Interested in the idea of creating a marked deck (Bicycle Standards) with just hidden numbers on the back for the Tamariz Mnemonica deck. Any ideas? Does such a deck already exist? Or do you think it's unnecessary, a waste of time?

The idea of using the stack numbers in a mem-deck for marking the deck has been around for a long time. It goes back at least as far as Ed Marlo.

There is a fairly new marking concept with a Red Back Bicycle deck on the internet. It's from Nick Pudar and you'll find it on his stack-view web site: http://www.stackview.com

Once you get there you'll need to shoot a message to Nick and ask for the passwords to get onto his blog. One advantage to Nick's marking system is that you can do it yourself, so your final product will not be as expensive as buying factory marked decks. There's a disadvantage as well. It uses a mathematical structure which may not be familiar to you. Don't panic. It's not hard to get the hang of, but expect to spend some practice time with it to get fast at reading/translating the marks.

In my opinion a memorized and marked deck is certainly NOT unnecessary or a waste of time. It's a very powerful tool because it combines two tools which are each extremely useful in their own right. I'll just mention a couple advantages. It's a big advantage to know just where you are in your stack after a cut. It's not hard, you just have to glimpse the bottom or the top card. There are lots of useful glimpses in print, but with your deck marked you never have to look at the faces. It allows you to be super clean in your card handling. Remember that if you have not worked with a marked deck it needs and deserves much practice just as everything else you do. I'll mention just two important ideas. First, you must never be seen to stare at the back of a card for no good reason. That's a dead give-away. You must create reasons to look at the back, or you must understand misdirection and only look at the deck when your spectators are looking elsewhere. Here's an easy way: have a card selected and cut the deck at the place it was removed from. Tell the spectator to show the card to everyone, but not until you turn your back so you can't see the card. When your back is turned you can read the mark on the top card easily without being seen. That card was adjacent to the selection in your stack, so of course it's easy to know what the selection is. Second, practice dropping your eyes to the deck right where the mark is. You must not search all around the card with your eyes. This is hard to do with the Boris Wild marked deck, by the way but then that deck also has some advantages. Another advantage is that if/when your stack is disarranged, you still have a marked deck of cards at your disposal.

Dennis Loomis

Thank you for your post, Dennis. I appreciate ALL your posts!

Pete McCabe also has a system you might want to check out: http://saythemagicwords.com/pm_marking.html

Barry, I was thinking of using the McCabe system! Have you used it?

I've used the McCabe system, and it is easy to apply, and easier to read. I would say it is also adaptable/customizable.



Turning your back so that you won't see the card being shown by the selector to other spectators is a very strong move that can cover a multitude of operations.