Plan 9
by David Devlin

David Devlin loves gambling demonstrations. He is particularly partial to the routines that give the spectators the impression that the performer is an expert in card control and cheating. Very seldom does one find a gambling-type of effect that has the following characteristics:

1. Completely impromptu
2. It can be done with a borrowed deck
3. It is performed entirely in the hands, which makes it ideal for strolling performers
4. There are no false cuts, false shuffles, or false deals
5. The spectators legitimately shuffle the deck several times throughout the routine
6. The spectators do all of the dealing
7. It is easy to perform
8. And you still get all the credit for being an expert in card control and cheating

This is such a routine! Here is the effect:

The four aces are placed into four random places in the deck. The deck is then shuffled and given a couple of cuts. A spectator selects a card, and whatever its value is will be the number used in the routine. He is then handed the deck. The spectator deals the cards into the performer's hand one at a time until he reaches one less than his selected number. The card at his chosen number is handed to another spectator. The spectator and the performer now legitimately shuffle the deck, the spectator going first. The spectator once again deals the cards until he reaches his number, the card at his number goes to another spectator. This is repeated twice more. After this has been done four times, the spectators turn the cards in their hands face up. They are the four aces!

• No difficult sleights
• No palming
• No false shuffles
• No false deals (how could there be?!)
• Can be done with a borrowed deck
• No gaffs or gimmicks
• No "extra" cards
• No stooges of any kind
• Easy to do

1st edition 2015, 14 pages.
word count: 3632 which is equivalent to 14 standard pages of text