Docc Hilford - The Cassandra Deck

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The $100 Deck That was Kept Secret for Four Years!

Cassandra Deck The Cassandra Deck™ is revolutionary. It was designed from Gene Grant's Psvchorama in his wonderful book, Phantini's Mental Key (circa 1951). After developing this deck. Jack Dean informed me that although she contains some elements of the Koran Deck and the Himber Deck. The Cassandra Deck'™ is quite original. The pumping deck — although addressed by Phantini. as well as Waters, Chelman. Corinda and others — dates back to the late Nineteenth century. You have a utility deck that will fool both magicians and you. Guard its secret carefully. How it works: The Cassandra Deck™ consists of 52 cards plus a Joker. There are 10 force cards. 5 red and 5 black. These cards are repeated 2.6 times to make a half deck of 26 force cards. Twenty-six mixed indifferent cards separate the 26 force cards. The Set-up: The force cards are all regulation size. The pump is based on a ‘stranger’ card formula. The suits in your deck may vary, but the force cards in this example are JH-2H-3C-QC-5H-6C-7C-8H-9S-IOD and remain in a fixed order for dealing tricks. From the top (back) of the deck down is a group of 10, another group of 10 identical force cards in the same order, a Joker, and an incomplete group of slightly more than half (6) of the force cards group; combined with six indifferent cards known as the "Bottom Twelve". Your deck must be assembled in this order: JH-x-2H-x-3C-x-QC-x-5H-x-6C-x7C-X-8H-X-9S-X-IOD-X-JH-X-2H-X-3C-X-QC-X-5H-X-6C-X-7C-X-8H-X-9S-X10D-Joker-JH-x-2H-x-3C-x-QC-x-5H-x-6C-The black ace (on the bottom). The Joker (which can be trimmed to be a short card) appears before the bottom twelve cards. This helps you when handling the deck, and by breaking the pattern, helps deceive the eye when the cards are ribbon spread. It is not a necessity after you become comfortable with The Cassandra Deck™. The indifferent cards arc all trimmed short and none of them are repeated anywhere in the deck. They arc specially selected to resemble, but not duplicate, the force cards. When spread face-up, the force cards become invisible because of I he randomness of the indifferent cards between them. A small crib sheet to queue you on the order of the force cards [Fig 1], is stuck on the inside flap of the card box. A tip is to secretly mark each indifferent card with a pencil dot on the back corner. This allows YOU to at least see that all is in order when you fan

the deck. The black ace is at the bottom. If the deck is cut, you can re-cut it to starting position at any time by cutting at the black ace. This keeps the "Bottom Twelve' at the bottom. You may switch the black ace with the Joker if you prefer to have the Joker at the bottom face of the deck. How to display: Hold The Cassandra Deck™ face-down on your left palm. Pick up the deck with your right hand; fingers on one narrow end and your right thumb on the opposite narrow end. Place the nail of your right index finger against the back of the deck and apply some pressure. Allow cards to slide off under your thumb and back into your left palm. This is the same display as done with a Svengali Deck and allows the spectators to see only force cards, plus the indifferent bottom card (the black ace). Tell the spectator not to select the bottom card, as it is too obvious. If you repeal the above procedure with the cards oriented face-up in your left hand, only the indifferent cards will be seen as they fall face-up into your left palm. When displaying the cards, go slow enough for the spectator to mentally select a card. However, don't go so slow as to reveal the fact that any cards are repeated. How to cut: The indifferent cards being trimmed short assures that the spectator must cut to a force card on the bottom of the portion cut. Hold the deck face-down in your left palm. Keep your left fingers and thumb along the wide sides of the deck. This forces the spectator to grab the deck by its narrow ends. He will be able to only touch the edges of the force cards. The spectator lifts up a group of cards and looks at the bottom card of that group. That is a force card. How to shuffle: The same principle allows you to dovetail shuffle The Cassandra Deck™. Cut the deck and tap the far ends on the table to expose all the long edges of the force cards. Shuffle with your thumbs touching the narrow, inside, ends of the cards. The cards will fall in pairs of one force card and one indifferent card. This jumbles the order of the force cards, but doesn't disrupt the working of the deck. A single shuffle wilt not put duplicate force cards together, but repeated shuffles may. How to re-set the deck: If your deck gets jumbled — either by accident or design during a shuffle — it is an easy matter to re-set it. Separate the long and short cards and simply re-assemble the deck using the crib on the flap of the card box.

Four Tricks with The Cassandra Deck™ What follows arc only six of the 64 different tricks possible with The Cassandra Deck™. If you like; these tricks, it is highly suggested you obtain a copy of Fem Fatal- 64 Sinful Secrets of The Cassandra Deck. Think-a-Card A spectator is told to think of any card in a regular deck. So she can pick one at random, and not one that most people pick, you offer a visual aid. She remembers one she sees in a deck. The deck is quickly shown to the spectator and put away. You make a series of correct statements about her card. Finally, you name the thought of card. Method: Each set of ten force cards can be divided by the fact that they are either red suits or blacks. Each set of five (either all red or all black) has a series of "stranger" cards. Four are the same suit: one is a "stranger". Of the four, three are not face cards, one is a "stranger"' (a face card). Of the remaining three, two are odd if black (or even if red) and one is a “stranger”. Of the two cards left, one is a high card (above seven) and one is low valued. By a series of positive statements, you are able to reveal the mentally chosen card while appearing as if you are not asking any questions. And you are never wrong! Yon will make statements about: 1. The color 2- The suit 3. The court card 4. A low value How to make correct statements: On the inside of the card box flap is your crib. The top row of five is all the red force cards. The row below is all the black force cards. The number above or below the card's initials indicates the order in the group stack. [Fig. 1] The value of the force card also indicates its position in the group. Please note that the jack is 1 and the queen is 4. This helps break any visual pattern.

The cards arc listed in the order of the statements you will make. Always make a statement based on the majority cards. NOT the "stranger" card, (with the exception of the court card — as explained later) 9 9S

4 QC

6 6C

10D 10

JH 1

5H 5 FIG 1

3 3C

7 7C

2H 8H 2 8

When making your statements aim to get a response from the spectator's facial expressions only and not a verbal answer The force cards are specifically selected to help in this. Your statements are timed with a pause so that you can correct yourself if needed after seeing the spectator's facial response.

For example: The first statement you will make is. "Your card’s not be red, is it?" This is an ambiguous statement. You seem to be correct no matter what the spectator's answer. If the response (either facial or verbal) is "Yes' you know to make your statements about the red force cards on the bottom row of your queue list. You add. "I thought so." If the response is "No" you know to make statements based on the top row of black cards. You say. "I didn’t think so." With either response you affirm that you knew what the response would be. We will assume she smiles or nods her head, which tells you the response is 'Yes', her card is red. You secretly look at the crib list. The first red card on the list is the first "stranger" card of the red set, the Ten of Diamonds (10D). The remaining majority of force cards on the bottom list are hearts. Continue your statements about the majority cards. Say, "Your card is a heart..." leaving your voice hanging. There is a 4 to 1 chance you are correct. If she frowns or looks blank, the response is 'No' and you immediately know her card is the Ten of Diamonds. You finish your statement with, "...or a diamond. Yes, it is a diamond The Ten of Diamonds." You have correctly identified her card quickly and directly.

If the response is 'Yes' go on and make your third statement. The next card on the list is the Jack of Hearts (JH). Say. "I see a picture of your card. Please mentally count the Hearts on your card." If she looks puzzled because it is impossible to count spots that aren't on a face card, you know for certain that her card is the Jack of Hearts. Quickly add. "There are two in the corners, but I see lots of hearts all over the card. It's a picture card. The Jack of Hearts!" If she seems to be counting the spots, you know she does not have the jack in mind, go to the next statement. The next card on the list is the Five of Hearts (5H). Say. "I believe you're counting an even number of spots on your card..." You have made a statement about the majority force cards both of which are even in this example. If the facial clue is 'No' you instantly know her card is the Five of Hearts. You immediately add. "...don'l say anything! .... The card is shaped like this." drawing a five shape in the air. "I'm not certain whether it is a five or a two. There seems to be an odd number of spots. Hmnm. it is a five. The Five of Hearts." You have re-stated your position on the number of spots and hidden it under the action of drawing out the number. If the response is "Yes" to your statement about an even card, go on to your final statement before the revelation. The next two cards are lower and higher than seven, (the black set of force cards contains a seven as high card and the red set contains an eight.) The high cards (seven and eight) are confusing to the spectator because they arc not usually thought of as high valued cards. In this example the high card is the Eight of Hearts. Say, "Your card is a low valued card..." If the response is "Yes" you immediately know her card is the Two of Hearts. If she looks as if she's not certain whether her card is actually a low card- you know her card is the Eight of Hearts. You add. "... low and even. like a four, six or eight. It is the Eight of Hearts." You have made five correct statements before revealing the card. If you gel an oral "No" responsec you correct it with, "Lower than a

nine or ten", and immediately reveal the card. Each time you seem to be correct. The same procedure is used with the black suit set of force cards with appropriate adjustments to your statements. In performance, the basic effect should give the appearance of real mindreading. The audience should forget that a deck of cards was ever used. It should be emphasized that a card was simply thought of and never touched. Because the deck is handled for about ten seconds at the beginning and put away, later, many will remember your ability to read minds, not your clever handling of cards. It is important to practice the way you make the statements. You must avoid sounding as if you are merely eliminating groups of the entire deck. You stress that each statement is true. You are not fishing. Be bold!

Juliet and her Romeo Effect: A woman thinks of any card she sees in a deck of cards. A man is asked to think of any card he sees, as long as it is different from the woman's. She is not to tell him the card, just name aloud the color of her card's suit. The man looks for a card of the opposite color. This ensures tlhat both cards are different. You make statements about each card. All statements are true. Eventually, you reveal both cards. Method: The same procedure as the basic effect is used. But in this presentation, you already know the color of each person's card. You have eliminated one possible negative response. You make the statements based on the force card crib and identify the mentally chosen cards. This is quick, concise and easy to follow. Really, it's the perfect mental card trick! Tossed IM

The Cassandra Deck can be used for David Hoy's Tossed Out Deck trick. The original used a single card force deck. Subsequent methods have used a three way force deck or other multi-card decks. The Cassandra DeckIM makes possible the best presentation of this classic effect Effect: A deck of cards is spread face-up in front of a spectator for a

moment and then closed. A heavy rubber band is snapped around one of the narrow ends of the deck. The audience is shown how you want them to lift up some of the cards with their thumbs and look at a card. The deck is tossed out into the audience. The person who catches the deck lifts some cards, peeks at one card and tosses the deck to someone else. That person pecks at a card and losses the deck lo another person. Three to six people are allowed to peck at cards. They toss the deck back to you. You ask all who saw a card to stand. Individually, you reveal each person's card. Method: Displaying The Cassandra Deck™ face-up will not disclose it’s secret. When the deck is closed, give it a tap on a flat surface such as a table to knock all the card ends to one end. This ensures a good long/short relation at the other end. Place the rubber band around the flush end. By following your instructions the spectators can only peek at force cards because the force cards are longer than the indifferent cards. After the spectators see a card each, tell them that you are receiving many thoughts at once. Ask all who are thinking of red cards to stand. We will assume that four of six participants stand. Look at your crib. Address the four standing spectators and have those who are thinking of a "non-stranger"' suit - Hearts ~ to raise their hands. We will assume that two raise their hands. Those two who are standing and have not raised their hands have the same red card - that is the "stranger" suit card - the Nine of Hearts. You will reveal that fact later. Have the two with known red cards (who did not raise their hands) sit down. Let the others put their hands down also, but remain standing. Continue with the two standing spectators. Make statements as in the basic effect and reveal both cards. Have them sit. Perform the basic effect with the two spectators who arc thinking of black cards. Remember that if one of them is thinking of the stranger suit or card you instantly know his card. Save this revelation for the climax. As a finale", have the last two spectators stand again. You know their cards and you know they arc thinking of the same card. Reveal this fact in as a dramatic way as possible. You apparently have not asked them any questions, because you distance yourself from the queries about color and suit, You

dramatically reveal that the cards thought of are the same cards and name the card. Of course each situation will differ from the example given here, but in performance you can move rather quickly. Spectators selecting the same card happen rather often in actual performance and the audience loves it. Tomorrow's Thought Many amazing predictions can be performed with The Cassandra Dcck. This is one, based on an idea from Clayton Rawson's (a.k.a. Don Diavolo) Tomorrow's Card trick published in the Jinx. Effect: You write something on a slip of paper, fold it and put it in an empty coffee cup. A deck is handed to a spectator. Another person is asked to call out any number from 1 to 52. The spectator deals that many cards face-up off the top of the deck and a card is set aside, face-down. The spectator takes the slip of paper from the cup. He opens and reads the paper. It says the name of the card just set aside! Proving you knew in advance the card that would be selected.

Figure 2 Method: There are only ten cards that can be forced. Write the names of these cards on ten slips of paper and fold them into billets. Put the first five card names in a matchbook [sec fig.2| and put it in your right pocket. Place the last five card names in another match book and put it in your left pocket. The easy version, or The "Soft" Formula, is used to determine which force card is at the chosen number. It is based on whether the announced number is odd or even. First, move the black ace from the bottom to the top of t he deck. If even: the chosen number (n) is divided by 2 and use the last card dealt (a). – (Even=(n)/2=a) If odd:. the chosen number (n) plus 1 is divided by 2 and use the next card(b}. – (Odd=(n+1)/2=b) If you get a two digit number as your sum, discard the first digit (for example: 23 is thought of as 3). This single digit number is the same as the

force card value. It is also on your crib inside the card box flap. (There is an even better and faster formula at the end of this book. ) Let's assume that the spectator called 18. Eighteen is even so you divide by 2 to get 9. Deal nine cards off the deck and look at the last card dealt. It is the card numbered 9 on your crib (9H). Notice that the force card position matches the card's value. When you make your prediction be certain to fold the slip the same way as the index slips are folded. As you place the folded prediction in the cup, you actually finger-palm it out again and the cup remains empty. While the spectator is dealing the cards, casually put your hand in the appropriate pocket and find the correct billet You have plenty of time to palm it out and add it to the cup while moving the cup closer lo the spectator. Do this before the dealing is over and no one will notice you ever touched the cup The audience will remember that the spectator removed the slip. I always deal the cards face-up. But if you're worried about the one or two dupes being seen, deal face-down if the number is higher than 22. The first 21 cards have no duplicates, so always deal them face-up. The Harder hut Better Secret Formula: To figure out what force card is at any position called without having to move the bottom black ace to the top uses a different formula than earlier stated. The top card is the first force card (J). If Ilic number called is even, add 2 and divide by 2. Use the next card (b). (E=(n+2)/2=b) If the number called is odd, add 1 and divide by 2. Use the last card dealt (a). (O=(n+l)/2=a) The previous formula was described because it is a little easier to understand. However, it is preferred that the black ace remains on the bottom of the deck To facilitate this, you must use The Harder but Better Secret Formula.

Important! It is suggested that you own the book. Fern Fatal - 64 Sinful Secrets of The Cassandra Deck™, II is a must for anyone using (his deck. In it you will learn: *

A Tossed Out Deck where you name each person 's card correctly!

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A method for learning REAL contact mindreading!

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Poker and Blackjack demonstrations.

* A Cards Across where thought of fly across the room! *

Any Card at Any Number and you predict both the card AND number!

* A Card in Cigarette with a thought of card! *

...And 57 more ways to learn pocket writing, swami writing, sound read ing, pencil reading, plus book tests. billet tests. cold reading effects, etc!

There are also other formulas for instantly calculating what card is at which position in the deck. It is 64 pages and is available at magic stores or from the author and sells for $35. It is truly the only way to learn the wonderful possibilities of The Cassandra Deck™. Fem Fatal will be sent to you Priority Mail at no additional cost to you Send $35 to:

Docc Hilford 10275 Collins Ave Suite 824 Bal Harbour, FL 33154

the Cassandra The $100 DECK that was Kept Secret for Four Years!

the Cassnadra deck has these important features: In 1999 magic history was made Less than 5(1 professional mentalists were invited to own a new special deck. For this honor they paid $100! After the 50 decks were gone, many pros tried to get one of these wonderful decks, but were turned away. The secret to the stunning deck was to be kept exclusive for four years. Now, that time is up and you can own the same deck for much, much less! The deck is unlike anything ever be tore invented. Here is two of the many effects explained in these instructions: You write a prediction on a slip of paper and place it aside. Th e deck is slowly shown to a spectator. She sees that every card is different. It is riffled toward her again and this time she silently remembers any card she sees. You are able to tell her exactly which card she mentally chose! And better than that, written on the slip of paper is the name of the same card! The best version of the Tossed On! Deck is explained. The cards are shown to be all different, are rubber banded and tossed into the audience. Any number of people can peek at cards and you identify each person's card! Not all the cards at once, but one at a time!

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The deck can be ribbon spread on a table to show all 52 cards.

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There are no specially printed cards, nothing added or stolen.

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Each card can be chosen by hand or examined by the spectator.

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You know exactly where any thought of card is in the deck.

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The deck can be cut and shuffled repeatedly.

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The spectator never has to write anything.

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The effects can be repeated with different cards mentally chosen each time.

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Very easy to do! No memorization or difficult slights.

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And for 64 completely different tricks with The Cassandra Deck, get the book

Docc Co. - 10275 Collins Ave. #824 Bal Harbour, FL 33154 [email protected]

How to construct Cassandra Decks ----

How it works: The Cassandra Deck™ consists of 52 cards plus a Joker. There are 10 force cards, 5 red and 5 black. These cards are repeated 2.6 times to make a half deck of 26 force cards. 26 mixed indifferent cards separate the 26 force cards. The Set-up: The force cards are all regulation size. The pump is based on a "stranger" card formula. They are JH-2H-3C-QC-5H6C-7C-8H-9S-10D and remain in a fixed order for dealing tricks. From the top (back) of the deck down is a group of 10, another group of 10 identical force cards in the same order, a joker, and an incomplete group of slightly more than half (6) of the force cards group; combined with six indifferent cards known as the "Bottom Twelve". This is the order of the full deck: JH-x-2H-x-3C-x-QC-X-5H-X6C-X-7C-X-8H-X-9S-X-10D-x-JH-x-2H-x-3 C-X-QC-X-5H-X-6C-x-7C-x-8Hx-9S-x-10D-Joker-JH-x-2H-x-3C-x-QC-x-5H-x-6C-Aceof Clubs. The Joker (a short card) appears before the bottom twelve cards. This helps you when handling the deck, and by breaking the pattern, helps deceive the eye when the cards are ribbon spread. It is not a necessity after you become comfortable with The Cassandra Deck™. The indifferent cards are all trimmed short and none of them are repeated anywhere in the deck. They are specially selected to resemble, but not duplicate, the force cards. When spread face-up, the force cards become invisible because of the randomness of the indifferent cards between them. The indifferent, or x, cards are: AD3D-6D-7D-9D-QD-3H-4H-6H-7H-9H-QH-KH-2S-5S-8S-10S-JS-KS2C-4C-5C-8C-10C-JC-AC-JOKERand should be mixed before assembling the deck. It takes five decks to make The Cassandra Deck™, but if you vary the suits of both the force and the indifferent cards, you can make four decks from the five. The easiest way for me to explain this is to say get out a piece

of paper and write down the ten force cards. Under this list, write a second list with duplicate values but substitute the suits. That is, wherever there is a club on the original list, put a heart on the second list, a spade on the third list, and a diamond on the forth list. Wherever there is a heart on the original list, put spade on the second list, a diamond on the third, and a club on the fourth. Wherever there is a spade on the original list, put diamond on the second list, a club on the third, and a heart on the fourth. And wherever there is a diamond on the original list, put a club on the second, a heart on the third, and spade on the fourth. The indifferent cards are two full decks, both cut short. Make certain your indifferent cards are not duplicating any force cards for the other decks. You will find that the indifferent cards listed here will work with the force cards that have the Jack of Diamonds and the other 26 indifferent cards will work with the force cards that contain the black jacks. Now, you can construct four deck out of the five needed.

Note: Whenever performing for just one person, you can begin by using Derren Brown’s equivoque method of saying, “I want you to concentrate on your card and repeat it to yourself MENTALLY over and over, like this….nine of spades, nine of spades, nine of spades…” If spectator smiles broadly or starts laughing or screaming, you know you hit their card and stop right there. But, if spectator doesn’t register any connection, then keep talking as you say, “…or whatever the name of your card is.” Now you can use the “You are thinking of a red card” statement and if they deny it, you say, “they are all red!” And spread the cards showing the backs are all red.