Cutting the Aces

Cutting the Aces is a classic plot in card magic where the performer cuts the deck to each of the four Aces after they have been lost in the deck.

Dai Vernon published his version in 1946 as part of the Stars of Magic.

It was also popular with John Scarne, Paul Rosini, Dr. Daley, Sam Horowitz, Ed Marlo and Harry Riser.

John Scarne's version, known as "Scarne Aces", has intrigued many magicians as it was done from a borrowed deck. Scarne never published it and supposedly only taught it to a few other magicians. In his biography, "The Odds Against Me", Scarne tells how at 19 he gave a half-hour magic show at the Park Central Hotel in New York. For the finale, he performed his cutting all four aces from an unmarked, unstacked deck of cards. At the hotel that evening was Arnold Rothstein, the gangster infamous for fixing the 1919 World Series. Night after night Rothstein paid $200 for a private show so his cronies could observe Scarne cutting the aces.

Publications

• Handling Improved by Edward Marlo in Let's See the Deck (1942)
• Series 2, No. 2: Dai Vernon's Cutting The Aces in Stars of Magic (1946)
• Karl Fulves' Riffle Shuffle Methods published in 1987 explains how Scarne cut to the aces.
• Harry Lorayne's Halo Aces in Rim Shots (1973)