Marked Cards - on edges

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Doug Thornton
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Marked Cards - on edges

Postby Doug Thornton » October 5th, 2022, 4:27 pm

My memory banks are being recharged so I cannot remember and I'm requesting your help.

Playing cards with marks on the edge...I've seen them, and even have one version somewhere in my collection...but who makes / made them?

Do they still exist?
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AJM
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Re: Marked Cards - on edges

Postby AJM » October 5th, 2022, 4:37 pm

Deland’s Wonder Deck?

Butterfly Deck?

Randy DiMarco
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Re: Marked Cards - on edges

Postby Randy DiMarco » October 5th, 2022, 5:28 pm


Tarotist
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Re: Marked Cards - on edges

Postby Tarotist » October 5th, 2022, 6:27 pm

I used to pitch marked cards. Alas they were not edge marked. Mind you, it wouldn't matter if they were. I never used to read the marks anyway. I just used a stacked deck and pretended to read the marks. Far easier that way.

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Marked Cards - on edges

Postby Richard Kaufman » October 5th, 2022, 7:25 pm

DeLand was the first: The Wonder Deck in 1915.
The Butterfly Deck is what you are looking for current use.
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Dustin Stinett
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Re: Marked Cards - on edges

Postby Dustin Stinett » October 6th, 2022, 1:10 am

David Regal reviewed Ondrej Pšenicka's excellent Butterfly edge readers in the August 2022 Genii. You will find the purchase info there, too.

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Re: Marked Cards - on edges

Postby Philippe Billot » October 6th, 2022, 5:21 am

If you prefer to edge-mark your deck yourself, there is a method in Riffle Shuffle Finale (1967) by Ed Marlo. Easy to do and easy to use.

Tom Gilbert
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Re: Marked Cards - on edges

Postby Tom Gilbert » October 6th, 2022, 9:30 am

I had something once marketed as Tarbell's Devil Deck.

Edward Pungot
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Re: Marked Cards - on edges

Postby Edward Pungot » October 6th, 2022, 9:51 am

Isn’t there a high tech marking system where the complete deck is scanned along the edges (even from a distance) and within a fraction of a second every card in the shuffled deck is known to the intel operator?

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Re: Marked Cards - on edges

Postby PressureFan » October 6th, 2022, 10:37 am

Tom, that's it, Tarbell's Devil Deck. I couldn't remember what is was called. I dug around for it yesterday but couldn't find it. Cripes, I have so much stuff.
Red and blue edge marks. I think single and broken lines. I tried to customize my own once, but the ink bled into the card.

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Doug Thornton
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Re: Marked Cards - on edges

Postby Doug Thornton » October 6th, 2022, 11:53 am

Thanks, everyone! You are all remarkable. (That's a ridiculous pun. But you are all truly great.)
Smiles all around
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Re: Marked Cards - on edges

Postby BarryAllen » October 6th, 2022, 1:42 pm

Corinda outlined fingernail and razor blade edge marking, within the 13 Steps.

Whatever the method, I've got serious doubts as to how effective any of these would prove to be; working under pressure in that place referred to as the real world; ageing eyesight and poor lighting being just two obstacles to overcome.

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Re: Marked Cards - on edges

Postby Philippe Billot » October 7th, 2022, 6:31 am

Chapter 4, from The Secret of the Palmettos by Jeff Busby (1998) is interesting to read (and the rest also!).

Roger M.
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Re: Marked Cards - on edges

Postby Roger M. » October 7th, 2022, 9:21 am

A more accurate description of the Palmettos would be that they are a one-way design on the edges of each card, such that any card turned around 180 degrees from the remainder of the deck (as long as the remainder is all oriented the same way) can be identified in an assembled pack by looking at the edge.

It's not a marked card in the traditional sense, simply the "edge-on" version of a one-way back.

Stephen Burton
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Re: Marked Cards - on edges

Postby Stephen Burton » October 10th, 2022, 4:56 pm

The Devil's Deck, Tarbell's take on the edge-marked deck, can be found in Volume Eight, page 140, of the Tarbell Course. It was also in the original Tarbell System from 1927. Richard, as most of you know, did an admirable job creating this final volume of Tarbell.

I came up with the two color variation and marketed it as the Devil's Deck in 1994. It took a bit of experimenting to get the inks right for the red color as it bleed too much to work properly.

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Marked Cards - on edges

Postby Richard Kaufman » October 10th, 2022, 5:13 pm

Steve gives me too much credit for Tarbell 8. He did more than fifty percent of the work.
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