The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and Victims. Volume 2 (of 2)Steinmetz, Andrew
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The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and Victims. Volume 2 (of 2)
Steinmetz, Andrew
Gambling
Form three ranks of five cards each, and request a party to think of one
of these cards, and tell you in which rank it is. Take up the cards of
the three ranks, taking care to place the cards of the ranks in which is
the card thought of between those of the two other ranks.
Make three more ranks as before. Ask the party again in which rank the
card is, and take them up, placing the rank in which the card is between
the two others. Operate in like manner a third time, and the card
thought of will infallibly be the THIRD of the rank named by the party.
Observe, however, you must not form each rank with five consecutive
cards; but you must place the cards one by one, placing one successively
in each rank; thus, one at the top on the left of the first rank, one
below that first for the second rank, one below the second for the third
rank, then one in the first, one in the second, one in the third, and so
on.
This trick, which is very easy, always produces a great effect. It only
requires a little attention, and it can never fail unless you make a
mistake in arranging the cards, which, however, is too simple to admit
of error.
9. Two persons having each drawn a card from a pack, and having replaced
them, to tell these cards after the pack has been shuffled and cut by
the spectators as often as they like.
The cards may be easily divided into two numerical parts, even and odd:
by taking a king for four points, a queen for three, a knave for two,
and the other cards for their especial points, we may make up two sets
of sixteen cards each, the even composing one, and the odd the other.
These two sets being before the performer, he takes one, shuffles it
well, and lets a party take a card. He then takes the other, shuffles
it, and lets another party take a card. Then, whilst each party
is looking at his card, which HE IS REQUESTED TO DO, the performer
dexterously changes the place of the two sets, and he requests the
parties to replace the cards in the set whence they took them. It
follows that the party who took a card from the EVEN set places it in
the ODD set, and he who took it from the ODD set places it in the even
set. Consequently, all the shuffling and cutting in the world will be
useless, for the performer has only to spread out the cards of each set
to point out the cards drawn.
10. Singular arrangement of sixteen cards.
Take the four kings, the four queens, the four knaves, and the four tens
of a pack, and ask if there be any one in the company who can form a
square with them in such a manner that, taken in any direction, from
right to left, from the top to the bottom, by the diagonal--anyhow, in
fact--there will always be in each line a king, queen, knave, and a ten.
Everybody will think the thing easy, but it is certain that no one will
succeed in doing it. When they 'give it up,' take the sixteen cards and
arrange them as shown, when the king, queen, knave, and ten will stand
as required.
11. The seven trick.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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