Roulette Playing Cards - Mechanic Industries
$9.95
https://www.murphysmagic.com/product.aspx?id=67807

The Hype:
Bringing all of the fun of the Casino into your hands, and then ultimately into your audience's experience. Everyone knows and loves the game of Roulette, so it's the perfect vehicle to connect with your audience using a familiar theme. Building on our previous Mechanic Decks, we've flip-book-animated the Roulette wheel. This not only allows you add narrative and create some truly amazing new magic tricks using the countdown / spell to principle, it also doubles up as an easy to use marking system. The court cards have been customised with Roulette motifs such as the rake, the ball and of course the cash! Expertly illustrated to blend seamlessly with the classic artwork, these really finish the deck off.

We've included two 'Erdnase' style Croupier Jokers. One holding the ball and one in a 'just thrown the ball' pose. This allows for some cool colour change animations and is the perfect precursor to link up with the other effects creating a full gambling flavoured routine. It doesn't stop there! There's also a box gaff prediction card and we're going to teach you an amazing, yet easy to do effect called House Edge. There's so much material that comes along with this deck of playing cards! All the tricks taught have a gambling style theme and you can combine all of the effects into the ultimate casino magic routine.

We've even managed to include 1 red back card, so you can make use of that for colour changing deck or Monte style routines. Mechanic Casino Edition Roulette Playing Cards are printed on premium crushed USPCC stock so they handle like a dream.

My Take:
This deck has a quality that is seen little in the magic industry. It is ridiculously under priced. I have seen so many decks that really offer nothing more than a different design on the backs and are ear marked for "collectors". Most of these decks sell for around $15.00 and up. The Roulette deck sells for only $9.95 and is marked. That alone would let you know that it is under priced but Wait, there's more.

The back of the deck is set up as a flip book. If you are not familiar with the term, think of Dan Harlan's Card-Toon where by flipping the cards the little cartoon character pulls the selected card from the deck. I loved these when I was a kid because it showed a simple explanation of how cartoons were animated. With the Roulette deck, flipping the cards causes the Roulette wheel appear to be turning.

Obviously the marking system incorporates the Roulette wheel. The deck can be examined thoroughly and the markings will never be figured out since the marking really bears no relationship to the actual card. You are told what the system is but also told that it will take an hour or more to learn the system. Once you get it down, a quick glance will tell you just what each card is. This deck is marked for value only, not suits. But you are shown how to further mark it yourself so the suit can be determined.

Once again, wait there's more. You are given a link to a video lasting almost two hours teaching you a number of tricks that can be done with this deck. These are not beginner's tricks however. Bottom deals, second deals and a pass are all mentioned. A very nice force that I was unfamiliar with is taught along with Bill Simon's Prophecy force. In watching the video, a second link is given to watch a 19 minute video on Cheating with Marked Cards. The deck used in the video is not the Roulette deck but everything can be applied to either.

I particularly like the two jokers. One is just an illustration of a hand holding a small ball. The other is the same hand with the fingers outstretched but the ball is missing. You are taught a simple routine where the card with the ball is shown. Then it turns into the hand without the ball and you drop an actual ball on the table. A couple of other gaffed card are included with instructions on how to use them in the video.

As I said, at $9.95 this is severely underpriced and is, in my opinion, one of the real bargains available in the magic field today. If you do card magic, this must be in your closeup box. Besides the great magic, the flip book animation will catch your audience's attention immediately. I would highly recommend this deck.