Take two cards from the top deck while keeping them together (so it looks like only one card was drawn). Slip a card directly below the top card in the deck while the deck is behind your back for only a moment.
If some protest your having the card behind your back, say it is part of the “suspense”, and “it’s a magic moment”.
The best way to do this is to place the four aces on top of the deck beforehand. Bring the deck out of your pocket and transition directly into the trick without letting viewers shuffle it. Do this as inconspicuously as possible. Ask, “Hey, do you guys want to see a magic trick?” and then transition right into it. The more fluid and natural you make it seem, the less the audience will question the trick.
Distribute the piles from left to right so that the fourth pile is to your far right. Don’t focus too hard on the fourth pile. Magic involves misdirection, and tricks can easily turn sour if your audience catches on to where the aces are really being kept. Keep talking to distract them a bit.
Deal only one card per pile. This is especially important when you deal the aces pile, since you will need exactly three random cards above the aces for it to work.
By placing the top three cards of the aces pile on the bottom, you have now brought the aces back up to the top of the deck. When you deal them onto the top of the other piles, the top card will always be an ace.
Once you perfect this trick, switch it up by having the audience members perform the steps. Provide specific instructions for cutting the deck (don’t shuffle!), shuffling piles (only the top three cards), and dealing (one card per pile). The outcome will effectively be the same. The difference is that the audience will believe your trick more because they will be duped into thinking they control the outcome. [1] X Research source
For example, just “king” and “ten” will do. Saying “king of spades” and “ten of hearts” is more specific and significantly reduces the probability of this trick working. If they mention suits, say something like “Hey, I’m new at this, let’s just stick with “king” and “ten”” with a smile. When the audience member says “king” and “ten,” she is actually naming four cards of each kind since the suit is not specified. Combined, the two cards create eight total possible cards: king of diamonds, king of clubs, king of hearts, king of spades, ten of diamonds, ten of clubs, ten of hearts, ten of spades. The theory is that of these eight possible cards, at least one of the kings will be next to one of the tens. [2] X Research source
This is the only real physical gesture you will make during this trick. Try to have as little to do physically with the trick as possible. This will strengthen the notion that you really performed the illusion.
Sometimes, there may be a card separating a king and a ten. If this occurs, simply tell the audience that you didn’t concentrate hard enough. Perform the trick over and take your chances that the two cards will end up next to each other. [3] X Research source
Show them all the cards to help them believe. You can also shuffle the deck or allow audience members to shuffle the deck before you start the trick.
Say to yourself in your head, “Ace of Diamonds, Ace of Diamonds” (or whatever the card is). This will help you remember the card as you proceed with the trick.
Hold the deck face down in one hand. Place the thumb of your other hand underneath the deck. Use the first two fingers of that same hand to pull the cards from the top slightly towards you. If you’ve gone through more than about one fourth of the deck without being stopped, slow down a bit and joke with the audience to see if you can get someone to stop you. This will make drawing the card from the bottom easier.
At the same time, use your thumb underneath the deck to draw the bottom card into that hand. With practice, it will slide unnoticed into the bottom position of the pulled stack of cards. Remember, this bottom card is the one you memorized earlier and will soon reveal as the “guessed” card.
To help convince the audience, avert your gaze away from the cards as they select. Many audience members assume that guessing tricks are dependent on fancy card counting tricks. While some tricks are, this one is much simpler.
Don’t rush the volunteer, otherwise the audience may think you’ve memorized the card beforehand.
Spread the deck out sequentially. The best way to do this is to set the deck down on the left and use your right hand to gently guide them over to the right. The end result should resemble a rainbow. The reference card should be on the left-hand side of the volunteer’s card. Whichever card is immediately to the right of the card you memorized should be the audience member’s card. Avoid spreading the cards quickly and sloppily. You might accidentally ruin the reference card’s position, throwing off the entire trick. You can use your fingers to sort through them, but try not to stop and stare at each card. This might clue in the audience members to what you have actually done.
Make the audience think you knew exactly which card they were going to pick before they did. This will make it seem like you have psychic prediction powers when really you just have a really solid memory.
Do this part of the trick out of sight of the audience. It will be more convincing if you pull the cards straight out of your pocket and go directly into the demonstration.
For the best effect, make sure the handkerchief is as opaque (non see-through) as possible. Using a handkerchief is a means of distraction. People will assume that the trick is based on visual cues and will dismiss the possibility of you having memorized the card prior.
Try to do this as stealthily and quickly as possible. Make placing the handkerchief and flipping the cards one fluid motion so that people only see what is happening on the surface.
Ask the audience member to only cut the deck in half, not shuffle it. Turning the cards face-up makes the bottom half of the deck become the top. This is important because when you ask the volunteer to cut the deck in half, they will mistakenly believe they are removing the top half when actually it is the bottom.
Only remove the top half of the deck. Leave the handkerchief over the bottom half of the deck, which will still be face-up. Wave the hand that will be holding the handkerchief. Try to use fancy gestures to distract the audience from your other hand, which will be turning the cards over.
This is secretly still the top card of the deck, but the audience will think it came from the middle.
Chances are people will want to inspect the other half of the cards after the trick is done. Give them no reason to question whether or not you flipped them under the handkerchief.
Turn the deck over and count seven cards. Place the final two eights in the eighth and ninth positions. Turn the deck back over. Now you’re ready to go.
Fan through the deck once or twice while talking to the audience, then restack the deck. Start fanning cards from one hand the the other, secretly counting to ten. Don’t look at the cards — look at the audience and keep talking. When you get to the tenth card, place your index finger underneath and continue fanning out the deck. Pull out the tenth card (one of the eights) and place it face down on the table. Tell them this is your prediction card.
Then, tell the audience that the eight indicates how many cards you should take from the deck on the right
Make sure the audience is following. Count out loud “One, two, three, …” as you create the new pile. Remind them that you now have three piles and that one eight is visible.
Then, turn over the pile in your hand and reveal another eight. Place it on the table with the other two. Finally, after building up a bit of anticipation, dramatically flip over your prediction card (which has been on the table face down this whole time). Or, have a spectator make the flip. Expect to see some priceless reactions; this trick fools a lot of people!
