I gave up card magic years ago to embrace mentalism. And I've discovered over the years that some of
the most baffling mentalism routines use card sleights. They are baffling simply because no one
expects a mentalist to be using sleight of hand. (Check out Derren Brown. He has a background as a
cardician, as well as Richard Osterlind. And Bob Cassidy used sleights effectively.) So if you want
to be in the top echelon of mentalists, you'll need to know how to do stuff like false cuts, false
shuffles, the pass, the glide, a double lift, a top change, various forces, and a second deal. And
to learn those moves, there is no better book than Royal Road. It has stood the test of time as the
classic textbook on card sleights. No, I don't do the card tricks in it, but I have an ebook copy
and refer to it all the time. Yes, it's old, and the writing is from a bygone era. But the
explanations of how to do these fundamental moves will have you up and running in no time. You will
have to put the time in on some of the moves--for example, the classic pass--but Hugard & Braue make
it worthwhile. If you buy one book on card sleights, this is it.