THE DOUBLE DEAL
In this deal the top and bottom cards of a small packet are dealt as one card. One of the specialties of Jack Merlin, it was suppressed by him when writing his booklet, … and a Pack of Cards.
A method of duplicating the deal, not necessarily Merlin’s, follows:
a. 1. Hold a small packet of cards, face upwards, in the left hand in position for the bottom deal, page 36. Push the top card diagonally off the pack with the left thumb, the inner end pivoting upon the flesh at the base of the thumb.
2. Place the outermost phalange of the right second finger upon the back of the bottom card, exactly as in removing this card in the bottom deal. From this point onward, however, the deal differs from the bottom deal.
3. Place the ball of the right thumb upon the outer right corner of the top card. Drop the rigid left fingers a little lower than in the bottom deal, allowing the right second finger to move freely inward, over them, during the following action:
4. Draw the bottom card inward to the right with the right second finger, this card also pivoting upon the flesh at the base of the thumb, until it is directly under the top card at the face of the packet, Fig. 1.
5. Pinch these two cards tightly together between the ball of the thumb and the outermost phalange of the second finger and deal them as one card upon the table, Fig. 2. If there happens to be any overlap of the two cards, let it be on the right-hand side, for the cards should be dealt directly under the right hand, which is two or three inches above them, obscuring them from view immediately as the hand moves with a wrist action upwards to remove another card.
The double deal should not be made until a number of single cards have been dealt from the top, when the presence of an overlap in the two cards when placed on the table pile will not be noticed.
This deal can be used to show that a single card has vanished from a packet, or to effect a set-up of cards stocked at the top of the packet in dealing them. Many other uses will suggest themselves. Merlin’s Lost Aces trick, in another part of this book, is an excellent example of the use to which the sleight can be put.
Second Method
b. This method of double dealing employs the Erdnase bottom deal, page 52, The Expert at the Card Table. As with the preceding method, it is for use with a small number of cards.
1. Hold the cards in the left hand, the first and second fingers curled up and pressing against the outer end at the right corner, the third and fourth fingers resting against the right side, the thumb lying diagonally across the pack with its tip pointing to the outer right corner. The pack is supported by the inward pressure of the outermost phalange of the second finger at the outer right corner which, exerted diagonally, presses the inner left corner into the flesh of the palm below the base of the thumb. When this grip is taken the left first, third and fourth fingers can be removed from the packet and it will remain supported between the second finger and the flesh of the palm. Note, in Fig. 3, that the outer right corner is pressed into the flesh of the first phalange of the second finger.
This grip is a modification of the Erdnase method which is preferred by some; the grip as described by Erdnase may, however, be used for this deal with equally satisfactory results should the reader prefer it.
2. Push off the top card of the packet with the left thumb, the card pivoting at the left inner corner on the flesh of the palm, and bring the right hand up to the packet to remove this card in the same grip used in the preceding method. The ball of the thumb and the side of the second finger press lightly against the outer right corner of the card from above and below; the first finger presses against the tip of the left second finger and helps to screen the next action, in which the bottom card is pushed from the pack, Fig. 1.
3. Concealed by the card which has been pushed over the right side of the packet, press the tip of the left third finger inward and to the right against the bottom card near the outer right corner, Fig. 4. This action buckles this card and enables the third finger easily to release it from the inward pressure of the second finger and to move it directly under the top card, the bottom card also pivoting at the inner left corner upon the flesh at the base of the thumb.
4. Move the tip of the right first finger inwards, pressing it against the outer ends of the two cards at the corner in order to place them in alignment, grasp the corners, between the right thumb and second finger and deal the two cards as one, as shown in Fig. 2.
The deal is made similarly, so that the right hand and wrist mask the dealt packet as much as possible; and again if there is to be an error in alignment, it should be on the right side of the dealt cards, not the left.
A clean deal can be had with very little practice.
CHAPTER 3. THE SIDE SLIP
TWO METHODS, a, b
This sleight is generally used to bring to the top of the pack a card, the index of which has been peeked at by a spectator. We give two methods; the first is as follows:
a. 1. Hold the pack in the left hand as for dealing, the little finger holding a break under the desired card at the inner right corner.
2. Place the right hand over the pack, the first and second fingers at the outer end, the thumb at the inner end resting against the break at the inner right corner.
3. Press the right thumb against the end of the upper packet, insert the tip of the left little finger in the break and press upwards and outwards against the bottom card of the upper packet (that is to say, the card to be brought to the top) causing it to protrude diagonally from the pack, Fig. 1.
4. Place the tip of the left third finger on the face of this card near the inner right corner and straighten the finger, carrying the card with it to the right as shown by the ghost card in Fig. 1. The outer right corner, striking against the right side of the right little finger, causes the card to pivot into the correct palming position as the left third finger continues pressing the inner end to the right. Thus the card is placed directly under the right palm, being completely concealed by the back of the hand as in the orthodox palm.
5. Grip this card at its right corners between the first joint of the right little finger and the flesh of the palm at the right side.
6. Under cover of an unhurried movement of the body and hands towards the left, first move the left hand a little faster than the right until the gripped card is free of the pack, then move the right hand a little faster than the left bringing it over the pack, Fig. 2. Deposit the card on the top and square the pack with the right hand. A swift action at this point would betray the sleight.
An excellent method of guiding the slipped card to the top of the pack is this:
