Playing Card Color Prediction

(c) The Gobbler: 1999 Winter Crystal

by Juan Wilson 

There's magic and then there's magic!

This is a variation on a magic trick I learned a long time ago but never thought a lot about. It's so simple and effective that I have taken it for granted all the time I've known how to do it.

Underlying this trick is a simple truth that is so counter intuitive that if presented properly it appears like real magic... but of course that's the secret of real wizardry.

The trick is presented like this.

The Cards

You have no idea what the trick will be. The magician offers you a deck of cards in a box. He asks you to take the cards from the box and examine them. He never touches the cards.

The cards seem reasonably new. The backs appear unmarked and identical. The faces seem regular and thoroughly shuffled with an even distribution of spades, hearts, clubs and diamonds. There don't seem to be any duplicates cards, crimps or shaved cards in the deck.

Cutting the Cards

The magician asks you to place the cards on the table and then cut the cards and place the bottom of the pack on the top. He says you can repeat this as many times as you like. You do so.

Guessing a Card Color

After several cuts you're satisfied and the magician asks you to guess a color... either black or red. You pick red and the magician then asks you to cut the cards and turn over the top half and reveal whether the card is black or red. You were lucky and guessed right.

The magician asks you to place the bottom of the pack on top again and repeat the action. You guess and then you cut to find if you won or lost. After guessing and cutting several times you realize your luck is fading and you are guessing wrong almost as many time as you guess right.

Challenge and Riffle Shuffle

The magician says he can do much better. He stops you after a prediction and challenges you to a betting contest. He asks you to riffle shuffle the split deck that sits on the table. A riffle shuffle is what happens if you bend half the deck of cards with each hand and use your thumbs to smoothly release the cards so that the corners of one stack mix with the other stack. As you do it you take your time to make sure to mix the cards thoroughly. You square up the deck and are ready for the challenge.

You guess, he guesses

The magician asks you to guess whether the top card will be red or black and to bet a buck on it. You say black and turn over the card. This time you're wrong and you're out a dollar. Now the magician lays down and dollar and guesses the next card is black. He asks you to turn it over and it is black. He's got two dollars. Now he hands you a calculator to total the betting results.

The two of you alternate through the whole deck betting and guessing on each card. You guess, he guesses. After a few guesses the magician turns his back on the table. He asks that you verbally make your bet before turning over your card and then report whether you won or lost. He won't even watch.

He wins, you lose

You miss almost half the time and end up with a couple of bucks. To your amazement the magician, with his back to the cards, never guesses wrong.

Starting with a dollar, the magician bets everything he has on every card and never misses a bet. At the end of 26 bets your calculator indicates that he's up over 60 million dollars. You wipe your sweaty brow and offer to fly with him to Vegas... your treat.

Can you figure out how it's done?

This trick is based on just a few properly set details, the victim's ability to do exactly as requested and a simple truth about binary systems.

If you want to know how to do the trick click here The Trick.