DOVER PUBLICATIONS INC.

A leading inventor and collector of games, Sid Sackson is also an expert on game history. For this highly entertaining volume, the self-proclaimed "game addict" has selected over 60 popular games from around the world. A brief but fascinating introductory chapter to the history of card playing is followed by a valuable glossary of terms associated with this popular pastime. Additional chapters supply instructions, detailed illustrations, and an abundance of clear examples for playing such...

Clearly worded instructions and 251 illustrations show beginner or veteran conjurers how to pluck a seemingly endless number of coins from the air, make a coin penetrate a tabletop, and perform psychic tricks with coins and bills. Tricks include 'printing' a $5 bill on a blank sheet of paper, exposing shortchange artists, metal bending, tower of nickels, balancing act, through the ring, immovable object, sealed box mystery and others. No experience necessary to perform these tricks and most...

Includes impromptu deceptions like Coin Through the Hand, Flying Dime, Down your Sleeve, Counting Chalk, Bill in the Egg. 35 magic tricks in all. 40 card tricks include card in the pocket, 13 principle, eight kings and others, along with methods of false shuffling, palming, gliding, preparing the cards. 94 Pgs.1954

Let's say you are at a dinner party and are invited to perform a trick. You have no apparatus on you, nothing prepared. In an absent manner, you place a glass of sherry to your lips, as though bracing yourself for the fray. The glass is half emptied (be careful about this), when a sudden movement is made as though you threw it up to the ceiling; but nothing is seen to ascend, though the glass, with the wine in it, has disappeared. After a short pause, to allow the general astonishment to take...

Like theatrical presentations, conjuring is an art of illusion. A magician skilled in the craft is able to convince an audience that he or she can read minds, communicate with the spirit world, make objects appear or disappear, and perform other acts of seemingly genuine magic. Without having mastered the art of presentation or “showmanship,” however, even the most competent sleight-of-hand artist can fall short in performance. With this in mind, noted authority Henning Nelms goes beyond the...

World-famous illusionist, master deluder, showman: Harry Houdini was one of the most legendary figures of the modern stage, and probably the most legendary and misunderstood magician of all time. Exposing his closely kept professional secrets, and revealing in general terms the whole art of stage magic, this book is now considered the classic study of Houdini's strange deceptions. A professional magician and friend of Houdini, Cannell rationally explains how the master escaped bank vaults,...

Probability theory, the basis of statistics and game theory, can be fun to learn. Multiple exercises throughout the text help you to learn and practice the ideas and methods explained in the book. A good tool for learning probability skills. 247 Pgs. 1973

For the beginner or veteran, this book shows some excellent show openers to get the audience's attention, including memory tricks, gambling tricks, gimmicks. Simple instructions and carefully drawn illustrations lead the reader from start to finish without requiring long practice sessions or much dexterity. 120 Pgs. 2003

Curry incorporated thoroughly engrossing material with a style that was truly elegant. This book by a "magician's magician" discloses the secrets behind a collection of close-up marvels - including the author's "Out of the World," reputed to be the best card trick of the past century. Illustrations Index 269 Pgs.1965

Hundreds of close-up card tricks with more than 318 illustrations. Of use to the amateur as well as the pro who wants to add more tricks to his routine. 448 Pgs. 1974

A famous card expert demonstrates tricks that have left theater audiences amazed, and that card-playing professionals have used profitably. It is not a book for beginners. But these shifts, palms, glides, false shuffles, cuts, fans, steals, and spectacular deceptions will help those with basic card expertise reach new levels of performance. Over 300 photos. 219 pages Paperbound 1993

155 of Scarne's professional card tricks, none of which require sleight of hand dexterity, are presented in detail. Instructions and diagrams include Blackstone's Card Trick Without Cards, Houdini's Card on the Ceiling, Carlyle's Piano Card Trick, Milton Berle's Quickie Card Deal, Scarne's own Drunken Poker Deal, Knockout Card Trick, and more. 308 pgs, paperback, 2003