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The Gambling Magician
by B. W. McCarron

$5

(1 review, 1 customer rating) ★★★★★

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The Gambling Magician by B. W. McCarron

From the Introduction:

Within the pages of this volume, the reader will find many effects which may easily be incorporated into a program of exposes, or as part of a manipulative act. None of the effects discussed in the first section require sleights more difficult than the doublelift. Many a performer will want to credit the occurrences to his own skill - even though none is involved. While at no time should the Lecturer attribute the happenings to "magic", a fairly plausible cause is sleight-of-hand.

...

Included in Section II of this volume, I have given the reader an illustrated guide to some actual methods employed by professional card men, and some ruses and gimmicks of my own. The reader may be surprised to learn the simplicity of many of the moves shown, and magicians will find much of the material suitable for card effects before lay audiences.

  • An Introduction
  • Section One: "Card Shark Routine"
    • Effect Number One: How The Dealer Always Wins
    • Effect Number Two: How The Dealer Uses Assistants
    • A Valuable Tip
    • Effect Number Three: Plain-Sight Cheating
    • Another Valuable Tip To Gamblers
    • Effect Number Four: The Cut For Deal
    • Effect Number Five: Apparent Marking Of A Borrowed Deck Instantaneously
    • Effect Number Six: Plain Sight Palming
    • Special Bonus: Card To Box Of Miniature Playing Cards
    • Effect Number Seven: Miraculous Deck Switch (?)
    • Effect Number Eight: A Blindfolded Poker Deal
    • Effect Number Nine: Spectator's Choice Of Cards Poker Deal
    • Effect Number Ten: Another Wild Poker "Deal."
    • Effect Number Eleven: A Lightning Fast, Indetectable Second Deal
    • Effect Number Twelve: Feeling A Card - With A Borrowed Deck
    • Effect Number Thirteen: Invisible Daub
    • Bonus: Mercurio's Deck Set-Up
    • Effect Number Fourteen: Another Poker Deal
    • A Useful Ruse
    • Effect Number Fifteen: A Poker Deal That Deals Itself
    • Effect Number Sixteen: Shuffling The Cards Up One's Sleeves
    • Effect Number Seventeen: Cutting The Aces To The Top Of The Deck
    • Effect Number Eighteen: Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
    • Effect Number Nineteen: The Dead Man's Hand
    • Effect Number Twenty: Still Another Second-Deal
  • Section Two: Card Shark Methods
    • Part One: Ruses
      • The Deck Switch
      • The Raise
      • The Bluff
      • The Turnover
      • The Extra Card
      • The Switch
      • The Short Card
      • The Crimp
      • The Loss
      • The Fake
      • Additional Ruses
    • Part Two: Devices And Gimmicks:
      • The Mirror Ring
      • Hand Shiners
      • The Bill Mirror
      • The Matchbox Shiner
      • The Detachable Concealer
      • The Holdout
      • The Slippery Shoe
      • The Shoe Holdout
  • In Conclusion
  • Appendix
  • Rank Of Cards In Straight Poker
  • How To Construct The Special Cards Required For Effect Number Three: "Plain Sight Cheating"
  • The Cardman's Suitcase
  • Actual Marked Cards
  • Quick - Use Glossary
  • Epilogue

1st edition 1976, 80 pages; 1st digital edition 2016, 55 pages.
word count: 21180 which is equivalent to 84 standard pages of text


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Reviewed by Dan Sherer (confirmed purchase)
★★★★★   Date Added: Tuesday 25 June, 2024

It's mostly fine, though it's not really an act per se, (the first section is a "Card Shark Routine" which I assumed was meant to be a full act, but I suppose that I may have made an assumption). The explanations are at times incomplete (I don't understand how the second trick in the routine is meant to work). I do wish that more of the book was workable with a standard and unprepared deck, but there are some decent tricks and gags in there. Ok for the price, but if you want to do what seems to be the main draw of the book (a gambling expose-style act), there's better material out there.
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