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The Dover edition has some changes from previous editions that make it easily distinguishable if it's scanned or OCR'd. The Erdnase Scroll by Miracle Factory - The book in scroll form with a handwritten calligraphy font on ivory parchment paper, maple-tone wood ornaments, suede tie cord, and a velour protective drawstring bag. Also includes Todd Karr's extensive research on Erdnase's identity. When we speak of professional card players we do not refer to the proprietors or managers of gaming houses. The percentage in their favor is a known quantity, or can be readily calculated, and their profits are much the same as any business enterprise. Where the civil authorities countenance these institutions they are generally conducted by men of well known standing in the community. The card tables pay a percentage or rake off, and the management provides a look out for the protection of its patrons. Where the gaming rooms must be conducted in secret the probabilities of the player’s apparent chances being lessened are much greater. However, our purpose is to account for the unknown percentage that must needs be in favor of the professional card player to enable him to live. Advantages that are bound to ultimately give a percentage in favor of the professional are absolutely essential to his existence, and the means employed at the card table to obtain that result are thoroughly elucidated in this work. We have not been impelled to our task by the qualms of a guilty conscience, nor through the hope of reforming the world. Man cannot change his temperament, and few care to control it. While the passion for hazard exists it will find gratification. We have neither grievance against the fraternity nor sympathy for so-called victims. A varied experience has impressed us with the belief that all men who play for any considerable stakes are looking for the best of it. We give the facts and conditions of our subject as we find them, though we sorrowfully admit that our own early knowledge was acquired at the usual excessive cost to the uninitiated. Some players make a practice of marking cards during the process of the game. The most desirable cards are creased or indented at certain locations as they happen to come into the player’s possession, with the finger or thumb nail, which is kept pointed for the purpose; and in the course of an hour the principal cards can be readily distinguished. Another plan is to darken the edges with different prepared inks that are conveniently adjusted in pads. These manoeuvres, while making nothing sure in a given instance, always net the operator a favorable percentage in the long run.
The Mystery Author admits at the beginning of the book that he wrote it purely for financial gain and adopted Erdnase as a pen name. The Expert at the Card Table, is an extensive book on the art of sleight of hand published in 1902 by S. W. Erdnase, a pseudonymous author whose identity has remained a mystery for over a century. [1] As a detailed manual of card sharps, the book is considered to be one of the most influential works on magic or conjuring with cards.Awesome little book on card magic and slights. Amazingly, this book has been in continuous publication since 1902 and has a small but diehard following in the card magic community. Although most consider a lot of the moves contrived and archaic the magicians who form the core following are immensely loyal to the book and spend many hours studying it with great care and attention. I am probably somewhere in the middle. The book is very nice but there are goofs and limitations that keep me from being one of the utterly devout. Hazard at play carries sensations that once enjoyed are rarely forgotten. The winnings are known as pretty money, and it is generally spent as freely as water. The average professional who is successful at his own game will, with the sublimest unconcern, stake his money on that of another’s, though fully aware the odds are against him. He knows little of the real value of money, and as a rule is generous, careless and improvident. He loves the hazard rather than the stakes. As a matter of fact the principal difference between the professional gambler and the occasional gambler, is that the former is actuated by his love of the game and the latter by cupidity. A professional rarely squeals when he gets the worst of it; the man who has other means of livelihood is the hardest loser. Erdnase starts with a treatise on gambling cons to be performed at the gamblers the gambler’s table (the Artifice section.) The book was first published in 1902 under the pseudonym S.W. Erdnase and the identity of the author has remained a mystery and subject of great speculation. Many theories have been advanced on the subject but there are only a few concrete details known of the author. These include that S.W. Erdnase reversed is E. S. Andrews and that the books illustrator, Marshall D. Smith, met the author in a hotel room and described him as well spoken, gentlemanly and of short stature. In the book’s preface, Erdnase states of the book ‘if it sells well it will accomplish the primary motive of the author, as he needs the money.’ This, combined with the expert knowledge displayed in the book’s content, has pointed to several professional gamblers and card sharpers being behind the pseudonym. The pen name was probably a good idea… Because he managed to annoy a whole lot of professional gamblers of his day in making their moves so freely accessible.
Artifice, ruse and subterfuge at the card table: a treatise on the science and art of manipulating cards at the HathiTrust Digital LibraryDai Vernon actually produced a copy of the book with his own personal notes, which are I can tell you: Expensive… The Expert at the Card Table covers the art of card manipulation and sleight of hand at gambling tables. It was written, according to its author, because "if it sells it will accomplish the primary motive of the author, as he needs the money". [2] Martin Gardner described the book as "the most famous, the most carefully studied book ever published on the art of manipulating cards at gaming tables". [2] :vii Similarly, David Copperfield described it as "a detailed description of the sleight of hand used by crooked gamblers and card magicians. With discussion of everything from false shuffles to fake cuts, dodgy dealing to secret palming, it was the ultimate instructional manual on how to cheat". [3] This book is amazing, whether you want to cheat at Poker or perform the most astonishing card magic. He then wraps it all up with a short card routine that uses some of the techniques he just explained. Stanley, T. L.; Times, Special to the Los Angeles (July 15, 2011). "Magic, mystery and double-crosses in 'The Expert at the Card Table' ". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved February 20, 2023.
Marlo on Erdnase, Jon Racherbaumer (editor) - A compilation of Ed Marlo's writings, both published and unpublished. This book is a preliminary effort to show how an annotation of Erdnase by Marlo might look like. As it stands, it is a partial, supplemental work. Of course it is generally known that much deception is practiced at cards, but it is one thing to have that knowledge and quite another to obtain a perfect understanding of the methods employed, and the exact manner in which they are executed. Hence this work stands unique in the list of card books. We modestly claim originality for the particular manner of accomplishing many of the manoeuvres described, and believe them vastly superior to others that have come under our observation. We do not claim to know it all. Many professionals have attained their success by improving old methods, or inventing new ones; and as certain artifices are first disclosed in this work so will others remain private property as long as the originators are so disposed. The best quality, legitimate freebie is over on the Genii forum..., but contrary to some information in this thread, not every EATCT is free for the taking.
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Hold Outs. — Many mechanical contrivances termed hold outs have been invented to aid the card player. The simplest form is a steel spring with an awl-like attachment at one end which can be pressed into the under side of almost any table in an instant. The spring snaps up against the table, the end curving slightly downwards to receive the cards. The thumb of either hand can put in or take several cards from the apparatus without the hands leaving the table. The author’s identity was never really discovered. The credited author, S.W. Erdnase, is believed by the majority of people to have been an East coast gambler, James Andrews… (I guess we know how he went on such on so many winning streaks if that’s true.)
if you chop off the “jam” and spell James Andrews better you might realize why so many people think Erdnase is in fact, Andrews) The legendary status of the book and its author has also inspired many cultural responses including a play by conjuror Guy Hollingworth, a string quartet piece titled A Man in a Room Gambling and a spoken word piece both by Gavin Bryers and a feature film, Looking for Erdnase, is in production. The first edition of the book that started it all features in Staging Magic, and I hope it is a joy for practicing magicians to see and that it encourages those new to the work to investigate further. The influence of this book is such that it has been issued in annotated form; [8] [9] translated into Japanese, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, [5] and korean; and issued as a series of DVDs by a professional magician, demonstrating and explaining Erdnase's techniques and methods. [3] A featured show of the story of Expert of the Card Table is also performed regularly by UK magician Guy Hollingworth. [10] Adaptations [ edit ] This section also features some of the books that have become essential reading for magicians and amongst these is one of the enduring authorship mysteries of magic: ' Artifice, ruse, and subterfuge at the card table : a treatise on the science and art of manipulating cards ; embracing the whole calendar of slights that are employed by the gambler and conjurer, describing with detail and illustration every known expedient, manoeuvre and strategem of the expert card handler', or as it is more commonly known: ' The Expert at the Card Table'.Artifice, ruse, and subterfuge at the card table: a treatise on the science and art of manipulating cards From the Collections at the Library of Congress The Expert at the Card Table is the most famous, the most carefully studied book ever published on the art of manipulating cards at gaming tables." —from the Foreword by Martin Gardner. Now, don't cheat at Poker. Instead, study this book and learn to cheat at cards, because it will help you become a better magician. Card Mastery, HBDJ, Circle Magic Shop by Michael MacDougall's Card Mastery (contains the complete text of Expert)
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