The Meeker herald., 1904-06-11
Wizards the -
Easiest OF Marks
Their Proficiency With a Deck Of
Cards is chiic's Play Compared
With That Of 4 Gard Sharp.

/
And do You know" concluded the mar
pieteiy cleaned out the gambler, and
| everybody In the smoking room thanked
him. The little fellow who had been to
| oned for the waiter. The unobtrosive man
over in the corner Of the cafe simply
Those gifted Johnnies with the clever
| hands make me tired, he growled.
| whenever | hear those lnrid tales of
| the professional player l want to retire
10 the solitude of my chamber and weep
bred times. and never yet encountered a
magician who ever bear q card player at
poker outside of his press agents i'm
agination IL makes lovely tale to tell
| the week before you ge, to town TO per-
| form, but I've taken lot of tirst-class
magicians into camp. and they never even
"If couldn't play with the pasteboards
better than the best card king that ever
srave fun " Of lead Why. Ii the ea Dt
money l ever made has been off those
now you see it. now you don't Willie
boys. They feel so sure that they can't
he cheated that they Will stand for any
thing except hitting them over the head
back palming with one hand tied behind
me. II that was all | could do | would
have to go I'd work The real clever card
lars leave on.
..of coursc. In my business, use the
pass. Tne pass was USED IN gambling
when the best thing II magician could do
with cards was to tell fortunes. That
with me is Just sort of side issue. Some
The real trick liz knowing how to shuttle
the cards and things like that"
At the gamblers suggestion pack OF
cards was sent for. 1t was "A fresh deck,
and the revenue stamp was still in place.
The cards were removed from the case
and shuttied. Then they were passed to
we are playing u fve-handed deal. l
want to win the pot. Now. here are the
cards"
ripped the pack several times. Now he
dealt Ave hands. four OF them face. up.
The fifth hand lay face down before him:
three kings. seven of hearts and six of
clubs. He wants two cards"
Here Here en vent ON e the gambler as sare thTes
Two cards" The cards were dealt The
fourth to aces, while the gambler showed
| n pair OF threes. He took three cards.
Number two" he said. might have
do toward getting another ace. held
that on top" He turned the top card
and there was an ace. This being the
through the game thus" The thumb he
ing on the top OF the pack, the gamoier
dealt several cards. each time craving
place as soon he had caught the edge
OF the second.
iot 10. ' did 4 iu not hold the ace owl, 50
and there were two skies. The pair OF
| queens became three queens and two
FOUR; The fourth man n. had been Rss1 s,Ssa
With With the gambler drawing to pair.
betting appeal to the imagination the
gambler reached for his draw. ,,..,
h4ess he sxsmpty pofss nss
the draw over. and there We're TWO more
Now that" said the gambler. lis very
easily done when you know how; Not
every man can 40 II as weIi as naye
are unable to fix more than one-or two
hands without unduly delaying the deal:
| comes natural to me to draw out hands
| In this fashion. 1t requires not alone a
Quick hand and eye. but the memory
| acquired.
"While vas running the cards I had
! not only to fix the sequence of five hands
| of five cards each. but add to those
twenty-five cards the fourteen cards in
volved in the draw. this including the un-
More than that, my knowledge of the
| cards was obtained entirely from the
small index in the corner as they ran
| seni,ent rips were for the purpose of
dropping the cards in their proper places
Z ga also drop the cards want to the
bottom of the pack. After have served
three tr Of the cardsiand Two from the '| top
of the pack. On the draw get the other
Msou ana ssss tho down wiser for
even though they may be watching me.
Take this hand. for Instance
The gambler dealt five cards to himeslf.
! He was quicker than the average card
IBID you see anything wrong? No:
| Well. three of those cards were from the
| top and two from the bottom. Take 1t
another way. | am dealing and come
card until 1t comes to me. and then L
take it.
| the top card more than the sixteenth OF
| an inch. That keeps the tint of the sec
o.d card from showing. Crude profess
in that case detection is easy il any one
is looking for trouble.
"The card manipulation on the stage has
| to attain certain proficiency. He has
the eyes of the audience on him con-
stantiy. and must be skillful enough to
ang card players have seem %ho
| give you glimpse of the cards on a
palming trick. or who tumble the pass?
| in some games a professional who fum-
| bles the pass gives the coroner u chance
| to earn fee.
1.-The magician in competition with or
| binary players may gain certain small
! advantage by his little tricks. He may
| be able to hold out an ace against the
time when he needs it. He may even
| be able to stack the cards little. But
| when you hear of the magician who skins
| the professional card player Mt his own
| game, That is where any good player
| enjoys a laugh. The card palmIst who
| can skin a good gambler is better gam
| bling tricSster than his opponent and
| that is all there Is to 1t.
THE only magician I know whose
| work is as expert as Il professional play
or is a little chap who is so good that
| he cannot get job. His work Is so
clean cut that 1t will deceive another
| magician. The trouble Is that 1t takes
| a magician to appreciate his work. The
| card palmer requires such finish, and
| seldom acquires It, He is just a card
palmer and, like all of the wise people.
| the easiest to get away with.-E. w g.,
| In New York Commercial Advertiser