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tenchu Inner circle Europe 1117 Posts |
Hey guys,
Being a fan of the "Any poker hand called for" plot, I worked on it for many, many years. Finally, the effect of that work will be released soon! A 64-page digital manuscript covers the history of the plot, my modified version of the stack and how to quickly (and invisibly) set it up from a genuinely shuffled deck. No palms, switches or magnets. Just good old, gluten-free card sharping! Also, two tricks are explained in full detail: - "Odds" - Locate and shuffle the necessary cards to match an unknown selection, creating a chosen hand of poker. All done while being blindfolded. Everything done from a shuffled deck. - "The Wisdom of Crowds" - This one is killer. Four audience members cut to four random cards, which, along with a previously selected card, create the freely thought of poker hand. Again, you can do this from a shuffled deck. As usual, I have two review copies. PM me if you have the time to go through all of that material and post a review. Thanks! Best, Michal Kociolek |
TuneHV Inner circle New York 2062 Posts |
Sounds intriguing. What is the difficulty level?
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tenchu Inner circle Europe 1117 Posts |
Quote:
On Jan 5, 2019, TuneHV wrote: It's pretty easy, but definitely not for beginners. Mike |
tenchu Inner circle Europe 1117 Posts |
Come to think of it, even a beginner will be able to perform the tricks. There is a price, of course, as he won't be able to use the method's full potential.
Mike |
sjrw Special user 571 Posts |
Hello all,
I received a review copy earlier today and here are my thoughts after spending an afternoon playing with this: First up is a thorough and detailed journey through the history and evolution of the stack and the plot. This is followed by a brief explanation of the workings of Michal's stack. This new stack requires a little more memorisation than earlier versions, however this is to make it easier to produce hands which are apparently more commonly named. Next up is a section on how to perform this from a shuffled deck. To me this made me think it was going to be a method to get into the stack from a freely shuffled deck, but actually its a bit more restrictive than that and will require a set up before the shuffle. However the shuffle is completely hands off, the performer gives all of the cards to members of the audience and they can shuffle for as long as they like. it will definitely give the audience the impression of a thoroughly mixed deck. To be honest, I don't think it would be that difficult to set up from a legitimately shuffled or a borrowed deck. Given the right motivation to be going through the cards. So now you can use the stack to do the obvious (and potentially strongest)... Produce the highest version of any poker hand called for! Or, you could use it in a slightly more offbeat way, as Michal demonstrates with the 2 included effects: Odds: The spectator names any rank of poker hand. She selects a card and cuts it face up into the deck. You are then blindfolded and shuffle the deck so that the chosen poker rank is located next to the selected card. I do think this could be pretty cool. And nicely all of the work is over before you are blindfolded, everything after that point is presentation. The Wisdom of Crowds: Four audience members cut to four random cards, which, along with a previously selected card, create the freely thought of poker hand. This uses a different configuration of the stack. What is particularly interesting about this is that the 4 audience members cut off packets of cards before the spectator names her chosen poker hand and before the selected card is revealed. That being said, I would not trust my audience members not to jump ahead and risk ruining the ending, so I would not want to leave the cut off packets in the audience members hands... Although you'd lose out on the possibility of it all happening in their hands if they name a particular hand. To close there are some thoughts on combining this with some other routines Michal has published. Which I presume make more sense if you've read the other work. In general this was a very interesting read. I'd heard of this kind of method before but I'd never looked into it, and I found the concept quite fascinating. Its simple, and surprisingly easy once set up. I love gambling routines, but rarely have audiences who are into gambling. However I can see this being very effective at any time I find myself with the right audience. Cheers, Sam |
tenchu Inner circle Europe 1117 Posts |
Thank you for your review, Sam!
Mike |
TuneHV Inner circle New York 2062 Posts |
I was kindly sent a review copy, and below are my honest opinions on The Expert. If you are familiar with Mike's previous work, you should already know that you're not just learning the effects, but you are getting a full crash course on the history and crediting of the plot. Its truly like reading an encyclopedia and his level of crediting and research is remarkable. Having said that, I was not familiar with the previous versions of the effect that he credits, but he does do a great job explaining the advantages of his modified stack. So on to the effects...
Odds A spectator names any rank of poker hand, selects a card, then cuts it face up into the deck (with your back turned). You are then blindfolded (optional) and you shuffle the deck to make the named hand form around the face-up selection in the deck. This is a really nice approach to the effect as its more theatrical than just cutting to the cards to match the named hand (which you could also do with the stack taught). It is also surprisingly easy to do, but will require a little memory work to know what you have to do depending on which rank of hand is named. It appears so fair as it uses a regular deck that is shuffled at the start, and at no point do you look through the faces of the cards. I will be using this one. The Wisdom of Crowds This is a powerful poker demonstration for a group of people (at least 4-5 are ideal). You have someone think of any rank of poker hand. You now have a card selected, then the spectators freely cut four random packets of cards. The selection, and the top cards of the four packets are turned over to reveal that they form a poker hand that matches the freely thought of hand. The thing that is crazy about this effect is they legitimately think of ANY rank of hand, and only AFTER the 4 packets are cut do they name their hand... and it matches. This is really strong. It's not too difficult to pull off either, but as with Odds, it will require you to remember the procedure depending on the named hand. One nice thing about both effects is no matter what hand is named, the effects will always look and play out the same way. So if someone saw you perform twice, with a different hand named, the procedure will always looks the same. As advertised, these effects could all be performed from a shuffled deck. While this is true, there is a setup that needs to happen before the shuffle, and it must be shuffled in a particular way by multiple members of the audience. As an alternative, in both effects, the stacks do not take up much space in the deck and are in positions where you (the performer) can easily do genuine shuffles of the majority of the deck. That is how I will do it, but its nice to have options that are all very convincing. Overall, I was very satisfied with the PDF. Everything is covered in great detail and the structure to the routines were refreshing. Like his previous work, the required actions are all motivated and never look like "you did something there" (for lack of a better phrase). I also like how both effects have contrasting presentations- Odds showcases your ability as a cardshark, while The Wisdom of Crowds gives the spotlight and praise the participants. In short, The Expert transforms a poker demonstration to make it interactive and entertaining for the audience, while fooling you in the process. Highly recommended. |
tenchu Inner circle Europe 1117 Posts |
Thank you for your review, David! I'm very happy that you liked it!
Mike |
tenchu Inner circle Europe 1117 Posts |
"The Expert" is now available!
You can purchase it here: http://expert.michalkociolek.pl If you have any questions, please PM or e-mail me. Thanks! Mike |
Ceierry Inner circle Europe 1578 Posts |
I finally got the time to read all the work of Mr Kociek, and I need to say something... This guy just love card cheating / gambling demonstration and you'll feel the love...
THERE IS SO MUCH DETAILS! The methods are so ingenious and everything is so well thoughts! Every technique, aspect, use of methods, stacks, like everything is so good explained! The expert is one of the best poker / gambling demonstration you can present.. I loved the method, I loved the way everythig is written and described! I also enjoyed the other 2 ebooks! Double Duke + In Between, You can present all 3 effects on your presentation with a deck of cards. LOVED IT ! 1 deck of cards 20min ACT 3 Effects So good! I highly recommend this book for SERIOUS CARD WORKERS! You'll LOVE it!
Author of 10S Star Sign Divination - olivier.ceierry@gmail.com for a digital copy.
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tenchu Inner circle Europe 1117 Posts |
Thank you, Olivier! I'm very happy that you liked it so much!
Mike PS. Be on the lookout for my upcoming release with Card-Shark... |
ash2arani Special user 923 Posts |
Just wow!! Yes I have received a review copy!! But still, wow!!
Let me start off by saying Mike's writing style is great for learning magic. The credits and history are very thorough. The references makes it easy for one to dig deeper into effects and/or sleights. This is not a work to make a quick buck but evidently, this is a labor of love. With that said, what do I think of The Expert? Gambling presentations are not for everyone but they are easy to relate to. What Mike has done here is taken a classic plot and reworked it to align the psychological aspect of this "any hand called for" with the technical aspect. The modified stack is easy to set up from a shuffled deck and Mike explains his thoughts on that and how he approaches it. The stack is not complicated and running through it a few times is enough to get the hang of it. While the stack and navigating around it to generate any hand called for is the crux of this manuscript, the routines offered are the true gems. Odds is simple in construction but hard hitting. The effect described in the opening post is clear. Not hard to do and Mike provides easy associations to help make the memory work easy. I love this effect and I will be using it. As for The Wisdom of Crowds, talk about killer interactive piece. TuneHV describes the most powerful aspect of it when he says, "[t]he thing that is crazy about this effect is they legitimately think of ANY rank of hand, and only AFTER the 4 packets are cut do they name their hand." Think about that for a second. After the procedure has concluded and there is no going back, the freely thought of hand is revealed to everyone. Crazy clean routine and such a showpiece. This is not hard per se but will require a bit more showmanship than Odds. These are true gems indeed. The icing on the cake is stringing his older releases along with this one for a complete routine. It is always nice to know that if you already do any of his previous routines, this will complement the set nicely. As for me, Odds and The Wisdom of the Crowd are great and I will be practicing them so they are performance ready. This is a wonderful release for those interested in this particular plot and Mike has done a great job in communicating his approach to it. Great work!! |
tenchu Inner circle Europe 1117 Posts |
Thank you for your review, Ali! And have fun with the routines!
Mike |
tenchu Inner circle Europe 1117 Posts |
Hey guys,
I just wanted to let you know that "The Expert" will be available directly from me for the next 24 hours. After that, the mini-site will be closed. The good news is that the manuscript should be available soon through one of the dealer sites. The bad news is that you will miss the sweet bonuses! Although I planned to add my previous two ebooks ("In Between" and "Double Duke") to the first ten orders, everyone got them! Together they create a sort of trilogy that I'm really proud of, so I thought everyone should have them. Don't hesitate, hit that Paypal button and enjoy some cool magic: http://expert.michalkociolek.pl/ Mike |
Ceierry Inner circle Europe 1578 Posts |
Guys, if you’re serious about card magic, this is your opportunity...
Author of 10S Star Sign Divination - olivier.ceierry@gmail.com for a digital copy.
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castype New user 69 Posts |
Purchased. Thanks for the heads up on the bonuses!!!
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tenchu Inner circle Europe 1117 Posts |
Quote:
On Jan 20, 2019, castype wrote: Thank you! Mike |
tenchu Inner circle Europe 1117 Posts |
By the way, you can see Christian/Card-Shark having fun with my upcoming release called "Polish Poker" on Chris Ramsay's new video: https://youtu.be/ZhzB4k5kNrs (9:09 minute mark). This is just a small sample of what you can do with the cards. Be sure to check it out.
Also, this is your last chance to get "The Expert" and the sweet, sweet bonuses http://expert.michalkociolek.pl/ Mike |
tenchu Inner circle Europe 1117 Posts |
Hey guys,
Yay! The Expert is finally available through Vanishing Inc. and Lybrary.com. Get it here: https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic-......ociolek/ or here: https://www.lybrary.com/the-expert-p-922933.html Also, you can get The Expert Bundle for a great price: https://www.lybrary.com/the-expert-bundle-p-922934.html - "This manuscript shows great depth of study and thinking. The routine is very impressive and will convince your audience you can do anything with a deck of cards." - Michael Vincent "Reignited my excitement for the Any Poker Hand Called For plot. 'The Wisdom of Crowds' will give your audiences a gift of a true mystery. Can't wait to perform it." - John Born "Michal Kociolek's 'The Expert' will leave your audience convinced that they've just witnessed the slickest and most dangerous card cheat ever in action - and they won't forget it!" - Jack Carpenter "If you do ANY kind of card table work or gambling-related material then you need to read Michael's 'The Expert' eBook. And if you don't have much interest in that kind of material - you STILL need to read it! That's because it contains the fabulous 'Wisdom of Crowds', a trick which should be in the repertoire of any magician who ever picks up a deck of cards. Highly recommended." - Mark Elsdon "The Any Poker Hand Called For is the holy grail in gambling routines. Unfortunately it usually requires difficult sleight of hand to pull off. But not anymore! Michał has streamlined the setup and handling and came up with a routine that makes you look like the worlds greatest cheat without any of the hard work!" - Ben Train - Mike |
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