How to Perform an Easy and Convincing "Guess Which Card" Trick

Co-authored by David Martinez

Last Updated: May 6, 2024

We've all seen "pick a card, any card" tricks where the magician does something amazing and finds your card. This one is slightly different, as it requires a partner, but it is extremely easy.

Steps

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Have your partner leave the room.
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While holding the rest of the deck in one hand, tell the audience to pick a card on the table.
- this is the trick* Indicate with your thumb of the hand that is holding the deck which card they chose. If they chose the card in the upper right hand corner, place your thumb on the deck in the upper right hand corner of the deck, etc.
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He looks at your thumb, and points to the card in the same position, which is the card the audience picked.

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Tips

Make sure you don't move the hand holding the deck around too much. Don't draw attention to it. Keep it on the table at all times.

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When your partner enters, he should only take a quick glance at your thumb to figure out which one is the card. Any longer than 2 seconds after entering the room tells the audience that he is looking at something like a code to figure it out. Do not let them believe this! If he "guesses" immediately upon entering, the audience gets confused as to how he figured it out so quickly.

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Warnings

Some people figure things like this out extremely quickly, and may be looking for a signal like the one in your hand if you've performed this trick in front of the same audience before. I know that when I see tricks like this, I start looking for the tell right away. Make the thumb movements look natural, not obvious. Remember, if you are holding a deck of cards with your thumb on the top, this looks completely normal! However, I have never had a person guess the solution to this trick, but you may get that one spy-in-training who will be on the lookout.

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