I was wondering what everyone does to their memorized deck to make estimation or location cards easier (like cutting short your top card, marking every 13th card, etc.)?

I usually just put a breather crimp in my top card, so no matter where it is cut I can always cut my stack back into order.

Hello, I use a light pencil dot on the backs of the first and last card of the stack.

Cheers,

J.Warrens

Hello!

Normally I just glimpse and cut! If I absolutely HAVE to cut on the first try, I use a crimp (corner or breather)!

Regards,

Zedd

Michael Close talks about what he used to do to card number 1, and what he now does, in his fantastic, standard-setting new ebook "Closely Guarded Secrets".

One of the items in this book is an excellent routine that can be performed by someone working on their estimation skill with a memorized deck.

A breather crimp on one of the jokers works great.

Besides a corner short or crimping the top card, you can also mark the cards.

You can mark all of them by either marking their value, or better (IMHO) by marking their position (a Marlo idea).

What I also do (when I don't have the time to mark all the cards) is simply pencil-dot the corners of the cards at position 10, 20, 30, 40 ,50. Which reduces the counting a lot (ex; Darwin Ortiz's "Last Laugh") and helps estimate too without glimpsing the bottom card.

When I practice, I "run the suits" (estimate-cut). It is a Michael Close suggestion.

My two cents.

Ronnie Lemieux
Montreal
Canada

Another good idea is to pencil mark the edge of the deck at various points. You can place an edge mark near the top of the deck on the 13th card, a little further down on the 26th card and then a little further down on the 39th card. Then turn the deck end for end and do the same on that side.

Now it becomes very easy to estimate in blocks, and you can get a lot closer.

There's a suggestion buried in here that I would have easily paid $1000 to learn had I not discovered it myself. It makes all the difference in the world. I'll say no more.

Larry D.

By "in here", do you mean in this exact thread or in the Magic Café forums?

Larry Davidson wrote:
"There's a suggestion buried in here that I would have easily paid $1000 to learn had I not discovered it myself. It makes all the difference in the world. I'll say no more. "

And that is coming from a working professional!

This puts even more weight in Mr Davidson's affirmation...

Ronnie Lemieux
Montreal
Canada

David, I mean in this thread, but I won't say more. Treasure is much more valuable if it's not handed to you (I mean "you" in the general sense). Put another way, there's more value in the journey than in reaching the destination.

Ronnie, thanks for the kind words.

Larry D.

Ok, I wasn't sure what you meant by in here, but I'll take a look at some of the suggestions. I agree, things that are accomplished through searching give more satisfaction, but I just wanted to clear up what I wasn't understanding. Thanks.

I do what Mike Close used to do: put a scallop short in the top card. This also does what a pencil dot would accomplish because I can see the scallop work if I look closely. The work does not have to be strong, since you know right where the short card is when you're cutting to it. You don't have to run through the full deck, just the area where the top card is.

Mike Close doesn't need any work in the deck... he's gotten so good at estimation cutting.

Dennis Loomis

When I false shuffle my top card gets a little crimp on the edge just by doing the shuffle and it is just enough for this purpose it don't look funny but I can get it back to the top!

I don't like to have to look down at my deck to do the estimation. I always feel that just after they name the card is the time when most of the heat is on you. So, I corner short the queen of hearts on the inner left corner and outer right corner. I also corner short the inner right and outer left corner of the three of clubs (Arenson stack).

With the top card scalloped, I can now get an almost perfect estimated cut without looking at the deck. Since the corner short cards or the ones immediately above them are very frequently named, I can dribble force the cards, thereby letting the spectator find their card instead of me.

Ken, does cutting short the corners decrease you faro abilities?

David wrote:
"does cutting short the corners decrease you faro abilities?"

The answer is; NO, it does not interfere with Faro shuffles.

That is why I use a corner short myself!!!

Hope this helps

Ronnie Lemieux
Montreal
Canada

David:

Interestingly enough, last year I was preparing to go to the LVMI and had planned to meet Michael Close. I practiced my faros every day with the hope that I would impress him, or at least not embarass myself.

When I spoke to Michael, I was told that he did not do faro work with his memorized deck becuase he needed his reading glasses to see the weave well. I had been having the same problem. Thus, I don't worry about faros as much. I just do a lot of false cuts.

Perhaps reading glasses, contact lenses or a Cardini monacle could help see the weave better.