As a demonstration to a lay audience of the magician’s ability to control the cards in a game of poker, I think this effect is extremely convincing. Begin the demonstration with four aces on top of the pack, unknown of course to the audience. Shuffle the cards in any manner you wish, holding the top stock, and then place the deck on the table. Let someone perform the first operation of a cut. As you pick up the halves, hold a slight break between them with the tip of the little finger (Erdnase has an excellent method of doing this). If you prefer, you can keep the break by crimping the upper half of the deck slightly.

Deal four hands of poker rapidly and place the deck on the table. Just before you lay the deck down, however, the left thumb fans slightly the few cards that remain above the break. Glance at these cards and count them quickly. Then square the deck and place it aside. This assumes that the spectator cut the cards either in the center or slightly above the center of the pack. Most of the time they will do so. Watch him as he cuts and if he cuts below the middle, simply replace the cards and request that he cut them more evenly.

Let us assume that the cards have been cut near or above the center. After dealing the twenty cards that form the four poker hands, there should remain between six and twelve cards above the break. Turn over the four hands and arrange each hand properly if it shows anything of value. While you are doing this, quickly analyze the first, second, and third hands (the fourth hand is your hand) and decide on approximately how many cards each player (if there were a player behind each hand) would discard for the draw. Then juggle these numbers about in such a way that the total number of discarded cards will equal either the number of cards that lie above the aces, or that number minus one. We shall see in a moment why it is possible to leave this leeway of one card.

I doubt if I have made this clear. Let us suppose that you have counted eight cards above the aces (i.e. above the break after the hands have been dealt). Perhaps the first hand holds two pair. It is obvious that a player holding this hand would draw only a single card. Perhaps the second hand holds a pair. A glance at the third hand reveals that it contains nothing.

Since the first hand MUST take a single card, you know that six or seven cards remain to be discarded from the second and third hands. So you assume that the second player holds only his pair and draws three cards, and the third player holds his highest card and draws four. Or you could permit the second hand to hold a high card (in addition to the pair) and draw two, and then give the third player a new hand of five. In other words you must invent plausible excuses for the number of cards discarded by each hand, so that when these hands are dealt their cards it will bring the aces to the top of the deck (or to the top with a single card above them) so that you will catch them on the draw.

If the aces are on top, then hold the high card of your hand and deal yourself the four aces. If there is a card above the aces, then discard your ENTIRE hand and deal yourself five cards. In either case the four aces come to you. Deal them slowly and dramatically.

If you are a convincing liar you will find it easy to get away with all this. It combines well with Annemann’s poker deal, explained in his book The Book Without a Name. Employ this deal until four of a kind show up in one hand. Gather the hands with this one on top, false shuffle, and present the draw poker deal here.