I've done Skinner's Monte for years and going for something new and have basically narrowed it down to Stand Up Monte by Garrett Thomas (http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/2547) or 3 by Steve Valentine (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXHz0iDVnpA).

I've read both topics on the Café and people seem to love both. If price wasn't an issue, which would you prefer? Does anybody own both and have an opinion? Just looking for some feedback on which you think would be the better choice? Thanks.

Ike, I own both and will try to elucidate the differences. First of all, they are both excellent and you can't go wrong with either one. Both of them are very well thought out routines that will mystify and delight your spectators. Both are very difficult to backtrack because they are routined so well. Now, onto the differences:

Benefits of Stand Up Monte:

• For strolling environments where you're going to be performing over and over, the reset is a little easier and requires a little less thought (which can be important) but NEITHER reset is particularly difficult
  
• Multiple phases occur in the spectator's hands
  
• It is structured to build in impossibility and the last phase, rightfully, is the strongest; with '3' there is one phase, due to the nature of the routine, that feels weaker than its predecessors. Not a huge deal but is something worth mentioning
  
• The cards can be handled a bit more freely due to the gimmick involved
  
• Handling is quite a bit simpler and there is only one main 'move' in the routine
  

Benefits of '3':

• More visual and impossible looking transpositions all the way through
  
• Each phase feels very different from its predecessors which keeps things varied in a nice way (but of course, that involves more moves and a larger learning curve)
  
• The ending is completely unexpected (Stand Up Monte's ending is excellent but everyone knows what's going to happen) and is a wonderful climax to an already strong routine
  
• Devious routine construction allows you to hand out the cards for examination at the end of the routine--nothing to find, nothing to see
  

These are currently two of my favorite packet effects to perform and I use them both at different times. My VERY slight preference is for '3' due to the visual nature of the changes and now that I've already learned the routine the learning curve is a non-issue, but lately I've been performing Stand-Up Monte and loving the flow of the routine. You really can't go wrong with either one and in fact, I'm going to have to go ahead and recommend both.

Good luck!

Neither.

Bob Farmers Bammo Monte Monster.

I have all three of the above. 3 by Steve Valentine is also my favorite. Beautiful, magical changes. Stend-up Monte is also great but I have not been able to perform it as smoothly as I'd like. (A lot of different moves, none that difficult, but threading them together without any jerkiness or hesitation has been a problem for me. My problem, not the routine's!)

I haven't gotten through Bammo yet, though I have had that one the longest. Seven phases and I haven't found it easy to follow so far, so I put it aside in favor of others. I see where Bob Farmer released a good video of it last year and that may help me with it.

All in all, Steve Valentine's is my favorite.

Jim

I want to say thank you to everyone that responded. After Steven's breakdown of both I just decided to order both effects. They both sound great. Thanks everyone so much for their feedback.