Magic Tricks

It ISN’T the only card trick you’ll ever need. As described and demonstrated, it’s more of a puzzle with a heavy-handed mathematical flavor that really weakens it severely. The author recognizes this in the video explanation (even adds the term “stinks” to describe it) but passes right by and makes it the centerpiece of his methodology. I would never present this as described to a paying audience; it just screams math puzzle. I’m not saying to avoid it completely, you can easily get by the math method through the use of a force, and you can easily get by the described pre-arrangement by altering it slightly. It makes very little sense to me to show four aces (a good poker hand) then an extended straight flush, ace to seven. The only reason he uses this extended straight flush is to accommodate that mathematical method. The price is right, so if it strikes your fancy, go ahead and buy it, but scrap the math and his setup, and incorporate a force, some false shuffles and cuts, and make the four-step climax become the selection, the four aces, the poker straight flush Ace to five, and the final royal flush. It then becomes a decent presentation, but you’ll still need other tricks to complement your performance. It just isn’t that big.