Cheating at Cards

From our very good friends at the Library of Congress, a .pdf facsimile of Harry Houdini’s personal copy of The Expert at the Card Table by S. W. Erdnase. [Erdnase, SW. Artifice Ruse and Subterfuge at the Card Table: A Treatise on the Science and Art of Manipulating Cards. Frederick J. Drake & Co., 1905]  The work is currently in the public domain.

Erdnase himself was a man (or perhaps woman) of mystery.  Exactly who he was has never been proven, despite long research and some very clever hypotheses.   However, he revolutionized card magic.  The modern masters, from Dai Vernon on, based their work on Erdnase.  Anyone who is interested at all in card magic is familiar with Erdnase.  May I recommend Blind shuffles retaining the entire order, fourth method, page 164 (page 168 of the .pdf) for a sample of the wonders within?

While we’re on the subject of card tricks, here is a small collection of easy yet entertaining card tricks which, once well learned, will make you an object of admiration among your friends, and astonishment to total strangers.