Expert at the Card Table

The Expert at the Card Table is a Card Magic Book

By S.W. Erdnase. "The Classic Treatise on Card Manipulation". Published in 1902.

Supposedly a collection of sleights used by card cheats, including false shuffles, cuts, and deals, culling techniques, palms, and shifts. Also a section on card tricks.

Highlights

The Exclusive Coterie -- a four card assembly

Editions

• 1902 First Edition Self-published
• ~1905 Drake Hardback (HB) Pictorial Green Cloth
• ~1905 Drake HB Plum Cloth
• ~1918 Drake HB Blue Cloth
• 1937 Drake Softbound (SB) w/indices
• Post 1917 Drake SB no indices
• ~1944 Fleming HB
• ~1944 Fleming HB (Includes Hoffman commentary)
• 1944 Card Mastery / Circle Magic Shop by Michael MacDougall's Card Mastery (contains the complete text of Expert)
• 1946 Card Secrets Exposed/ KC Card Company
• ? - KC Card Company edition (Chicago)
• ? - GBC Comb Bound / Gambler's Book Club
• 1975 Powner perfect bound / The Charles T. Powner Co.
• 1980 Coles SB / Canada
• 1984 Casino Press SB/Casino Press, New York
• 1984 Revelations / Magical Publications - contains thoughts from Dai Vernon.
• 1991 The Annotated Erdnase/ Magical Publications by Darwin Ortiz. Contains notes, annotations, photographs, citations and references. Also contains two appendices: "New Moves" and "The Search For Erdnase" by Martin Gardner.
• ? GBC perfect bound / Gambler's Book Club
• 1995 Dover SB
• 2002 Facsimile Edition (unknown publisher)
• ? Hardback GBC edition / Gambler's Book Club
• 2007 - Marlo on Erdnase, Jon Racherbaumer (editor) - A compilation of Ed Marlo's writings, both published and unpublished. This book is a preliminary effort to show how an annotation of Erdnase by Marlo might look like. As it stands, it is a partial, supplemental work.
• 2007 The Bible editon The Conjuring Arts Research Center - Pocket-size with an all new typeset and numbered lines for reference sleights via the Bible verse method. Printed using the same paper as a bible, gilt edges, a ribbon place holder and bound in soft leatherette.
• 2008 Pocket Expert at the Card Table from Houdini.com - The booklet consisting of 218 pages and measuring only 6 x 3.5 inches with space for the readers notes.
• 2008 Revelations by Dai Vernon from Mike Caveney's Magic Words. An update to the 1984 version that contains 160 long-lost photographs of Dai Vernon’s hands that were taken in 1961 specifically to illustrate this manuscript. Plus more than 100 pages of added material.

Contents

   PREFACE

   INTRODUCTION

   PROFESSIONAL SECRETS

       * Hold-Outs
       * Prepared Cards
       * Confederacy
       * Two Methods of Shuffling
       * Primary Accomplishments
       * Possibilities of the "Blind"
       * Uniformity of Action
       * Deportment
       * Display of Ability
       * Greatest Single Accomplisment
       * Effect of Suspicion
       * Acquiring the Art
       * Importance of Detail

   TECHNICAL TERMS

   ERDNASE SYSTEM OF BLIND SHUFFLES

       POSITION FOR SHUFFLE

       BLIND SHUFFLES

           * To Retain Top Stock
           * To Retain Top Stock and Shuffle Whole Deck
           * To Retain the Bottom Stock and Shuffle Whole Deck 

   ERDNASE SYSTEM OF BLIND RIFFLES AND CUTS

       BLIND RIFFLES

           * To Retain the Top Stock
           * To Retain the Bottom Stock 

       BLIND CUTS

           * To Retain Bottom Stock--Top Losing One Card
           * To Retain the Complete Stock
           * To Retain the Top Stock
           * To Retain the Bottom Stock
           * To Retain Bottom Stock. Riffle 2 and Cut 4 

   FANCY BLIND CUTS

       * To Retain the Complete Stock-1
       * To Retain the Complete Stock-2 

   FANCY TRUE CUT--ONE-HANDED

   TO INDICATE THE LOCATION FOR THE CUT

       * This is Located by the Crimp
       * This is Located by the Jog
       * This is Located by the Crimp
       * This is located by the jog 

   BOTTOM DEALING AND SECOND DEALING

       * Bottom Dealing
       * Top and Bottom Dealing with one Hand
       * Second Dealing 

   ORDINARY METHODS OF STOCKING, LOCATING AND SECURING

   STOCK SHUFFLE

   ERDNASE SYSTEM OF STOCK SHUFFLING

       * Two-Card Stock
       * Three-Card Stock
       * Four-Card Stock
       * Five-Card Stock
       * Twelve-Card Stock--For Draw Poker
       * Euchre Stock--Four-Handed Game-1
       * Euchre Stock--Four-Hande Game-2 

   ERDNASE SYSTEM OF CULL SHUFFLING

       * To Cull Two Cards, Numbers 8, 4
       * To Cull Three Cards, Numbers 7, 5, 9
       * To Cull Four Cards, Numbers 3, 6, 2, 5
       * To Cull Nine Cards, Numbers 5, 1, 1, 1, 3, 1, 1, 7, 1 

   ERDNASE SYSTEM OF PALMING

       * Top Palm--First Method
       * Top Palm--Second Method
       * Bottom Palm--First Method
       * Bottom Palm--Second Method
       * Bottom Palm--When Cards Are Riffled
       * Bottom Palm--When Cards Are Riffled-Second Method 

   TO MAINTAIN THE BOTTOM PALM WHILE DEALING

   TO HOLD THE LOCATION OF CUT WHILE DEALING

   SHIFTS

       * Two-Handed Shift
       * The Erdnase Shift--One Hand
       * Erdnase Shift--Two Hands 

   TO ASCERTAIN THE TOP CARDS WHILE RIFFLING AND RESERVE THEM AT BOTTOM

   MODE OF HOLDING THE HAND

   SKINNING THE HAND

   THE PLAYER WITHOUT AN ALLY

       * Dealing Without the Cut
       * Replacing the Cut as Before
       * Holding Out for the Cut
       * Shifting the Cut
       * Dealing Too Many
       * Crimping for the Cut
       * Replacing Palm When Cutting
       * The Short Deck 

   THREE CARD MONTE

   MEXICAN THREE CARD MONTE

   LEGERDEMAIN

   SHIFTS

       * Single Handed Shift
       * The Longitudinal Shift
       * The Open Shift
       * The S. W. E. Shift
       * The Diagonal Palm-Shift 

   THE BLIND SHUFFLE FOR SECURING SELECTED CARD

   FORCING

   PALMING

   THE BACK PALM

   CHANGES

       * The Top Change
       * The Bottom Change
       * The Palm Change
       * The Double Palm Change 

   TRANSFORMATIONS--TWO HANDS

       * First Method
       * Second Method
       * Third Method
       * Fourth Method
       * Fifth Method
       * Sixth Method 

   TRANSFORMATIONS--ONE HAND

       * First Method
       * Second Method 

   BLIND SHUFFLES RETAINING ENTIRE ORDER

       * First Method
       * Second Method
       * Third Method
       * Fourth Method
       * Fifth Method 

   METHODS FOR DETERMINING A CARD THOUGHT OF

   TO GET SIGHT OF SELECTED CARD

   THE SLIDE

   FAVORITE SLEIGHTS FOR TERMINATING TRICKS

   CARD TRICKS

       * The Exclusive Coterie
       * The Divining Rod
       * The Invisible Flight
       * The Prearranged Deck
       * The Travelling Cards
       * The Row of Ten Cards
       * The Acrobatic Jacks
       * A Mind Reading Trick
       * Power of Concentrated Thought
       * The Acme of Control
       * The Card and Handkerchief
       * The Top and Bottom Production
       * The Three Aces
       * The Card and Hat

External References

• Information about different editions available at Erdnase.com