Stacks in Cards: page 1

If you are a fan of magic involving memorized decks or algorithmic stacks, you may wish to check out the following manuscript, called The Bart Harding Secret. As many of you may know, Darwin Ortiz published a method of transforming a deck from New Deck Order (NDO) into Si Stebbins order, which he called the The Si Stebbins Secret. Similarly, the Bart Harding Secret describes how to transform a deck from NDO to the Bart Harding Stack (BHS). Although the Si Stebbins stack is highly versatile, one drawback is that it does not look very random, and so many magicians will not use it for effects in which the...

Effect: Two people each select a card. The performer then shuffles the deck by giving it a riffle shuffle. The spectators take the deck and returned the cards with the deck in their own hands in such a manner that there can be no suspicion of trickery. The two cards are not forced.

The performer now spreads the deck face up on the table so all the faces are in full view. The first card is found by contact mindreading (apparently). The first spectator holds the performer's wrist while he moves his fingers over the face up cards. Suddenly, the performer's finger drops down on a card and it...

Best of the Best is an effect that makes most of the potential of the pre-ordered deck. But don't worry because to perform it you will not need memory work and no complicated mathematical operations. Everything is super impossible but really simple to do. Three divinations plus a prediction, a surprising climax. The method behind this effect is truly amazing and fascinating.

• A normal deck
• No memory work
• No complicated mathematical operations
• No gimmick

1st edition 2022, video 17:34.

Jack Yates was a very clever and innovative magician who has somehow stayed below the radar and is completely unknown - undeservedly so - to many particularly in the US. Jack's Pack is a clever stacking method for finding any card in a deck by way of using numbers, names, words, etc.

Edited and with additional notes by Ken de Courcy.

1st edition 1978, 8 pages; 1st digital edition 2017, PDF 10 pages.

More fun with the original Si Stebbins Stacked deck. Contains an explanation of the original Si Stebbins stack and how to set up any deck of cards in that order.

Four different effects using the stack:

Kind of a Four
The spectator chooses a card and the performer prognosticates what that card is by looking at 'indicator' cards. Eventually, the 'indicator' cards are shown to be the three 'mates', matching the value of the chosen card, making four of a kind in all.

Curried Stebbins
A version of Paul Curry's Out of this World where two spectators randomly pick cards and it transpires that one spectator chose all...

Two mentalism card routines.

Cut It Out

The spectator is asked to cut a regular packet of cards and to complete the cut by placing the bottom half on top. The performer ribbon spreads the cards face-down onto the table, inviting the spectator to slide any card from within the spread. The selection is at this stage kept face-down with its identity remaining unknown.

The packet is once again gathered up before the spectator is asked to again cut the deck into two piles. The position cut to is marked by placing the lower half of the deck onto the upper at a right angle. The selected card...

The deck is shuffled by the performer and then cut several times by the spectator. After, the spectator cuts the deck into four packets totally at random. No force. The magician will be able to divine not only the cards above but also the cards at the bottom of each packet. All this with a normal deck of cards. No marked cards. Instant reset.

1st edition 2022, video 18:54

This series of Suit Ordering Systems is probably the world's first 'super store' for ordering suits. The main purpose of these various Suit Ordering Systems is to create a random sequence of suits while retaining a secret pattern visible only to the performer. The applicability of these SOS methods is for various stacks like memorized, algorithmic, mnemonic decks including Karma Deck, Rasik Deck, Yogik Deck, or Fun Stacks etc.

Initially SOS Vol 1 and SOS Vol 2 were released. Subsequently, SOS Vol 3 was released as part of Karma Deck Pro 11-ebook bundle. And now this latest volume contains a very easy method of randomizing...

Easy to learn, hard to detect. A booklet of routines that use the Si Stebbins stack.

This is an early publication by Hugh Johnston predating his larger Modern Card Miracles by several years. Includes research on its likely publication date by Chris Wasshuber.

• The Secret
• Rapid Counting
• Weighing the Cards
• To Tell the Center Card of Pack
• To Locate Any Card Called For
• To Have the Joker Tell You What Card is Drawn
• To Tell the Number and Suit Of As Many Cards As Are Drawn
• To Tell Card That Is Drawn While Blindfolded
• To Cut the Cards in Three Heaps and Tell Bottom Card of Each Heap
• Reading the Cards
• To Have Pack Cut and Name Bottom...

A series of letters, between an unidentified friend and his correspondent (William Frederick Pinchbeck) comprising of how to train a pig, invisible lady and acoustic temple, philosophical swan, penetrating spy glasses, several magic tricks, such as how to catch a bullet, and reflections on ventriloquism.

This book includes the first known description of the "Eight Kings" card stack.

1. Method of teach the Pig – from Letter I. to IX. See also Letter V. Appendix
2. Principles of the Acoustic Temple – from Letter IX. To XIV. See also Letter II. Appendix.
3. A Demonstration of the philosophical...

An apparent demonstration of total card mastery, this series of card effects entertains and baffles a lay audience. The magician names missing cards by glancing at a riffling pack, listens to the riffling cards to count packets or locate any card, and detects truth from lies by spelling with the cards.

1st edition 1988, 5 pages; PDF 6 pages.

You will learn stacks for 2 - 10 players which allow you to do the following:

Presentation: Bring out the card case and remove the cards. Briefly show the cards and hand the deck to one of the players. Have them cut the deck. And cut again. State that you think he (or she) is lucky and let them deal. He deals and he wins! They have no explanation. He cut the cards and dealt and you did not touch the deck after he cut the cards.

1st edition 2019, 16 pages.

There are so many possibilities with a stacked deck, or better yet, "Impossibilities." That's because these decks look regular but what you can do with them quite casually can appear incredible. It's an old stack that's still worth its salt is, "The Si Stebbins Stack." It's sorta the granddaddy of this kind of amazing card magic. And it has a mathematical build to it that allows for a variety of other approaches as to magically finding a selected card and or knowing where or what a card is as to its position. This effect is a refreshing and fun way I found to make a bit more magic happen...

The venerable Sequeira stack from 1612 has been refurbished using the present day shadow concept. The Shadow Sequeira Stack allows to determine preceding and succeeding card as well as smooth translation from card to position and vice versa. The description of this universal stack is an exclusive extract from the author’s book In the Shadow Realm of Playing Cards.

version 2.02, 16 pages.

THE BIGGEST SNAG IN "EIGHT KINGS" OR "SI STEBBINS" EFFECTIVELY REMOVED.

Are you afraid of being caught when using a stacked deck of cards? Then you must know George Blake's system! No more fear of spreading the deck face up, if you know it.

From the introduction:

The Nikola Card System is more advanced than either the Si Stebbins or "Eight Kings" card systems. Even upon close examination pre-arrangement seems impossible with this system.

• Section 1: Argument
• Section 2: Curriculum
• Section 3: Utility
  • 1. "Stop"
  • 2. Cards By Weight
  • 3. Weighing Chosen Cards
  • 4. The Sense Of Touch
  • 5. Human Magnetism
  • 6. Locating
  • 7. Spelling
  • 8. To Spell Any Card Called For
  • 9. Thought Anticipated
  • 10. Unconscious Thought Transmission
  • 11. Wizard's Whist
  • 12. All Trumps
  • 13. The Spelling Bee,
  • 14. The Game Of Poker, And
  • 15. The Game Of "Nap"
  • 16. To Name The Position...

This is one of the books that Abbott published for the troops during wartime in the 1940's. It uses Si Stebbins system, except the step size is 4 rather than 3, also known as "The Riverboat Stack" or "Mark Twain Stack" (see New Card Tricks with the Mark Twain Stack). Routines can be performed with most other stacks.

• Foreword
• The Magic Card System: The Rules That Make It Work
• Effect Number One: A Skeptical Spectator Interrupts
• Effect Number Two
  • It Might Happen To You
  • Effect Number Two As Performed By Two Persons
• Effect Number Three
• Effect Number Four
• Effect Number Five
  • The Effect Done With An Assistant
• Effect Number Six ...

This is the first known publication of the Si Stebbins stack and several tricks that go along with it. It is a reproduction from the Sunday 18th December 1898 issue of the St. Louis Post Dispatch newspaper.

1st edition, 1898; PDF 5 pages.

The Mark Twain stack is a Si Stebbins stack with a four-apart sequence in SHoCkeD order. It was first published in the February 1935 issue of Modern Mechanix and Inventions magazine. This is a reproduction of this article.

The Mark Twain stack, also called the Riverboat stack (see for example Magic Card System), due to the abundant gambling on Mississippi riverboats, gets its name from the practice on these riverboats to frequently having to measure the water depth. If it was two marks, pronounced 'mark twain', it was ok.

1st edition 1935; PDF 4 pages.

You will learn how to prepare the Si Stebbins stack with two faro shuffles.

runtime: 2min 37s

This ebook classifies and breaks down the methodology and nomenclature of stacked decks.

3rd edition 2015, 11 pages.

A fascinating combination of Biology and Numerology in this volume of Deckology. A deliciously novel flavour of "Scientific Mysticism". You will discover weird secrets in your deck of cards which will enthrall and mystify your audience. Every card trick of yours, especially card mentalism effects, will look more baffling and more interesting for the spectators when you build in this theme of "Scientific Mysticism".

Also included is some useful bonus information for magicians and mentalists for use in their patter and presentations.

1st edition 2015, 13 pages.

This is the story of the making of the Karma Deck. The various emotions, thoughts, incidents and most importantly the people involved in the making of it. The culmination of this story is the fact that Karma Deck reached the very top of the hot list on Lybrary and stayed there for over 100 days and continues to be among the top few.

1st edition 2015, 23 pages.

Si-Step is a system which enables you to know what card is at a given position in the deck or get the position of any named card. Specially developed for the original Stebbins Stack and for people who do not like mental arithmetic.

It was originally published in 2014 in Recycled Stebbins.

PDF 8 pages.