Magic cards were probably first derived from the fortune telling cards and soon doing magic tricks with playing cards became a very popular entertainment form. It is believed that magic card tricks were popular from as long back as the 17th century. Professional magicians would often admit that most card tricks are all based on illusions and tricks.
In the 18th century, magic card decks became quite popular and were sold widely. These decks would be divided equally diagonally; half of the card would show a numbered card while the other half would show a court card. Cards can be fanned out to first show all court cards and then with just a little skill of shuffling, these can be shown as all pips. Such cards were used in England, France, Portugal, Germany and Holland but can very rarely be found today.
Today there are several different types of magic card decks available. The stripper deck, which is also known as a Wizard deck would allow a person to control the location of a particular card inside the deck. Even after the deck has been shuffled by someone else, the person can cut the deck and locate the selected card with much ease.Another such deck is the Svengali deck which is specially designed for different types of card magic tricks. The tricks performed with this type of deck involve almost no work at all and anyone can easily perform the tricks without any skill. The deck looks almost totally ordinary and can be easily shuffled.
Marked decks are also very widely used by various magicians. A certain mark is placed on all the cards that would indicate the number of that card and its suit. The person performing the trick can ask anyone in the audience to select the card and can then read the number and suit of the card without ever looking at it. The same principle is often used by gamblers to cheat at games.
A mental photography deck is also very popular. The deck can be fanned and would at first seem to be totally blank on both sides. However, when the deck is cut later a card would appear and the magician can even shuffle the deck to show that all the cards in the deck are printed. The deck is designed in such a way that absolutely no special skills are required for performing these tricks.
Forcing decks are designed in such a way that they can force anyone in the audience to pick a particular card about which the magician would already know. Such decks use different designs or techniques to make a person select a particular card and are made to be self working.
As card magic continues to evolve, so do the magic cards. New decks and magic card packs are continuously being introduced in the market every few months.
Perhaps the fastest and the easiest way to learn about the use of cards is by playing online games, like blackjack. Such games may not show you the beauty of authentic cards, but you will still have lots of fun. Play blackjack now!
There is no doubt each country has its own traditions and customs, even when it comes to playing cards. Find out about the special features of the cards and card games in different countries.
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