September 2006 Newsletter

Editorial

Hi Everybody,

There has been a lot going on with the site recently. Here are some highlights.

We're really excited about the 21ace Video Library. Currently it has 78 videos and it is still growing. Thanks to TheEMan we have tons of great chip trick tutorials. Now we need to do something similar for card flourish tutorials. Yes, Shadow has inserted most of our card contest entries in the library but those are showmanship videos, not tutorial videos. Please post in the card forum if you can help us out with some short card tutorial videos for the library. We want to add a short tutorial video for every flourish defined in the Card Tricks Dictionary on the http://www.21ace.com/poker_card_tricks.html page.

The Poker Pro chip trick articles have been going well. If you haven't had a chance to pick up a recent copy of Poker Pro, I highly recommend it. One of the nice bonuses with these articles is that various custom chips are shown. The first article featured Nexgen chips with custom 21ace labels. The second article had composite chips with custom 21ace silver foil on them. Look for high quality Chipco and Paulson chips in upcoming issues.

We'd like to start doing some card flourish articles for various magazines similar to the chip flourish articles in place. The first step towards doing these types of articles is to add more card flourish material to the site so that the magazines can take notice.

The council is working to improve the forums. We have some really cool members with a lot of interesting information but we don't always provide a friendly atmosphere that encourages open conversations. We're going to try to keep things friendly and provide a lounge where folks can talk about cards, chips and other subjects popular in our community. If you have any ideas on how we can improve our forums and make them more friendly then please let us know.

The recent interviews we have published with TheEMan and Ian Kendall are outstanding. Expect to see a few more chip interviews and some card interviews coming up.

Enjoy the rest of the newsletter and don't be shy about posting in the forums!

Eric

Interview with Ian Kendall

Intro
You have one of the oldest sites on the internet in terms of covering poker chip tricks. What do you think of all the new sites that have emerged over the years?

The original chip tricks page was never meant to be public; a friend from the States asked for some lessons on the tricks and I taped a bunch and put them up for him. A couple of weeks later it was picked up by the Handlordz site, who got the info from 21Ace. I've not seen many of the other sites, but I would hope that they would have something different to offer. Places like 21Ace are good because they act as a focus for the community (in fact, without 21Ace I doubt the community would exist in its current form).

Some of the animated gifs on your http://www.virtualmagicshow.com/chips/ page have a virtualmagicshow.com marking on them. Have you had issues with folks trying to steal your copyrighted material?

Unfortunately, yes. Since the original clips were not intended for release I never branded them, consequently I find them popping up all over the world. One person had a GIF as his avatar on a poker forum - he didn't bother to save it to his own machine, he just linked to my page! It took a while to find him, I mailed him asking to remove it but he ignored me. There's not a lot I can do about that, but I have a plan for when I get some time...

One person posted links to each video on an Australian forum, and claimed them as his own. When I introduced myself they replaced them with a link to my page. I don't have the time to police all the infringements, but it does annoy me a bit.

The reverse twirl is kind of difficult for some folks, was it hard for you to learn?

Not really. I was playing with the twirl one day, and then on a whim I did things backwards. I think it took about three tried before I got it consistently. It is a knacky move, but once you get the hang of keeping the two separate during the spin it gets easier.

What is your favorite chip trick?

I have a soft spot for the twirl, since it was my first trick.

What chip trick took you the longest to learn?

Probably the twirl, since I started on it about fifteen years ago! I never gave it the attention it deserved, and it was only when I put some serious work into it that it clicked.

What chip trick was the easiest for you to learn?

I can't remember! Probably an easy one like the pick up.

What are your favorite poker chips for tricks?

I have a lot of the 9g Bee chips from the USPC company. I find these handle really well.

From Maverick
What type of chip tricks do you do while playing poker?

I don't play poker at all! Chip tricks for me are more about learning a skill and developing that. Most of the time I have a stack of chips next to my computer on my desk, and I'll fidgit with those.  Usually it's a twenty chip shuffle, over and over again!

How did first start getting into chip tricks and why?

I suppose it was a natural outgrowth of my magic side, the coin flourishes and the like. A few years ago I was at a magic convention and Guy Hollingworth had a case of chips. I borrowed a couple and stared work on the weave. The next day I bought a box of chips and then I was off. It's part of my obsessive nature that when I get something new to learn I keep at it until I have it down. That took about three weeks of intensive work before I had all of the tricks down.


Have you ever thought about making another chip trick dvd with more advanced or creative tricks?

I did think about it, but there's not much point now. Anders' stuff is way more advanced that anything I can do at the moment, and there are many more tutorials online for free. It's the nature of the beast; my lessons are free for anyone, but very few people buy the CD to give something back. I've sold very few CDs to the community (fewer than ten) despite many of the current crop starting out on my site. The majority of the CDs go through eBay or magic shops.

I belive Rich Fergusson was going to do another Chip DVD.

Do you still practice a lot?

I haven't had the chips out since I moved house in April. That's got more to do with being incredibly busy all summer, but is also because I've been too lazy to get the chips out of the box. I think I'll unpack a pile this evening!

I practice _something_ every day, either magic or juggling or music. I need to turn my mind off for a bit or I go mad.

Where can i find your material??

Most of my stuff is available through my site at www.virtualmagicshow.com/stuff , I also have a newish site called the Virtual Sessions; it's an online magic school with downloadable versions of all four CDs as well as many other lessons. I've just finished editing and compiling another 90 minutes of lessons that will be uploaded over the next few weeks. You can read about it at www.virtualmagicshow.com/vsession

From Chumpchange0001
What have you been up to currently?

Work, and paying the mortgage :( My current contract is over at the end of this month, so I'll have some time to catch up. I just finished another show at the Edinburgh Fringe, and I've got another couple of shows in development. I'm also going to tape some more lessons for the Sessions, and I've got a couple of CDs I want to do. 

How often do you play poker?

I've played poker once! I have a HoldEm game for my PocketPC and I play at least one game a day, but I'm not very good. I tend to try to outbid a computer player when I have a pair of threes or similar...if I played for money I'd be homeless again within a month!

What is a coin trick that you wish you could do with chip tricks at the Poker Table?

There are certain 'drop' type moves that get harder with a lighter chip. I almost never perform coin magic seated, so it's more a question of which chip tricks would I like to be able to do with coins! (the triple twirl is a bitch with half dollars!)

Have you been keeping up and learning new chip tricks that have emerged over the last year or two?

Not really. The nature of my obsessive tendency is that I will work on something exclusively, and then get bored with it. The other point is that the newer moves are technically demanding, and I don't have the time to work on them. Perhaps I'll have another crack at them in the future.
 
Closing
What year were you born?

I was born in 1968. The sixties were a bad hair decade - that's my excuse.

Where do you currently live? (city)

I live in Edinburgh, which is the capital of Scotland

Favorite bar? favorite restaurant, favorite song, anything else you want to share with us?

I'm not a bar person, and with two kids I don't get to go out much! There's a restaurant in Edinburgh called Fenwicks which is really nice, and one in Barcelona called El Troubador which is amazing - it's a huge room and the whole back wall is the kitchen so you can see the food being prepared. I try to go when I'm visiting the inlaws.

I don't have a particular favourite in music, but I'm not fond of rap or dance music.

Thanks for the questions!

TheEMan Interview

Arguably the best poker chip flourisher in the world, it is always interesting to hear what TheEMan has to say. Check out theeman.p8.se for more information about TheEMan.

21ace - DanTheMan
1. What was the hardest trick to learn?
The Caterpillar was a bitch to learn.

21ace - DanTheMan
2. How often do you practice?
Every day I'm home or at work. but i don't practice in that sense. you can say I'm keeping my self busy when watching tv or Surfing.

21ace - DanTheMan
3. (I know it's been answered 15,000,000,000 times already, but people seem to keep asking...) What chips work best for tricks?
I'm going to have to say Paulson all the way, I just love those chips.

21ace - DanTheMan
4. What is your favorite trick?
I really like doing combos.

21ace - DanTheMan
5. Least favorite trick?
I pretty much like em all.

21ace - DanTheMan
6. Do chip tricks give you an advantage at the table by intimidating your opponents?
Nah not really, but I've never played any big tournaments yet so i don't know.

21ace - DanTheMan
7. How long did it take you to perfect the ________ (insert trick here)?
I'm still trying to pull of that Perfect, flawless trick.

21ace - DanTheMan
8. How long have you been chip-tricking?
Hmm, about a yearn and a half I think. Funny thing though, I cant think of one day in this year and a half I didn't touch a pocket chip.

21ace - DanTheMan
9. Any new ideas for tricks??
Yeah, i have a few new ideas.

21ace - DanTheMan
10. How the hell are you so good at tricks??
Don't know.

21ace - Dead
11. What tricks are you working on at the moment?
Right now I'm just fine tuning, trying to get really smooth.

21ace - Dead
12. Have you been involved in any major projects similar to your Pokerstars commercial shoot? Any projects that are in the works right now?
Yeah, I'm doing an Chip Trick Tutorial DVD in Germany some time in September. I got the contract and everything looks really good.

21ace - Dead
13. Have you ever given any thought about making your own DVD?
Yeah, I would love to do an high quality Tutorial DVD.

21ace - Dead
14. How many chips do you have, and how many different types of chips do you own?
Between 3 - 5000 i would guess, haven't counted them. Hundred Odds and ends maybe and maybe 5 different playable sets.

21ace - Dead
15. Do you enjoy poker more than performing chip tricks?
Poker is more fun, but it´s awesome when people like my videos.

21ace - Shadow
16. How many chips did you break practicing the tricks?
I´ve not broken any chips doing tricks yet, I´ve chipped a few though. But i broke a few on purpose though.

21ace - Shadow
17. Why did you choose chip tricks?
I thought it looked so cool on TV and it´s a hobby you can practice pretty much everywhere, even in bed if you don't have a woman to keep you busy.

21ace - Shadow
18. I know that you are learning card tricks too. How are you progressing with them?
I pick up a deck from time to time but no serious practicing there.

21ace - Shadow
19. What do you like to drink?
I like Beer, Whiskey and and Vodka, i drink a lot of water too.

21ace - Shadow
20. What is your favorite meal?
Chicken, Rice and Curry.

21ace
21. What was your favorite part of your Pokerstars chip trick commercial?
Meeting Isabella Mercier and the standing ovations from the whole crew when we finished the shoot.

21ace
22. How many chips do you usually carry with you throughout the day?
I only have 20 or so with me to work, If i Travel or anything i keep at least 4 chips in my pocket.

21ace
23. How often do you drop chips when trying new tricks?
All The Time.

21ace
24. Are the tricks easier at certain times of the day? I ask because in the morning it is more difficult for me to do tricks than later in the day.
Evening and nights are best for me since I sleep during the day.

21ace
25. What is your favorite poker show on tv?
Any WPT with Sexton/Van Patten.

21ace
26. Who is your favorite poker pro?
Phil Ivey, Daniel Negraneu, Gus Hansen.

21ace
27. What is your full name?
Anders Fredrik Lundkvist

21ace
28. What year were you born?
1973

21ace
29. Where do you currently live? (city)
Boras, SWEDEN

21ace
30. Favorite bar?
Earls Court here in Boras, it closed down a few years though.

21ace
31. Favorite restaurant?
Restaurant Peking, it´s a Chinese food place. Also, Pizzeria Valentino

21ace
32. Favorite song?
Killswitch Engage - Rose Of Sharyn

We thank TheEMan for answering this long list of questions!

Crafty Culling

I’d like to take a moment before we begin to discuss the concept I mentioned in the previous article and which both that effect and this one fall into, the concept of “instructional performance”.  The point is worth considering because in a sense it borders on exposure.  In point of fact, it is exposure of a kind and magicians often have a concern with this, I do as well.  I don’t think it’s a good idea to expose many of the secrets in magic, but I feel both of these routines, as well as the others where I employ the strategy, simply help to heighten the reaction without really giving anything away.  Yes, technically, you’re teaching riffle stacking in the previous effect, but there is nothing exposed that’s likely to ruin a genuine magical effect.  (For more details, you’ll have to read some other material I’ve written and am writing on the nature of a magical effect.) 

Much the same principle is applied in this routine.  Yes, you’re teaching them the basic premise of riffle culling, but at the same time, you’re withholding enough that they aren’t gaining any real information.  You aren’t for example, explaining the Steven’s cull, and for good reason, the method you’ll describe seems much more difficult than the Steven’s cull, giving a greater illusion of skill.  It represents, much more closely, the Scarne ace cutting description in his book “The Amazing World of John Scarne”.  So, keep those factors in mind as you open a new world of experience and understanding to the audience.  Understand yourself how having them attempt decidedly difficult techniques and then apparently performing them flawlessly makes it all the more awe inspiring than if they believe you’re simply performing some ruse.  It also takes some of the heat off the sleight of hand, allowing you to relax a lot more and focus on presentation (see further comments on this point in my upcoming ebook “Fooling Magicians”).  At the end of the day, you’ll get better reactions, the audience will feel more as though they’ve been blessed than exploited, and perhaps they’ll even feel inspired to attempt mastering the techniques at the levels you apparently possess…I don’t recommend you tell them you were really cheating.

Effect:
This is a simple riffle culling method that looks extremely difficult and will baffle a lot of expert card men, or at least, convince them you’re extremely skillful at culling.  It also works well as a follow up to the previous routine by stating “most people say to me ‘well that’s great, but how did you get the aces there to begin with’, I know that’s what I asked when I started”.  Now, proceed to explain the rough process of peeking the cards, estimating and cutting, telling them if you estimate incorrectly, you have to try again, this is very difficult and often takes many shuffles.  A skillful card cheat will spend perhaps a decade or more mastering this skill, practicing many hours per day in order to make it look quick and fair.

Apparently, demonstrate the process yourself, explaining what you are apparently doing, but actually block off or something simple in a casual manner.  You’ll find this is very relaxed and casual; you can get away with a lack of speed here because you’re explaining the process.  Usually, as I’m explaining I’ll riffle through fairly slowly and locate a king, then block off, but be pattering as I do so.  The patter would go something like “see, here, I’ve located a king”, hold it back and let them see, then look up at them and continue pattering, releasing a block of cards and riffling the rest of the deck.  Mention, “Now, what I’ve just done is estimated the position of the card and if I got it right here”, cut the deck, bringing the king to the top, lift it up so only you can see it, then show it to them as you say “yes, here it is”.

At this point, invite them to try it for themselves.  Guide them through the process of riffling the cards together, watching for a card, then estimating how far down the card is, or counting, and then cutting that far down to cull the first card.  This is unquestionably difficult, especially at high speeds, you’d be advised to use spectators that at least know how to riffle shuffle.

Now, pick up the four aces, allow the spectators to examine them if you wish, along with the deck.  You stick them into the deck in four different parts, then raise the deck so the spectators can see the faces but you cannot as you spread through the deck to show that the aces are truly located randomly.  You then give the deck a few quick shuffles, asking how many players they would like and deal off the aces to the winning player, explaining that you were culling and stacking the cards as described.

Method:
You’ll begin with the four aces on the table and the deck in your hand.  The aces are totally examinable as is the deck, you can even borrow them.  Go through the first phase as described under the effect, nothing complicated.  Next, you’ll proceed to insert the aces, one at a time, into different parts of the deck, you can ask the spectators to do so if they like.  You’re very fair about this, but initially, you angle jog the ace, and with your pinky, one at a time, you crimp the protruding corner at the back right.  (See figure 1.)

 
Figure 1.

Now, you hold the deck up with the face pointing towards the audience, so you can’t see the value of the cards, but with your left hand covering the bottom of the deck.  You’ll slowly spread through the cards for the audience so they can see that the aces are indeed positioned randomly throughout the deck.  However, due to your hand position, the crimps are concealed.  (See figure 2.)

 
Figure 2.

Now, lay the deck on the table, with the crimps facing you (they’ll be in the left corner).  Ask the spectators to name a number of players for the game before you begin shuffling, and then explain as you go.  Tell them you’re controlling the cards to the top of the deck and then stacking them in the process.  Cut to an ace and shuffle off lightly (you want to shuffle lightly so the crimps remain throughout the shuffles), ensuring that one of the aces falls first.  Repeat this process for the four aces and then bottom deal the four aces off to the appropriate players (if you’re able and you want to, you can legitimately stack the cards while culling them and then allow the spectator to do the dealing).  However, correct the crimp as much as possible before you perform the bottom deals.

This is actually a very easy routine, but the presentation gives the audience some idea just how hard it is.  Of course, if you’re good, you can actually cull multiple cards, two, three, even all four, in a single shuffle.  On the other hand, you can save that for a later routine.

One beauty of this routine is, even for magicians who are familiar with culling techniques, the ease and speed with which you perform the shuffles is stunning, and of course, they don’t know you’ve used the crimps because the cards didn’t have crimps initially and you removed them before the end.

You could simply perform the cull without the stack, but I prefer to extend the routine slightly and give the illusion of the stacking as well.

There are two final notes for you in terms of things to remember.  First, discuss issues of how you’re stacking at the same time.  Second, make sure you use the correct explanation, telling the audience that you’re controlling the cards to the top, and make sure you control the top cards in such a manner that this all seems true, if you aren’t adding cards to the top or close to it, the demonstration seems fake to anyone scrutinizing your actions.  Also, make sure it appears that you’re peeking at the indexes while you shuffle in order to justify what you stated earlier.

Drey

Members Welcome

Without members a forum would be pretty boring. Without new members a forum would not improve thus adding to its boringness. So this is just the little piece of the newsletter that allows us, the members of 21ace, to extend a heart felt welcome to all those that have joined the 21ace community this month.

 
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CREDITS

The people that contributed to the making of this newsletter include:

Eric and Shadow – Technical Support.

Fattyonadiet – Editor.

Drey, Eric, Ian Kendall, TheEMan– Authors.

Also; a big thanks goes to Ian Kendall TheEMan for allowing us to interview him.