Ten-Card Poker

Discuss your favorite close-up tricks and methods.
User avatar
Brad Jeffers
Posts: 1221
Joined: April 11th, 2008, 5:52 pm
Location: Savannah, GA

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Brad Jeffers » August 8th, 2005, 3:05 am

If all ten cards are stripped, how do you insure that the Jonah card will fall to the spectator's hand after the shuffle and "cut"?

Guest

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Guest » August 8th, 2005, 9:28 am

Good point. I never thought about it. Anyone else know?

User avatar
Pete Biro
Posts: 7124
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Hollyweird
Contact:

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Pete Biro » August 8th, 2005, 6:30 pm

Well, belly strippers would never need you to figure out which way the Jonah is as it would always be strippable. Otherwise a mark?
Stay tooned.

Bob Farmer
Posts: 3306
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Short card above selection.

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Bob Farmer » August 9th, 2005, 10:02 am

The special deck is set up like this:

1. The three sets of three are belly-stripped.

2. The 4th cards in each set of three are removed from the deck.

3. The Mark shuffles. The Hustler cuts, stripping the 9 cards to the top.

4. The Mark deals, the first card going to the Hustler. The Mark must get the 10th card, and it, and all of the rest of the cards are Jonahs.

Gary Plants made me a very nice deck like this.

Guest

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Guest » August 9th, 2005, 2:19 pm

Ironically, removing the three known cards is enough of an edge that you wouldn't need to bother with the belly strippers...

Bob Farmer
Posts: 3306
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Short card above selection.

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Bob Farmer » August 10th, 2005, 8:37 am

Buster, this isn't about merely creating an edge, it's about taking the other guy's money without a chance of losing.

Ricky Difeo
Posts: 192
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: La Plata - Buenos Aires - Argentina
Contact:

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Ricky Difeo » August 26th, 2005, 9:20 am

Hi!

I can read in "The Feints and Temps of Harry Riser (Ed.Brown) the good effect of Ten Card Deal called "Semiautomatic Gambler" pag.62, with the jonah card principle.-


Ricardo Difeo. :)

Van
Posts: 64
Joined: March 1st, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Roswell, NM

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Van » August 26th, 2005, 1:07 pm

Check out Larry Becker's "Ten Card Poker Stand Up Presentation" from Apocalypse V11#11P1566,Nov88

Van

El Mystico
Posts: 1087
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Leamington Spa
Contact:

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby El Mystico » August 30th, 2005, 11:56 am

Mr goat refers to the UK TV performance of ricky Jay....while I can't remember the name of the programme, I do remember it was the closer of an hour long special on Ricky.
The performance (and, after all, it is ultimately the performance that matters) was, as Mr Goat points out, striking. Ricky gets angry.
My pet theory about this particular presentation, though, was that it stemmed, unplanned, from the behaviour of the first of several participators, who refused to play ball.(It is important to know that, for each round, Ricky used a different opponent). He refused to stick to Ricky's game plan - asking to shuffle the cards one more time, saying if Ricky shuffled, then he ought to cut. In short - our collective nightmare. Ricky dealt with it by getting angry. If you won't play by my rules, then I don't want you in the game - get him out of here.
And after that - Ricky was stuck. He couldn't go back to his normal personality - it wouldn't work. He had to maintain the anger throughout the whole presentation.
Some non magicians I spoke to afterwards said that this aspect of the show put them right off Ricky - he was too nasty to regular guys.
But it serves as an interesting lesson in one professional's handling of a difficult spectator....

Richard Stokes
Posts: 237
Joined: September 11th, 2008, 8:18 pm

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Richard Stokes » December 6th, 2005, 4:27 pm

The best ten card poker variant I've ever seen:
at the recent Mindvention in Las Vegas (Nov 2005), I'd just demonstrated Bannon's Power of Poker to George Tait.
He then trumped me with a baffling three phase routine. In the final round, the performer wins the poker contest despite giving the spectator apparently free choices.
And right at the end, the spectator can change his hand for the performer's hand. This degree of freedom was particularly puzzling.
I stuck with my hand - and lost.
George then repeated the trick on Joshua Jay - who also lost.
Nice work, George.

Bob Farmer
Posts: 3306
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Short card above selection.

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Bob Farmer » December 6th, 2005, 5:03 pm

As you may know, I am writing a massive encyclopedia on Ten Card Poker. Would you have George Tait's email address? I'd love to include his routine.

Guest

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Guest » December 6th, 2005, 6:32 pm

Originally posted by Bob Farmer:
As you may know, I am writing a massive encyclopedia on Ten Card Poker. Would you have George Tait's email address? I'd love to include his routine.
Bob, assuming it's the same George Tait, his email and phone number are on his website: http://www.magic-by-george.com/

Chris Aguilar
Posts: 2012
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Sacramento
Contact:

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Chris Aguilar » December 6th, 2005, 8:46 pm

One of the handlings from The Card Magic of Nick Trost also offers an exceptionally clean ability to let the spectator switch hands with you and always still lose. And I think he sells his best handling as a stand alone effect also if I'm not mistaken. Or at least he did.

__________________________________________________
www.conjurenation.com - 'Cards Only' Forums

Guest

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Guest » December 7th, 2005, 10:15 pm

Originally posted by Chris Aguilar:
One of the handlings from The Card Magic of Nick Trost also offers an exceptionally clean ability to let the spectator switch hands with you and always still lose. And I think he sells his best handling as a stand alone effect also if I'm not mistaken. Or at least he did.
As Super Showdown it's still available, a four-phase routine in which the last two are ten-card poker.

Guest

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Guest » December 16th, 2005, 3:46 pm

Bob King has a really nice routine for a ten card poker deal and it comes with everything you need.


Greg

Bob Plaut
Posts: 290
Joined: February 22nd, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: CT

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Bob Plaut » February 4th, 2006, 10:19 am

Finally, if you'd rather just sit back and wait for a "Ten Card Poker Deal" to come to you, Jim Swain's unique and practical version (called "Showdown") will be appearing in Magicana at the end of the summer. [/QB]
Was "Showdown" published? Can't seem to find it in my back issues.

User avatar
Richard Kaufman
Posts: 27053
Joined: July 18th, 2001, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Theodore DeLand
Location: Washington DC
Contact:

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Richard Kaufman » February 4th, 2006, 10:41 am

It will be in the May Magicana in a few months.
Subscribe today to Genii Magazine

Guest

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Guest » March 10th, 2007, 8:54 am

Any word on Bob's Big Book on this?

Bob Farmer
Posts: 3306
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Short card above selection.

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Bob Farmer » March 10th, 2007, 4:28 pm

I'm still working on this -- it's a big job. I don't know when it will appear -- my day job keeps taking up all my time.

Check out the new tour I'm working on:

www.rush.com

Sakshi_26
Posts: 1
Joined: March 17th, 2016, 5:48 am
Contact:

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Sakshi_26 » March 17th, 2016, 5:54 am

Ten Card Poker is a card routine using only ten playing cards. The performer deals two hands of poker allowing the spectator pick the cards, but the magician wins every time. It typically is based on the Jonah Card principle.

Leo Garet
Posts: 617
Joined: March 14th, 2015, 9:14 am
Favorite Magician: Nobody In Particular

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Leo Garet » March 17th, 2016, 9:07 am

Sakshi_26 wrote:Ten Card Poker is a card routine using only ten playing cards. The performer deals two hands of poker allowing the spectator pick the cards, but the magician wins every time. It typically is based on the Jonah Card principle.

Thanks for that. Sounds as if it might be worth checking out. I wonder if there's an literature on the subject anywhere.

Bob Farmer
Posts: 3306
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Short card above selection.

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Bob Farmer » March 17th, 2016, 12:22 pm

I'd have to say that finding anything out about this is very hard. People just don't talk about it. Someone should write a book.

Leo Garet
Posts: 617
Joined: March 14th, 2015, 9:14 am
Favorite Magician: Nobody In Particular

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Leo Garet » March 17th, 2016, 1:15 pm

Good idea. Anybody got any suggestions as to who might be best qualified?

User avatar
Smurf
Posts: 538
Joined: May 31st, 2010, 11:23 am

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Smurf » March 17th, 2016, 1:26 pm

Leo Garet wrote:Good idea. Anybody got any suggestions as to who might be best qualified?


Probably not the poster who has one post and a link to Indian Rummy Online in the signature line.

Harry Lorayne

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Harry Lorayne » June 18th, 2016, 6:44 pm

Amazing!!!

Bibliophage
Posts: 104
Joined: April 21st, 2008, 1:49 pm

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Bibliophage » June 18th, 2016, 8:19 pm

Harry must be acknowledged for making this a trick everyone was talking about and performing many decades ago.

Mr Farmer's book is a thing of beauty and a must-read.

Best performance version of TCPD is Weber's Ha No Jonah, which only uses 10 cards, and NO Jonah card.

It is not in the Farmer book but is well worth hunting down.

Bob Farmer
Posts: 3306
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Short card above selection.

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Bob Farmer » June 19th, 2016, 8:59 am

I reference the Weber effect in my book in the section related to Tim Ellis's very good routine. In Tim's routine there is no Jonah in the traditional sense. It's a very good routine. You need two sets of Tim's cards for the additional material I included. See:

http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/S133

performer
Posts: 3508
Joined: August 7th, 2015, 10:35 pm

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby performer » June 19th, 2016, 12:53 pm

The original poster asked about the origin of the trick. The short answer is that nobody really knows where it comes from or who invented it. I first came across it in Bruce Elliott's great book: Magic: 100 New Tricks where it took up several pages. This is what Bruce Elliott said about the origins.

"I haven't attempted to give credit where it is due, for everyone I know has had a hand in the above presentation, from Vernon to Curry, from Martin Gardner, who started the whole thing by showing it to Scarne and Audley Walsh."

However, I do have a suspicion that the inventor of the phrase "Jonah Card" came from Bruce Elliott himself. After all I am psychic and know these things.

I do the trick all the time and the version I use is Harry Lorayne's published in his great book, "Decksterity". I think this is probably the best version of the lot if you are the type that likes to entertain people.

Bibliophage
Posts: 104
Joined: April 21st, 2008, 1:49 pm

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Bibliophage » June 19th, 2016, 4:23 pm

[quote="Bob Farmer"]I reference the Weber effect in my book in the section related to Tim Ellis's very good routine. In Tim's routine there is no Jonah in the traditional sense. It's a very good routine. You need two sets of Tim's cards for the additional material I included. See:

Bob, your book is great but the Ellis routine suffers from the same problem as the Trost routine in that the spectator's hand(s) have gaffed cards in them, so the performer is the only one who can handle the spectator's hands!

Trost's Showdown (gaffs in all the hands) is more demonstrative that participatory, but Ha No Jonah has the spectator handling all the cards and able to examine every card in every hand he receives in every hand. To me, this is why the other routines do not compare.

Harry Lorayne

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Harry Lorayne » June 24th, 2016, 6:11 pm

I was about to suggest that you check out my routine, A Much Better Chance, but most here don't even know about my 10-Card Poker Deal (which I'm told started the "craze" - don't know whether I want to take the credit - or the blame!) originally published in DECK-STERITY, 1967 - I re-wrote it in LORAYNE: THE CLASSIC COLLECTION, Volume 1 - but both are out of print. Sorry.

Henley
Posts: 53
Joined: March 13th, 2008, 6:20 am
Location: Japan

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Henley » June 27th, 2016, 8:31 am

I have a nice five-page section in a notebook comparing the ten-card poker routines of Ortiz ("Mexican Poker") Alan Ackerman, Luke Jermay, Ricky Jay, Derren Brown and a (Japanese) Mr. Maric routine that uses a clever prediction presentation plus a bold double-end gaff.
I've spent a long time thinking, but haven't performed any combination of them yet. They all have their separate merits.

Bob Farmer
Posts: 3306
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Short card above selection.

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Bob Farmer » June 28th, 2016, 1:16 pm

The comment above is wrong: the spectator cannot examine all the cards in "Ha, No Jonah." If he did that, he'd discover the gaff. In the Ellis routine the gaff is always in the magician's hand, never in the spectator's.

The difference between the two is that in the Ellis routine the gaff always ensures you lose, whereas in the Weber routine it ensures you win.

However, the Weber has some great handling where the gaff is in the spectator's hand but he doesn't ever discover that--but that's different than saying the spectator can examine all the cards. When that version comes out, I'll be the first purchaser.

Harry Lorayne

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Harry Lorayne » June 30th, 2016, 4:22 pm

And I'll wager that nobody here has checked out - or even knows about - my A MUCH BETTER CHANCE. Ya' gotta' start reading the good stuff, guys!

performer
Posts: 3508
Joined: August 7th, 2015, 10:35 pm

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby performer » June 30th, 2016, 4:28 pm

Harry Lorayne wrote:And I'll wager that nobody here has checked out - or even knows about - my A MUCH BETTER CHANCE. Ya' gotta' start reading the good stuff, guys!


Where is it to be found, Harry?

PickaCard
Posts: 380
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby PickaCard » June 30th, 2016, 4:54 pm

Bob,

Ha, No Jonah is already out. It's in Weber's TEN, available from him.

Denis Behr
Posts: 416
Joined: January 18th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Munich
Contact:

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Denis Behr » June 30th, 2016, 5:11 pm

PickaCard wrote:Ha, No Jonah is already out. It's in Weber's TEN, available from him.

That's right, see HERE.

Harry Lorayne

Re: Ten-Card Poker

Postby Harry Lorayne » July 2nd, 2016, 11:23 am

I originally published A MUCH BETTER CHANCE in PERSONAL COLLECTION, which is long out of print. I did it again - for those who don't read the good stuff!! - in SPECIAL EFFECTS, which is currently still available. (I don't re-print anymore; don't want/need to get involved with storage.)


Return to “Close-Up Magic”