A Mathematical Card Trick
by G. J. Greenbury,
Brisbane, Australia
Arrange four aces facedown in one stack. Under them place four 2s facedown, and so on, finishing with four kings. Spell "o-n-e"
as you take three cards singly off the top of the deck. As you say "e," place the card faceup. It is an ace. Continuing, spell
"t-w-o" and again place a card faceup. It is a two. Then spell "t-h-r-e-e," and so on up to the jack and queen, and
finishing on "k-i-n-g." The last card is a king. The discards are three aces, three 2s, ..., and three kings.
The previous trick is spectacular if the cards are arranged beforehand by a simple game of Patience, which I will now describe.
- Arrange in a row, faceup, the 1 (ace), 2, 3, and 4. Under these, place the 2, 4, 6, and 8:
- Add each column: 1 + 2 = 3; 2 + 4 = 6; 3 = 6 = 9; 4 + 8 = 12 (queen).
- Every third card in the discard pack is turned up. If it is a 3, 5, 9, or queen, it is placed on top
of the card in the second row to which it corresponds (e.g., if it is a 3, place it on the 2; if
it is a 6, place it on the 4).
- As a new card is placed on the second row, a new sum is then formed for which you now look.
- If the sum exceeds 13, a lower sum is calculated (e.g., 12 (queen) + 4 = 16, 16 - 13 = 3).
- The addition of any column is dicontinued when a king is obtained.
- If you use a third card from the discard pack, you can also use the one below it (as in solitare).
- If five or fewer cards remain to be dealt or if you become stuck, deal cards singly.
- When all kings are obtained, let us refer to the packs as follows:
- Pick up pack H facedown, followed on top by packs D, G, C, F, B, E, and A, also facedown.
- Deal thirteen cards:
| 1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
| 5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
| 9
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
13
|
- Now deal singly on every second card, that is, on 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13. Stop at 13.
- Then deal singly on every third pack, that is, on 3, 6, 9, 12, 2, 5, 8, 11, 1, 4, 7, 10, and 13. Stop at 13.
- Continue dealing on evry fourth pack, that is, on 4, 8, 12, 3, 7, 11, 2, 6, 10, 1, 5, 9, and 13. This is the last card.
- Now pick up pack 13 facedown and place on top of it packs 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 in that order. You
are now ready to spell out, "o-n-e," "t-w-o," "t-h-r-e-e," and so on.