Exploring Erdnase Book Club

[Marty Jacobs]

I'm running a book club devoted to reading, understanding, interpreting and learning the material in The Expert at the Card Table. I started this project over ten years ago, but I never completed it due to a lack of time! I've now decided to pick it up again to help me work through S.W. Erdnase's famous manual on card table artifice and legerdemain.

To avoid cluttering up the enormous ERDNASE thread with my book club updates, I thought it prudent to start a separate discussion. The Exploring Erdnase Book Club will not discuss the author's identity in any significant manner. Instead, it will focus on the content of the book itself. However, if I do find anything noteworthy in relation to the hunt for Erdnase (unlikely), I'll cross-post it to the ERDNASE thread.

I publish weekly updates every Sunday at approximately 11 AM (GMT). These updates are my non-expert musings on the text, with some notes about my attempts to learn the various blind shuffles, cuts, shifts and sleights. The latest article is on the Erdnase Bottom Deal.

If you'd like to join me on this journey through the pages of The Expert at the Card Table, please consider subscribing to the club on Substack:

Join the Exploring Erdnase Book Club

I'd particularly appreciate it if people with more knowledge of the sleights and moves in The Expert could join the conversation and correct any mistakes I make!

Happy reading, and don't stop bucking that tiger!

Marty

[Marty Jacobs]

Update #12 finishes our exploration of the Bottom Dealing section of the book by taking a look at the Erdnase One-Handed Bottom Deal.

Marty

[Marty Jacobs]

Update #13 has now been published. It takes a closer look at page 58 of the book, which is dedicated to second dealing.

Marty

[Marty Jacobs]

I've just published Update #15: Stacking the Deck Erdnase Style!, which looks at the section of the book dedicated to the ordinary methods of stocking, locating and securing cards.

I'm curious. Does anyone actually use these techniques to prepare the pack for a stacked deck card trick?

Marty