In the last few weeks I've read a few versions of this story. Most recently something in a book about con games. Here's the version on magipedia:
Presuming such a thing happened; What was the date/place? Who was there? Did anyone directly involved ( Houdini or Vernon ) write a diary entry about the event? Or anyone else write about it at the time? Or when was the first published mention of the event?Vernon then showed Houdini a trick, where he removed the top card of the deck and placed it in the middle, and then turned over the top card to again reveal the original card. Houdini watched Vernon do the trick seven times, each time insisting that Vernon "do it again". Finally Houdini's wife, and Vernon's friends said, "Face it Houdini, you're fooled." For years afterward, Vernon used the title "The Man Who Fooled Houdini" in his advertisements
Thanks in advance,
JonT