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Paperback The Expert at the Card Table: The Classic Treatise on Card Manipulation (Dover Magic Books) Book

ISBN: 0486285979

ISBN13: 9780486285979

Artifice, Ruse and Subterfuge at the Card Table: A Treatise on the Science and Art of Manipulating Cards

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Format: Paperback

Condition: Good

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Book Overview

"The Expert at the Card Table is the most famous, the most carefully studied book ever published on the art of manipulating cards at gaming tables." --from the Foreword by Martin Gardner.For almost a century, this book has been considered indispensable to attaining the highest level of card mastery. In it, S. W. Erdnase, a supreme master of card manipulation, teaches card enthusiasts how to perform the dazzling tricks and sleights -- many of them his own creations -- that made him famous.The first section of the book deals with card table artifice, or, to put it more bluntly, cheating at cards. Step by step, Mr. Erdnase demonstrates his own systems of false shuffling, false riffling and cutting, dealing from the bottom, and such slick moves as palming cards, "skinning the hand" -- even three-card monte.The second section covers legerdemain: the art of forcing a card, one- and two-hand transformations, the devious "slide" and more. Card handlers will love Erdnase's selection of dazzling card tricks, including The Acrobatic Jacks, The Exclusive Coterie, The Divining Rod, The Invisible Flights, A Mind Reading Trick, and many others.In an informative Foreword to this edition, Martin Gardner relates the unhappy details of the author's personal life, and recounts the history of this famous book, whose methods, Mr. Gardner asserts, "are as useful today by magicians and card hustlers as they were in 1902. This book is still the bible of card 'mechanics, ' and as much a delight to read as it was in the early years of this century." This description may be from another edition of this product.

Customer Reviews

6 customer ratings | 5 reviews

Rated 5 stars
Excellent techniques and written very well

I am fairly new to card magic / artifice / subterfuge and this book was great. I find his way of explaining hand positions superior to that of Hugard and Braue's material. I also enjoy the way he writes far more... The introduction alone is worth the price. The techniques are great because one doesn't have to rely on diversion, most of the sleights can be pulled off with the spectator's eyes directly on the pack.

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Rated 5 stars
S.W. Erdnase's Classic

Ok, Ok, so the author is amazingly mysterious and I find that this makes me give a 5 star rating.First of all, this book is considered the bible of card work because of its historical significance. It seemed to be the first major public known book that contained wholesome magic material (second half of the book, LEGERDEMAIN), whilst also carrying a good blend of card cheating techniques using sleight of hand--the first half...

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Rated 5 stars
The Bible of card magic

This book is considered by many magicians to be the Bible of card magic. Anyone interested in learning card techiques should buy this book.It is not a magic trick book. If you want magic tricks, look elsewhere.Darwin Ortiz has written a book entitled, "The Annotated Erdnase", which has the full text of "Expert at the Card Table" and includes additional notes, etc.

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Rated 5 stars
This is a good one

If you are interested in cards, card magic, or cheating, then this book is for you. There aren't many pictures, so learning the different techniques and so forth contained in this book can be difficult at times. The die-hard card man or a dedicated student of card manipulation should get by ok with this book. If you learn everything in this book and could do it all perfectly, then you would no doubt be an expert at the...

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Rated 5 stars
Serious Card Workers Should Read This Book Before They Die!!

What else can I say? This book contains the real mechanics used by professional card handlers. The author's true name is not known because he knew that exposing these secrets could be detrimental to his health. Most of the material within is knuckle-busting, but worth your time if you would like to know how card cheats do what they do. -Diamond Jim Tyler

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