Editor’s note: I can’t offer any apologies for bringing out again what I
have considered one of the best combination trick decks extant. Nearly
15 years ago it could be obtained for $3.50, and I have reason to believe
that not many were released. Today it is unknown, in no book, and an
excellent routine has been dormant long enough.

A Super-Clever Creation in Cardology is this, and it allows the following
experiments to be performed without skill, practice, or long study.
Nothing but the cards are needed, there are no duplicates, no markings,
no pasted cards, no sleights, the cards may be shuffled at any time, all
tricks can be repeated, with the exception of the poker hands, and cards
are handled as an ordinary deck and afterwards be used as such in your
entertainment.

Following is a list of the effects possible of being performed in a
continuous routine. The number of the item will serve to identify it later
in the explanations.

1. Removing the deck from its case, they are shown back and front to
   be facing one way. On command every alternate card is found reversed.
2. Any card is selected and you instantly name it correctly.
3. You cut an odd or even number of cards as desired. No false counting.
4. The spectator cuts the pack. You tell him whether odd or even.
5. Now you make him cut an odd or even number as you dictate.
6. A card is selected, and you produce one of the same suit only higher
   in value without seeing either card.
7. You deal cards until told to stop, and correctly name the card.
8. The pack is laid on the table and you turn your back or leave the
   room. Someone removes any card and leaves the deck squared. You
   pick up the deck and name the card quickly.
9. Any card is selected and placed back in the pack. It is named and you
   spell it, removing a card for each letter from the top. After the last letter
   you turn over the next card. It is the one chosen.
10. A poker hand is dealt to your spectator and one to yourself. He can
    discard and draw; you can do likewise. You now name his cards, and
    your hand just beats his.
11. This is an alternate trick for n°10. The deck is thoroughly shuffled
    and divided into halves. The audience selects either half and calls it
    aloud to you, one card at a time, preserving their order. You step from
    the room, and without hesitation repeat the exact order of the cards as
    called.
12. The spectator names any card in his pile and you instantly name its
    location.
13. The spectator names any number and you name the card at once.
14. The pack is divided in halves, and both halves shuffled and held
    by the spectators. A card from one is placed in the other, shuffled, and
    handed to you. You name the card at once.
15. A card is selected, returned and the deck shuffled. You hold the cards
    one at a time before the spectator’s eyes. He thinks the word “stop”
    when he sees his card. You stop.
16. Four Kings are shuffled into other indifferent cards by spectators.
    They are covered with a handkerchief and you reach under and produce
    the Kings.
17. A new and really different Four Aces effect.
18. The cards of one suit are shuffled by the spectators and covered with
    a handkerchief. You pull out either an odd card or even card as called
    for. The deck is now assembled and can be used as an ordinary article.

The eighteen foregoing tricks are made possible through the use of the
well known long and short cards. We claim no originality for this, but
do claim that its application in this instance does more than any other
trick pack in existence.

Four cards, the eights of Diamonds, Spades and Hearts, and the two of
Clubs, are removed from a deck, leaving only 48 cards. The short cards
are the 2-4-6-9-J-K of Diamonds, Spades and Hearts, and the 3-5-7-9-
J-K of Clubs. They are trimmed at one end about one sixteenth of an
inch. The rest of the cards, being of natural length, we shall refer to as
long cards.

Starting with the top card (backs up) the pack is assembled with every
alternate card a short card, and following each short card is a long card
of the same suit but one point higher. This holds true throughout the
pack. With the Aces following the Kings, yet there is no particular order
of the matched pairs. Just consider it is a deck of 24 pairs.

The pack may be shuffled (dovetail) by squaring it on a table so that
when the pack is divided and riffled by the thumbs, two cards, or any
even number, fall and interlaces with the others. The following is the
simplest method of dividing and riffling to keep the “short and long”
ends always at the top to be controlled by the thumbs. Square the cards.
Grasp the pack in your right hand, thumb at top end (where “short and
longs” are visible only to you), two middle fingers at the bottom end,
first finger on the back of the cards, and the little finger at side nearest
body. The left hand now grasps the pack in the same manner, with the
exception of the first finger, which is at the side of the pack furthest from
the body. The pack is now cut, and the first finger of the left hand starts
turning this half pack (thumb and second finger acting as pivots). It will
be found that this half pack can be turned about a fourth revolution.
Now these cards in left hand are turned completely face to the other
half, by laying the inside edge of the cards against the two right middle
fingers (which are holding the other packet). The left hand makes a half
turn toward the body to allow this. After the turn, the fingers naturally
hold the pack firmly so that riffling can be done by the thumbs. Read
this again, with cards in hand, as it is the simplest method of turning
the pack face to face, without continually having to square the cards in
order to get the “long and short” cards to operate successfully.

Beforehand, take the deck in hand and shift the bottom long card to the
top. Now run through the face down deck, and, without disturbing their
order, turn face up every alternate card starting with the third from the
top. Now, by riffling, the cards may be shown facing one way. Turn the
deck face up and riffle again. They still appear to all face one way. Just
be sure, in riffling, that the cards are squared to properly allow two, or
any even number of cards to fall together. Put the four cards left out of
the deck in your pocket, and the pack in its case.

1. Show the cards, by riffling, to face one way. Turn over the top and
   bottom cards, riffle in opposite direction, and show that the whole pack
   has turn over, merely by influence of the top and bottom cards. Tap
   the pack with the finger for effect, and spread them to show that every
   alternate card has turned itself over. Now, at this point, and having
   interested everyone by the instantaneous changes, it is necessary to right
   the pack. Square the pack after the spread and turn it over to have the
   long cards facing down. Deal the deck, a card at a time into a pile. The
   face down cards are dealt face down, and all face up cards are turned
   down in the dealing. At the finish, put the top card on bottom, and the
   deck is ready for the rest of the routine.
2. Shuffle. Riffle the outer end of the pack and have a finger inserted
   anywhere. Cut the deck at spot where the card under the finger is
   removed. As the spectator looks at it, lift the rear corner of the top card
   and glimpse it. Subtract one and name, as the short card selected is one
   less and of the same suit.
3. Shuffle. Riffle and cut anywhere. The number of cards will be even.
   To get an odd number, do the same but slip one more card with the
   bunch cut off. In counting, do not disarrange the order.
4. Hold the pack on hand and let the spectator cut off a bunch. If a short
   card is left on top, it is even. If a long card, odd. If he reverses the cards
   in counting, recount yourself, again reversing them.
5. Shuffle. Hold the pack backs up so that the fingers are at one side,
   and the root of the thumb on the other side. The spectator, in cutting, is
   forced to cut at ends and therefore a long card. You thus make him cut
   an even number.
6. Shuffle. Have the cards selected as in N°2. Cut the pack at this point.
   Say you will produce a card of the same suit, only one point higher,
   without seeing any cards. Put the deck behind your back and bring
   out the top card face up, which will be correct. Replace on top, and
   spectator’s card on top of this. Repeat once.
7. Shuffle. Deal cards, one at a time, from off the top, and place on the
   bottom. This keeps the order. When told to stop, throw that card on the
   table for them to look at. If it is a short card, note the inner index of the
   top card and subtract one.
   If it is a long card, glimpse the bottom card of the deck and add one.
   If short, return to the top, and if long, return to the bottom, after naming
   it.
8. Shuffle. Lay the pack on the table and turn your back or leave the
   room. Anyone cuts the pack, removes the card where cut, replaces the
   cut, and pockets the card. You take the pack and look through it, starting
   from the top with the faces toward you. Starting with the top card, look
   for each card’s complement. Add one if the card you find alone is short,
   or subtract one if it is long. Two cards are always mated, no matter where
   they may be in the pack, and when one is found alone, its mate is the
   one removed. Cut the pack at this point when you find it, so the returned
   card can be placed on top or bottom together with its companion.
9. Shuffle. Have the card selected as in N°2. Cut the pack at this point.
   As he looks at the card, turn the pack face to you. Look at the top card
   to know his card. Then count from the bottom (face) enough cards to
   spell the name of the selected one, (as if thinking of what procedure to
   follow) without reversing their order, and hold in your right hand. Turn
   the packets backs up. He places his card on the pack and you drop the
   right hand packet on top. Now name the card, and spell it by removing
   a card with each letter and placing it on the bottom. After the last letter
   has been spelled, turn over the next card. Turn it face down and proceed.
10. The Poker Trick. (This trick is an alternate with N° 11-12-13. If this
    is used, then jump to N°14. If you want to do N° 11-12-13, just skip
    this one) Shuffle. Start with the remark “The cards have been shuffled
    and used constantly, but I’ll mix them even a bit more and show you
    some card table technique.” This covers your actions for a minute. Deal
    two packets of cards containing six each. Deal singly, face down, and
    alternately, so one will be of “shorts” and the other of “longs”. Now deal
    ten more from the top of the deck into the right hand without changing
    their order. Place these on the “short” packet, and the whole back on the
    pack. The packet of “long” cards is taken thus : The left hand reaches
    over the cards and slides them off the table (a natural move) and below
    the edge, at the same time turning them over (hand and all) as they go
    out of sight. The right hand places the pack face down on top of these
    reversed cards. Now deal regular five card poker hands to the two of
    you naturally. Don’t look at your cards yet. If he discards and draws,
    deal his cards from the top of the deck.
    Now look at your cards, and as you do, your left hand with the pack
    naturally drops out of sight for a second behind the table, and turns the
    pack over. Look at your cards on the table and discard the same number
    as your opponent. This depends on your own knowledge of poker, for
    you know his cards by looking at your own (same suits and one point
    less), and must deduce what you think he would retain. If you have a
    pair, he has a pair. If he discards three and holds the pair, common sense
    tells you to do the same. Deal your cards from the turned over pack. You
    can now name his full hand, and show him a hand that just beats his.
    Even the cards you have drawn will tell you what he drew. After this
    trick, in order to proceed with N°14, be watchful where his cards and
    discards (shorts) fall, and keep them together. Keep your cards (longs)
    also together. There will then be two packets of eleven cards each.
    Deal the remaining cards onto these packets (covering with appropriate
    patter) so that there will be two packs – one short and one long. Then
    you are ready for N°14.
11. After finishing with N°9, perform this effect instead of N°10 if you
    wish. Shuffle. Deal the cards into two packets of short and long. See that
    neither packet is disarranged. Spectator selects either one. You place
    the other in your pocket as though through with this half during this
    experiment. The spectator reads his cards to you from top to bottom
    without disarranging their order. You apparently memorise them as
    called. You now step to the next room, to avoid confederacy, take out
    your packet, and if it is the “short” packet, add one and give the same
    suit throughout. If the “long” packet, subtract one and give the same
    suit. Through this subterfuge, you are able to look through your packet
    and name the order of every card in his.
12. The spectator can name any card in his packet. You look for its
    complement in your own, note its position, and then state its number.
13. The spectator names any number. You quickly count down to that
    number in your packet, either add or subtract one, as the case may be,
    and name his card.
14. After the pack has been divided into “longs and shorts” (if you do
    11-12-13, the deck is divided, and you have only to return to the room,
    take half from your pocket and hand to someone else. If you do 10, you
    finish dividing the deck after the trick), two spectators take the halves
    and shuffle them well. Let us call them spectators 1 and 2.
    N°1 takes any card from his packet and puts it in the packet held by
    N°2, who shuffles and hand it to you.You instantly locate the chosen
    card behind your back and produce it, as it is either a long card in a short
    pack, or a short card in a long packet. Your fingers can feel the long
    card, and by riffling the squared cards, you can locate the short card.
    Return card to N°1.
15. Spectator N°2 now selects a card from his half and puts it in packet
    held by N°1, who shuffles well. You take the packet and hold the cards
    one at a time before his eyes. He thinks “stop” when he sees his card.
    You stop correctly because you know this time whether you are looking
    for a short or long card and can tell when it reaches the top of the deck
    to be taken off and shown. Return the chosen card to N°2, and packet
    to N°1.
16. Take the four Kings from one packet, and have them shuffled into
    the other, and covered with a handkerchief (opaque). You will have no
    trouble, after squaring the packet, in lightly riffling through and tossing
    out these four short cards in the long packet. Put the four short Kings
    with the short packet.
17. Now run through the long packet you still hold and remove the four
    Aces which the spectator with short packet takes and shuffles them well.
    You take this packet and square the cards. As each Ace is long you have
    no difficulty in cutting just above any one of them, thus bringing one
    ace to the top. Now deal the cards out separately on the table face down.
    When the next long card is reached (an ace), lay it on the first ace, and
    continuing to deal the cards haphazardly on each other in seven or eight
    piles, put all four aces in the one pile. Now double up any packets, other
    than the aces, until only four piles are in a row. Now force the ace pile
    by the “name a number between 1 and 4” dodge, or by the elimination
    method of “pointing out two heaps” and “now select one pile”. Then
    show the four aces together.
18. Now put the whole deck together and have someone remove all of
    the Club suit. They mix these well, and you drop the rest of the deck
    in pocket containing the four cards not originally in the deck. Have
    the Clubs covered with the handkerchief. You reach underneath and
    produce odd or even cards as called for. The short cards are odd and the
    long cards are even, so this presents no difficulty.

After doing this not more than three times, take the deck from the pocket
(including the extra four) and put all cards together. The deck is now a full one of 52 cards and can be used in any ordinary way.

(Another editor’s note): Some may prefer the short cards made by
cutting concave piece out of each end on the cards. These are easily
kept in their proper position for riffling, by merely squaring all corners.
However, in either case, practice will make it possible for you to have
very slight cuts on the cards. I’ve rewritten this entire routine to make it
a bit clearer than the original, and at the same time present it to you in
exactly the same way I’ve been using it myself for over nine years, as a
complete twenty minute card table routine.