it easier

to buckle the card first and then catch the edge or to push the card right slightly and then

catch the edge. Whatever you choose, as soon as your take finger on your right hand

enters into that gap you’ll return your middle finger to it’s original position and move on

with the deal as normal.

Unfortunately, there are a number of potential tips off with this method that I haven’t

addressed effectively, but hopefully the concept will give you something to work with.

Alternative Pre-emptive Greek

This method follows the same principle as the bottom palm Greek deal, but rather

employing the complex bottom palm, it uses instead the simpler and perhaps more

familiar gambler’s cop. You cop the bottom card slightly back from the front of the deck

and perform your bottom deal (I use strike method one or one of the variations) as

normal. Unfortunately, you need to watch your angles very carefully while performing

this deal since the bottom card often protrudes out of the back of the deck quite far.

Multiple Minus Bottom Deals

This subject addresses dealing off the third, fourth and fifth cards from the bottom of the

deck. While the applications are limited, Marlo makes use of the method in a couple

tricks and so for those who care enough to learn, the possibility for a use is present. In

reality, the technical differences between the minus one bottom deal (Greek deal) and

multiple minus are insignificant since basically it involves simply buckling, palming,

pulling down, or coping more cards. Note however, that the pre-emptive methods

wouldn’t be applicable in the applications Marlo was using, in fact I’d doubt if there were

any applications for those methods in so far as they concern a multiple minus bottom

deal.

Stud Greeks

This brings us ahead to the subject of stud Greeks and ultimately, stud multiple minus

deals. Ironically, this deal is actually easier in my opinion than the bottom deal when it

comes to the strike stud method one. Applications are I suppose present, though also

limited.

Strike Method 1

Refer to the handling of stud bottom deal, strike method one for the basis of this deal.

The only difference here is that rather than performing a take of the bottom card, you’ll

buckle the bottom card (or bottom few cards in the case of a multiple minus bottom) and

insert your thumb into the gap created at the back of the deck, from which point you’ll

deal the card as you would a bottom. Interestingly enough, the decreased resistance on

the card second from bottom makes performing the take easier than for the bottom. (See

figure 575 roughly from the bottom.)

Figure 575.

Again, it may help you to buckle the card second from bottom prior to the take in order to

make it clean; using a newer deck of cards is also a nice option when possible.

Push-off Method 1

As in the previous description, refer to stud bottom deal, push-off method one for a basic

understanding of the mechanics. The description in this case picks up where the bottom

card is buckled and, just as you learned to do in buckle Greek deal method three, you use

your pinky to lever the card second from bottom out slightly. You then perform the

angled push-off of this card rather than the bottom card. (See figure 576 and figure 577

for views from the bottom.)

Figure 576.

Figure 577.

I’ll not describe this deal in any more particular detail as you’ve been presented with all

the components. The take is exactly the same as that in the comparable bottom deal with

the exception of the fact that you must concern yourself slightly with noise. Though I

don’t find it’s a major concern, it is easiest to cover with other noise since eliminating the

sound in this case is all but impossible.

Push-off vs. Strike

There is a great debate over whether one should employ a push-off bottom or a strike

bottom. Having examined each of them, I find that generally, I recommend a strike

bottom simply for dealing ease and flow, but this is not an assured point. One of the

apparent advantages of a push-off bottom lies in the ability to perform a clean take.

However, having dealt cards with old decks, new deck and plastic decks, I’ve found that

a clean take is not always assure with a push-off bottom deal. Thus, I turn to other

questions, such a tip-offs. Which deals have the least tip offs? Again, there is no clear

answer to distinguish between the push-off and the strike bottom deal, they have different

tip offs, though generally I would say the strike bottom has fewer, though this brings me

to my next point. Guy Hollingworth examined the subject to a small extent in his book

“Drawing Room Deceptions” (I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, if you’re a magician go

buy a copy of this book, it’s the best investment in a card book you’re likely to make) and

ultimately stated he settled on a strike bottom due to concerns of knuckle flash on push-

off bottoms. However, he also added that this decision didn’t sit well with him, in his

case the concerns lay in the ability to perform a one handed deal from the same grip and

the ability to perform a clean take. Now personally, I don’t really find either of these

points of major concern, I’m much more interested in the ability to perform all two

handed deals from the same grip. His remarks led to an interesting conclusion however,

namely a push-off bottom technique that had no knuckle flash and for those interested, I

would recommend it fairly highly, I feel it deserves a slightly better explanation that he

gives, but it is a superb concept.

For now, I use primarily strike bottoms, but I also employ the Count’s grip primarily and

perhaps you’ll share the enthusiasm with me when we finally reach that point of this

volume. Ultimately, for each individual, I’d advise you examine what deals you’ll need,

then find the best grip for accommodating those deals collectively. Individual needs lead

to individual solutions, such is the case here; such will continue to be the case for the

foreseeable future.

Dealing Bottoms (One-handed)

Generally, I don’t consider dealing bottoms one-handed terribly practical, again, it’s one

of those things you learn more out of masochistic interest than any really practical value.

Then again, if your livelihood depended on it and you had a broken hand, bottom dealing

with just one hand could be important to you, so for all those hustlers with a broken hand,

or maybe just one hand, we now address the one-handed bottom deal.

Throw Bottoms

You’re invited to consult the earlier discussion points on throw dealing, particularly

throw seconds at this point in order to refresh yourself on the methodology as I’ll not

cover the basics again. Instead, I shall devote my time to describing the process by which

you will deal off the bottom card. Here again, I invite you to consult push-off bottom

dealing method two in order to properly appreciate what is to follow. In reality, this deal

is almost exclusively a combination of those two sources. When I first started

performing this deal (which I should mention I owe almost entirely to Marlo), I

positioned my fingers much lower, around the lower edge of the deck on the right side.

From here, it is much easier to gain access to the cards and more importantly, to project

them from the deck. However, I found finger flare and knuckle flash were a huge

concern I was unable to avoid or even effectively alleviate. Honestly, they remains a

concern, but you’ll notice based on earlier descriptions that a sort of misdirection is

employed in order to decrease the significance of the finger flare, and the method of

producing the card minimizes the knuckle flash to an acceptable level. (Again, for those

interested, consult Guy Hollingworth’s deal as it offers one-handed bottom dealing

possibilities void of knuckle flash.)

You begin then by holding the deck as usual between the forefinger in the upper right

corner and the base of the thumb in the lower left, with the last three fingers along the

right side of the deck. This is really sort of a high master’s grip and as I have mentioned

before, a master’s grip will probably suffice for those interested. Now, we shall assume

you’ve been dealing a couple cards and are now about to deal a bottom. On the pullback

motion of the previous deal, buckle the bottom card with your last three fingers as per the

procedure outlined in push-off bottom dealing method two. Then, as you stop the

motion, push the very edge of the bottom card out over the lower right edge of the deck,

so the first joint from the tip of the finger on the last three fingers is below the edge of the

now loose bottom card. It is important at this point to tighten your finger position on the

edge of the deck, effectively squaring the top cards, but also, as usual, conveniently

placing the tips of the fingers in the way of any cards you may choose to deal in the

future. As I mentioned before, this gives you an excuse to open the fingers in the dealing

action and thereby perform the false deal. This entire action, when performed correctly is

virtually invisible, but when covered with motion as described should offer you no

trouble at all.

From here, it is simply a simple matter of performing the dealing action of the throw deal

and forcing out the bottom card via a sudden “kick” from the joints and extension of the

last three fingers of the hand. Naturally, this process is timed as per a regular throw deal

and thus elicits the same level of deception.

Spin Bottoms

Again, I am very fond of spin dealing and though the bottom deal is slightly more

difficult than the second deal, my affection for it remains the same. The beauty of spin

bottoms is that while there is noticeable finger and knuckle action, there is no unnatural

finger or knuckle action, since a regular spin deal involves shifting the fingers

appropriately. You should review the basic spin deal at this point and practice until

you’re proficient with it. Again, you’re using a high master’s grip with an angled push-

off.

The key, as usual lies in getting the bottom card out, though granted there is also a certain

level of proficiency in performing the “spin” move. You must start by ensuring you first

joint from the tip of your middle finger is below the edge of the cards as this will become

your grip point. Now, by applying pressure downwards, towards the base of the deck

with the middle finger, you’ll buckle the card. In other words, you’ll simply apply

pressure to the bottom card and then slide the finger down the edge (down meaning from

the front of the deck towards the back). (See figure 578 for a view from the bottom.)

Figure 578.

Now, as you move your middle finger out into it’s position between the angled top card

and the edge of the deck, you push the bottom card out. To try and make this a little

more clear for you, normally you push off the top card at an angle leaving a sort of “V”

shaped gap between the upper right corner of the card and the upper right corner of the

deck. You then insert your middle finger into this gap in order to create a pivot point for

the spin action. Well it is in that action of moving your middle finger up into this gap

that you push the card out slightly. Then, your ring finger, which normally moves down

and applies pressure on the bottom of the top card, instead moves down and pushes the

bottom card into position. Essentially, you position the bottom card around the middle

finger just as you normally position the top card. (See figure 579 and figure 580 for an

exposed view without the top card.)

Figure 579.

Figure 580.

From here, you perform the spin action sail as you would a typical spin deal except with

the bottom card, while, of course, pulling back the top card in the process. You’ll find

this is somewhat more difficult, and you’ll need to watch that the card doesn’t get caught

on its lower left edge at the base of the thumb where there tends to be a great deal of

pressure. I suggest you simply sit and practice performing the spin action of the bottom

card on its own prior to really working extensively with the deal.

You’ll also need to watch the front edge of the deck while performing the push out of the

bottom card, that the upper left corner doesn’t protrude beyond the front edge. This tends

to occur if the deck slips backwards in your hand or if you end up twisting the card rather

than pivoting it on the base of the thumb, as you should.

Stud Bottoms

I was practicing and experimenting to ensure I got the correct description for this method

the other day and I must admit, I questioned my sanity when I noticed that my one-

handed stud bottom deal was actually really good. This has to be one of the most

difficult deals by far, not technically of course, but for the simple reason that you’re

going to turn your hand over, exposing the bottom of the deck and at the same time drop

the bottom card as though it were the top card. For those among you who fail to realize

the problem here, basically when you’re looking at the bottom of the deck it’s easy to see

a card come off the bottom of the deck and if you see a card come off the bottom then

obviously it isn’t coming off the top. See, at least when dealing centers, or seconds, or

even Greeks, there is the advantage of having some other cards covering the bottom card

and thus creating the illusion that it may have in fact come from the bottom. There is no

doubt then that this deal must be graceful, fluid, and hopefully nonchalant as there is an

obvious discrepancy for those paying close attention.

This is the throw deal, minus the throw, with the stud dealing taught under stud seconds.

You buckle the card with the last three fingers of your left hand and push it out slightly as

you push off the top card to the right. Then, in the action of turning your hand over you

pull back the top card and release the bottom card. (You may refer to the earlier

directions for timing and more precise methodology.) It helps, to push the bottom card

out as far as possible in the case so there’s a shorter period when one might observe it

coming from “above” the deck instead of the top of the deck where it should.

Greek Dealing (One-handed)

In order to deal Greeks one handed one must simply combine the earlier principles of

buckle Greek dealing with the one-handed bottom dealing concepts. Admittedly, this

requires more skill than simply one-handed bottom dealing, but not significantly so.

Throw Greeks

Obviously, (or perhaps not so obviously to some) you begin this deal by buckling the

bottom card as per the throw bottom technique, in fact the entire process is the same as

the throw bottom technique except for one detail. This detail is found in the earlier

discussion on two handed Greek dealing method three and involves using your pinky to

push out the card second from bottom in order to provide clean access for the middle

finger and ring finger.

To describe this action for you once more, once the bottom card is buckled, you reach

your pinky into the gap of the buckle and apply an upward force on the card second from

the bottom. Actually, it is hardly necessary to lever his card out at all, if you simply

release the buckle and release pressure on the deck, the force applied on the side of the

pinky should move the desired card out sufficiently. (See figure 581.)

Figure 581.

From here, you simply proceed as with the throw bottom deal using instead the out

jogged card, in this case the card second from bottom.

Spin Greeks

The same principle applies for spin dealing as for throw dealing, but with one added

advantage. In the case of throw dealing it’s necessary to avoid visible finger movement,

in the case of spin dealing there’s natural finger movement and as such you have greater

flexibility. You still can’t push out the card second from bottom with your middle finger,

which would be preferable, but you can do so with your ring finger, which I find

personally is much easier and more effective than using your pinky. (See figure 582 from

the bottom.)

Figure 582.

Naturally, from this point you continue with the spin action, which I find is slightly easier

than performing the same technique with the bottom card.

Stud Greeks

This technique is simply the one-handed stud bottom technique using the method

described under throw Greeks to produce the card second from the bottom. I’ll let you

deduce that one on your own, as this book is already quite lengthy and we have less

repetitive material to cover.

Multiple Minus Bottoms

Again, as I mentioned in the previous section on two handed dealing, the only difference

between Greeks and multiple minus bottoms lies in the number of cards you buckle. The

sleight is another one of those relatively pointless sleights, but some insane individuals

(myself included) actually take time to practice them, for what reason I can’t say as it

doesn’t seem entirely reasonable.

Double Dealing Bottoms (Two Hands)

This is an idea for a sleight I had, at least as far as I know the idea is original to me and I

suppose not surprisingly since most people probably consider it useless. However, in my

opinion this is a more practical sleight than multiple minus bottom dealing (incidentally

I’ll cover minus and multiple minus double bottom dealing in a moment). The reason for

this is quite simple, the general rule of thumb is that you want to minimize the number of

sleights you perform as each time you perform a sleight there is a chance, no matter how

remote that you’ll be caught. The idea of the double bottom deal is then to reduce the

number of bottom deals you must perform. For example, say you have four aces on the

bottom of the deck and you wish to bottom deal them to yourself, normally this requires

four bottom deals, but it only requires two double bottom deals, so that’s more efficient

right? (I suspect a great number of my readers are at this point skeptical and likely

questioning my sanity in even wanting to attempt such a thing, but then eccentricity has

always been a cherished trait of mine.)

Rather than proceeding in the typical manner of describing to you various deals, I’ll

simply describe the means of facilitating those deals and allow you to apply them as you

feel appropriate. The first of these and by far my favorite since it works so well, uses an

angle push-out. Normally I perform it from the high master’s grip we’ve been using but

one could apply it without much creativity to other grips. The method involves buckling

the bottom two cards (in the case of the aforementioned grip this action is performed by

the middle finger) and then using the pinky to pull them down slightly together. Now,

the finger holding the buckle releases that buckle and allows those two cards to move

away slightly from the deck as one. (See figure 583, figure 584 and figure 585 from the

bottom.)

Figure 583.

Figure 584.

Figure 585.

At this point, you need to either pivot the cards out using the pinky, or push them out

using the buckling finger, which is the method I opt for. In order to ensure they come out

as one, you apply pressure, not on the faces or backs of the cards, but rather on the edges,

actually helping to square them further and from this point deal them off. (See figure 586

from the bottom.)

Figure 586.

The second method, is to perform the regular first portion of a Greek push-out, pushing

the card second from bottom out just slightly and then applying pressure on the face of

both cards, pushing them out together, but in a staggered manner. (See figure 587 from

the bottom.)

Figure 587.

From this point, it is a simple matter to perform a squaring double deal take, correcting

the poor alignment, and dealing the cards to the table. Alternatively, you could reverse

the push-out, that is to say, pull the tips of your fingers back towards the deck so they

applied pressure on the edge the card farthest from the deck and brought it into decent

alignment with the other card.

Third, if you wished to perform a strike deal, you could buckle the bottom card and

actually pull it inward ever so slightly. This would allow you to perform a strike action

on the face of both cards at once, drawing them out as you would in a strike double deal

and then correcting the poor alignment with a squaring take, though I wouldn’t use this

method personally, it is an option. (There is an exception to my previous statement,

namely with the Count’s grip where it is the only method I’d use.)

Now, if you wanted to perform double Greeks, or double multiple minus bottoms the

process would naturally “simply” involve buckling more cards and working accordingly.

I won’t go into detail boring you with that methodology here, considering I’d be

surprised if any of you actually learned the double bottom deal, let alone the double

multiple minus bottom. In any case, I’ve included the tools here for you to learn the

technique if you’re bold enough.

Dealing Centers (Two Hands)

Well, darn it all, we’re back to another one of those useless deals again! A center deal is

a prestige thing, plain and simple. More of the top card men spend more hours of their

lives on this sleight than any other and fewer card men anywhere spend time using this

sleight from a practical standpoint than any other. The reality is that in gambling it is

simply too easy to perform a pass and beat the cut to make a center deal worthwhile. I

remember a discussion with someone on the subject since he was in the process of

learning and he mentioned that of course a center deal is for when you can’t do a pass.

Well, a quick reality check for you here, if things are so tight that you can’t do a pass,

you probably can’t do a center deal either and in the time it will take you to master a

center deal you could have mastered a pass that you could do to avoid the center deal.

Thus, I’m staking my claim that a center deal is fundamentally useless, not that it can’t be

used, but that there are better methods of accomplishing the same thing. Mind you, I saw

a Marlo “mock center deal” display, and frankly, for the trouble he went to not to do a

center deal he might as well have just done one so there’s that side of things as well. Guy

Hollingworth stated he spent more time attempting to learn this deal than any other

sleight and just when he was becoming proficient he realized it was pointless and quit.

Now, I had somewhat more sagacity than Mr. Hollingworth, at least in this case, I

realized from the beginning that the center deal was a pointless sleight and ultimately

ended up working on center deal techniques in this knowledge. In fact, in many regards I

would say what kept me from learning a center deal was not the pointlessness of the

technique, but rather the absence of a good technique in my opinion. Honestly, I still feel

that way, I’m not sure that the ideal center deal exists yet, but for those who are

interested, I prefer the later methods in this section and favor the center deal from the

Count’s grip.

Now you may ask yourselves, if this is such a pointless sleight then why cover it? To

which I must ask you, have you actually read the earlier sections of this book? I cover a

lot of other pointless material, some of which I might add is less useful than the center

deal. Thus, I’ll state I’m including the sleight, partially out a desire for completeness and

partially out of fascination and interest. Cards remain a hobby for me and I suspect this

will always be the case. But, one of the reasons I enjoy the hobby is due to the inherent

challenges, this is one of them, so without further ado, I give you the most mythical of

deals and certainly the one that has robbed more magicians and card men of otherwise

their time better spent on better ideas, the center deal.

Step Centers

This is an idea of Marlo’s covered on the Cardician DVD and unfortunately so, in my

opinion, because I consider it one of the worst center deals and would have much rather

he devoted his time to something else. (It is also a technique original to Marlo from what

I understand.) Basically, the idea is that you take the top half of the deck with the cards

you want to deal off at the bottom of this half and place it on the deck in an angle jogged

position. From here, you bevel this top half of the deck back towards the rest of the pack

so the top card is square with the deck, and as you progress towards the middle, the cards

become increasingly jogged. Then, you take the top card and bevel it slightly in the

jogged manner in order to help disguise the fact that you have this step there. (See figure

588.)

Figure 588.

Now already you should see the problem here, the deck doesn’t look natural, not from the

front and not from the sides, thus I don’t use this method and wouldn’t recommend it.

Essentially, you’ll attempt to hold the deck in roughly a mechanics grip, with the jog

protruding between your middle finger and ring finger, where your right hand middle

finger will move to perform the take. Essentially, you’re going to perform the take much

as you would for a bottom deal, except instead of reaching under the deck, you’ll reach

under the jog and take the bottom card in the jog. Naturally, in order to facilitate this

process and establish consistency, you must perform an apparently angle push-off of the

top card.

I mention this deal not because I expect you to learn it, but because it gives you some

ideas as to the challenges involved in dealing from the middle of the deck and how they

may be addressed. In order to impress upon the you the challenges in center dealing I’ll

give a bit of the explanation of the theory as I’ve worked it out in my study. For a top

deal, you control the deck and deal off the top card, while for a second deal, you control

the top card and the deck. So far this is simple enough, then you have a bottom deal,

where you must control the deck and gain access to the bottom card, again, fairly simple.

A Greek deal is somewhat more complicated as you must control the deck, gain access to

the second from bottom card and possibly control the bottom card. With a center deal

this all changes adding a new level of complexity, you don’t control the deck, you control

the top half of the deck plus you control the bottom half of the deck, you maintain a

division at the point where you wish to deal off the cards and you must somehow gain

access to the cards in the middle of the deck. Logistically, this is a monumental jump and

we’ll see as we go along where this causes problems and how those problems are

addressed, Marlo’s step method (he wouldn’t claim it was his best) provides a simple

solution to this problem, unfortunately not the most elegant one. I’d also like to stress at

this point that rules and ideas regarding center dealing simply aren’t absolute. Someone

mentioned that it takes ten years to learn or master a center deal, well that simply isn’t

true, it really depends a great deal on the technique they use, some techniques are easier

(the step method) others are more difficult. As for making a center deal look exactly like

a top…that’s another matter.

Full Step Centers

This is the first idea I had in regard to how I might deal centers and it was based on a

video I saw of someone demonstrating the technique…I really doubt this is how he was

doing it on reflection, but it was the idea that occurred to me at the time…it isn’t a good

one. Basically, you take the top half of the deck, with the cards you want to deal off on

the bottom and stagger it a half or quarter inch to the right. (See figure 589.)

Figure 589.

Now, naturally, you’re going to have to cover your setup here and so the way you hold

the deck, is to place your thumb along the edge of that top packet covering the step. Then

you hold the top half of the deck between your forefinger and base of the thumb, while

you control the bottom half via inward pressure from your last three fingers. These

fingers rest high on the right edge of the deck, helping to preserve the step, but also

maintaining some control over the packets. (See figure 590.)

Figure 590.

You then perform the take at the back of the deck behind the fingers and pull the card

around those fingers. The center deal occurs in the same manner, as you would perform a

bottom deal. (See figure 591 for a top and figure 592 for a center.)

Figure 591.

Figure 592.

Again, this isn’t the best method, nor even the easiest or most controlled, but it’s another

idea to think about.

Angle Separation Grip

After learning about Lennart Green’s angle separation technique, (one I would definitely

recommend to any serious magician or card worker for that matter) I immediately

thought it would be interesting and effective to perform center deals in this manner. I

played around with it briefly and decided there were a number of flaws. First, the grip

seemed somewhat unnatural for a deal, and it remains so in my opinion. Second, at the

time, I was trying to use a packet of cards collectively in the deck together and these

created an odd look in the deck from the front, one that was unacceptable. Third, there

was the issue of staggering the cards like this in the first place. I toyed with the idea

further and decided it would be a nice method for dealing cards from multiple locations

in the deck so long as they weren’t together. Later, I read Drawing Room Deceptions and

Guy Hollingworth had the same idea before I did, he states that apparently Martin A.

Nash had the idea before him and Marlo also examined it, so certainly it is not novel, but

it remains interesting. It isn’t particularly practical from a gambling standpoint and finds

it’s application then in the world of magic. For my part, I used it by performing the angle

separation technique while displaying the deck as random to the audience, effectively

separating a particular hand, and then dealing the cards off. I understand Martin A. Nash

applies it in a similar manner to Guy Hollingworth who performs an insertion and then

demonstrates how the cards are dealt from various portions of the deck in an impressive

gambling display. For those interested, Guy outlines the technique in his book, though

I’d recommend in this case that you consult Lennart Green’s work.

Pre-Emptive Centers

This goes back to the Greek deal method I described earlier, namely, the method under

alternative pre-emptive Greeks. For those who skipped over the section, the concept is

that you cop the bottom half of the deck prior to performing the deal and then simply

bottom deal the cards, effectively performing a center deal without all the trouble. There

is however, an added complication when center dealing, namely the need and difficulty in

hiding this coped portion of the deck and so it is on this point that I’ll focus.

Basically, there are two concerns, three really, but the third we won’t worry about. The

first, is that the coped packet is visible from the front. In order to avoid this I recommend

coping the bottom half of the deck quite far back, between the ring finger and hand and

holding the forefinger and middle finger in such a manner that they obstruct a view from

the front. (See figure 593.)

Figure 593.

The second concern is that this protruding packet will become visible from the right side.

Now there are some trade offs and ideas here. First, hopefully you can position yourself

in such a manner that this angle is not a concern, much like holding a card in tenkai palm.

Second, because you’ll be dealing with your right hand, you can make use of that hand

and even that arm to obstruct the view, it may benefit you then to bring your arms

together much more than usual and perform a very tight dealing action. If you perform a

decent toss of the card once it’s taken from this deck your possibilities of expediting this

process will increase substantially.

All of this leaves you with one final concern, namely that a spectator may notice the deck

is not as thick as it should be and honestly, I don’t have a solution for you on this one

except perhaps, misdirection. It also helps to use plastic cards so the natural thickness of

the deck isn’t as great and so neither is the disparity. Unfortunately, either way you are

left with problems, for example what to do if you run out of cards in the top packet and

need to continue dealing? Still, in the right circumstances this is a very easy center deal

and one you may find effective, or may find you are able to adapt until it is effective.

Drawbridge Centers

Again, we have a deal based on a concept introduced as a Greek deal by the same name

and again, not terribly practical, but perhaps interesting. The concept is that you’ll hold a

tiny break around the upper right corner of the deck with your middle finger and as you

come to perform the take, under the cover if the right hand if possible, your middle finger

will pull down the bottom half of the deck and allow access to the center cards.

Basically, from this point on it’s like a bottom deal. Again, I’m not sure of the

practicality, I certainly wouldn’t call it ideal, but interesting and certainly one of the

easily center deal methods. (See figure 594 for an exposed view.)

Figure 594.

Note that I’d use the cigar bottom deal handling or at least a similar handling if

performing this deal.

Side Strike Centers

From here, we progress away from the odd, though somewhat easier center deals and into

the more practical center deals, what I would consider, the “real” center deals. Perhaps

somewhat ironically, a side strike center deal actually works quite well and it relatively

easy so I’ll begin at that point for those who wish to use side strike dealing exclusively.

You begin with the deck in a rough mechanic’s grip, with a few special notes based on

the center deal theory I mentioned earlier. First of all, your pinky holds a break near the

back of the deck just below the cards you wish to center deal. You actually don’t really

need to do anything with this pinky, if you use it to grip the lower half of the deck firmly

and allow the tip to crest the edge of the bottom packet it will automatically maintain a

break. Your ring finger and middle finger maintain a similar hold on the bottom packet,

but extend up slightly higher in order to provide some stability and a slight squaring force

to the top packet. Your thumb, while it wraps around the upper right corner of the deck is

focused primarily on controlling the top packet by applying force on the upper right

corner and driving the packet into the base of the thumb. Your thumb lays across the top

of the deck pointing towards the upper right corner as is usual for the side strike deal.

(See figure 595.)

Figure 595.

You should be careful that the break does not show in any way at the front of the deck; it

is merely a break in the rear.

Now, if you examined the technique for dealing bottoms, you’ll find this is similar, in a

sense it is easier and yet in a sense it is more difficult due to the complication of

controlling the top packet. You strike as per the normal procedure on the side of the deck

between your pinky and ring finger with the middle finger of your right hand. In the

process of this strike, your fingertip enters just slightly below the bottom edge of the top

packet so that the whole top packet is pulled up in the back. (See figure 596.)

Figure 596.

From here, as your thumb “swoops” down from the left, your middle finger applies a

slight outward and downward (toward you) force on the bottom card of the top packet.

The downward portion of this force is important, as, due to the forefinger position of the

left hand, a simple sideways take will create problems as the card catches on the

forefinger. As your thumb “strikes” the deck, it actually pushes slightly left helping to

separate the bottom card of the top packet from the rest of the packet. You’ll find the

greatest difficulty here is maintaining control of the top packet, which has a tendency to

“pull out”, you may find that adjusting the angle of the deck assists in this control.

This actually makes for quite an effective center deal if you take time to learn it and

practice it sufficiently. The one other idea I might offer is that you consider lifting the

top half of the deck regardless of whether you are dealing tops or centers for the sake of

consistency, however, this may not prove the best method, so you shall have to ascertain

that for yourself. I’m still working on a better method of controlling the top packet, but

none has struck me as yet so we shall see how events progress in the future.

Some of you may find yourselves concerned about the left middle and ring fingers getting

in the way. You should dismiss this fear as if performed quickly and at the correct

moment, the lift of the top packet will allow the cards to pass over the two fingers in

question.

“V” Style Strike Centers

This is one of the techniques that has yielded me the best results though it remains flawed

and does not display the elegance I’m pursuing it is nevertheless interesting and perhaps

for some, satisfactory. The idea behind the deal is that I found a great number of

problems were arising due to my attempts at maintain a break at the back of the deck and

not at the front. The thing is that based on this handling, the best portion of the deck

from which to deal is the back, but I also consider dealing from the back of the deck

somewhat unnatural. Thus, the following idea was put into practice and it exists in two

conceptions, of which you may determine your own favorite.

You begin with a sort of high master’s grip again, forefinger at the upper right corner and

the last three fingers at the right side with the thumb on top. The significant difference in

this case is that rather than having the pinky hold the break, the forefinger holds the

break. This is significantly better than the side strike method because there are not two

opposing forces on the top packet, it also renders the break more accessible near the

front. The last three fingers of the hand then control only the bottom half of the deck,

though the pinky may assist in providing stability. (See figure 597.)

Figure 597.

You’ll notice that the first major concern arising at this point is that the break may

become visible from the front. In order to reduce this problem, we first resort to

minimizing the break as much as possible, however, the break requires sufficient size that

one is able to perform a take. The second concept then is to ensure the forefinger is

wrapped as much as possible around the front edge of the deck. (See figure 598.)

Figure 598.

Third, you can apply pressure from above with your thumb, buckling the top portion so

the break only forms on the right side of the deck where you will hopefully cover it with

either angles, or your dealing hand. (See figure 598a.)

Figure 598a.

While this is helpful, it does not cover the break fully, thus we move to the next concept

and variation of this deal, namely shifting to a more Erdnase styled grip where the middle

finger applies the pressure on the upper right corner of the deck and holds the break, thus

providing a much better screen from the front. (See figure 599.)

Figure 599.

Now regardless of which variant you prefer, we progress to the take, which is identical in

either case. You use your right hand and approach the deck from the right, your middle

and fore fingers are extended, ring finger and pinky curled in. Your thumb is tip down,

while the middle finger and forefinger are tip up allowing you to use the fingers as

pincers. When you reach the deck, your forefinger moves out of the way and in front of

the deck, while your middle finger gets inserted into the break and your thumb moves

above the deck. Now, if you wanted to perform a top, you’d perform the take with your

thumb, if you want to perform a center, you perform a mock take with your thumb while

really performing the take with your middle finger. (See figure 600.)

Figure 600.

This works surprisingly well, though it requires some measure of practice. You’ll find

that because of the nature of the break the fingers at the right side of the deck down get in

the way and generally this process is somewhat easy. There remains then one problem,

namely the fact that the break is a bulging eye sore from the right. I have two

suggestions on how to eliminate or at least reduce this problem. The first, is to tilt your

left hand slightly so the break is directed more towards the table whenever possible, this

is however somewhat of a cheap attempt at covering the problem and not the most natural

one. The second option then is the one I use and I feel addresses the problem reasonably

well, that is, when you aren’t dealing centers, you close the break. This occurs by simply

lowering the top portion onto the bottom portion as much as possible and maintaining a

tiny break at the upper right corner of the deck (this break is forgivable and shouldn’t

cause you any trouble). Now as you go to perform the take for a top, your middle finger

moves under the deck instead of into the break. Then, when you want to perform a center

(which should be rare compared with tops), you lift up slightly at the break and allow

your middle finger to insert itself for the take, then close it up immediately thereafter.

This action is not nearly as obvious as it may sound when performed well and comes

fairly naturally, you may find that it also helps to manipulate the lower packet

accordingly in order to expedite the process.

Push-off Centers

I saved push-off centers for last because I consider them the most elegant, though I’m not

entirely convinced they’re the most effective, perhaps in part because they offer a new

dimension of difficulty to the problem. Before I continue I’ll try to present you with the

trouble here, which really find’s its roots elsewhere. First, there are all the problems

previously associated with a center deal, especially the “V” style center deal. In addition

to this, there are the problems found in a push-off bottom deal, such as knuckle flash and

finger flare. There is one other point though, namely, when you push off the top card you

create a certain instability by creating a change in the deck and so on top of everything

else, you have this force to contend with. The three ideas I’ll present here may not be the

most sophisticated, though I really can’t say having never been exposed to center deal

technique aside from the aforementioned Marlo DVDs and Guy Holliingworth’s book.

Guy incidentally stated he found the best technique was the complete absence of

technique so you may take that as you see fit. Nevertheless, these ideas work reasonably

well for me and will hopefully provide some insights to you as well. I caution you that a

great deal of practice is necessary, if it took you two weeks to learn the pass, you had best

allocate more than that for a center deal, in fact I would suggest you allocate several

hundred hours over a short period of time to dedicated practice. At the end of this time

you may determine that I was wrong and that there is a better method, if so, excellent!

Write to me and tell me what it is so I too can improve, or sell it or keep it to yourself as

you see fit, but I will have been glad to at least offered you some thoughts on the subject.

I have three basic ideas I’m going to suggest to you here, the last being the most effective

and the first, seemingly to me, the most natural…though neither being the best. You

would do well to study the “V” style strike deal first because I’ll refer to the grip and

handling of those in the first two methods, which are based off those two handlings.

First, start with the deck held as per the original “V” style handling, with the top portion

controlled by the forefinger. From here, you’ll deal cards off normally by pushing them

off sideways with the thumb. When you come to the point where you want to deal

centers, you’ll use your middle finger and ring finger to slide out a card from the bottom

of the top packet, while the forefinger maintains control of the top packet at the front and

the pinky maintains control of the bottom packet at the back. (See figure 601 for a view

without the top card.)

Figure 601.

Naturally, you would need to perform the typical take and pullback action standard to a

push-off shuffle. You may have problems getting the card out while maintaining control

of the top packet, in order to avoid this I find it helps to pull the card downward slightly

first so it comes from the jogged just slightly towards you to begin with.

I experimented trying to do this same thing with the second style “V” style handling, but

found it was ineffective, you may have more luck than I depending on the deck, subtleties

in the manner you are holding the cards and length of your fingers.

Another more elegant, but more difficult method is to simulate the handling addressed in

buckle Greek deals, method three. In other words, the deck is held in the high master’s

grip between your forefinger and base of the thumb, your pinky holds a break at the back

of the deck and your other two fingers are on the side of the deck with your thumb across

the top. (See figure 602.)

Insert figure 602.

Now, when you want to deal off a center card, use your pinky to lever it out slightly (this

isn’t easy!). From this point, your middle finger and ring finger assist in performing a

regular push-off from about the joints of the fingers under the cover of the top card.

There is however one slight change to the normal procedure. In this case, before you are

able to perform the take, you must curl your pinky back in and regain your break. (See

figure 603, figure 604, and figure 605 for views of the process from the bottom.)

Figure 603.

Figure 604.

Figure 605.

This is a tough process, especially getting it up to speed, but I feel it’s well worth the

practice if you intend to perform a lot of center deals, and especially if you already use

the earlier side push-off methods mirrored by this one.

Finally, there is a sort of odd front push-off where you step the top half of the deck

forward slightly (a step seems, at least for me, a much easier way of maintaining the

division between the two halves of the deck). In this case, the step is covered almost

perfectly at the front by the position of your forefinger. (See figure 606.)

Figure 606.

From this point, you’ll perform forward angled push-offs of the top cards when you wish

to deal tops (as in the shifted grip push-off bottoms) and when you wish to deal a center,

you’ll push the card out with your forefinger. (See figure 607.)

Figure 607.

Naturally, this is somewhat visible and causes both knuckle flash and potentially finger

flare, but if you cover it sufficiently with your right hand and for an uninitiated audience

it works well.

Stud Centers

The only method I’ll offer here is the strike method mirroring the stud bottoms and stud

Greeks. So then, you hold the deck in somewhat of a mechanic’s grip with a break at the

back (see earlier descriptions for the basic grip). Now, as you go to perform the deal, you

insert your thumb into the break and if you wish to deal a center, you use your thumb to

perform the take as in the previous deals. (See figure 608.)

Figure 608.

I find it helps to buckle the bottom card of the top packet as I’m inserting my thumb into

the break, making it easier to pull out. The only concern here is that you must watch any

angles where the break is visible in order to keep from exposing the break and thus your

subterfuge.

Dealing Centers (One-handed)

I told someone I was getting the aforementioned Marlo DVDs and mentioned that he

taught a one-handed second deal and the magician in question asked me if I was a

masochist. There’s something to be said for that view, the one-handed center deal is not

taken lightly, then again, everyone needs a vice, or so they tell me, and if mine is

dedication to card control and sleight of hand I don’t feel I have much to worry about.

However, given the nature of the deal I won’t dedicate a great deal of effort to explaining

them.

Throw Centers

Here you have one of two choices, either the first or second variation (not listed as such)

of the push-off center technique described previously. Personally, I find the second is

more elegant and the first is easier. Naturally, this is the means by which you will get the

card out from the deck, you then simply combine the throw motion with it for the

complete shuffle.

Spin Centers

I’m going to cover this deal in two parts, first, the traditional center deal and second an

angle separation variant where the cards are located in different portions of the deck.

In the case of the normal spin center deal, you hold the break as per the “V” style grip,

with your forefinger, while controlling the lower half of the deck with your pinky. When

you are ready to perform the center deal, in the action of pushing off the top card and

twisting your wrist inward, you use the tip of your middle finger to angle jog the bottom

card of the top packet. (See figure 609 for an exposed view.)

Figure 609.

From this point you relocate your other fingers as you normally would for a spin deal and

deal out the center card instead of the top card. This process of dealing from the center is

quite easy and actually the basis for the original handling (not as a deal). If you wanted

to refine this handling, you could try using your pinky to maintain the break and only

raising the front of the deck as you are about to deal centers. I don’t deal one-handed

centers often enough to play around with it significantly, but it’s a thought for the

ambitious among you.

Now, if you wanted to perform an interesting demonstration, you could take say four

aces, place them in different parts of the deck and insert them, then angle jog them as you

generally would for performing the spin deal action. (I am describing this technique not

because it is practical as anything other than a demonstration, but simply because it fits so

well with the technique). Your grip around them would then involve the cards protruding

on the right side in an angled manner with the middle finger above the upper right corner

while the ring finger and pinky are below the cards. (See figure 610.)

Figure 610.

Now, you would perform a series of deals dealing out the aces with one-hand to

demonstrate how it could be done even when the cards were in different parts of the deck.

Stud Centers

A stud center is obviously just a throw center minus the throw and with the addition of

the stud deal movement, again, I’m sure you can easily combine the parts together in

order to create a successful deal. For some reason I tend to find myself performing it

within the grace and finesse of bottoms or Greeks, something to do with a greater

difficulty in getting the cards out.

Evolution to the Count’s Dealing Grip

We’ve covered quite a large number of false deals at this point from a number of

different grips along with their faults and advantages. Now, I didn’t take this particular

course in my discovery of the Count’s grip, but, later in looking over various shuffling

ideas I came to the conclusion that it is in many ways a very logical shift. It isn’t a

perfect one as you’ll discover later, but it is a logical one and that is what I’d like to cover

now.

Basically, the idea of the Count’s grip is really born out of the goal to perform all deals

from the same grip and generally, our ideas of dealing, for whatever reason (perhaps it’s

the design of the thumb) tend to revolve around a side or angled push-off. I don’t really

know why this is, but it seems that most laymen find this the natural way of dealing and

granted, it certainly does have many advantages. So this starting point and one of the

primary deals I covered with you earlier was a sort of high master’s grip, basically a grip

where the pressure on the deck lies between the forefinger in the upper corner and the

base of the thumb in the lower corner. You may call this a modified mechanic’s grip, or

a master’s grip or something else, but whatever the case, this is where we began. Now,

as I’ve demonstrated you are able to, fairly successfully, perform most of your false

dealing from this grip. I know the master’s grip was Marlo’s attempt to perform all deals

from the same grip and once I’ve reviewed it in detail I shall share my thoughts on the

subject, but that will be in a later document. The grip is however troublesome as access

to the cards is not the best and perhaps more significantly, the fingers are in the way

whenever you want to perform a false deal.

From that point then I mentioned earlier how I evolved to a rough Erdnase grip, where

the pressure was between the middle finger in the upper right corner and the base of the

thumb in the lower left. This deal is also quick flexible and in some regards I’d say it is

more stable, plus has the advantage of few fingers getting in the way, if any. I

demonstrated that most of your false deals may originate from this grip with reasonable

success. Ultimately though, you either end up with knuckle face as a concern, or fingers

in the way, or deal with the somewhat awkward nature of the grip and consequent

instability.

There was another approach to solving the earlier “rough mechanic’s” or “high master’s”

grip, that was in moving to the shifted grip I described on a couple of occasions. Again,

it is possible to perform most false deals from this grip, but you encounter the problem

once again of fingers in the way and you also compromise economy of motion and add

silhouette concerns. The reality is also that performing the likes of a center deal or Greek

deal is tough at best from this grip.

Thus, we took the mechanics grip approach again, but from a different angle, dealing off

the front like in a Greek deal and thus reducing the number of fingers in the way to one.

This is a nice grip with nice dealing possibilities, it’s also stable, but ultimately, it tends

to fail. This leads naturally to the Count’s grip though which eliminates the finger in the

way, remains stable, adds cover, and facilitates a Greek deal and center deal.

Just since I’m on the subject, for those who didn’t notice, the other effective method of

performing all deals from the same grip was the side strike method, though it certainly

has many drawbacks. In terms of one-handed dealing, I prefer spin seconds, but throw

seconds also facilitate performing all your false deals from the same grip and have the

added advantage of making decent stud deals…though a spin deal could be altered to

perform stud deals as well. Finally, though I didn’t investigate it here at length, the

notion of dealing from the back of the deck merits attention if you feel it isn’t too

suspicious.

The Count’s Dealing Grip

It would be difficult to understate my pride in this grip, in spite of it’s imperfections, I am

very pleased with it, it represents my successful attempt to perform all deals from the

same grip and to do them well. This is definitely my preferred grip, particularly for

centers, Greeks and bottoms and I suspect in many regards others will come to appreciate

it as well. It is not without faults as I will discuss later, but it makes some of the most

difficult sleights accessible and eliminates any real need to learn another grip save for

dealing one-handed.

Ironically, I discovered this grip, at least an earlier conception of it, when I was first

learning to bottom deal. I was sitting at a desk practicing bottom dealing from

somewhere around a shifted or mechanic’s grip and doing so somewhat slowly as I was

still having problems. My brother who knew and still knows virtually nothing of cards

asked what I was doing as it seemed tedious and monotonous to him. I explained that it

was very difficult and that I would like to see him try, so he said ok and took the pack in

his hand and began dealing. Naturally, this did not involve the elegant mechanic’s grip I

was using, rather it was something that seemed more clumsy, almost the grip you might

use on a bat, with all four fingers on the one side of the deck wrapping around it slightly

with the thumb across the top. He sat and dealt off cards, then said everyone once and a

while I was pulling one from the middle, which he attempted to do and to his credit

succeeded at through the disorderly nature of the pack. I mentioned that the cards were

coming from the bottom and he needed to make it invisible, so it looked like he was

dealing from the top. He pointed out that mine deals weren’t invisible and so I stated that

this was why I needed to practice more.

What interested me about his method, was he was dealing the cards from the front of the

deck where no fingers would get in the way, his grip was, granted, unsophisticated and

far from superb, but the idea was an interesting one to me. I took it and tried dealing in

that manner a bit and then gradually began shifting it, moving my forefinger underneath,

refining my handling, loosening up and shifting the fingers some more. I continued to

refine this slightly for a period of some days and weeks, while still practicing my regular

bottom deal. At the time I was not particularly adept at card handling, but I was familiar

with the glide and I was aware of the Greek deal concept, so the concept of gliding the

bottom card on the deck in order to perform a Greek deal likewise seemed appealing. I

hadn’t begun practicing a second deal at the time, but I figured I could also glide the top

card with my thumb in order to perform a second deal, for the time being though, my

efforts centered around a bottom deal.

I quickly came to love this grip for bottom dealing as I discovered I could snap my wrist

out in order to perform the deal at great speed and so I continued my refinements.

Gradually, I began practicing Greek dealing from this grip and to a very limited extent,

seconds, while at the same time searching for a method of dealing centers…that search

was less than successful. The more I worked with this deal however and the more I

learned of the faults of other false deals the more this deal seemed appealing. I remember

sitting in front of a mirror one night, exposing the view entirely and dealing both tops and

bottoms, watching to see if I could see the top card come off of the deck and getting to

the point where I couldn’t, even when I was dealing tops. Thus was born the invisible

deal that has only improved since then.

This deal is not perfect, but I found that if nothing else, it makes the very difficult Greek

deal quite easy and that I think is appealing to a great many. It is actually quite recently

that I finally came up with what I consider to be a satisfactory, dare I say, even a good

center deal from this grip. Originally I had intended to explore all the variations on

technique of this grip, of which I have numerous including probably five very different

center deal handlings to go along with different incarnations of the Greek deal, double

deal, bottom deal and second deal. However, unexpected time constraints have limited

this exploration and so I shall only examine for you some of the better ideas, though

perhaps at a later time I’ll share the variations that developed during the search.

Perhaps then it is time to begin with an explanation of this most wonderful grip.

Naturally, you take the deck in your right hand. This grip is fairly high and primarily

between your ring finger and middle finger and the flesh of the hand. This is much

further forward than say a mechanic’s grip but also oriented different. Your middle

finger is just slightly more than halfway towards the front of the deck on the right side,

while your ring finger is behind it and your pinky is at the lower right corner though still

on the right side. It also wraps slightly around the back corner. The height of these three

fingers is just enough that they barely crest the edge of the deck. Your forefinger is

curled under the deck so that it bends sharply at the second joint from the tip. The

fingertip itself rests around the middle of the card, perhaps a fraction of an inch forward.

Finally, your thumb lies across the top of the deck directed towards the upper right corner

with the tip resting perhaps half an inch down from the top and half an inch in from the

right, perhaps a little less. (See figure 611 from the top and figure 612 from the bottom.)

Figure 611.

Figure 612.

This grip really doesn’t waste any part of the hand as each part performs a function or

potential function, and again, that is one of its beauties. So now I believe, you are ready

to begin dealing.

Dealing Seconds

I should perhaps first mention that I recently discovered there is a bottom deal called the

“SF Bottom deal” that is similar in a sense to this deal, however, from what I am aware

this deal is much more refined in spite of the fact that the two are visually somewhat

similar. The two have no relation to one another, the “SF Bottom deal” dates to well

before I became involved with cards and I was not aware of the deal until well after I had

completed my work on the Count’s grip and even today I remain ignorant of the details of

this deal.

Now, as you go to perform your take, it will be a three finger action, though only two of

those fingers really see any action. These are the middle finger and thumb, which

approach the deck from the front and perform a strike on the upper left corner of the

deck. (There is a beauty of working with the upper left corner of the cards since it allows

you to perform a Benzais cop or snap deal if you approach the issue correctly.) The hand

motion approaching the deck resembles a controlled snap or whip action as the wrist flick

I generally employ is instrumental it adding considerable speed to the initial portion of

the deal. The hand and wrist then coil inward from an extended position to the front and

slightly to the right of the deck so that the forefinger ends up along the left edge of the

deck (though it arrives there a fraction of a second after the middle finger and thumb.

The middle finger for its part makes contact on the bottom of the deck in the upper left

corner around where a pip would be if they placed pips in that corner of the card. The

thumb strikes the upper left corner in the same spot on the top of the deck. (See figure

613 and figure 614 from the left side.)

Figure 613.

Figure 614.

You should note the position of the right hand, which is twisted to a slightly unnaturally

high angle. This is yet another beautiful aspect of this grip, most grips involve a slight

amount of neck tying, in fact they almost require it, but the Count’s grip does not, in fact

generally the deck remains roughly level the whole time I’m dealing. However, as you

move your hand in to perform the take, it completely covers a view of the deck and in

particular the take from anyone looking from the front, or even as far over as the eleven

o’clock position (perhaps even the ten o’clock?) and everyone to the right of this point

(from your perspective, naturally being across the table from you this would be their left).

Meaning that only a very small portion of the table (those between about the ten and

seven o’clock positions are able to see the take. In order to increase this advantage

further, I turn myself slightly so I’m facing about the ten or nine o’clock position in order

to aid in dealing to those on my left, while I am still able to move my hand and toss the

cards to those on my left without shifting my body. This is actually completely natural,

since you are able to deal much more effectively to your right than you left, though

granted one should remain aware of the situation and shift if the need arises. Finally, if

you had the need, you could always tilt the deck slightly to the right and obscure a top

view from your left, though I find this is generally unnecessary. The entire condition is

beautiful as it seems wonderfully fair and the deal occurs so quickly that a strong

retention of vision occurs on the part of the audience while in fact they saw nothing for a

fraction of a second. (I would recommend you try this in front of a mirror in order to

fully appreciate how brilliant it is.) Basically, it is like getting all the benefits of neck

tying without actually neck tying. (I should note that whenever possible one needs to

remain mindful of angles, particularly with this deal which although it does not require

them, it benefits from them considerably. Often you’ll find yourself in a situation where

you are able to manipulate the situation, either by where you choose to sit or otherwise in

order to better control the situation.

Now, if you’re dealing a top, your thumb simply performs the take on the top card by

both uncoiling your hand and moving your hand forward simultaneously, incidentally

setting you up to toss the card if you so desire. The take action involves first drawing the

card off slightly with your thumb, then taking hold of it from the bottom and positioning

your forefinger along the edge at the same corner. (See figure 615 and figure 616,)

Figure 615.

Figure 616.

This works quite well, though I should note, depending on the circumstances, you may

not wish to flick your wrist but merely move your hand forward, you may also wish to

position your forefinger under the card slightly, but more on that later.

It is important when you perform the take that you do so in a level manner and be

mindful of this because there is a tendency to move the hand slightly downward, which is

harmful later. I once had someone sit and listen to my deals in order to detect the false

deals by sound and he did reasonably well, at which point I refined my handling

considerably, level is the way to go. There is sound on this deal and you want there to be

sound because you can’t eliminate it from the second, center and Greek, but you want it

to come from a level take. This level take will help to unify the sound of each of the

deals and when in doubt you’ll be able to cover the slight differences with other sounds.

Now, in order to perform the second deal the key issue is timing. You’re going to pivot

the top card to the right, exposing the upper right corner of the deck. It is important for

you to make use of the tips of your middle finger and ring finger to ensure only one card

pivots over. (See figure 617 for an exaggerated view.)

Figure 617.

Now, I recently read a discussion on the subject of the second deal, whether you should

perform a push-off or strike and perhaps most notably, brief size. I will probably write a

long dissertation on the subject at some point but for now the question is the illusion of

this particular deal. Originally, I used a small brief and this is still a good option, but one

thing I discovered is if I used a larger brief there was a much better chance I would only

get one card and thus have been using a larger brief for the most part. The issue here, and

the issue that separates this from most other such deals, is the hand cover. If you time it

correctly, you are able to pivot the card, perform your take, and pivot the card back while

the deck is out of view. What’s so great about this? It creates the illusion of a stationary

thumb and I assure you, that illusion is very strong. Your hand moves in, the thumb is

stationary, you perform the strike and the hand moves away, again, the thumb is

stationary, completely so, which is a huge advantage when in the company of

experienced card men. How I accomplish this, is to, when I’m performing the take,

actually move my right hand in closer than it needs to come, by about an inch as though

the momentum carried it and just as the hand provides cover, I pivot the top card. Then,

in the start of a forward again, I perform the take and immediately pivot the top card back

into position. Try this in front of a mirror; you’ll it works very well. (See figure 618,

figure 619, and figure 620 (third picture is slightly exposed).)

Figure 618.

Figure 619.

Figure 620.

Incidentally, another advantage of this hand cover is that the card you are dealing from

the deck only becomes visible just as it is about to come off the deck. Meaning that,

while the economy of motion is sacrificed by a forward take, you make up for it by

reducing the window of version to an even smaller one than with a side take.

Now again, how exactly you decide to handle this depends largely on the environment, if

someone is sitting right next to you or looking over your shoulder a very small brief is

ideal, but if at all possible, making use of the angles and cover is much better. Another

point for if someone is looking over your shoulder and you need to perform a small brief

but also a clean take, you can apply pressure with your middle finger and ring finger in

order to bevel the deck slightly to the left and help ensure you pivot only one card and

that only one card is exposed. Finally, in the event of hangers (cards that jut out from the

deck where you performed the false deal due to multiple cards coming rather than one), I

do two things in order to hopefully stave off any potential disaster. First, I use my thumb

to shift the top card slightly forward covering the hanger, in other words making it so

there aren’t any cards that extend farther out than the top card. (The secret here is that

you will never get hangers on anything but a false deal because normally when you deal

off the top card, while other cards may come, the one that will come the farthest is the

second card, namely the new top card.) Second, as I bring my right hand back to perform

the next take I do so in such a manner that the palm strikes the front edge of the deck,

thereby aligning the cards and pushing in any hangers. (See figure 621.)

Figure 621.

This is a good reason to perform a quick deal and hopefully a “tight” deal, in case you

end up suddenly having to go back and correct a problem like this you’ll hopefully be

able to do so. Another little flourish you can do if this is a problem is to, immediately

after performing the take, swing the card back inward, coiling for a toss and then tossing

the card across the table to the given player. In this motion covering the deck, you can

move your forefinger from beneath the deck up to the front where it can square the cards

quickly before returning below the deck. You may even find you are able to use your

right hand in the process of the flourish to square the cards. (See figure 622 and 622a for

the flourish motion).

Figure 622.

Figure 622a.

On reflection, depending on the circumstances you may wish to make this flourish

motion a standard part of your deal, first so it doesn’t look out of place, second as a sort

of casual flourish and third because it allow even more cover for thumb movement.

Really though, once you become adept at the deal hangers are very rare. I find a delicate

touch and a level take virtually assure this, though you may wish to try playing around

slightly with your handling if you’re having problems. Generally, the only reason for

hangers may come with a particularly sticky deck, in which case you may wish to

consider not false dealing depending on what is at stake and the awareness level of your

audience. Ideally, your audience isn’t alter and even if you have a hanger you are able to

correct it before a problem develops.

I think then that I have covered to a reasonable extent dealing tops and seconds from the

Count’s grip and we’ll progress to doubles.

Dealing Doubles

While we’re going to examine a strike double deal and therefore a deal that is often

troublesome I have to say that of all the strike double deals in existence this one is one of

the most favorable. As your right hand moves in to perform the take and under the cover

of that hand, your thumb will glide the top card back slightly exposing the card beneath

it. Then your thumb will strike on both of them and take both of them forward. Your

forefinger will move in on the corner and to an extent the front edge providing a squaring

force. At the same time, you’ll use the three last fingers of the left hand as a squaring

guide along the right side of the deck. This process offers a nearly universal guarantee

that the cards are square as you deal them immediately to the table. (See figure 623,

figure 624, and figure 625. (Figure 623 has the right hand removed in order to

demonstrate the shifted nature of the top card.))

Figure 623.

Figure 624.

Figure 625.

The process is really that simple, don’t toss the cards, deal them to the table.

Dealing Bottoms

Again, what can I say, this builds directly on the material I explained under the second

deal. Instead of performing a take of the top card, your middle finger performs a take of

the bottom card. The take location of the card regardless of the is universally the upper

left corner around the missing pip so you are consistent in that manner and you make use

of the angles as described before. I have used this deal many times, in both lay and fast

company and not once have I been caught. It is a bottom deal involving no fingers in the

way, no finger movement, no get ready, no knuckle flash, nothing, the card is simply

dealt, you cannot get simpler than that. (See figure 626 for a view from the bottom.)

Figure 626.

My only real word of caution would be to please ensure your take is level. I’ve had

numerous times when I’m practicing at a high table and been dealing off rounds of poker

only to arrive at the bottom deal and hear a slap as the card strikes the edge of the table

due to a pre-mature drop in its level. You also need to make sure the deal makes noise, it

is very easy from this grip to perform a silent bottom deal, but you want noise so it is the

same as the others, just remember, level take.

It is I suppose worth mentioning that in my experience dealing the cards off in a forward

manner so they remain square with the right and left edges of the deck during the entire

take is the best method. Sometimes during a bottom deal a portion of the card may slip to

the left slights and become exposed. However brief, this is an unnecessary and

undesirable tip-off, especially if someone is directly to your left.

Dealing Greeks

One of the greatest incentives for switching to the Count’s grip in my opinion is the

Greek deal; it is simply the easiest method of dealing Greeks anywhere, period. Really,

this makes sense because an entire portion of the deal was specifically designed to

facilitate the Greek deal, which is more than I can say for pretty much any other deal.

The difference between a Greek deal and a bottom deal is simply this. With a Greek

deal, you use your forefinger to apply a slightly backward pressure on the bottom card,

gliding it back about half an inch and exposing the card beneath it. (See figure 627 for a

view from the bottom.)

Figure 627.

From this point you’ll find you are able to perform your conventional bottom deal take,

or, if you chose not to glide the card quite so far, you could perform a double bottom deal

simply by adding a squaring take. Now, the issue of exactly when and how to glide this

card arises, I actually have two other methods I sometimes use, but I feel generally this

one is the best. While the act of gliding the card is certainly subtle and thus one could

easily perform it openly before each Greek deal, I don’t recommend this as it creates

unnecessary risk and difficult handling. If you wish to perform the glide for each deal, I

recommend you do so under cover of the hand as you did with the second deal.

However, personally, I generally simply glide the card once at the beginning of the

shuffling sequence and leave it in the jogged position until I’m done dealing quite simply

because it’s easier and causes me less worry.

You may ask about the jog being discovered. In my experience, the chances of this

happening are minimal (it has never happened to me), first of all because the jog is very

small and thus not terribly obvious even if you’re looking at it since you’re generally not

focused on looking for a jogged card in the back of the deck. Second, it’s essentially

invisible from all angles except over your shoulder as it is covered by the deck and your

two arms. There is a small chance of it being seen from your right, but you’ll notice that

the pinky at the end of the deck helps to conceal it. (See figure 628.)

Figure 628.

The only real risk then is an over the shoulder view and most people won’t be performing

a false deal when someone whose fast company is staring over their shoulder anyway.

Frankly, for most laymen you could perform a heinous false deal and get away with it

and this is anything but. Really then, do as you please, but generally (not always) I prefer

to simply jog the card once.

Dealing Centers

Now I did say every portion of the hand is used with this grip, but we really haven’t

employed the pinky yet, it is with the center deal where it will see its finest work. I must

say, I had a very difficult time coming up with a working center deal from this grip. I

suppose it shouldn’t come as a surprise considering performing a center deal from

virtually any grip is tough, but I did find this one particularly difficult to conceive and

spent a long time considering it, everything from breaks to jogs, to glides and shifts to

opening a break with the take hand and others. Finally, not too long ago, I came up with

this method. Originally, I actually performed it in reverse, dealing off the top half of the

bottom packet rather than the bottom half of the top packet, but I felt this was too

obvious. Then I shifted, and use the middle finger to control the top packet while the

pinky controlled the bottom packet though I found that technique quite difficult and

ineffective. I’ve finally settled then on the method I’ll describe. I think probably of all

the center deals I’ve mentioned in this book, this is probably one of the best, though not

necessarily one of the easiest. It’s the best because there is no visible or obvious

movement (visible being the key as a lot may occur under the cover of that hand though

the movements that do occur are not huge or glaringly obvious) and because it lacks any

huge tip offs such as a massive break. I remember the first day I came up with this

method, I was toying with a deck of cards as I often do, my brother who is familiar with

cards and sleights was sitting at the table with me. I performed the deal a couple times

slowly for myself, then had him watch as I performed it quite slowly and asked him if he

could tell it was false, he said no, he couldn’t see anything. Now at the time I realized

and mentioned that my angles were favorable, but it was also noteworthy that being my

first time my technique was rough and my deal was slow, that was also the earlier

rendition of the deal where the middle finger offered the control instead of the pinky. I

offer you then, this deal, which, though not perfect has won my affections more than any

other of its class.

You begin with a small pinky break at the back of the deck. (See figure 629 from the

right and figure 630 from above.)

Figure 629.

Figure 630.

Notice how little this break is visible from the right due in part to the three-finger cover

offered. Notice also, the exact manner in which the pinky sits holding this break. It is a

post fixed not on the right side of the deck, but wrapped around the back of the deck.

This is important in two regards, the first being that it is able to apply a pivoting force on

the deck. Second, it is wrapped around the back, not positioned behind, this allows you

to job the bottom card as in a Greek shuffle without the pinky interfering, while always

maintaining this position regardless of which deal you’re performing.

At this point as you move in to perform the take and hopefully under the cover of the

hand, your pinky applies a pivoting force to the top packet causing it to pivot slightly to

the left much as you might pivot the top card in the opposite direction during a second

deal. (See figure 631 for an exposed view.)

Figure 631.

This action exposes the bottom card of the top packet allowing your right middle finger

to perform a take. (See figure 632 for a view from below.)

Figure 632.

I should remark that though I’ve not played around with the idea much, the idea of

delaying the arrival of the right forefinger by sweeping it out wide may have an

advantage here. As you perform the take, your left ring finger applies pressure to reverse

the pivot. Your pinky moves out of the way in a sort of bowing motion here in order to

maintain the break while allowing the packet to pivot back. It then immediately prepares

for the next pivot. (See figure 633 and figure 634.)

Figure 633.

Figure 634.

Both your middle finger and ring finger apply pressure in order to help properly square

the side of the deck and, as the card is dealt from the deck, the deal is completed. The

idea with the forefinger, if it is rendered functional, would be to strike the left side of the

deck as the top half is pivoted back into place and to assist in squaring the packets.

If you must perform this deal openly (that is to say in such a manner that angles are not

favorable), I recommend a slightly back and forth movement of the wrist with each

regular deal in order to help better cover the pivot action of the center deal when it

comes. Ideally, however, it is performed under the cover of the hand.

Stud dealing

I examined the concept of the stud deal after coming up with this grip and on reflection I

decided the best option would be a regular deal combined with a wrist turning action at

the end to turn the card over. (See figure 635.)

Figure 635.

This action is very easy and, I feel, totally satisfactory given the context.

That then concludes, I believe, my description of the Count’s grip, which I hope you will

employ to great success. It may feel awkward at first, that’s because it’s new and you’ll

find it quickly becomes comfortable, at which point you may just find yourself growing

fond of it.

Advantages of the Count’s Grip

I pride myself on my objectivity and often receive praise for that same objectivity and so

I wished to take a moment to examine both the advantages and disadvantages of the

Count’s grip in order to offer you an informed decision on which deal you may choose.

It is noteworthy that while I do appreciate the Count’s grip and it gives me great pride, I

don’t currently use it exclusively, keep that in mind as you make your decision.

The first advantage of the grip, though minor, is the ability to deal at great speed (enough

for the invisible dealing concept) due to the wrist flicking action.

Second, is the wonderful ability to perform all false deals from the same grip and while I

described other handlings with similar abilities, this is the only one that allows not only

the basic deals, but also the snap deal, benzais cop and punch deal (others also offer the

punch deal).

Third, I have a number of techniques I use for dealing passes (performing a shift during

the dealing action) and each of these, which I will explain in a later volume, operates

based on the handling for the Count’s grip, namely the left corner take.

Fourth, the grip suffers from little to no finger movement as a tip-off, particularly in

regards to the bottom deal and Greek deal this is a tough claim to match.

Fifth, and partly related to the previous point, the deal offers exceptionally easy access to

the cards, making it a very easy deal to learn.

Sixth, while there is a compromise in economy of motion by dealing forward instead of

two the side, the reality is the most of the time when playing cards you aren’t dealing to

the side anyway, but rather forward, thus the deal makes perfect sense.

Seventh, when you’re performing most Greek deals, they assume the use of a “soft” card,

but in some cases a hard plastic cover card will be used. I did some experimentation with

hard cards and while buckling is possible, it is very difficult, and potentially impossible

depending on what is used as a cover card, the Count’s grip however simply glides this

card and avoids such concerns.

Eighth, the hand cover makes the deal seem very fair while offering exceptional

flexibility and vast deceptive application unparalleled by other deals.

Ninth, it’s very different than the mechanic’s grip. To give you an idea of what I mean

here. John Scarne said that most cheaters give themselves away before they ever cheat,

simply by using the mechanic’s grip, because it’s associated with someone who knows

how to handle a deck of cards. I find that the Count’s grip gives a somewhat different

impression and because it’s based on a layperson’s handling, it will hopefully appear

unrefined to your audience.

Disadvantages of the Count’s Grip

The first disadvantage returns to the subject of economy of motion. While the difference

is less significant with poker sized cards than it is with bridge sized cards, the cards are

nevertheless longer than they are wide, thus, ideally, one performs his or her deals width

wise. In defense of the grip however, the forward take is better than a diagonal take used

by many.

Second, the Count’s grip offers a decidedly annoying uncertain take, by which I mean

there is the potential for hangers as no fingers remove extra cards.

Third, when visible, the thumb motion on the second deal is unnatural, if you must

perform the deal openly, rock your hand back and forth in order to conceal this fact.

Fourth, there is an inability using this method to perform thirds, fourths and fifths as well

as multiple minus bottom deals.

Fifth, though not as significant as originally due to the new technique, center deals,

especially open center deals remain difficult.

Sixth, you cannot perform one-handed deals from this grip.

Seventh, though there are alternate handlings, there is a rear flash on the Greek deal,

which, though acceptable, is undesirable.

That then is a summary of advantages and disadvantages for any who might consider

using the Count’s grip.

Practicing False Deals

When you practice false deals, I recommend you go through a certain process. First, start

with the tops, deal them slowly and become intimately familiar with them, also, deal

them in front of a mirror so you have some idea what they look like to others, if possible,

recording yourself is also a nice idea.

Next, practice the false deal exclusively and do so very slowly, make sure you get the

actions perfect and make sure they are precisely the same as those of a top deal. If they

aren’t, then fix the problem and start over, then deal literally thousands of cards slowly

building muscle memory. Once your body has memorized the actions you’ll naturally

find you’re able to speed up while maintaining the same precision, but if you attempt to

perform the deal quickly to begin with, you’ll lose precision and that is not desirable.

Once you’ve mastered the deal slowly, add a bit of speed until the point where the deal

becomes deceptive, hopefully, invisible. Then, practice dealing round of poker around a

table, maybe dealing false deals exclusively at first in order to get a feel for tossing the

cards to others, then perform it like you would in a real game, mixing false deals with

tops. Do so in patterns for example, bottom deal to the third and fifth player, then try

mixing it up so the pattern is somewhat more random, maybe cycling which players you

bottom deal too, then mix it up more dealing randomly, make sure it’s fluid.

If you master that, move on to not simply alternating false deals and tops, but alternating

different false deals as well. For example, you might deal second, second, top, bottom,

Greek, center, top, center, bottom, Greek. Once you’ve reached that point you’re good to

go.

Benzais Cop

I had a very difficult time tracking down a source for the Benzais cop when I first wanted

to learn it. As it happens, the technique is taught on either the Cardician or the Legend

DVD, which one eludes me at the moment. Essentially, the concept of the move is to add

or hold back cards in the process of a deal. It is most useful in magic and has little

application to gambling as I see it because it is restricted to the angles of the tenkai palm.

You begin by dealing the card as normal, but taking it at around the upper left corner of

the card, in other words you must adjust for such a take on numerous grips. From here,

you apparently deal the card onto the table, removing your middle finger from under the

card but keeping your ring finger under the upper right corner as you apparently deal the

card to the table (typically onto a pack or packet of cards). Then as you pull back your

hand to perform the next deal or move on to the next action, you use your middle finger

to pull the card back and draw it into tenkai palm. (See figure 636, figure 637 and figure

638.)

Figure 636.

Figure 637.

Figure 638.

From this point you can either return the card to the deck, lap it, steal it in some manner,

transfer it elsewhere or continue with another deal. By using this grip you are able to

continue dealing holding back the cards you desire while fairly dealing others to the

table, allowing you, for example to transfer the cards intended for one player to another.

When you wish to drop the palmed cards together with the others you may do so merely

by releasing the tenkai palm on top of the cards in an existing deal. (See figure 639 with

a face up card to show the palmed card.)

Figure 639.

As I mentioned earlier, one of the nice features of the Count’s grip is the ability to

perform the Benzais cop from the grip. Technically, you can if you like and are willing

to risk doing so, deal the cards off from the upper right corner or even with some effort,

from the right side. In this case, you must be sure to insert your ring finger beneath the

right edge of the card and as you move your hand back to the left to perform the next

deal, grab the card up into tenkai palm via a sort of sweeping action. (See figure 640,

figure 641, and figure 642.)

Figure 640.

Figure 641.

Figure 642.

While somewhat unnatural, this action is disarming to those familiar with the Benzais cop

once it’s mastered. (I have no idea who originally came up with the Benzais cop, I’d

suspect it is someone named Benzais, but I could be totally wrong, as I mentioned, I

learned the technique from Marlo.)

As I mentioned, generally the ideal is to perform the Benzais cop onto an existing packet

of a few cards so the absence of a card or two isn’t as obvious. Generally, I find failing

to deal the card onto a packet is sometimes rather apparent and so to add a strong

convincer, when you deal the card down onto a packet, you’ll use your ring finger to

move the top card of the packet slightly off center. This creates the illusion of a card

dealt onto the packet because generally you don’t deal cards onto packets squarely. The

difference made by this simple action is immense. (See figure 643, figure 644, and figure

645.)

Figure 643.

Figure 644.

Figure 645.

From here, the Benzais cop works effectively in several manners. For example, if you

palm a card in advance or steal an extra card off in the course of one of the deals you can

use it to perform a double deal. You can also use it to correct a double deal. Say for

example you double bottom dealt to one of the players, naturally, this means that player

will end up with an extra card and that may arouse suspicion, so you can perform the

Benzais cop on that particular hand, holding back one card and thus correcting the

discrepancy.

My favorite use for the Benzais cop is however in conjunction with marked cards,

particularly the punch concept, where I use it in preparation for hand mucking or

something similar, stealing off desirable cards when they arise in order to use them later.

Again, this requires the correct environment, but it’s effective. Naturally, in the field of

magic the sleight is very effective, allowing switches and forces among other things.

Snap Deal Notes

While the application is sometimes different there are great similarities between the snap

deal and Benzais cop. While the Benzais cop involves stealing the dealt card into tenkai

palm, the snap deal effectively involves dealing cards into lateral palm. Since the snap

deal is a prided creation of Lennart Green and a brilliant technique I’ll not describe the

exact method here. I highly recommend you get yourself a copy of “Green Magic

Volume 6” which includes a thorough description plus many applications of the

technique as well as others.

Like the Benzais Cop, the technique essentially involves taking the card in the upper left

corner. Naturally, any methods I described earlier involving a take from the upper left

corner, such as the Count’s grip, pose no problem. However, for some other grips such

as that found in strike bottoms method one variation one, it is possible to adapt the

standard procedure in such a manner that you reach to the left and perform the take on the

upper left corner rather than the upper right. (See figure 646.)

Figure 646.

Naturally, you may also perform virtually all push-off deals by reaching to the left and

performing the take in the upper left corner rather than the upper right, though caution

must be exercised depending on what other false deals you intend to perform from this

same grip.

Now while I’ll not describe the snap deal itself, which involves numerous subtleties and

nuances, I’ll give you a brief description of lateral palm since it is very useful. Lateral

palm is the creation of Sterenko (I apologize if the spelling is incorrect), though from

what I understand Lennart Green developed it independently at a later date. While it

exists in many variations, it involves holding the card between the middle finger in the

upper left corner and the center of the hand. The card is held flat much as you would

hold a card in tenkai palm, but with the middle finger instead of the thumb. (See figure

647.)

Figure 647.

The advantage is that the angles are better and the hand position is more natural than with

tenkai palm. Lateral palm is particularly well suited for table work and offers many

flexible possibilities. Again, Lennart Green describes the palm and its uses in detail on

“Green Magic Volume 1”. It is also possible to switch quickly between lateral palm and

tenkai palm as necessary simply by changing which finger holds the card.

I caution you not to simply deal cards into lateral palm, the snap action outlined by

Lennart Green is important in making the sleight convincing. He also offers numerous

other convincing tips regarding finger position and movement, sound however is key.

You’ll often find that sound in one form or another is helpful to your performances as it

creates a psychological effect not found in silent techniques.

Now in regards to snap dealing from the Count’s grip, while the take is fine, there are a

few adaptations that are important to consistent and elegant handling. First, the whip like

action of the wrist is altered in such a manner that the take is more controlled and

involves a constantly curled hand. (See figure 648, figure 649 and figure 650.)

Figure 648.

Figure 649.

Figure 650.

You’ll notice that the take is performed more off the front edge of the upper left corner

rather than the side. This is so the card aligns itself correctly for the given sleight. You’ll

also find that once you have a card palmed, it gets in the way during a standard take. The

easiest thing option is simply to raise your take slightly so the palmed card moves above

the top of the deck. (See figure 651.)

Figure 651.

However, this eliminates some of the uses for the lateral palm and thus at times you may

find it favorable to move the palmed card beneath the deck, in which case you’ll need to

use your forefinger to skewer the alignment of the card slightly in order to facilitate the

correct action. (See figure 652 and figure 653.)

Figure 652.

Figure 653.

Depending on your angles, it also works to transfer the card to tenkai palm where it is out

of the way. There are other applications as well that I’ll not mention in this volume but

involve various other approaches depending on what you want done with the card.

Ultimately, while admittedly, the Count’s grip is not the best possible method of dealing

for the snap deal, it is easily adapted and works well.

Finally, as with the punch deal, you may make use of the snap deal to correct a double

deal by holding back the card. This is nice both due to the superior angles, but also

because the snap deal is much more convincing than the Benzais cop. Keep in mind

however, that if you wish to use this method you should perform the snap action on all of

your deals. Generally, I don’t find the snap deal is as effective for the hand mucking as I

mentioned for the Benzais cop.

Applications of Snap Deal – Benzais Cop Combination

While I described the possibility of performing a Benzais cop to hold back cards and

prepare for hand mucking, I also mentioned that the snap deal is much more convincing,

it is also better for switching cards among other things. Thus, the concept here is again

one that involves preparing for hand mucking. Essentially, you begin with a marked deck

of some sort and when you reach a marked card (say an ace), you double deal, using the

snap deal to deal the bottom card to the table, while retaining the ace. You then transfer

this card into tenkai palm ala the Benzais cop. In this manner you are able to build quite

a pat poker hand in the course of a round or two of dealing. Naturally, the dealing action

serves as misdirection to what you’re doing and leaves you in an admirable condition at

the end.

Now, this is not practical for high stakes money games, but it offers interesting uses in

gambling demonstrations or perhaps some particularly soft games. Personally, I use the

method for other magic demonstrations as well where it seems at least functional.

Notes on Punch Dealing

I mentioned earlier that punch dealing was an Ed Marlo idea, that actually isn’t accurate,

I simply learned it from him in his Cardician DVD and he wrote a great deal of material

on the subject. The concept itself apparently dates back much earlier, though who the

exact originator is I can’t say, it’s also noteworthy that with many of these things, they

are often discovered and used long before they are in print. Now the concept, as I

mentioned earlier, is to mark cards by feel instead of by sight allowing you to avoid

burning the deck. The application as I mentioned applies not only to dealing, but also to

the likes of overhand shuffling as an effective means of locating and subsequently culling

cards.

Now, there are all sorts of complex means of doing this and I must admit my ignorance in

regards to many of them, which relate partly to whether you are marking the cards in the

course of a game, or in advance. One thing I would not underestimate is switching real

cards out for marked cards during the course of play if you’re not comfortable with or

able to mark them during play. Since I dislike crimps, I find this is an effective method

for switching in dirty cards. Essentially, you start with say four marked aces, while a

new deck is employed for the actual game. Then, as each ace turns up in your hand you

switch the original card out for the dirty card. The same method is possible using punch

marked cards or cards using any other marking system.

The basic method of punch marking then involves taking a needle and the desired cards,

placing the cards face up on a hard surface and poking them with a needle in a fixed

manner. You want to poke them so that the needle doesn’t pass through the card, but

causes an indentation on the backs. Marlo recommends using face cards and performing

the “punch” on the upper right and lower left corner of the borders where the work is

easily concealed. In all honesty, unless you’re in the company of a savvy audience the

work is highly unlikely to get noticed.

Now, Marlo’s approach, while it works, is based on the no touch theory second deal,

which I dislike greatly, there’s an obvious tip off, so instead I’ll give you some

recommendations based on the handlings I’ve mentioned. First of all, in regard to

punching, a needle works, but needlework is very fine and feeling it is often quite

difficult. While this is good for fast company, in some company other simple methods

often suffice. Personally, I find that something with a large surface area is often more

effective, so rather than using a needle, you may wish to try a nail or screw. A few

thoughts here, generally, a bigger punch is easier to feel, thus a small flat-ended screw

works well. However, what you want in order to feel the punch is really penetration, and

it is hard to mark with such a large device without making the work obvious, hence the

appeal of a pointed screw or nail. Also, while Marlo mentions marking on a hard surface,

I find if you use the correct object to mark, that it helps to put your thumb on the back of

the card and perform the punch. Naturally, you have to be careful here, I’ve put needles

through cards and into my finger this way, but the advantage is that you can feel the work

while you making it and decide by feel when it is enough.

In terms of where to perform the punch, it partly depends on what cards you wish to

control. I’d like to start by pointing out that the upper left and lower right pips (not the

indexes) on the king, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five and four on bicycle cards as well as

others are in the same location. Also, the position of the pips on jacks and queens are in

the same location, which is of course to same as the upper right and lower left pips on the

ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five and four. The reason I mention this, is because you’ll

notice the thumb position on the strike second deals I mentioned tends to involve

covering the former (upper left and lower right pips, or the reverse if viewed from the

back of the card), while a number of the push-off handlings involved the later. Second, I

find that placing the punch on this pip helps to hide the work, as it is more obvious on the

white of the card (if you’re working with black cards that changes things somewhat).

The basic rule initially then, is to perform your punch work based on how you perform

your second deals. In terms of overhand shuffling, I recommend the same punch

positioning as for the strike second. Often what I like to do is cull flushes, in which case

you may mark all the cards possible of a given suit. As an alternative you could for

example mark all queens and jacks, or all kings and tens, for a possible full house or four

of a kind etc. You’ll notice that my recommended thumb position for the side strike deal

is also the same as the strike second deal and thus allows for the same possibilities.

Naturally, it is possible to easily switch from one to the other using the Count’s grip, as

the position of the thumb isn’t essential, though it is more visible when farther to the left.

By using this method, you could easily mark say both queens and jacks and kings and

tens, then alter your handling slightly between deals to produce different combinations of

cards and thus offer a more convincing method.

Another idea I had and I suspect others have probably had the same idea, though I

haven’t studied any sources on the subject, is to do more than simply mark the cards

universally. For example, if I want to cull flushes I don’t simply mark one suit, I mark all

the suits, but I mark each differently. For example, I may use a three point marking

system on the clubs pip, a single mark on the spades pip, two marks on the hearts pip and

four marks on the diamonds pip. In this manner I am able to shift continually between

which flush I wish to cull or control and determine instantly by feel which suit I have.

This also provides some other interesting advantages, for example in Texas Hold’em or

Stud poker, using this method you are able to determine for the most part the suit of the

pocket cards or hole card. While this is not definite and it does not assure victory, it

offers an added advantage. For example, say you were playing stud poker and two fours

are face up, you have two jacks in your own hand. While you wouldn’t know the exact

value of your opponent’s hole card, you could determine that he doesn’t have the missing

four by knowing for example that he is holding a heart and the four of hearts is already

face up. If you wish to become really sophisticated, you could mark the complete value

of the card via some system of marking that works for you, however I feel recognizing

the value of the card by touch quickly takes too much practice and a sufficient number of

possibilities exist using merely suit marking and the like.

Something else you may wish to consider is a sort of double marking, though it would

likely require an adjustment in handling. The concept is that you would mark the cards

not only so you could feel from the top, but also the bottom. Then, as you were dealing,

when you came to a punched card that you wished to hold back for yourself, rather than

second dealing, you would begin bottom dealing. In the course of the bottom deal you

would also feel for a punch and if you reached a punch you would begin second dealing.

The reason for this is that in the course of experimentation I found I would often deal past

relevant cards while second dealing since I couldn’t tell what the value of the second card

was. For example, say I’ve marked queens and jacks and I deal off until I come to a

queen, if I begin second dealing, the card after the queen may be a jack and I’ll then miss

the jack and reduce my probability of obtaining a great hand. By using a bottom deal and

feeling for bottom punches I reduce this problem as I am able to effectively feel two

cards and hold back two cards rather than one. Naturally, this requires proficiency not

only with the second deal and bottom deal, but also proficiency in switching back and

forth between them.

Finally, an idea I had that combines the approach above with some other odd ideas and a

different method of feeling. In other words, rather than feeling for the punch with your

left hand, you do so with your right hand as a part of the take, essentially tracing your

fingers across the area in question and performing the appropriate deal, false or

otherwise. This method allows you to feel for a punch on the bottom card using many

conventional handlings, though it requires slightly more skill and a sure trace process.

Along these lines, it’s possible to perform a push-off second deal, along with a two card

top push-off, where you feel the value of the second card while taking the top card, or

feel the value of the second card as you take the second card, giving you a similar edge to

the stud poker hole card edge. This is an oddity at best, but I figured I’d include it for the

sake of completeness. I’m sure if you check around you’ll find a wealth of good

information on the subject, I seem to recall seeing a large section in the “Marlo Magazine

Volume 5” table of contents on the subject, though the manuscript is nearly impossible to

find.

To conclude, I’d like to point out that it is possible to punch deal one-handed from the

spin deal handling. Naturally, similar adaptations could be made for other one-handed

deals.

Thoughts on Dealing from a Tabled Deck

I say thoughts in this case because I haven’t practiced enough to make this process an

exact science. While I’ve found numerous methods are reasonably effective some tip

offs remain that irritate me. Thus, what I now describe are some ideas I developed based

on the concept of dealing from a tabled deck, though they originate for me with me I have

no doubt the same notions exist elsewhere since as I see it there aren’t a multitude of

potential variations to tabled dealing.

Tops

We shall begin by examining the basic deal and ways in which one might set up the deck

for subterfuge at a later date. Although I examined a number of slight variations, I’ll

focus simply on the one I feel works best for false dealing.

You begin with the deck tabled in front of you, long sides facing towards and against

you, while the short sides (ends) point right and left. (See figure 654.)

Figure 654.

Now you take hold of the deck on the far left of the sides with your right hand. Your

thumb on the back side (side closest to you) and your middle and ring fingers on the front

side (side farthest from you). You place your pinky at the left end and your forefinger on

top, slightly to the right of the right edge of your middle finger, and slightly forward of

the middle of the deck, though you could simply place it directly in the middle. (See

figure 655.)

Figure 655.

Now you move your right hand in to perform the take from the front and right. The last

three fingers of your right hand will strike the front side so your pinky makes contact at

the right corner that is farthest from you with your ring and middle fingers striking

naturally next to the pinky. The pinky should be at the table level while your forefinger

remains loose and your thumb moves in above the deck. (See figure 656 from the back

and figure 657 from the front.)

Figure 656.

Figure 657.

Note that in this position the deck is almost completely obstructed from a front view.

You now strike the top card with your thumb and pull it forward, allowing it to pivot

around your left hand middle and ring fingers. As it comes off the deck you pinch it with

your last three fingers and deal it to the appropriate player. Note that the pinky plays the

primary role in this pinching action. (See figure 658 and figure 659.)

Figure 658.

Figure 659.

The idea here is to deal quickly, but to cover the top of the deck for a fraction of a second

as you perform the take, obstructing any view of the top of the deck so as to facilitate

false deals. You should also note that the thumb slides across the top card until it reaches

roughly the border at which point it performs the take itself. Finally, when you perform

the take you should pull the card downward slightly below the level of the top of the

deck.

Seconds

The only difference for seconds is that the left forefinger will pull back the top card

slightly exposing the second card of the deck. (See figure 660 for an exaggerated view.)

Figure 660.

Now, your thumb strikes on the exposed border pulling the card out slightly where it is

pinched between the last three fingers of the right hand and the thumb and dealt out. As

soon as the strike is performed the left forefinger moves the top card back into place.

(See figure 661 and figure 662.)

Figure 661.

Figure 662.

It is important that you perform this action quickly, you want to perform the take so that

the card comes out of the deck level (otherwise it will lift the edge of the top card and

provide a flash) and then move down to establish consistency with later deals.

Doubles

Though I’ve never really tried it to any great extent, you may find strike doubles are

possible, by taking the top two cards rather than just the second card, using the method

for tabled seconds.

Bottoms

The difference with bottoms is that you will hold a “break” at the back of the deck

between the table and the bottom of the deck with your thumb. Essentially, your left

thumb will lift the back left corner of the deck off the table slightly. (See figure 663.)

Figure 663.

Now, as the right hand approaches from the front and the last three fingers of the hand

cover the front edge of the deck, you will pivot on the left hand thumb tip, to lift the

whole deck off the table ever so slightly. You want to minimize the lift to the point

where the tips of your right hand fingers can just barely make contact with the bottom

card of the deck. (Note that the fingers don’t lift up, the deck rises due to the pivot on the

thumb, essentially you are tilting the deck backwards and to the left, which naturally

creates a space between the bottom of the deck and the table.) (See figure 664 for a view

from the back, figure 665 for an exposed view from the front and figure 666 for a covered

view from the front.)

Figure 664.

Figure 665.

Figure 666.

The key now, is simply to perform the take with the last three fingers of your right hand

instead of with the thumb, taking the bottom card instead of the top. Naturally, you close

up the gap under the deck immediately after you’ve begun performing the take so that it

is never exposed to a view from the front.

Greeks

I find Greeks extremely difficult to perform on a table, and what I’m going to suggest

now, is far from elegant, in fact I consider it hideous at best, but then, it’s a start and

something few will find any need for anyway. Essentially, the technique is the same as

that for bottoms, but you angle jog the bottom card in advance, much like you would

angle jog the top card when dealing seconds. (See figure 667.)

Figure 667.

With the card jogged in this manner you will find you are able to perform a take on the

card second from bottom, though it is a delicate process and will likely require substantial

practice. In addition to this, there is naturally the problematic jogged card as a tip off,

however, if one employs the correct angles the jog is invisible and thus acceptable.

Centers

The concept of centers is simple, you use the same method as bottoms, except instead of

holding the break below the deck, you hold it at the cards you wish to deal off (as per a

regular center deal), typically around the center of the deck. (See figure 668.)

Figure 668.

From this point you simply execute the mechanics of the tabled bottom deal in the middle

of the deck rather than the bottom. You may find, if you are able, that a slight pivot of

the top half of the deck helps as well.

Tabled Punch Dealing

Though it is quite obvious, I figured I would point out that a tabled punch deal is possible

using the tabled second deal and feeling for the desired cards with the forefinger if the

punch work is on the appropriate portion of the card. The center of the card works well

here, though it is not the only option.

Thoughts on Card Type and Design

While it is possible to perform virtually any false deal with virtually any type of card,

certain cards offer greater advantages over others. Generally, false deals are more

deceptive when you use borderless cards, and I would recommend that while you practice

with bordered cards, you use borderless cards in performances, or more importantly, in

games.

I recall the first time I used borderless cards. Over the past couple months I had been

practicing false dealing, mostly seconds, with bicycle cards and had developed quite an

effective deal, particularly when it came to push-off seconds. It was then that some

neighbors invited me to a party, and after a short period, a deck of borderless, poker-sized

cards came out to play an assortment of games from some traditional drinking games to

mock poker. I began false dealing almost immediately, not out of any particular

advantage it offered me, but simply because I found it more enjoyable than dealing

straight and because I was curious if anyone would pick up on it, they didn’t. Eventually,

in mock poker I proceeded to cull winning hands and bottom deal them, but that is

another story for another time. What I found myself marveling at that evening, both

while playing, and while handling the deck privately, was just how much easier it was to

second deal with this borderless deck, how I could fool myself effortlessly, particularly

when it came to strike seconds.

Please note, at this tenure, that when I say “borderless cards”, I am not simply referring to

cards that have no fixed border around the edges, but cards without any picture or

inconsistent design on the backs. Generally, I’ve seen them in the form of cards with a

sort of plaid back, or patterned simply by interlocking diamonds. Regardless, the point is

that if two cards overlap, the patterns blend so that no contrasting edge is visible. Even

casino cards that frequently have this pattern are not ideal as they generally have the

name of the casino printed in the middle and thus are only good until you reach that

design. The common brand are called “Bee Club Specials”.

This rule of using borderless cards is however only applicable so long as you are

performing from a gambling standpoint, that is to say, with the cards face down. There

are times when a magician may turn the top card face up and deal seconds, or some other

false deal, perhaps using the deal as an apparent color change. In this case, borderless

cards are undesirable, as the white of the faces contrasts with the edges of the backs, and

thus cards with white borders are preferable.

Then there is the consideration of card size. Yes, poker sized cards are used most

frequently. However, we discussed economy of motion earlier in this portion of the book

and it is a simple fact that when dealing off the side of the deck, you get much better

economy of motion out of bridge sized cards than poker sized and thus, if you can get

away with it, you may find you prefer to use bridge sized cards. This is true, especially

in light of the fact that there are numerous other moves such as palming and some passes,

where the move is easier to accomplish with the smaller cards. By contrast though, I find

that for riffle culling and stacking poker-sized cards are better as they provide a superior

bend, allowing for both better control, and easier peeking.

Depending on the deal, and method you are using, you must also consider between cheap

paper cards, the cardboard design common to bicycle cards, bees, etc., plastic coated

cards and plastic cards. I’ll start by recommending that you avoid the cheap paper cards

as they are garbage. Now, naturally bicycle cards, bees, caravans etc. are the common

brands and generally well made cards that allow you to easily perform most of the

desired techniques. On the other hand, they wear out quickly and thus I prefer plastic

cards for practice, though I alternate with the common brands as the feel is slightly

different and thus familiarity with that feel is, in my view, important. Along these lines, I

mentioned using techniques such as the bottom palm Greek deal, where the bottom card

is bent; here the regular cards are less desirable, as they tend to retain the bend, while

plastic cards do not. Of course this is a trade off, as the inability of plastic cards to retain

their bend makes them less effective for situations where crimps are necessary. This

leaves plastic coated cards, which blend some of the advantages and disadvantages of

both plastic cards and regular cards. Personally, I don’t like them a lot; their feel is less

than ideal. However, while there are moves that are virtually impossible to perform with

plastic cards (I find plastic cards don’t fan or spread well), these techniques are generally

possible with plastic coated cards and yet these plastic coated cards possess greater

durability than regular cards. Ultimately, it is a question largely of use; if you’re tearing

up cards frequently then you probably don’t want to use the more expensive cards. If

you’re practicing a lot you might not want to go through dozens of decks practicing a

single move and may benefit from plastic cards. Then again, you could be performing

and mixing in a lot of flourishes, in which case plastic cards may not be suitable.

Future Ideas for False Dealing

I’ll just mention a couple of the ideas or goals I have when it comes to dealing. One is

what I call, feeding the deal. The idea is that you have some palmed cards and you feed

them onto the deck at the correct moment so the cards in question are dealt legitimately

from the top of the deck to the player in question. Naturally, this approach has some

drawbacks, but it also has certain appeals. Another idea, is to develop a technique

whereby you can peek and second deal while apparently dealing normally, thus allowing

you to make use of a second deal without marked cards.

There are other little ideas such as a center double deal, which shouldn’t be terribly

difficult, but nevertheless requires investment and refinement. I’d further like to work on

some better tabled dealing methods. But most of all, I’m interested in a good method of

dealing centers from different parts of the deck. After considering this possibility I read

“Drawing Room Deceptions” in which Guy Hollingworth mentions it briefly, but I

haven’t played around with the concept, though I feel it would be useful. Still, a good

center deal is required and there seem to be very few of those.

Other Sources for Dealing

Finally, for any of you who are interested in learning false dealing from other sources.

Allan Ackerman has a DVD on the subject, part of his “Advanced Card Control” series.

Then there is the classic work by Edward Marlo, “Seconds, Centers & Bottoms”, which

is a part of the book “Revolutionary Card Technique”. Another excellent source, at least

for seconds and bottoms is a video CD by Ian Kendall, called “Tops, Bottoms &

Seconds”. Though there are a number of other sources, few are so complete or focused

on false dealing.

Closing Thoughts

I’ve combined shuffling, stacking/culling and dealing together into one book because I

feel they are intrinsically related. It is the shuffling skills and techniques that give rise to

the stacking and culling, thus I did not wish to repeat myself by explaining the shuffling

techniques once for the sake of shuffling and again for culling and stacking. Likewise,

the purpose of false dealing is often to be used in conjunction with various shuffling

techniques. It makes sense then, especially in light of my own use, to combine the three

together, though I realize it has made for an enormous text.

One must note, that none of these techniques, no matter how perfectly executed are sure,

either to deceive, or to win a game, should the reader in question choose to use them to

cheat. Rather, demeanor, strategy, psychology and numerous other factors bear upon the

outcome overwhelmingly.

Again, I must caution you to not merely work on the sleights themselves, but also the

basic techniques, altering your basic handling, where necessary to conform with the false

technique. A caution here, it would be fool hardy to merely focus on adapting the regular

techniques to conform with the sleights, while ignoring the reality that the sleights, when

possible should resemble standard card procedures.

Further, I desire to again remind you, as I did in the beginning, that many points within

this text are ignored where they are applicable simply because they are covered earlier

and I did not wish to repeat myself. This is particularly applicable in the sections on

dealing, where most of the details and ideas are covered under second dealing, and where

I felt no need to add anything; I have left certain subjects uncovered. Along these lines,

is the word of caution that on numerous occasions I have attempted, not to provide you

with all possible variations, or techniques, but rather, introduce you to various lines of

thought and at times develop those thoughts, in the hope that these will inspire ideas of

your own.

For the diligent student of card manipulation and control, you will note that much is

missing from this text and certainly, it is not intended to be an encyclopedia on, shuffling,

stacking, culling and dealing. I am well aware that much is absent and will remain absent

until a later date, which is, in part, why I have listed additional sources of information at

the end of each segment. Part of the trouble is, I find many of the techniques described

becoming outdated almost as fast as I write them. I have, since writing the appropriate

sections, replaced my use of virtually all false in the hand shuffles, with the Byzantine

shuffle, some overhand cull variations now replace the ones I’ve described. The ace

cutting here has fallen to a Scarne simulation method that allows the spectator to handle

the deck in between your shuffle and the point at which you cut to the ace. The “Count’s

Riffle Shuffle System”, is gradually being replaced by a slightly more advanced system,

in order to make culling large numbers of cards easier or quicker, via such methods as

two block culling, relocation culling, the third cull and others. Even in the area of

dealing, the invisible deal is losing favor to the convincing deal and the illusion deal.

However, were I to wait till these techniques had been refined and I could add nothing

more to the text, the text should never be released and so as I finish a section, I resolve

not to return to it, other ideas must be left for a later date.

Continuing in this manner, while my statements of limited reading held true at the

moment of writing, I have, since finishing the various portions, read “The Riffle Shuffle

Systems”, “The Patented Shuffle”, “Seconds, Centers & Bottoms” and “Marlo’s

Magazine Volume 6”, the later two, in particular the magazine being the most interesting

to me personally, though I found they offered little revolutionary on the subjects I have

covered here. For those interested, “The Riffle Shuffle Systems” covers block transfer,

as it’s most notable subject, and certainly a topic I feel I should cover at a later date. It

was here that I discovered the version of the Zarrow shuffle, I taught in this volume, was

not in fact the original Zarrow shuffle and that the center cut out I described is actually

the original technique. In fact, I discovered that all my refinements have been previously

used and described. I return then to the point, that cards are an old subject and well

studied, that in all likelihood, while I have not learned many of the techniques described

from the sources in question, many of these techniques have certainly been described

elsewhere prior to this document, and I offer my congratulations and thanks to those who

have contributed in these regards.

This leaves me with the subject of combining the various fields of study within this

manuscript. The most obvious use, is to combine simple culling with bottom dealing, but

there are other ideas. For example, you could stack all cards except the top card and then

use a second deal to distribute the cards appropriately, thus simplifying the stacking.

Perhaps a more interesting possibility is one Marlo used in “Prime Time Marlo”, where

he starts with four aces on the top of the deck, then, in a four hand game, holds back the

four aces with the one hand and three indifferent cards with the other, then drops three of

the aces, followed by the three indifferent cards and then the last ace on top. Now, in

order to deal the aces to the first player, he deals the first round fairly, followed by a

double deal, then three seconds, and the last rounds fairly. Finally, should you make a

mistake in your stacking and catch it at the end, you can solve the problem using false

deals, most notably a bottom deal. For example, say you are one card short on the top of

the deck when stacking the hands, it is a simple matter to bottom deal the first card, then

deal as normal to correct your stack. These are just a few simple ideas, most of which,

most of you will, I’m sure consider trite and mundane, but I felt bore mentioning.

Please forgive some of the photographs, I realize they are not always the best illustrations

of the techniques, particularly those where a bottom view was necessary were at times

strenuous and may not be the ideal for demonstration purposes but will hopefully provide

you with some assistance. In addition there are concerns of shadowing and lighting that

have led me to conclude illustrations may be a better way to go in the future, though we’ll

see. It should further be noted that there are times where proportions are exaggerated for

the sake of clear demonstration and that, of course, you should refine your technique as

much as possible, minimizing, working on speed, angles etc. where necessary.

Special Thanks

I would like to offer special thanks to Edward Marlo, Dai Vernon, Paul LePaul, Erdnase,

Lennart Green, Jerry Andrus, John Scarne, Guy Hollingworth, Herb Zarrow, Carmen

D’Amico, Charlie Miller, Steve Forte and too many others to mention whose

contributions to the realm of card magic and control in terms of dedication and creativity

have benefited generations.

Credits

I have attempted to give some credit where it is due, as I am aware it is due. I hesitate to

mention the sources where I have learned some of the material when I know it is not the

original source. For example, basic overhand shuffling controls, the jog, break and

packet pick-up were techniques I learned from independent sources and I am not aware of

the origin of these techniques. Many of the other techniques, while I discovered them

independently, or worked out my techniques independently do of course date back a

considerable period to one author or creator or another. Naturally, the first in print is not

necessarily the first inventor of the technique, but I would like to note a few in particular.

The following are specific to the particular parts in question:

The earliest reference to false deals in print was “Liber Vagatorum” in 1509. Ed Marlo’s

“Seconds, Centers & Bottoms” in 1960 is considered the first comprehensive

examination of the topic virtually all aspects of false dealing.

The earliest known reference of the second deal is apparently “Opera nuoua doue

facilmente potrai imparare piu giuochi di mano et altri giuochi piaceuolissimi & gentili

come si potra legge[n]do uedere et facilmente imparare” a four part pamphlet published

by G. S. di Carlo da Pavia around 1520 but this reference includes no descriptions.

Erdnase describes a push-off second deal. “Poker” by Theo Hardison in 1914 describes a

strike second. Finally, one of the most prominent sources was “Expert Card Technique”

in 1940 by Hugard and Braue.

A one-handed second deal was described in “Greater Magic” by Hillard in 1938. Paul

LePaul published his method in “The Card Magic of Paul LePaul” in 1959.

The earliest reference to a bottom deal is found in “Le mespris & contennement de tous

ieux de sort compose Oliuier Gouyn de Poictiers” by Olivier Gouyn in1550. Another

early reference to the move in terms of a description is Erdnase in 1902. Allegedly,

Hillard published a one-handed method in “Greater Magic” in 1938.

The earliest reference to a third deal is found in “The Magic of Rezvani” in 1949. The

earliest published method seems to come from Ed Marlo’s “Seconds, Centers &

Bottoms” in 1960.

The first reference to a Greek deal is probably Koschitz’s “Manual of Useful

Information” in 1894. Another early reference is Theo Hardison’s book “Poker” in 1914.

The earliest published method though is attributed to Allan Ackerman, “the minus one

bottom deal” in his book “Magic Mafia Secrets” in 1970.

Probably the earliest reference to a center deal is found in “Le mespris & contennement

de tous ieux de sort compose Oliuier Gouyn de Poictiers” by Olivier Gouyn in1550,

though without a method. Another early reference is “The Secret is Out” by W.H.

Cremer in 1871.

In terms of grips, I shall attempt to accurately convey the origins.

The Erdnase grip is of course attributed to Erdnase in his 1902 book.

The straddle grip, as near as I can tell dates back to Walter Irving Scott and first

published in the manuscript “Phantom of the Card Table” by Eddie McGuire.

Both the mechanic’s grip and standard grip are far too old for me to trace.

I believe the master’s grip was, if not developed by, then first published by Ed Marlo in

“Seconds, Centers & Bottoms”. I believe this is also the first reference in print to the SF

grip along with numerous others though I may be mistaken in that belief. Marlo also

described in detail what he called “the master’s take”.

Apparently, the concept of the shifted grip (I’m not sure of the details) was first examined

in print by Gene Maze, though certainly not under that name.

The D’Amico one-handed second deal is of course the brainchild of Carmen D’Amico

and first published accurately in “Seconds, Centers & Bottoms”, though it was published

inaccurately prior to that in a couple other sources.

Tabled dealing was, as far as I know, first examined in print by Ed Marlo in “Seconds,

Centers & Bottoms”.

The earliest known reference to the punch deal, though unconfirmed, is “A manifest

detection of the moste vyle and detestable use of diceplay, and other practises lyke the

same” by Gilbert Walker in 1552. A punch method of marking for suit and value was

created by the French magician Charlier in the 19th

century. A method for the punch deal

was published in the “Phantom of the Card Table” manuscripts by Eddie McGuire, in

reference to Walter Irving Scott’s techniques. Ed Marlo also published some material on

the concept in “Marlo in Spades” as well as later publications.

The snap deal is a creation of Mr. Lennart Green.

The Benzais cop is a creation of Johnny Benzais, though Persi Diaconis may have shown

it to him.

Finally, special thanks to Stephen Minch, Bill Kalush and others for assistance on the

research, which I procured from the internet.

Notes on Copyright

I am fully aware of the dangers inherent to releasing an ebook as opposed to a regular

hardcover or paperback manuscript. However, I decided to do so, partially out to ease

where production and distribution were concerned, partially to keep costs down, partially

for added functionality and flexibility. Finally, because I myself like to purchase things

where with only the click of a mouse I receive them instantly. Unfortunately, this

medium makes piracy very easy, and inevitably there will be those who will make copies

of the manuscript. I doubt if I will make any attempt to control this as I am aware it is a

futile battle, and thus I make a simple appeal to you, to pay for what you have received.

The cost is not unreasonable, and I was forced to invest my own money into technology

to make the project viable, not to mention hundreds of hours writing and explaining,

along with thousands of hours of testing and practicing, or order to bring you this

document. Thus, I ask that you please offer the simple credit of making the inexpensive

purchase, and requesting that others do the same. Thank you for your support.

Author’s Thanks & Contact

Dear Reader,

I offer you my most earnest thanks; it is only through gracious support lent me, by you,

that projects such as this are given birth. The development of this project was an

enlightening one, both in terms of the industry and the art itself. For those who are

interested I have a great number of future projects including a series of manuscripts

representing an estimated five times the material presented here, in some cases more.

Certainly, any interested in these projects or wishing to discuss the techniques I’ve

described, or for that matter any card technique should contact my personage via email at

countvadrey@gmail.com or visit the Magic Depot forums. With some good fortune it is

my desire to recruit fervent support for a website from which I may furnish occasional

videos and regular updates on the progress of later projects.

You each have my special thanks, now and in the future.

Sincerely,

The Count