THE

SOLUTION
THE EASIEST, FASTEST, MOST EFFICIENT
MEMORIZED DECK EVER.

ATLAS BROOKINGS
&
RAVEN GAIRLOCH
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

CONTENTS
A Quick Hello From Raven Gairloch................. 3
Welcome to The Solution ----------------------------------------------------------- 7
S h o rtc u ts ............................................. 39
Bypassing The Number Line-------------------------------------------------------4 0
Number To Card S h o rtc u t--------------------------------------------------------- 43
Card to Number S h o rtc u t--------------------------------------------------------- 46
Final Thoughts--------------------------------------------------------------------------49
Simple Peek and Reveal---------------- 50
The Blackpool ACAAN............................................................................. 61
Beating the Spread ------------------------------------------------------- 69
DareDevil----------------------------------------------------------------- -7 6
Dead Cut C o u n t------------------------------------------------------------- 79
Equilibrium ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 88
The 7-Eleven R u n ------------------------------------------------ -9 3
Go Figure........ ............. 107
Appendix: The Solution Deck Order- - ------------ 116

Copyright © 2015 Atlas Brookings.

All Rights Reserved.
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

A QUICK HELLO FROM

RAVEN GAIRLOCH:
Hi there [insert your name], thank you for purchasing The Solution.
I know you weren’t expecting this book to start with a little dual reality,
but if you read that sentence aloud to your friend, they've freaked out
and think you've got a personalized book - they will be well and truly
jealous!

As you probably already know Atlas and his work, I thought I’d take a
moment and introduce myself.

My name is Raven Gairloch, one half of the creation of the Solution deck.

Before you ask, no that’s not my real name, my parents weren’t crazy
enough to give me a silly name like that... But there is a rather funny
story behind why I’ve called myself this. If you bump into me, ask me
why - I’ll happily share the details.

It’s not rocket science to figure out who I am, but I think mystery is
underused m magic these days, so go figure. For a number of reasons.
I’ve decided to refer to myself as Raven and will publish this and any
future projects under this pseudonym. Call it arrogance, I dare you!
Apart from Atlas, I have an incredibly good looking, ingenious, doctor
hypnotist friend who will hypnotize you and you’ll spend the rest of your
days under the belief that you’re a six-year-old girl. I’d even have jean
braid your hair [Bonus points if you spotted the quote].

Okay, we may have gotten off to the wrong start here - Hi, my name’s
Raven Gairloch. Nice to meet you and thank you for buying this book!

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TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

I am very pleased that you have chosen to do so.

So why does this book exist?

Atlas and I meet regularly since he moved to the UK a few years ago. One
evening, I sat down and told him I wanted to be able to know the order of
an entire deck. At the time I was working on an effect and it required me
to know the position of every card in the deck, and, beyond that, be able
to recall It at lightning speed. Due to my highly demanding degree at the
time, I also wanted something which was easy to remember - something
that If I hadn't used for a few weeks would still allow me to use It with the
certainty that the card or position I was recalling was correct.

I’d researched some other decks but they didn’t appeal to me and had
far too many useless features built In which adversely effected their
order, effectively Increasing the difficulty of memorization.

Either that or it didn’t look mixed - many options either offered a

blatantly repeating pattern or were In numerical order, meaning that you
couldn’t display the deck freely or hand It out to someone to take home
without knowing that they would smell a rat the second they looked over
the deck.

That evening we came up with something that would become the

backbone of The Solution. Since Its creation, I have used It constantly
and all of my decks In my house now sit In this order so I can pick them
up any time I wish and go ahead and use It. This Is how much I value
this system. I have taught It to friends In minutes and I have used It In
front of them without them detecting that this was the method behind
the effect. We’ve even posted pictures of the deck online - which is how
confident we are that people can’t see through what essentially is a very
easy system.

This deck was created by Atlas and I and has undergone several

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TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

iterations until we found the most optimal, the one which was easiest to
remember and most functional.

It is easy to follow and easy to learn and great fun to use. Please don't
simply skip to the "Assembling the Deck” section of the book. Take the
time to read the in depth explanation, as reading through our thinking
as we created the deck will help you tremendously when it comes to
memorizing it and utilizing it in the near future.

I will say my writing style is very different from that of Atlas's, so you'll
know which chapters I have written and which he has and not only
because of our uses of the ENGLISH language, his writing is very dry and
employs none of this colour or humour. One thing I will say is that neither
of us IS an 'arm chair' mentalist. We are both full time performers and
this deck has been used in our repertoires, worked through the kinks and
thoroughly road-tested.

What we are sharing here are just a few of the uses we have found for
the Solution. Road tested, beaten and rebuilt.

Use them with confidence.

However, the routine that started this journey is not in these pages,
that is yet to come and it will floor Atlas when he sees it and doesn't
even realize it's the Solution. I'm kind of hoping he won't read the
introduction... though I imagine he has and has also heavily edited my
rants from above. ATLAS NOTE: I sure have - whole PARAGRAPHS are
missing!!

I hope you enjoy the book, the principle, the effects and ultimately
enjoy using it. We thought about making this as a DVD, but there is just
something lovely about holding a book in your hands, you can refer back
to it more readily and it will look stunning on the bookshelf...hopefully...

5
THE SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

>Cough<

>Cough<

.. Phill Smith, I have all kinds of faith in you.

Good luck.

RG

6
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

WELCOME TO THE
SOLUTION
There are some pretty cool things that you can do with a memorized
deck. The only trouble is that you have to memorize 52 cards in 52
positions. Not only can that prove challenging, but it is incredibly time
consuming and requires constant work to move that information from
your short term to your long term memory.

Understandably, not many people make the effort.

But what if you could memorize the position of every card in a deck in a
matter of minutes - And then recall that deck order for the rest of your
life?

Well, you can.

How IS this possible? Why does this work?

As with most things, the answer lies in a story:

When I was a kid, my brothers would make up codes and then try to
get me to crack them. Whenever these codes were slipped under my
door, I always imagined that they contained some incredible piece of
information. Something so unbelievably secret that it must be protected
at all costs.

Feverishly, I'd work to decode these cryptic messages - dropping

everything to piece together the contents of these puzzles.

When, at last, the truth of the message was laid bare to me. I'd be hugely
disappointed.

7
THE SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

Inevitably, they were slanderous insults, or revealed that my worst

nightmares had been realized, or, as this example illustrates, both:

"Atlas is a smelly fat face and while he was doing this, I read at least
three of his comic books and have drawn a moustache on one of the
super villains. Good luck finding which!”

Over the years, I got to be pretty quick at solving these codes whenever
they appeared. Of course, I could have just suspiciously followed my
brothers around whenever these messages were delivered, but it was a
point of pride for me to solve them quickly. This allowed me both to foil
whatever dastardly plot was afoot and flaunt my mental superiority -
bragging rights that were highly desirable in our home.

As a result, I became damn near insufferable - constantly referring to

my brothers as plebs and phillistines made me fairly unpopular. But - I
laughed - I was only submitting the findings suggested by the data.

It was then that they did the unthinkable: they set aside their personal
differences and teamed up to teach me a lesson. Two formidable minds
pitted against my own.

They made up a code which relied not on precedents, but on principles.

I never solved it.

It was the single most unfathomable thing I've ever run into.

It was comprised of symbols. There were no letters used at all - it looked

like old cuneiform writing. But what was most frustrating was that no
symbol was ever repeated. EVER.

That made cracking the code impossible.

8
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

Despite being highly conversant with the English language, and despite
knowing statistically how often certain letters appeared in a grouping
of words, I was stumped because I didn't know upon what principle this
code worked. To my trained eye, everything was random.

Humbled by their sinister alliance, I surrendered and they eventually

taught me how it worked.

And It was ridiculously simple to understand because all the rules

were simple. It could be read in seconds, without even taking the time
to translate. The rules were what mattered and made sense of all this
gibberish.

Flash forward about twenty years and imagine that I’m now sat in a pub
with a friend of mine named Raven. We are chatting back and forth and
he suddenly tells me that he wants to memorize a deck.

I've never toyed with a memorized deck before, and I ask him if he'd
rather not just use a stack. He doesn't. He wants to have someone name
a number between 1 and 52 and then be able to tell them the card, or
vice versa.

So, yeah - he’ll need to use a memorized deck.

I casually ask him what he is going to do and he shrugs.

"I’ll shuffle a deck up and memorize it."

I’m sure I tutted.

"There has to be a better way," I began. I’d remembered the code that
my brothers made up and the lesson I’d learned - that principles make
things easy to remember. Maybe there was a set of rules that could be
employed to make a deck look random while acting as an invisible hand

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TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

of order.

So I made a suggestion, and soon the table was covered In playing cards
as Raven and I puzzled over the problem. In an hour, we had everything
figured out. All our rules were set out. Things made sense.

We had also, inadvertently, memorized a deck of cards!

To ensure that you understand this system thoroughly, I will walk you
through the process we took in creating The Solution.

We first decided to take advantage of the fact that every playing card
has a value, ranging from one [Ace] to thirteen (King). We also had four
suits to deal with:

^ ♦

As we looked at these suits, we noticed that Spades had a single point

at the top. Hearts had two curves at the top. Clubs had three curves
and Diamonds had four points. We accordingly [and apparently Richard
Osterlind, Marcelo Insua, and Michael Weber did this as well before we
noticed It] valued the suits as follows:

Spades =1
Hearts =2
Clubs =3
Diamonds = 4

We now had numerical values for the cards and for the suits.

What to do with them?

Well, we had numbers, and so math seemed like a pretty good idea in
this situation.

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TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

When looking at the numbers available to us, we recognized that by

taking a value and multiplying it with a suit, we could only arrive at
numbers between 1 and 52. This seemed really convenient, as there are
only 52 cards in a deck and. as we moved forward, we postulated that
tins could be a very quick way to determine what place a card ought to
take in a memorized deck.

Consider it: The Ace of Spades, as an equation, is 1 (the card value of an

Ace] X 1 [the suit value of Spades] = 1 and is therefore the first card in
t he deck.

Conversely, the King of Diamonds, represents the highest value both of

card type and suit. The King translates to 13 and Diamonds translates to
4. Each IS the highest value of its type and 13 x 4 = 52.

This seemed to be a fairly logical way to move forward, and we assigned

the King of Diamonds as the 52nd card in the deck. We then tested this
idea with other playing cards. It worked pretty well.

For instance, the Seven of Diamonds could be viewed now as an

equation: 7 [card value] x 4 [suit value of Diamonds] = 28. The Seven of
Diamonds slots in perfectly as the 28th card in this deck.

The Nine of Clubs, read as an equation, could be viewed as 9 x 3 = 27 and

s the 27th card in the deck.

The lack of Hearts, taken as an equation, is 11 x 2 = 22 and is the 22nd

card of the deck.

The King of Clubs, taken as an equation, is 13 x 3 = 39 and is. rather

unsurprisingly, the 39th card in the deck.

As we played with this idea, we realized that anyone who knew basic
math could have a memorized deck to hand at a moment's notice. We

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THE SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

had the foundations for a rule based system where the rules operated
on something that everyone had already learned in school - their times
tables.

As we grabbed a pack of cards and began to determine the numerical

value of each playing card we ran into (see the table below), it became
apparent that there were a few hiccups in this approach, and we were
subsequently forced to rethink how we could proceed.

The trouble was that it soon became dear that some cards brought us
to the same number.

Let's look at the number 12, for instance.

Using the principles we'd outlined, we could get 12 from the Three of
Diamonds [card value of 3 x suit value of 4), the Four of Clubs [card value
of 4 X suit value of 3], the Six of Hearts (card value of 6 x suit value of 2],
or the Queen of Spades [card value of 12 x suit value of 1).

This didn’t just hold true for the number 12 - there were several numbers
where this potential conflict existed.

Let's look at the math (genuinely, please look at the math and take the
time to convert the images into numbers in your mind, matching them
against the equations in the table below - each time given in the format
of card value x suit value):

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TH E SOLUTION ;; ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

1. A * (1 x 1 ) 27. 9 * (9 x 3 )

2 A » , 2* (1 x 2 , 2 x 1 ) 28. 7 « (7 x 4 )

3. A * , 3* (1 x 3 , 3 x 1 ) 29. -

4. A . , 2 ¥ , 4* (1 x 4 , 2 x 2 , 4 x 1 ) 30. 1 0 « (1 0 x 3 )

5. 5¥ (5 x 1 ) 31. -

6. 2 * , 3 * , 6* (2 x 3 , 3 x 2 , 6 x 1 ) 32. 8» (8 x 4 )

7. 7* (7 x 1 ) 33. J<»(11x3)

8. 2«, 4 » , 8 * (2 x 4 , 4 x 2 , 8 x 1 ) 34. -

9. 3 « , 9* (3 x 3 , 9 x 1 ) 35. -

10. 5 » , 1 0 * (5 x 2 , 1 0x 1 ) 36. 9>, Q « (9 x 4 , 1 2 x 3 )

11. J * (1 1 x 1 ) 37. -

12. 3«, 4 « , 6 » , (3 x 4 ,4 x 3 ,6 x 2 ,1 2 x 1 ) 38. -

13. K * (1 3 x 1 ) 39. K « (1 3 x 3 )

14. 7 » (7 x 2 ) 40. 1 0 * (1 0 x 4 )

15. 5 « (5 x 3 ) 41. -

16. 4 », 8 * (4 x 4 , 8 x 2 ) 42. -

17. - 43. -

18. 6 « , 9 * (6 x 3 , 9 x 2 ) 44. J« (1 1 x 4 )

19. - 45. -

20. 5», 1 0 » ( 5 x 4 , 1 0x 2 ) 46. -

21. 7 * (7 x 3 ) 47. -

22. J ¥ (1 1 x 2 ) 48. Q « (1 2 x 4 )

23. - 49. -

24. 6 i , 8 * , Q v (6 x 4 , 8 x 3 , 1 2 x 2 ) 50. -

25. - 51. -

26. K¥ (13 x2) 52. K » (1 3 x 4 )

As you can see, a lot of numbers have only one option. But a lot have
more than one option - which is good, as many have none.

13
THE SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

CARD PRIME NUMBERS

The above blank spaces are what, I suppose, we’d call 'Card Prime
Numbers' - meaning that while in standard mathematics they would
normally have factorials [or numbers that multiply together to create
them], when you put a limit on the available factorials, these numbers
can't be made.

For instance - the number 42 is a Card Prime Number, as its real world
factorials are:

1x42
2x21
3x14
6x7
7x6
14x3
21 X 2
42x1

The reason that this is a Card Prime Number is because, if we stick

to the card value x suit value format, only the bottom three factorials
listed above - 14x3, 21x2, 42x1 - could translate over to our system of
assigning a numerical value to a suit. Translated to playing cards, we
would have the 14 of Clubs (14 x 3], the 21 of Hearts (21 x 2), and the 42
of Spades [42 x 1). Sadly, none of these cards exist and so nothing in our
deck could make the number 42 using the system outlined above.

In order to make this work, we’d clearly need to employ a few more
principles to be able to fill up these Card Prime Number slots.

So we looked at things again.

It didn’t take us long to realize that our options looked pretty good up to

14
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

The number 26, which is half the deck. In this run of cards, we only run
into four actual empty Card Prime number slots - 17,19, 23, and 25.

After some discussion about the math and the remaining numbers
available, we decided to break the deck into four tiers, three of which
would require an ‘adjustment’.

The first and largest tier would run from the 1st card to the 25th. This
I i(>r would be the base tier and require no adjustments whatsoever. This
means that 50% of the time you use this deck, things are completely
straight forward.

The second tier would run from the 27th card to the 39th and - where no
card option was available - we would need to make a quick mathematical
adjustment to fill that slot. This allows us to use up some of the options
in the first tier where more than one factorial of a certain number was
available. We'll explain this process in more detail in a moment.

The third tier would run from the 40th card to the 49th and, again, would
allow for adjustments.

The fourth tier would run from the 50th card to the 52nd and, as before,
would allow for adjustments,

I h(‘se tiers are nice and easy to remember. Think about it:

I h(^ first tier is half the deck (1 - 26), the second tier takes you to 40, the
I bird tier takes you to 50 and the fourth tier rounds off the deck.

Now, we’ve mentioned making a mathematical adjustment a few times

now That sounds daunting, doesn’t it?

Don't worry! It is really very simple.

15
TH E SOLUTION ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

Possibly the best way to explain a tier adjustment is to use an example.

For many readers this will be remedial, but it is a nice visual way to
explain the thought process behind what we are doing.

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TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

THE NUMBER LIN E

Pictured below is a number line.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
t illustrates a line on which you could imagine yourself counting from
zero to ten. Each vertical mark on the number line represents a whole
number and the numbers move from left to right in ascending value.

Lot's pretend we wanted to determine what cards could form the

number 8.

Using the number line for visualization, we can do this by simply moving
from left to right, identifying the numbers that could multiply with
another number to make the number 8.

0 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
X X X X
4 2 1
8

You can see from the above that as we move to the right off of the
number 0 over to the number 1, that there is an 8 below the number 1.

This IS because 1 x 8 = 8.

We move to the right again to the number 2. There is a 4 below the 2

17
THE SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

because 2 x 4 = 8.

There is no number below 3 because there is no whole number which

multiplies by 3 to make 8.

But as we move right again to the number 4, there is a 2 below the

number 4 because 4 x 2 = 8. As we move on toward the number 8, no
other possible factorials appear until we reach the number 8 itself, and
identify that as 8 x 1 = 8.

All the numbers past 8 won’t work as they are already larger than our
target number.

This IS all very simple math and is really just another way of visually
depicting what you were doing when you looked through the table of
playing cards outlined above.

In fact, we can turn the information on the above number line into
playing cards pretty easily!

If we imagine the numbers on the number line itself as being equal to

the value of our cards, we can then continue on and assign suit values
for the numbers below them.

As we examine the picture of the number line below, the first and most
obvious thing that stands out is that the number 8 is too high to be a
suit. It represents the latter half of the equation 1 x 8, and we cannot
have an Ace of Eights. So we put a line through it.

The next equation has a happier result. This equation is 2 x 4 and can
indeed translate into the Two of Diamonds. Again, Diamonds has a suit
value of 4 and we are simply substituting the number 4 m this equation
for a Diamond.

18
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

The next equation also works. This equation is 4 x 2, which we translate

to mean the Four of Hearts. Again, this is because Hearts has a suit value
of 2 and we are once more simply substituting the number 2 for a Heart.

By now, I hope it is apparent that our final option for making the number
8 is the Eight of Spades.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
X X X
♦
*

K
Visualizing the number line in this manner allows us to quickly determine
what playing cards could be assigned for any number between 1 and
52 in the deck. Right now, we are working with the number 8, but the
process we’ve employed holds true regardless of the number used.

Now remember, the reason we looked at the number lines above is that
they visually display a pattern of thought that we will employ when
considering the tier portion of this system. We have found three cards
that make the number eight. Reading from left to right on the number
line, they are the Two of Diamonds, the Four of Hearts, and the Eight of
Spades.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

In fact, whenever we consider our playing card options, we will always be

reading them from left to right on the number line.

So, when we try to determine the card that will be the eighth card in
the deck, we do as we did above, and determine what cards create the
number eight.

Now, because the eighth card in the deck falls into the first tier [cards
numbered 1through 26], we assign to the number 8 the first card we run
into reading from left to right: The Two of Diamonds.

If the first tier card is the first one we find reading from left to right, then
it follows that the second one we find will be the second tier card, and
the third will be the third tier card, and so on and so forth.

2 :5 4 5 (i 7 8 <H 10
♦ V 4

1ST 2ND 3RD

TIER TIER TIER
•i'

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TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

TIER ADJUSTMENTS
Before you read what follows, let me give you a word of warning -
this may seem like it is too much to do quickly. Do not worry. There
are shortcuts and you will see that it is incredibly simple. But prior to
learning the shortcuts, there is demonstrable value in seeing the system
at work and understanding the logic behind how it was created and so
we will take you through its 'longhand' foundation first. The better you
understand how this system works, the simpler and quicker it will be to
memorize.

As I mentioned above, looking at the system as it started out, there were

a lot of blank spaces [the result of Card Prime Numbers], so we needed
a few more rules - one to deal with how to assign cards a tier value [and
we’ve just covered this], and another to deal with how to assign their
place in the deck.

When we recognized the problem, the solution was obvious: Whenever

possible, the first tier card should be used regardless of its numerical
position in the deck. The second tier would use the second tier cards
where necessary to fill in empty slots, the third tier would use the third
tier cards where necessary, and so on.

So what does this really mean in practice? Simply that first tier cards are
not limited to being placed in the numbers 1 through 26 [the first tier of
the deck]. They can go anywhere in the deck - any number between 1
and 52.

For instance, while the Seven of Spades - a first tier card - slots in as the
seventh card in the deck [7x1 = 7], the Jack of Clubs [11 x 3 = 33] should
also reside as the 33rd, despite the fact that the first tier ends at 26.

First tier cards will always take their number value in the deck, regardless
of whether that is past the 26th card or not - a first tier card like the Jack

21
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

of Diamonds [11 x 4 = 44] is the 44th card, a first tier card like the King
of Clubs [13 X 3 = 39] is the 39th card, etc.

In fact, past the 26th card In the deck, there is only one position in which
a first tier card would conflict with another card - and will, as a result of
the above rule. Trump' that card:

The Nine of Diamonds [ 9 x 4 = 36] and the Queen of Clubs [12 x 3 = 36]
both make 36. On the number line, the Nine of Diamonds is the first tier
card. Therefore, it will take the 36th slot in the deck.

To be clear, first tier cards will always take their number value In the
deck, regardless of whether that is past the 26th card or not.

Now, when first tier cards are not available, we need to find a way to
determine what card ought to fill any empty slot you encounter. In these
cases, the rule is that empty spaces (left by Card Prime Numbers] in the
second tier will be filled by second tier cards where necessary, the third
tier will use the third tier cards where necessary, and so on.

How does this come about? Well, we will need to make a simple
adjustment at each tier level. ^

After crunching the numbers, we determined that we could eliminate

the most cards by making adjustments as follows:
I

If a card position was unoccupied [at a Card Prime Number] in the

second tier - remember, this is for cards 27 through 39 - we’d subtract
27 from that number and assign the second tier factorial for the resulting
number.

Let's consider an example. The number 35 is Playing Card Prime. But it

lies in the second tier of the deck, between 27 and 39. As it is Playing Card
Prime, we’ll need to make a tier adjustment. We do this by subtracting

22
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

27 (our second tier adjustment value] from 35 (our Playing Card Prime
number).

So, 3 5 - 2 7 = 8.

There is no card w/hose suit and value can be used to create the number
35, but there is one that will work for the number eight!

We know from the above number line that the second factorial (the
second tier card] from left to right for the number 8 is the Four of Hearts,
and that card does indeed slot in as the 35th card in the deck.

That is how a tier adjustment works - When you don't have a card whose
suit and value can create the number you are looking at, you make an
adjustment for your tier level and try again with the new number.

Let's consider the other tiers.

If a card position was unoccupied (at a Card Prime Number] in the third
tier - remember, this is for cards 40 through 49 - we'd subtract 37 from
that number and assign the third tier factorial for the resulting number.

To take another example, the number 45 is Playing Card Prime, and as it

IS in the third tier, we would make the third tier adjustment by subtracting
37.

23
TH E SOLUTION ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

This equation, 45 - 37, would again leave us with the number 8, and
so we could now assign the third tier card for the number 8 from the
number line above - the Eight of Spades.

If a card position was unoccupied (at a Card Prime Number] in the fourth
tier - remember, this is for cards 50 through 52 - we’d subtract 47 from
that number and assign the fourth tier factorial for the resulting number.

Again, these adjustments are simple to remember - for the second tier
adjustment, you'll subtract 27 (the number at which the second tier
starts] and you increase the adjustment amount subtracted by ten for
each subsequent tier.

Another way to remember this is to recall the number 7 (easy enough]

and simply whack the tier you are on in front of it;

2'<“TIER (2) 7

3 ^ ° T I E R ^ [3) 7

[4) 7

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TH E SOLUTION ;; ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

A visual depiction of the tiers and their associated adjustments is offered

below;
F I R S T T I E R (N O A D J U S T M E N T ) SEC O N D T IE R ( - 2 7 )

1. 27. 9«

2. Av, 2* 28. 7*

3. A « , 3« 29. -

4. A » , 2 'f , 4 * 30. 10«

5. 5« 31. -

6. 2 * , 3V, 6 * 32. 8«

7. 7« 33. J*
8. 2», 4 v , 8 * 34. -

9. 3«, 35. -

10. 5», 10* 36. 9«, Q *

11. 37. -

12. 3», 4 * . 6 r , Q * 38. -

13. K« 39. K*
14. 7» T H IR D T I E R ( - 3 7 )

15. 5^ 40. 10*

16. 4», 8v 41. -

17. - 42. -

18. 6 * , 9» 43. -

19. - 44. J*

20. 5 i, 10V 45. -

21. 7* 46. -

22. 47. -

23. - 48. Q*
24. 6», 8 » , Q v 49. -
25. - FO U RTH T I E R ( - 4 7 )

26. 50. -
51. -

52. K*

25
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

Now, to be honest, all this subtraction kind of sounds like a lot of hassle,
doesn't It?

Don't worry - we're only going through It so that you understand how we
came up with this system, as a full understanding of what is happening
really helps to aid in quick memorization of the deck. But, to be honest,
it really is enough for you to know how the number line factorials work
and extrapolate from there.

In point of fact, so long as you are not considering a rogue card (more
on this in a moment], knowing whether a card is first tier, second tier, or
third tier will - in all but two cases - give you its position in the deck. For
instance, with the playing cards for the number eight, you could equally
have gone through and thought:

The Two of Diamonds is the first tier card worth 8 and so appears as the
eighth card in the deck.

The Four of Hearts is the second tier card worth 8 and so 8 + 27 (the
second tier adjustment value) = 35, it is the 35th card in the deck.

The Eight of Spades is the third tier card worth 8 and so 8 + 37 (the third
tier adjustment value) = 45, it is the 45th card in the deck.

When we actually make the adjustments and begin to assign out the
extra factorials for each card, our deck really begins to take shape.

26
THE SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

1 I R S T T I E R (N O A D J U S T M E N T ) SEC O N D T IE R ( - 2 7 )

1. 27. 9*

2. A¥ 28. 7*

3. 29. 2*

4 A» 30. 10*

5, 5* 31. 2¥

b. 2+ . 3¥ 32. 84
7. 7* 33. J«

8 2* 34. -

9, 3«, 35. 4¥

10. 5¥ 36. 94, Q *

11. J* 37. 104
12. 3», 4 * , X , Q « 38. -

13. K« 39. K*

14. 7¥ T H IR D T I E R ( - 3 7 )

15. 5^ 40. 104

lb . 4», 8¥ 41. 44
17. - 42. -

18. 6 * . 9¥ 43. 64
19. - 44. J4

20. 5*. 10¥ 45. 84

21. 7* ' 46. 94

22. J¥ 47. -

23. - 48. Q4

24. 64, 8 * , Q¥ I 49. 6¥

25. - FO U RTH T I E R ( - 4 7 )

26. K¥ 50. 34
51. -

52. K4

As you study the above, you'll note that there are two instances in the

27
TH E SOLUTION ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

third tier where a second tier card was available for use before the third
tier card option, in keeping with the rules, we have skipped over these
options and have used the third tier card in each case - cards used
should always match their tiers.

There are only two exceptions to the above rule (don't worry about
memorizing this] and that is for the numbers 3 and 9, as each number
only has two factorials [card options].

The number 3 can be made by the Ace of Clubs or the Three of Spades,
and so the second tier card will slot in wherever it can first be applied.

The same is true of the number nine, it can only be made by two cards -
the Three of Clubs and the Nine of Spades. As with the number three, the
second tier card will slot in wherever it can first be applied.

28
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

ROGUE CARDS
Scanning the above table, you'll note that there are still nine vacant spots
in our deck \where a card has not nicely slotted into the system. There
are also nine cards that \«ere not assigned when the tier adjustments
took place.

These are the

3v, 4*, 8y, 8*. Q *, Qr, Q4, 10v , 9v

These are our 'Rogue' cards.

Why do they exist?

Well, in each case they have conflict of some sorts.

Let's consider the Three of Hearts, for instance:

The Three of Hearts [3 x 2 <• 6) makes the number 6, and when we

consider the cards on the number line that are capable of making six,
we see that the Three of Hearts is the second tier card for that number:

2 3 4 f> 6
¥ 4

1ST 2ND 3RD

TIER TIER TIER

Because it is the second tier card, we can make a second tier adjustment
for it [6 + 27 = 33] and determine that it could slot in as the 33rd card

29
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

of the deck. ■

However, when we double check whether it fits or not, we find that we

already have a card in that spot - and it is a first tier card: The Jack of
Clubs.

How do we know this? It is very simple.

In order to determine if another card ought to already occupy the

number we are looking at, we simply divide that number by 4, and then
3, and then 2 and then 1 - or the value of our suits in descending order.
If we have not found an answer that fits then we know that our number
is Card Prime and we can safely proceed by assigning the card identified
by making a tier adjustment.

For example, we know we could assign the Three of Hearts to the

number 33 if it is not already occupied by a first tier card. So, to double
check that a card has not already been assigned to the number 33, we
divide 33 by four:

33 + 4 s No answer

Because there was no whole number answer, we now divide 33 by three:

33 + 3 = 11

We know that 11 is equal to Jack and three is equal to Clubs, and so we

know that the Jack of Clubs is already in that space. We have found the
first tier card for the position and don’t need to check any further for
cards.

And because a first tier card is in that position, the Three of Hearts
cannot take its place.

30
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

Let's look at another Rogue Card. The Four of Clubs [ 4 x 3 = 12] makes
the number 12, and when we consider the cards on the number line that
are capable of making 12, we see that the Four of Clubs is the second tier
card for that number:

3 4 f> 6
♦ V

1ST 2ND 3RD

TIER TIER TIER

Because it is the second tier card, we can make a second tier adjustment
for it [12 + 21 = 39] and determine that it could slot in as the 39th. card
of the deck.

We must first determine, however, that the 39th position is not already
occupied by a first tier card. So, to double check that a card has not
already been assigned to the number 39, we divide 39 by four:

39 + 4 = No answer

Because there was no whole number answer, we now divide 39 by three:

39 + 3 = 13

We know that 13 is equal to King and three is equal to Clubs, and so we

know that the King of Clubs is already in that space. We have found the
first tier card for the position and don't need to check any further for
cards.

Moreover, as a first tier card has already been assigned to that position.

31
THE SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

we cannot replace it with the Four of Clubs.

Each of our nine Rogue cards does not fit the system for one reason or
another. For instance, the Eight of Hearts [ 8x2 = 16] makes 16, and is the
second tier card for that number. A second tier adjustment [16 + 27 = 43]
brings us to 43 - out of the second tier and into the third tier, as cards
between 40 and 49 are in the third tier. We cannot therefore assign a
second tier card to the third tier. Many of the other Rogue Cards run into
this conflict.

The fact is that for one reason or another, we are left with nine Rogue
Cards to fill nine slots.

Once again, these are the

3y, 4«, 8y, 8«, Q^, Qv, Q«, 10v, 9y

These cards need to be slotted into one of the following card positions:

17
19
23
25
34
38
42
47
51

What is interesting is that each of these numbers is actually pretty easy

to remember. The first three numbers [17,19, 23] are good old standard,
run of the mill prime numbers. The next [25] is mathematically relevant
in lots of ways. The next three [34, 38, 42] are four apart and the first of
them is a number whose digits are next to each other on the number

32
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

line - three, four. The last number [51) is the penultimate card in a deck,
and is therefore easy to remember. Only 47 is tricky to remember.

At this stage, we have identified the Rogue Cards and the numbers of
the deck that have yet to have a card assigned to them.

These Rogue Cards will need to be assigned to a position in the deck

and memorized. We have assigned them in a manner which we believe
is incredibly easy to memorize, but if you wish, you can assign them in
any way that you choose.

This is what we decided:

17. 3»
19. 4^
23. 8v
25. 8«
34. Q*
38. Q»
42. Q*

47. lOr

51. 9»

The reason for the above assignments are as follows - and you can keep
or abandon this approach as you please.

The card at number 17 is a card that is frequently named by people. It

is psychologically pleasing. In addition to this, it is at the seventeenth
position because that is also - as Peter Turner points out - a number
that is frequently named when you ask for a number. You therefore have
the potential for a nice ACAAN here.

At the next prime position, you have a Four of Clubs, its value [four] is the

33
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

next value up from the Three of Hearts, but the suit is the opposite color
and direction on the CHaSeD scale.

At 23 and 25, you have two Eights, the first a Heart and the second a
Club - following the suit order of the 17th and 19th cards.

At the point when the numbers jump by four each (34, 38, and 42], we’ve
put the Queens - starting with Clubs and in CHaSeD order).

The Ten of Hearts makes sense in the 47th position, as when you subtract
37 as per the Third Tier procedure, you are left with ten - and while the
value of the Ten of Hearts is 20, the base value is ten.

And finally, the 51st card. - The Nine of Hearts. No rhyme or reason to it.
We just had one left over.

34
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

The deck now looks like this;

FIRST T IE R (No Adjustment) SECOND T I E R ( - 2 7 ) ________ 1
1. A* 27. 94
2. AV 28. 7*

3. A* 29. 2*

4. A# 30. 104
5. 5« 31. 24
6. 2* 32. 8*
7. 7* 33. J4

8. 2* 34. Q4
9. 3« 35. 44
10. 5v 36. 9*

11. J* 37. 104

12. 3* 38. Q4

13. K* 39. K4

14. 7 ’* THIRD TIER ( - 3 7 )

15. 5* 40. 104
16. 4* 41. 44
17. 3¥ 42. Q4

18. 64 43. 64
19. 44 44. J4

20. 5* 45. 84
21. 74 46. 94
22. J4 47. 104
23. 8¥ 48. Q4

24. 3* 49. 64
25. 84 FOURTH T I E R ( - 4 7 )
26. K4 50. 34
51. 94
52. K4

Of course, if you are like us, you'll spot a huge problem - the four aces

35
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

are together. Actually, that is pretty easily dealt with by incorporating a

final rule.

For the values of two and four, the first and second tier cards for the
number will be switched.

This ensures that the Aces are broken up, while creating the only
exception to this deck necessary to make it look completely random.

36
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

The final deck now looks like this:

FIR S T H E R (No Adjustment) SECOND T I E R ( - 2 7 )

1. A* 27. 94
2. 2* 28. 7*

3. A* 29. Ar
4. 2» 30. 104
5. 5* 31. A«
6. 2* 32. 8*
7. 7* 33. J4
8. 2* 34. Q4

9. 3* 35. Ay

10. 5V 36. 9*

11. J* 37. 10«

12. 3* 38. Qy

13. K« 39. K4
14. 7y THIRD T IER ( - 3 7 )
15. 5* 40. 10*
16. 4* 41. 4e
17. 3» 42. Qe
18. 64 43. 6*
19. 44 44. J»
20. 5» 45. 8*
21. 74 46. 9*
22. Jy 47. 104
23. By 48. Q*

24. B* 49. 64
25. 84 FOURTH T IE R ( - 4 7 )
26. Ky 50. 3«
51. 94
52. K*

37
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

It is simplicity itself to memorize. Simply learn the rules and memorize

nine cards and positions.

Again, here are the rules;

1. The number value of a card is determined by multiplying the card

value by the suit value.

2. The tier of the card is determined by identifying the factorials on the

number line and reading from left to right.

3. The deck is broken into four tiers (1-26, 27-39, 40-49, and 50-52).

4. The first tier card is assigned in every possible case.

5. Where a number is Card Prime, make a tier adjustment (-27 on

second tier, -37 on third tier, -47 on fourth tier) and assign the card
that matches the tier you are using.

6. Rogue Cards and their associated placement in the deck must be

memorized.

7. The first two tiers for cards that make the number values of two and
four must be switched.

38
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

SHORTCUTS
So there you have it! You’ve now seen the ins and outs of the system in
its entirety and understand the logic and reasoning used to create the
deck.

The deck is functional and looks thoroughly mixed. But to be honest,

the whole number line aspect of this system is a bit of a pain. We want
something that is quick and simple to work out. That was part of the
whole appeal of multiplying card values in the first place - It is nice to
think “The King of Clubs is 13 times three, and so must be the 39th card
of the deck."

But don’t despair! You were promised shortcuts, and shortcuts are
forthcoming. In fact, you’ll see that they speed up the process quite a bit.

But before I outline these shortcuts, let me point something out to you:
To tell you the truth, after making up the deck about four times, I had the
whole thing memorized. This is because the rules of the system make
this deck incredibly easy to learn, and the rules themselves become
somewhat subsidiary to the memorization, only referred to when you
haven’t used the deck in a while and might find yourself a trifle rusty
with it and wishing to verify a card or position.

Please don’t forget that the aim here is to memorize the deck and you’ll
find that while you can rely on the rules of the system when necessary,
your overall goal is to know the deck thoroughly.

Right! Now, on to the shortcuts!

39
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

BYPASSING THE
NUMBER LINE
I mentioned before that the whole number line thing was a bit
cumbersome. Don’t worry, we can speed it up significantly.

How?

Easy. Instead of multiplying, we’ll divide.

Think about it: If we only have four suits by which to multiply then, when
we reverse the process, we only have four values by which we can divide.

By limiting ourselves in this way, we arrive at answers far more quickly.

Make sense?

No?

Right! Let’s look at an example. „

Imagine that we are trying to make the number 16.

If we used the number line, we’d begin by multiplying 1 and 16, then
moving right on the number line and multiplying 2 and 8, moving right
once more and finding that 3 has no multiple with which to make 16, and
carrying on thusly. We will have to consider 16 numbers overall before
we are finally done with the number line.

Even worse, when we look at numbers like 45 or 52, we will have to

consider even more potential multiples before we can leave the number
line.

40
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

That's not particularly efficient - especially when we consider that

because we only have four suits, only four possible combinations of
multiples can work for our system.

So how can we speed this up?

Simple - We divide.

When we consider the number 16, we can find the playing cards that
create that number by dividing (and the order here is important) first by
four, then three, then two, then one.

16 + 4 (Diamonds) ■ 4 (of Diamonds)

16 + 3 (Clubs) “ No Answer

16 + 2 (Hearts) ■ 8 (of Hearts)

16 + 1 (Spades) ■ 16 (Above King value of 13 and therefore too high

to be a card)

That was quick - most certainly a lot faster than using a number line
- and, as you can see, yielded two cards that make the number 16: the
Four of Diamonds and the Eight of Hearts.

What is also important to recognize about the above process is that the
first successful equation you find gives you the first tier card, the second
successful equation gives you the second tier card, and so forth.

The first card we found was the Four of Diamonds, and that is the first
tier card for the number sixteen. The second card we found was the
Eight of Hearts and is the second tier card for the number sixteen.

Let’s look at another example - this time, we'll consider the number nine.

41
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

9 4-4 (Diamonds) « No Answer

9 4-3 (Clubs) « 3 (of Clubs)

9 4-2 (Hearts) ■>No Answer

9 4-1 (Spades) ■ 9 (of Spades)

We can see from the above that the first tier card for the number nine is
the Three of Clubs and the second tier card is the Nine of Spades.

What is less evident, but equally important when considering shortcuts,

is that because we were looking at an odd number [in this case nine),
none of our even denominators [four or two, representing Diamonds and
Hearts respectively] would have worked. Even numbers will only give
you even multiples.

Therefore, when you are considering playing card options for an odd
number, you need only divide by three and one - Clubs and Spades
respectively.

So there we have it! All we need do is divide our target number first by
four, then three, then two, and then one - in that order.

We've eliminated the need for the number line entirely.

In fact, understanding this shortcut makes it a breeze to work out the

correct card to assign to any given number.

Here is a brief overview of the process required to assign a card to a

number in the deck:

42
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

NUMBER TO CARD
SHORTCUT
✓ Consider the number.

✓ It It a memorized number associated with a rogue card? If to,

simply recall the memorized card.

✓ If not, divide first by four, then three, then two, then one. The
first successful equation you arrive at will be the correct card
for that number.

✓ If no equation Is successful, determine the tier value of the

number and make the necessary tier adjustment.

✓ Divide the resultant number first by four, then three, then two,
then one. Assign the choice appropriate to the tier in which
your number lies.

Let’s work through this process once or twice, shall we?

Why don't we begin by looking at the number twenty-five?

According to the list above, the first thing we do is ask ourselves, “Is this
a memorized number associated with a ‘rogue card'?” And you know
what? The number 25 is indeed a memorized number!

We now simply recall the associated 'rogue card’ - the Eight of Clubs.

That was pretty straightforward.

Let's try this again with a different number. How about 36 this time?

43
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

According to the directions above, the first thing to do is to check

whether this is a memorized number - and it isn’t.

So now we divide first by four, then, if necessary, three, then two, then
one.

36 ■»' 4 (Diamonds) - 9 (of Diamonds)

As prescribed above, the first successful equation we find is the correct

card - in this case, the Nine of Diamonds.

Hmm. Again, that was pretty straightforward.

Let's try this again with another number. Why not try 49 this time?

Is it a memorized number? Nope.

So we will proceed by doing our division. But it is an odd number, so we

don’t need to worry about dividing by four or two. That speeds things up
somewhat.

49 + 3 (Clubs) - No Answer

49 + 1 (Spades) “ 49 (Above King value of 13 and therefore too high

to be a card)

Right. We haven’t got an answer that works here for forty-nine. So what
do we do now?

The directions above dictate that we should determine the tier value of
the number and make the necessary tier adjustment. When we consider
the tiers, we can place the number 49 within the third tier, and so we
make our adjustment by subtracting thirty-seven.

44
THE SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

49 - 37 -1 2
We are now advised to divide our resultant number first by four, then
three, then two, then one - looking for the third tier card as we are
dealing with a number which lies within that specific tier.

12 4 (Diamondsl ■ 3 |of DiamondsI

12 3 (Clubs “ 4 [of Clubs]

12 2 (Hearts] ■ 6 (of Hearts]

And we can stop now as we have reached the third successful equation
and have found our third tier card - the Six of Hearts, which we now
assign as the 49th card in the deck.

That was also pretty easy.

In fact, understanding the above makes it a breeze to work out the

correct card to assign to any given number.

Here is a brief overview of the process required to work out which

number any given card in the deck ought to be assigned to:

45
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

CARD TO NUMBER
SHORTCUT
✓ Consider the card.

✓ Is it a ‘rogue card*? If so, simply recall the associated memorized

number.

✓ If not, determine its numerical value by multiplying the value of

the card by the value of the suit.

✓ Determine tier placement by working out other factorials.

✓ Make a tier adjustment as necessary.

Let’s walk through this process a few times.

Why don't we take a look at the Three of Hearts?

The first thing we do is pause to consider if this is a rogue card. In fact,

it is, and we finish by recalling the number associated with it - which in
this case is seventeen.

That was pretty simple indeed!

So let's do this again. This time we'll use the Jack of Clubs. We pause to
verify whether or not it is a rogue card, and it isn’t. So now we proceed
by determining its numerical value by multiplying the card value of jack
(11) by the suit value of Clubs (3):

11 X 3 - 33

We are now advised to determine the tier placement of the card by

46
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

working out any other factorials. We can do this by dividing the number
33 first by four, then three, then two then one.

33 ■t' 4 (Diamonds) ■ No Answer

33 4- 3 (Clubs) > 11 (of Clubs)

HEY! That’s our card! This means that our card is the first tier card for the
number 33 and we can stop now - we don't need to divide 33 by two or
even one.

In fact, the above example illustrates another relevant shortcut: we don't

need to divide past the suit value of the card we were considering.

We only need to divide by suits with values HIGHER than our card.

In this case, only Diamonds (with a suit value of four) would need to be
considered as a possibility for beating the suit in question - Clubs [with
a suit value of three] - out as the first tier card.

Now, it is my sincere hope dear reader, that you will have stopped and
said "Actually, 33 is an odd number and, as we read above, couldn’t be
divided by an even number. That means that Diamonds could never
have been in the running for this particular number. We only needed to
divide 33 by three and one, and as three was already the value of our
suit, we could have simply assumed that the lack of Clubs was the first
tier card from the off!"

Pat yourself on the back if you spotted this.

Let's look at another example. Why don't we try the Four of Hearts this
time?

The first thing we do is check that it isn't a rogue card - and memory

47
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

informs us that it is not.

Now we work out the card’s numerical value. Remember, we do this by

multiplying the card value of Four by the suit value of Hearts, which is
two:

4x2-8

We now check to see what tier our card lies within. We do this by dividing
the number 8 by every possible suit value above that of our current card.
As our card is a Heart, we need only concern ourselves with Diamonds
and then Clubs, or 4 and then 3 in that order.

8 4 (Diamonds) - 2 (of Diamonds)

8 'f 3 (Clubs) - No Answer

8 -I- 2 (Hearts) ■ 4 (of Hearts)

Some very quick math shows us that our card is not the first tier option
for this number. That slot is taken by the Two of Diamonds. But our card
IS the second tier card for the number 8.

So how do we proceed? The steps given above now advise that we make
the adjustment appropriate for the tier.

The Four of Hearts is the second tier card. We know that the tier
adjustment for the second tier is 27, and so we add that figure to the
card value of the Four of Hearts,

27 + 8 - 3 5

And we can now confidently assert that the Four of Hearts is the 35th
card in the deck.

48
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

FINAL THOUGHTS
So there you have it! That’s the Solution.

All that you need to do now is use the information above to assemble
the deck. Please take the time to do this right now as it will reinforce all
the ideas above by making your brain take the rules outlined and put
them into practice.

Once you've assembled the deck once, immediately shuffle it into

oblivion and immediately start over and reassemble the deck once
more. Round about the fourth time you put the deck together, don’t be
surprised to discover that you are no longer referring to the rules or
shortcuts outlined above and are able to rely solely on your memory
instead.

Once you’ve got the deck down, take a moment and read the included
routines.

As you’ll see, there are some incredible things that you can do with this
deck.

49
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

SIMPLE PEEK AND

REVEAL
This effect Is probably the simplest and most direct offering In this
entire book, but do not underestimate the Impact It has on those
who you perform It for.

This is the first effect Atlas and i used the deck for when we came up
with the Solution, not only due to the ease of presentation but also for
another very important reason which I will explain in a moment,

EFFECT
The performer approaches a group of people and introductions take
place. After engaging with the group and building rapport, the performer
asks the group who amongst them has the best poker face. After some
coy looks and laughter, they eventually name their friend Emily, and a
story ensues here as to why the group believes Emily has the best poker
face of them all. She protests modestly, but with good humour. With the
group now relaxed and enjoying themselves, the performer explains a
game he would like to play with them.

“In a moment’s time I'm going to take this pack of cards and dribble them
into my hand, you can call stop at any point you would like." This is said
as the performer takes out a deck of cards from the box, and mimes how
he will dribble the cards.

“When you call stop, it’s important that I stop where you want me to, if I
go past it or stop too early we can start again. Okay?"

Emily looks at the performer with eager eyes.

50
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

The performer begins to dribble the cards from one hand to the hand
below, and as the cards start to fall the performer smiles.

“Say 'stop' wherever you would like,"

"STOP," Emily calls.

The performer instantly stops, tapping the back of the top card on the
pile below with his index finger whilst asking, “Just here?”

Emily nods and the performer looks away and raises his hand, sliding off
the top card enough for Emily to see.

“Remember that card for me."

She sees the King of Hearts (of course, this could be any card].

Before turning his head back around, the performer reassembles the
deck and places it straight into his pocket.

Turning back to face Emily, the group smiles excitedly at one another as
the performer says, “Keeping that card in mind. I’m going to ask you to
keep the best poker face you possibly can. Give nothing away. My job is
to try and work out what card you are thinking of.”

“Now, you'll agree that there are two types of card - black cards and red
cards.”

Emily nods.

“And you’ve nodded there when I said ‘red card’, so I know it’s a red card
- if you can just make things a little more difficult for me, it’ll make this a
lot more entertaining for everyone else watching.”

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Emily laughs nervously as she realizes what she did and her friends
agree, loudly noting that they saw it too.

Emily composes herself and restores the straight face she was holding
earlier.

The performer goes on.

"Of the red cards, there are two suits - Hearts and Diamonds."

The performer laughs when Emily doesn't react.

"See, you're getting the hang of this now! Say Hearts for me."

"Hearts."

Emily says this with a stern face.

"Now say Diamonds."

“Diamonds."

Emily says this with a slight sigh of relief.

"Great, so Hearts then."

Emily's jaw drops open, looking at her friends in disbelief. The friends all
lean in closer, determined not to miss a moment.

“Bluffing only works when you don't show relief when you think the
danger is over. Nice try on keeping a serious face on the Hearts, it was
the way you said 'Diamonds' that gave you away." The performer gives
Emily a cheeky wink.

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"In a deck, there are number cards and there are picture cards. Number
cards being Ace through Ten..."

The performer pauses, smiling to himself.

Emily bites her lip.

The performer continues, "...and you are sat there waiting for me to finish
that sentence. If you were thinking of a number card you wouldn’t wait
for me to clarify what I meant by picture cards - but you did wait, telling
me that your card is a Jack. Queen or King.”

"Look at me. Just think to yourself Jack. Queen or King.”

Emily and the performer stare intensely into one another's eyes.

"King - you were thinking of the King of Hearts.”

Emily’s jaw drops opens, as her friends shout in disbelief.

Emily immediately looks back at the performer and fumbles over her
words.

"But howl?"

The group, now drawn in completely, eagerly await what other miracles
are to come.

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METHOD
Now you may think that I have slightly over dramatized the above
description of the effect, of course If you change Emily’s name to Atlas,
then you get what mine and his brainstorming sessions are like,,. But on
a serious note, this is actually an account of me performing this trick.
With the right presentation and engaging well with the people you are
performing for, you will get incredible reactions.

As I said earlier, this is one of the first routines we came up with for the
deck. I love it and it is still one of my 'go to’ effects when performing
close up with cards. There are three main reasons for this:

1. It is simple to perform, which means I can focus all of my energy

and concentration into the performance aspect of the routine.
There’s no dodgy sleight of hand or guilty glimpses of their card to
worry about.

2. The peek is huge, there is no way you can miss it. It’s a whole card
as I’ll explain in a moment. Not only the index of a card, and not a
tiny mark on the back of a card. It is the whole face of the card and,
importantly, happens before the spectator could ever be looking for
any dirty work.

3. This is a great way to really commit the deck to memory. Being out
and using the deck is the best way to absolutely cement it in your
memory. This is a great routine to perform and also a great routine
to practice when memorizing the Solution. Above all, there is a nice
fall back plan if for some reason you don’t know what the chosen
card was.

The script, as outlined above, is a complete example of how I perform

this effect.

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The best way to perform this is with a rough outline of how you’re going
to "deduce" the spectator’s card and then to feed off of what responses
they give to you as you talk through the process.

By feeding back the actual responses you observe in real time - rather
than having a set script you simply run off verbatim - you place an edge
of realism into the performance, especially as others in the group will pick
up on these signals and confirm your observations. It breeds credibility.

By having a concrete and simple method, it allows you to concentrate

entirely on the most important part: your performance.

If you read back through the transcript above, there are several subtleties
built into the script.

I don’t want to teach you to suck eggs here. I’m sure many readers
will have their own presentation for something like this and don’t need
me to outline mine as though it is the only way of proceeding with a
demonstration of this sort. But I will point out a few little things that I do
like very much about my way of performing this.

For instance, right at the start of the reveal I say "Now, you’ll agree that
there are two types of cards - black cards and red cards.”

I’ve done three things here. The first is the phrasing of the question. I
begin by saying "Now, you’ll agree that.,,’’ and I follow that by a statement
of fact as I am subtly seeking the agreement of my participant.

I follow this by stating that the colors of cards are "...black and red” - in
that order. I purposely place red at the end of the statement as 1 know
that the selected card is a red card.

The last thing that I do is nod at the moment that I begin to say the word
’red’, effectively encouraging my participant to nod as well - and why

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wouldn’t they?

They’ll never analyze the sentence in the same way a performer does,
and to them, I have simply asked whether they agree that playing cards
are grouped into blacks and reds.

What I have created is essentially a verbal timing force, and as my

question is now over and ended with the color of their suit, they will
begin nodding.

I now get to take their response to my statement and reframe it to my

advantage, pointing out that they’ve nodded on red, so their card must
be a red card.

This approach to questioning can be used in all sorts of reveals, and is

worth experimenting with. It can, in fact, force a number of responses
from a participant that you can then reinterpret to your advantage and
is an excellent tool to have at hand.

THE TECHNICAL BIT

To make this work, essentially you are going to get a peek. The peek is
not of the spectator’s card, but of the card immediately above theirs in
the stack.

This has several advantages.

Firstly, it happens before there is any heat either on you or their selected
card. Secondly, a big movement covers the small movement. And finally,
you get a peek of a whole card, not just a small area of a card.

Taken all together, it is incredibly deceiving.

Before I explain the peek, I will apologize as I am unsure who exactly to

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credit for this peek.

The one closest to it, and where my inspiration came from, is by my very
good friend Sam Fitton. The peek is called “Peek Show". It is incredibly
deceptive and is similar but not the same. I highly recommend checking
out 'Peek Show' as it is incredibly useful particularly for impromptu
situations. It's available direct from Sam, so contact Sam for more info
at www.SamFitton.com [as a side note, he is also a fantastic magician].

THE P E E K :
• Begin by dribbling the cards openly from the top hand to the bottom
hand.

• The moment the spectator calls "Stop", stop dribbling the cards and
as your eyes look down, extend the index finger of your top hand
and point to the card your participant has chosen.

• As you tap the top card of the bottom pile, ask “Just here?”

• By extending the finger and pointing down, you have to tilt the top
pile of cards so that the face of its bottom card is now visible to you,
in that moment you get your peek - of the entire face of the card.

• Immediately turn your head completely out of view and bring up the
bottom hand. Sliding your participant's selected card from atop the
pile with your left thumb, continue by showing it to the group as you
look away, instructing them to, "Remember that card”.

• Square up and reform whole deck and place it straight into your
pocket.

Done at full speed it is incredibly deceiving, particularly because it

happens before the spectator sees their card - and also because they
see you clearly averting your gaze.

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Of course, you now know the card directly before the card your participant
has selected. To work out their card, you simply determine the location in
the deck of the card you peeked - theirs will be the one after it.

in the example, above I would have seen the Eight of Clubs. That’s one
of the ‘Rogue Cards', and I know its position is as the 25th card in the
deck. I add one - that’s 26, and i now know that my participant’s card is
the King of Hearts [ 13 x 2 ].

if I saw the Nine of Clubs, I know that equates to 9 x 3 = 27, therefore my

participant will have seen the 28th card, which can only be 7 x 4 and is
therefore the Seven of Diamonds.

if i saw the Ace of Hearts, that makes 2 as 2 x 1 = 2. But due to our rules
regarding two and four, it will not be the second card in the deck, so I add
27 giving me 29. Which means the participant’s card is the 30th, making
it the Ten of Clubs (10 x 3 ].

More often than not, the card the spectator selects will be a card in
the twenties. As I said, this is a great effect to practice when learning
the Solution. You will very quickly become familiar with these cards and
soon find that'you don’t need to use the backup math to ensure you are
correct every time. You will instantly recognize that a Seven of Clubs is
followed by the Jack of Hearts.

So, as a quick example, if you see the Eight of Diamonds, the chosen
card would be... (check the end of the chapter for the correct answer).

If you saw the Seven of Hearts, the chosen card would be...
If you saw the Ten of Clubs, the chosen card would be...
Finally, you see the Four of Spades, the chosen card would be...

Again, this is a great way to practice using the deck.

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Dribble the cards, peek as you would, but don’t reassemble the deck.
Name the card the spectator would have seen and flip it over to check
if you were correct.

You can do this and really get incredibly quick at using the deck. To
challenge yourself, cut the deck and then undertake the same exercise.

Now, what if you perform this in a live situation and find that you've gone
completely blank and you can't work out your participant’s chosen card?

Fear not, you've got a completely bulletproof backup plan.

If you are really struggling to work out the identity of their card, simply
pretend that you've worked out what it is.

Take the deck from your pocket and use the card you peeked as a key
card.

So long as you fan through the pack with the face of the top card to
your left, their chosen card will be the one directly to the right of your
key card.

Take it out of the deck, place it face down on their hand and ask them to
name aloud what card they were thinking of.

You’ll be correct every time.

Of course, this backup presentation isn't as clean as we’d like, but it

delivers results - the point is that you can begin to use the Solution and
develop your skills with the deck without fear of failure.

Now, for the answers to the questions above:

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THE BLACKPOOL
ACAAN
Before I get Into the full routine and explanation to the Blackpool
ACAAN, I want to take a few moments to talk generally about the
ACAAN and how It Is perceived by laymen.

When I first heard of the Any Card At Any Number plot, I was incredibly
excited. But to be absolutely honest, I think that was mainly my inner
magical nerd that got excited. I sat there thinking to myself, “Someone
names any card and someone names any number and that card is at the
number. Incredible. Impossible.”

It wasn’t until I’d seen It demonstrated by various performers that I

realized that the routine actually had a real capacity to be quite boring
and laborious.

I think the whole problem with the ACAAN plot is two fold.

Firstly, the spectator knows the ending before the trick has really begun.
It is a foregone conclusion.

The second reason I feel that the plot is weak is that the performer is
typically so wrapped up in how clever their method is that they forget
that the trick is supposed to be entertaining.

This latter observation has been borne out in recent times as the ACAAN
has become more of a magician’s trick, with several variations released
to the magic community each year - seemingly with the focus on who
can invent the cleanest and most deceptive methods to ’’fry’’, other
magicians.

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There are so many methods out there on the market now, some requiring
gaffed decks, others requiring 52 different decks to be hidden. There are
too many iterations of the effect to even bother counting them.

At the time of writing this, it is August 2015. At the moment, I am at

the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and there are a significant number
of performers including an ACAAN in their shows here. What I found
interesting was that they all used nearly the same patter but with a
different method.

"There is a trick that is the Holy Grail for magicians - a spectator names
a card, another spectator names a number, and that card is at that
number in a deck. They all hail it as impossible..." and so they go on and
on, and then they perform it and get it spot on.

Hmm. Despite all that build up, it doesn’t feel so impossible.

Don’t get me wrong - there were a couple of people who started with
this introduction and then went on to entertain the audience with their
performance rather than simply demonstrating the feat. These were the
impressive and memorable versions.

The other versions were so desperately lost in focus that it made my

blood boil.

Rant over for now.

"So why is there an ACAAN in this book," I hear you ask?

Because I went out and I performed the effect without highlighting the
impossibility of the feat they were about to see.

I strove to provide an entertaining performance regardless of the

method I was using.

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That’s it. Entertaining the audience was my top priority.

Most audiences are intelligent. If they are not, who are you performing
for? I feel that magicians often treat their audiences with only a modicum
of respect. If you treat your audience with respect, they will be able to
work out for themselves that this is amazing - without being spoon fed
"how impossible it is”.

Before I specifically go into the details of the Blackpool routine, of which

i am clearly very proud, here is what transpired:

David Meade and Tom Binns were sat opposite one another at a table. I
was sat between them. One card remained face down on the table with
the rest of the deck face up, having already been counted through by
Tom, who left the 41st card facing down on the table.

He had named the Four of Spades, and, to this point, had dealt through
the pack and had not seen it.

By process of elimination, Tom’s freely named card was face down in

front of him, and Tom was simply exclaiming, "It’s not possible! That is
not a thing! That is not a thing! I’m not going to turn this over because
that is not a thing.”

Eventually, we coaxed him into turning his card over and he went into
a waking coma for the next few weeks, trying to work out what had
happened.

EFFECT
Sat at a table with a small group you’ve been in conversation with, pause
and ask, "Could I try something with you all?” They agree because they
know you are a performer and you like to incessantly annoy them with
tricks.

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You place a deck of cards on the table In front of you. You turn to one
person and say, “Name a card for me.”

They do.

You turn to another person and look at them for a moment.

"You’ll be perfect. Now. there are 52 cards in a deck. I’d like you to name
a number for me. Any number you want."

They do.

You invite the first spectator to pick up the deck and count down to the
number specified.

They place it face down on the table. “What was the card you chose?"

They repeat it.

You lean in, nod toward the face down card, and ask that it be turned
over.

Everyone goes mental!

Read it again. That is how it goes down. Every time.

The method for this is sure fire and easy to explain, but before you read
it, do one thing for me: Remember Tom’s reaction I described above.

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METHOD
The reason Atlas and I performed this is because we decided we wanted
to use the Solution to have a little fun with some magicians at Blackpool.
The great advantage we had was that the deck looks thoroughly
shuffled, and as we hadn't released the Solution at this point, there
was no chance that anyone would recognize it as a memorized deck
because they'd never seen this one. Trust me when I say this killed when
we showed it to people. In the typical Blackpool magic convention style,
the first question out of everyone's lips was, "Whose is it, and where can
I buy it?"

The secret is simple: You need a confederate.

You need someone else who knows the Solution system for this to work.
The key is to make it believable, despite the fact that you are asking a
friend for a number or card.

Therefore, take our advice and take your time chatting before ever
introducing the effect. Have a conversation with the group and ease into
it. A good way of doing this in a layman's environment is to casually place
a deck of cards on the table in the middle of conversation. Inevitably,
someone will either ask what they are for or, depending on how well
these people know you, demand to see a trick.

Once the playing cards have been noticed, it is easy to proceed by asking
someone to randomly name a card. Once you have a card selected,
you ask your confederate to randomly name a number. It appears as
though the selection of that person is purely happenstance, and no one
suspects in the slightest that you both know the order of the deck. Why
would they?

The nice thing here is that everything feels so completely fair. The deck
is in full view, a card and number are named, and the performer never

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touches the deck.

It couldn’t feel more amazing.

When we performed this in Blackpool, Atlas was quietly conversing

with someone next to him, looking for all the world as though he was
thoroughly absorbed in the conversation while at the same time secretly
listening intently for the card.

Conversely, we’ve played it where he is intensely watching what's going

on. Both approaches worked equally well.

Try it.

This 'Blackpool ACAAN’ Is actually one of the ways we tested just how
quickly other people could learn the Solution method.

Once we’d been coerced into revealing how this ACAAN worked, we
decided to get more people involved. Rather than asking Atlas for a
number every time, this allowed me a broader range of confederates in
the Ruskin Pub to choose from. So we taught a few people the Solution
over pizza and a few over drinks. Needless to say, we were§ happy with
the results.

THE 30 SECOND INSTANT ASSISTANT

If you haven’t got a friend who has learned The Solution but you want to
perform the two person ACAAN, here’s a way you can gain an assistant
in 30 seconds, though ideally I’d still recommend using a magician friend.

Explain to the assistant what is going to happen - that you are going
to ask someone to name a card and then you will ask your newly found
confederate to name a number. They will need to convert the card Into a
number using the Solution system.

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Don't worry, you won't have to go into the tiers or adjustments or any of
the more complex portions of the system. Simply explain the suit values
and card values outlined in the main body of this book and go over how
multiplying the two values together gives you a number.

This will teach them how to arrive at a Card Value. In fact, for about half
of the cards that could be chosen, it will give your participant the exact
position in the deck of the card that is named.

But, obviously, there are tier adjustments to be made and then

memorized cards to account for. So you give your confederate a
supplemental instruction: In the event that you use a number whilst
addressing them during your performance, they will add the number you
used to the number they've already assigned to the card.

Your instructions might sound something like this:

"If I ask you directly to name a number, simply give me the number you
got doing the math for the card. If. however, I say something like 'In
a moment you are going to name a number, one could have popped
into your head already. You might be thinking of the number...' - then,
whatever number I've said, I want you to add on to the number you have
in your head."

Let's consider some examples.

If, for instance, the following cards are named:

✓ Eight of Diamonds: This Is straight forward, and your

confederate will choose the number 32.

✓ Eight of Clubs: Your confederate will be thinking of 24. As this

Is the 25th card, you would ‘count off’ 24 cards and turn over
the next one. Or, you could say, “In a moment you are going

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to name a number, you might already have something in

mind. You might be thinking of the number one, for instance.
Hopefully not as that would be really boring.” This cues them
to add the number 1 to their number - 24 - ensuring that, when
called upon, they choose the number 25.

Queen of Hearts: Your confederate will be thinking of the

number 24. ”ln a moment, you are going to name a number. You
might already have something in mind. You might be thinking
of a random number like... 14. The choice Is completely up to
you, but go for one that feels right to you. Ready?" They will
add 14 to 24 and call out 38.

In each of the above examples, all the performer will do is determine

where the card lies in the deck, calculate the basic value of the chosen
card, and subtract the second number from the first.

It is also useful to include a fail safe phrase in the event that your
confederate names the wrong number and needs to double check their
math. A simple way to do this is to ask your confederate if they would
like to change their mind.
*

The above is quick and simple, but offers a way to have something
incredibly powerful at your finger tips using only the Solution, a friend,
and a moment’s notice.

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BEATING THE SPREAD

ANY CARD AT PREDICTED NUMBER
After we came up with the Solution, Raven and I naturally began
to mess about with It. We were at the Blackpool Magic Convention
together and one evening, In the pub after the day’s events. Raven
innocently tabled a deck of cards and asked someone to name any
card.

They chose the Four of Spades.

He then turned to me and asked me to name a number. I instantly

realized what he was up to and dutifully called out, "Forty-one.”

Naturally the card and number matched.

We were simply having a casual laugh and it was great fun watching the
reactions we got from this cheeky approach to the ACAAN plot.

I'm sure that we were not the first pair in history to use a memorized
deck in this manner.

The trouble, of course, is that you need two people to pull off this effect.
That is, indeed, most inconvenient. And so I began to ponder how I,
alone, could do something SIMILAR while always being correct.

Imagine setting a deck of cards on the table in front of your participant.

"I've got a pack of cards here. If I were a magician, you could expect me
to take the deck out of the box, spread them open, and ask you to pick a
card out of the pack and show it to your friends. Then you’d return it to
the deck and I’d maybe do some pretty fancy shuffling and then tell you
what your card was. Right?”

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They agree. Everyone has seen something similar at some point in their
lives.

“But at the back of your mind, you’ve got this sneaking suspicion that
really what I’ve done is somehow manipulated your card the whole time
and while I made it look like it was lost in the deck, I really knew where it
was every step of the way. As far as you’re concerned. I’ve used sleight
of hand and nothing more. Agreed?”

Once again, they agree.

“But I’m not a magician. And I’m terrible with cards. So what I’ve done
instead is completely different. During the course of this conversation.
I’ve very carefully chosen my words with the aim of planting a thought
in your mind. I’ve already subtly directed you to think of a single specific
card, and no, it isn’t the Ace of Spades, In fact. I’m going to count down
from three to one and when I snap my fingers, you’re going to name the
first card that comes to mind - Ready? Three... two... one... <SNAP!>”

“Seven of Clubs.”

"Right you are! I know that felt like an entirely free choice to you,
but in reality, I got you to name the one card out of 52 that I wanted
you to choose. At this stage, it sounds pretty improbable, doesn’t it?
Nevertheless, it is true. In fact, cup your hands together like this for me.
I’m just going to open this pack of cards and dump the contents into
your hands. And what have we here? Besides the deck, out came a little
note card. Go ahead and read it to everyone.”

“Please deal 21 cards face up onto the table.”

You gesture to the pack and the participant begins to deal the cards out
as instructed. The 21st card is, indeed, their card - the Seven of Clubs.

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This is one of my favorite routines - I’ve done it all over the world since
its inception and it has never failed to get GREAT reactions.

It is also incredibly easy to perform.

The method, besides knowing The Solution, relies on a nail writer and a
small window cut into the back of your card box.

You simply prepare a card that says:

Please deal_____ cards

faceup
onto the table.

You then cut a window in the card box and slide your prepared card of
text into that box between the bottom card and the box itself, lining up
the hole you've cut with the gap on the card. You then nail write through
the window the correct number for the card your participant selects.

Now, I recognize that some of you may be hesitant about the use of a
nail writer. I'm not brilliant at it myself, but the lure of this effect was
enough to make me find a way past my shortcomings and, in fact, we

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have a lot of things going for us here that other nail writing situations
don’t allow for.

First and foremost, in the past when I've used a nail writer, it has been
with a single business card or some other such relatively flimsy material.
Inevitably, the give in the material makes the nail writing difficult to
achieve. Not so here! In fact, you have a deck of cards against which to
write. The deck forms a nice, solid little table that both provides cover
for the movement of your thumb, and resistance against the force of the
lead nib.

As a result, the nail writing looks bold, clean, and convincing.

We are also lucky in that many other instances of nail writing will require
you to write any number of things. Here, you only have to worry about
writing two digits ranging from zero to nine. It is comparatively simple
and there are no other numbers in the text itself to compare your writing
against.

Furthermore, we have a guide that helps us keep our nail writing to the
correct size and position. The edge of the window cut in the card box
ensures that you keep your writing to a size which perfectly matches
the rest of the text and so does not appear out of place in the slightest.

All these factors combine to create a nail writing experience in which

conditions are optimal and help to ensure success for even the most
amateur cuticle composer.

Which brings me to another point - the placement of the window on the

card box and the preparation of the text on the card.

You'll note that the alignment of the topmost line of text on your prepared
prediction card (Please d eal____ cards] places the gap for the number
about two thirds down the horizontal length of the card.

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Accordingly, you'll want to cut your window in your card box near the
bottom third of the box itself, but nearer the edge of the box than the
center. This is convenient, as - for bicycle card boxes at any rate - you
will cut Into a section of the box that is entirely white and devoid of any
design or pattern, meaning that when a white prediction card is inserted
into the box, there is no eye catching contrast at that point and the box
can be freely handled and displayed.

However, if you choose to use a business

card or colored card stock for your message,
the window in the card box is still small
enough to be easily covered by any of your
fingertips when emptying the box, still
conveying the illusion that the box itself is
complete and unaltered.
TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

You'll note that when you slide your prediction card into your card box
(especially if you are using blank business card stock), the card itself
will be shorter than a regular playing card and slightly less wide. This
means that your prediction card may shift around in the box - which also
means that when you nail write your prediction, it could potentially end
up above the rest of the sentence as written, being visibly out of place.

There are two ways forward - one, simply get a card that matches
perfectly the size of the box, or two (if you're like me and are stubbornly
determined to use up all the business card stock you have lying around]
simply apply a little bit of pressure with your thumb through the window
in the box and slide the prediction card up and to the right until it is snug
against the top right corner of the box as you hold it in position to nail
write.

Whichever approach you use, please take my advice as regards this next
part: when you are preparing your prediction card, slide it in blank, make
four light dots at the corners of the window you've cut in your box and
then remove the card from the box.

These dots are easily erased, but they will help you to, write your
prediction to the same height as your nail written numbers will be, and
they allow you to space the entire top line of your prediction in such a
way that there is no glaring gap between the words you've written and
your predicted number. Trust me, this makes an enormous difference in
the appearance and credibility of your prediction.

One final note - the wording of the prediction itself: Keep it as it is.

By specifying that the cards should be dealt face up, you put yourself
in a position wherein you can put the deck in order once more simply
by taking the dealt portion of cards and replacing them atop the still
undisturbed half. It is presentationally pleasing as tension builds when

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the participant sees that each passing card is not their selected card, but
also serves to make your life easier when performing as you can quickly
and easily restore your pack to its original order.

You'll note that the prediction also says “cards" instead of “card". We use
the plural because, so long as the number one isn't filled into the gap,
the prediction will make sense.

This is why we ask our participant not to choose the Ace of Spades - so
that we never have to write the sentence “Piease deal 1 cards face up
onto the table,"

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DAREDEVIL
Imagine riffling through the cards until your participant calls out
“Stop”. You turn away and point to the card he’s selected, directing
him to take it, memorize it, and replace It. He does so. You then mix
the cards, and ask him to cut the deck as well.

Squaring up the pile, you flip the top card over, saying-.

"I’m going to turn around. I want you to deal the cards out one by one.
Don’t stop when you get to your card, but when you see it, just think to
yourself ’That is my card.’ Okay? Let’s begin.”

After a moment or two of dealing, the performer holds up his hand.

“Stop - That’s your card! Don’t say what it is. just think of it. This is a red
card. A Diamond - The Four of Diamonds?"

Turning around, the performer verifies that he was correct on all counts.

This is a really simple, yet fooling effect. Besides knowinc^the Solution,

the method is a quick and ridiculously simple peek, a Charlier shuffle,
and a bit of listening.

With the Solution deck to hand, turn your head and torso away from
your participant. Hold the pack out in your left hand and run your thumb
down the edge of the cards, asking your participant to call out “Stop" at
any time.

When they do, take your right hand and cut the pack at the point they
indicated, still broken open by your left thumb.

This is where your peek comes in. This is a peek that was shared with

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Raven by his friend Sam Fitton and is simplicity itself. The whole time,
you've fastidiously looked away. But now, with the top half of the deck in
your right hand, you simply point with your right index finger, and rotate
your palm toward you. You can now see the bottom card of the top half
of the deck - which of course, tells you the topmost card of the portion
of the pack in your left hand.

To cover this move, you simply touch the cards in your left hand with
your extended index finger and say “Take this card, memorize it, and
return it to the pack."

As you touch the pack, you glance down at the card in your right hand.
This moment is perfectly misdirected and your peek is easy to get.

You now know not only what card your participant has selected, but its
location in the deck as well.

Once they've returned their card to your hand, replace the topmost
portion of the deck, and messily begin a Charlier shuffle. Square the
cards and table the pack, briefly turning back around and asking your
participant to cut the deck.

Once they've done so, turn over the top card and explain:

"I'm going to turn around. I want you to deal the cards out one by one
like so, don't stop when you get to your card, but when you see it, just
think to yourself 'That is my card.' Okay? Let's begin."

Of course, you've spotted the top card and now know how the deck is
arranged. You can now listen as each card is turned over, counting along
until you can call out stop on the participant's card.

For instance - if your participant had chosen the Six of Spades, you know
that it is the 43rd card in the deck.

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After the deck has been falsely shuffled and cut, you turn over the top
card and note that it is the Seven of Diamonds - the 28th card.

At this point, you'd simply listen as each card is dealt out and count
along as you heard the mild snap of each card subsequently dealt.

<Snap>

...29

<Snap>

...30

<Snap>

...31

And so on. When you got to the 43rd card, you'd simply call out "Stop -
that's your card, isn't it?"

Of course, you know that their card is the Six of Spades and are free to
reveal it in any manner that suits your persona.

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DEAD CUT COUNT

This a very simple and direct routine that gets great reactions
from your participants. It is easy to do, allowing you to focus
entirely on two Incredibly important things: your presentation and
entertaining the people you are performing for.

I also love it because there is a bold and blatant move that flies past
everyone watching. This and the following routine (Equilibrium), are
both thoroughly enjoyable to perform, largely because of their inherent
cheekiness.

EFFECT
"How long have you been performing with cards,” a nosey spectator
asks.

"Too long, in fact it’s become an unhealthy obsession, and I don’t even
mean sleight of hand. I obsessively sit around playing with decks all the
time. To be honest, my sleight of hand is rubbish.”

“It started when I was doing revision, I like to have something in my

hands to fiddle with as I read...”

’Td cut the deck and try and guess how many cards I have in my hand."

The performer cuts a number of cards, takes a deep breath and says,
“14 cards.”

The spectator looks at the performer, turns up their nose and says, ”Sod
off.”

“Honestly, the wife hates it - count them: 14 cards.”

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The spectator picks up the cut deck and counts the cards face up onto
the table one at a time. As the word "fourteen" leaves their mouth, they
laugh in disbelief.

“I can see you don't believe it’s possible. I I tell you what, would you like
to test me?”

The performer places the cut cards back on top of the deck.

'Til turn around, and what I’d like you to do is cut off any number of cards
you want and hide them in your hand under the table. Obviously, don't
just leave one card on the table or it’ll be really easy to work out how
many you've got.”

"Let me know when you're done,” the performer says as they turn around.

"Done."

"Okay, let’s see if I can do this.”

The performer picks up the cards left on the table and riffles them a
few times in their hands. "Now obviously if i were simply ^o count these
cards I’d be able to work out how many you have. That wouldn’t be very
impressive, that’s just maths, so...”

The performer dribbles the cards, pauses and then says, "Twenty three
cards exactly.”

Taking his cards from under the table, the spectator begins to count them
face up one at time onto the table. A bead of sweat on the spectator’s
brow begins to build as they say “21" and they can feel only 2 cards left
in their hand.

"...22, 23, no way!”

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The spectator looks up at the performer in admiration for having such a

niche nerdy skill.

"You wouldn't believe how useful that is in poker. Shall we try something
even more useful?"

The performer continues with “Simple Peek and Reveal".

METHOD
I like this effect because it is simple and direct. Its creation was two fold.

Firstly, it was kind of how Atlas and I began testing one another. We
would cut the deck, show the other a face card and count down to check
we were correct. For anyone watching, it would have been incredibly
boring.

Secondly, it was the first time I ever performed using the Solution. I
was at a gig and just approaching a new table. I introduced myself and
performed a small effect for the table of six people. I decided I was going
to do my ACAAN routine. I was feeling particularly cocky and lucky that
evening and had performed it at a few tables earlier in the night.

As I took the cards out of the box, I noticed that the Ace of Spades from
the top of the deck was missing. I took a moment to check my pockets
and the box again to see if I could see it.

"What's the matter?" asked the lady who was sat in a chair next to where
I was standing.

I spontaneously dribbled the deck and replied, “It feels like one card is
missing."

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She looked at me in complete confusion, "How do you know?"

"I’ve worked with cards for so long that I can tell when there are cards
missing."

At this point I found the Ace in my inside pocket. Heaven only knows to
this day why it was in there. “See - told you, I was one short."

"There is no way that you can know that," she said with a cheeky grin
on her face. At this point I did something quite unusual for me, I broke
character, and sat down next to her.

"Shall we put that to the test?", I gave a cheeky wink.

She giggled and I went into a routine not dissimilar from above. After
which I asked if she would like to try, and went into the ACAAN. The table
erupted in a barrage of applause and expletives as she turned over her
named card.

Your routine is up to you, but the method is simple math and a peek.

To know how many cards there are, there are two different peeks I’ve
used in the above example. I have never been caught out peeking and
no one has ever suspected, to my knowledge, that I knew the order of
the cards, because I wrap it up by engaging with the audience and don’t
just turn it into a challenge with the table.

As a result, when I perform this I momentarily break character and

become more personable - the emphasis is not that I am showing off,
but that I am genuinely demonstrating an interesting skill.

The first peek is simple. As you say, "I’d cut the deck and try and guess
how many cards I have in my hand," what you actually do is cut the deck.

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In that moment, you tilt your hand to reveal the bottom card of the
cut. The moment you glimpse it, you look up and away and perform a
different action, such as taking a deep breath. The action of the peek
should look like you are simply looking where the cards are. By adding in
a pause and another action, it feels to the audience that it is during this
time that you are 'feeling' for how many cards are there. It also gives you
a moment where you can work out what number card you are at. This is
easy as the top card is the Ace of Spades, and you know the number of
the card you've just cut to.

Simply proceed by announcing that number, and then hand the packet
to the spectator and ask them to count the cards face up onto the table.

This does two things.

Firstly, they see that the deck is mixed.

Secondly, it retains your deck in the correct order, so that when you pick
the cards up and put them back on top, you are immediately back in
Solution order.

When dealing with dealt cards, I'll normally just put them back on top.
However, there is another option - if you are so inclined, you could put
the cards on the bottom of the deck instead, so that it looks like you
are starting from an unknown position within the deck. Either approach
works as long as you know what the top card is.

You have demonstrated that you can guess how many cards you've cut,
and now continue by having the participant cut off a number of cards.

You can either place the cards on the table in front of them or you can
hold them in .your hand, extend it towards them and turn your head
away.

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At close-up events, I will normally keep hold of them in my hand. If you

like, you can have them hide them under the table or behind their back.
Avoid having them put the cards in their pocket as inevitably you will one
day get someone who leaves a few in their pocket, either by mistake or
on purpose.

Once they’ve cut the cards, turn back around and do a few riffles or
dribbles to make it appear as if there is a process. It’s in a moment of
humour where you get the next peek.

You say something along the lines of. "Now obviously if I were to simply
count these cards. I’d be able to work out how many you have. That
wouldn’t be particularly interesting, that’s just maths."

In doing so, count the first two or three cards from the top of the deck
into your empty hand and hold them slightly fanned open with the faces
just visible. Do not look at the cards yet. Wait a moment until the tension
has broken, they have a little giggle, and as you move to place them
back on top of the deck you look down, peek the top card and then
square everything back up. This should be done in one smooth action,
to hide the peek. Also, if you do a fake giggle after the sentence it forces
other people to laugh back - strange, but true. ,

Then continue and act out a little more process, whatever your process
is. This is an important element in establishing your credibility while
buying you time to calculate the number of cards selected.

Don’t forget that the card you’ve just peeked at is one number above the
number of cards your spectator has cut.

If you have spotted the King of Hearts, number 26, then your spectator
will have 25 cards in their hand.

This may seem like an obvious fact, but don’t let it catch you out. During

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the process phase that the audience sees, you’ll have plenty of time to
work that out.

Again, name the number and have your spectator count the cards face
up onto the table (kindly keeping them in Solution order) take your
applause, reassemble the deck and blow their socks off with another
Solution routine.

Now, your math will be slightly different if you've opted to put the cards
from the first segment of the routine to the bottom of the deck. In this
case, instead of the number one, you’ll start with an indifferent card on
the top of the pack.

Let’s say you’ve left the fifteenth card on top, which is the Five of Clubs.
You know that’s your top card because you cut off 14 cards earlier on, so
number 15 must be on top of the deck.

When your spectator makes their cut, you’ll peek your new top card. Let’s
say you see the Ten of Clubs... number 30. You’d proceed by subtracting
that number from your original starting number:

30 -1 5 - 15

And your participant is currently holding 15 cards in their hand.

It is pretty straightforward - When your second number is larger than

your first number, you'll use straight subtraction. Sometimes, however,
your second number will be less than your first number due to the
cyclical nature of the stack. If, for instance, your spectator had cut to the
Two of Clubs, you’d be looking at the number six.

In cases like these, you'll simply subtract y o u r larger number from 52 and
then add the smaller number to the result.
For instance - in the example above:

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52 - 1 5 - 37

37 + 6 - 4 3

Subtracting by 52 is essential when your second number is smaller than

your first.

So that’s the method. This is, as stated, pretty simple.

Obviously though, there are a few other means of accomplishing this.

You could use a marked deck if you wished - it just means you don’t have
to peek any cards at their face, you’ll only need to get a glimpse at your
marking. All you’d do in this situation is note the value of your top card
and, to arrive at the amount of cards cut off, simply subtract one.

I don’t use a marked deck with the Solution, my eyes are not great at
picking up tiny marks on cards and equally I don’t mind giving away an
ungimmicked deck as there is nothing to find.

If pushed to recommend a marked deck which I do like, it would be the

DMC Black and Gold Marked Deck produced by the wonderful Phill Smith
as the markings are incredibly clear and quick to read.

I would also like to note that Andy Nyman provided some inspiration for
this routine. If you haven't seen his effect ’The Code’, it is definitely worth
checking out.

Another effect I have performed is very similar to the above and is just
worth a small mention. It came from my third year of University summer
exams. I genuinely sat and cut decks of cards. I’d take a guess at how
many cards I’d cut and count them to see how close I was. I did this
obsessively over the six week revision period and became damn good
at it. Then I realized that if I put them into memorized deck order, I could
cut specifically to a card that someone named.

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My girlfriend came over later that day and I asked for a card, she named
one and I cut straight to it.

I performed the same effect a number of times and she was flummoxed.

Now, she knew most of the workings to my tricks and couldn't work
out how I could possibly be doing this one. After about ten minutes of
silence, which was rare for her, she said the deck must be gimmicked.
In her mind, I must have had special cards in place that I could cut to.

I insisted she was wrong and that it was a normal pack of playing cards.
Unsurprisingly, she didn't believe me and forced me to open a brand new
deck, subsequently demanding the same demonstration.

I explained that I probably wouldn't be able to cut to exact cards as

I wasn't completely familiar with new deck order, coming clean that I
knew the order of the deck I was previously using. She said, "Okay then,
23 cards."

I paused for a moment and said I believe that is the Ten of Clubs.

I cut exactly to the Ten of Clubs and she counted them out - 23 cards
exactly.

She still pesters me now to tell her how I did it because she doesn't
believe I posses any sleight of hand skill whatsoever... read into that
what you will.

At any rate, the above is a nice little effect that you can experiment and
practice with.

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e q u ilib riu m
Let me begin by offering a huge ‘Thank you’ to Daniel Meadows for
allowing me to put this effect In here.

This version of his effect "Equiiibrium”, released by Magic World

[www.MagicWorld.com], was something I came up with after he
performed his original version for me whilst out one evening. I highly
recommend the effect - head over and purchase it for the full routine as
I won’t go into presentation details here.

It also comes with a fantastic bit of kit that you can use for a number of
other effects.

What follows is an impromptu version of Daniel's effect for when you are
carrying the Solution.

EFFECT
The performer removes a deck of playing cards from their box and
places them on the table in front of the spectator. The performer invites
them to cut off any number of playing cards whilst he looks away asking
them to keep their cards in their palm, placing that hand under the table
out of sight.

The only stipulation the performer makes is that the spectator cuts
less than half of the deck, as otherwise the performer won't be left with
enough cards to do what he proposes.

The spectator waits until the performer’s gaze is averted and then cuts
off a small number of playing cards, hiding them beneath the table
before announcing to the performer that they are ready to continue.

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The performer turns back around and, if not immediately obvious, asks
the spectator which hand is currently holding the cards - their right or
their left.

They are asked to place their left hand out in front of them. As they do,
the performer picks up the deck of remaining cards from the table.

As the performer starts to count off cards from the deck onto the
spectator's now outstretched hand, he readjusts the height of their
hand and continues, occasionally pressing down on the cards on the
hand (this may not make much sense as written, but does if you have
purchased Daniel's effect - again, my intent is to show how this can be
done with the Solution, not to reinvent Daniel's presentation).

Looking pleased with himself, the performer discards the balance of the
pack and asks the spectator to take their cards from beneath the table,
pausing just before they have surfaced to take one final card from the
spectator's outstretched hand and placing it atop the discarded pile.

The spectator then brings her cards out from under the table and the
performer takes the cards he dealt into her open palm, inviting the
spectator to count the cards along with him, one at a time onto the
table, their actions In sync with one another. She counts her cards face
up and the performer counts their cards face down.

Much to the spectator's amazement, they stop on exactly the same

number of cards. They really are in equilibrium.

METHOD
I won't touch on the original method here but this approach works
extremely well. There is a peek involved, unless you decide to use
marked cards, in which case the method is obvious.

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The peek is sneaky, bold and blatant. I love it, but unfortunately I don’t
know who to credit it to as I have never seen anyone use it before.

After the spectator has placed the cards under the table, I normally ask
them to hold them with their right hand and stretch their left hand out
in front of them.

If you are sat down while performing, most people will simply pop their
hand up and rest it on the table - which is perfect, as the peek takes
place whilst adjusting where and how your spectator holds their hand.

So here’s the peek:

As you take the top card off of the deck with your right hand, hold it
between your index finger and thumb. Motion as though you are about
to place it into your spectator’s open palm, but just before making
contact, pause and say, “Sorry, can you just lift your hand up for me a
little more?’’

As you say this, your left hand - which holds the deck - comes down
on the side of your spectator's hand as if to steady it. Your right hand
- containing the card you intend to peek - drops under the back of the
spectator’s hand and gently pushes it upward.

As your right hand does this, your middle finger pushes down on the
back of the card you are holding, bending it into the full view of the
performer.

As you glimpse the card, release the pressure exerted by your middle
finger and the card will snap back into position.

This move is invisible as your left hand and the spectator’s palm both act
to obscure your spectator’s view of the flexed card.

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Once you’ve obtained your peek, immediately take the card and place it
directly onto the participant’s palm.

From here, the rest is a breeze. Because we are using the Solution, the
card that was peeked tells us the number of cards taken, and Is one more
than the number of cards that your spectator has cut off However, for
dramatic purposes, I normally count that exact number that I’ve peeked
onto my spectator's hand and then pause to remove one card in the final
moment as if the movement of their hand “upset my calibration’’.

If, for instance, you peeked the Four of Diamonds, you’d proceed to count
16 cards onto your participant’s palm, and then pause to remove one as
they only have 15 In their hand under the table.

To reset the deck as the cards are counted, we count them out together
- 1count mine face down and the participant counts theirs face up. Their
portion of cards goes atop mine and then it doesn’t matter whether this
packet goes atop or beneath the discarded pack on the table.

This instantly resets the deck order.

A nice little kicker is that sometimes you will end up having a matching
pair as the last card dealt when counting.

If, for instance, they cut off ten cards, when their packet is counted face
up, the last card they deal will be the tenth card - the Five of Hearts.

If you count your cards face down, when'you flip your entire packet
all the way over - so that the BOTTOM card of the pack is now facing
upward - your card will be the Five of Diamonds, a matching card.

You’ll find that when your deck starts with the Ace of Spades on the top,
there are several numbers in which this kicker option is available, those
being:

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4 cards - Two of Hearts and Two of Diamonds

5 cards - Five of Spades and Five of Hearts
7 cards - Seven of Spades and Seven of Hearts
10 cards - Five of Hearts and Five of Diamonds
11 cards - Jack of Spades and Jack of Hearts
13 cards King of Spades and King of Hearts
14 cards - Seven of Hearts and Seven of Diamonds
22 card - Jack of Hearts and Jack of Diamonds
2d cards - King of Hearts and King of Diamonds

You can remember the list above, or simply calculate whether this will
happen on the fly. To do so, simply double your participant's number in
your head and check to see if you’ll end up on a matching card.

Thanks again to Daniel Meadows.

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THE 7-ELEVEN RUN

First of all, I would Ilka to say a huge thank you to Michael Murray
for allowing me to share this routine in this book. For those of you
who don’t know him - where have you been and what have you even
been reading?!?

Not only is he a great guy, but Michael is an incredible creative force in

the mentalism world. I highly recommend any and all of his products
which are available direct from him on his website www.MindFX.co.uk.
I can't recommend him enough. He has a wonderful book out called "A
Piece of my Mind" which is jam packed full of top notch, workable effects.

This effect is one that Michael shared with me much earlier in the year
over one of our productive Skype sessions. I instantly loved the effect
and decided that, in combination with the Solution, I could achieve the
outcome with much less work.

Since then, Michael has further developed the effect and is planning to
release a version that utilizes a set of stunning gimmicks developed by
www.MagicWorld.com - this effect will be out sometime in 2016. I think
it is definitely worth checking out, as the gimmicks and handling which
you receive elevate the impact of the effect.

I think it is particularly classy of Michael to let me share this here,

especially as he is releasing a version of his own.

Thanks MIchael!

After Michael shared this effect with me, I met up a few weeks later with
Atlas at Marc Oberon's house.

We went round to share ideas and eat dinner. As most magic nights go.

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we ended up showing each other new things we’d been working on.
I decided to show them the effect outlined below. It left them struck
dumb, neither could fathom how it had happened, Atlas didn’t initially
recognize the use of the stack and every time they came up with a
method the other one would rule it out because said method couldn’t
have been done with their memory of the effect.

So I share with you the trick that fooled Atlas Brookings and Marc Oberon
- eventually, I was forced to put them out of their misery. ATLAS NOTE:
I was on the right track until Marc swore blind the whole deck had been
used - and I had to trust the man, as he is a genius with cards - my faith
in him was my undoing!! RAVEN NOTE: Love the fact you added this bit
in mate.

EFFECT
The performer selects a volunteer and begins to talk about an unusual
skill.

”lt is said that we have 5 senses: smell, taste, hearing, sight and touch.
We think of these as individual elements which allow us to perceive the
world around us. But what if they weren’t all separate? what if we could
combine a few of these senses together to create something new? Let
me show you what I mean.”

The performer hands the deck to the spectator and asks them to shuffle
the deck as much as they like. As an aside, here I know what you’re
thinking: Wait, what? Shuffle? Say what now? That’s exactly Atlas’s inner
monologue right now as he watched this for the first time.

The spectator does a fantastic job of shuffling the deck, and much to the
performer’s annoyance can handle cards better than they themselves
can. Well, better than I could anyway.

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The performer takes the deck from the spectator.

“Now, obviously there is no way that anyone here could know the order
of the cards, it should be incredibly well shuffled. Shall we see?"

The performer turns over the first card showing the spectator.

“The first card the Eight of Clubs, the second is the Ten of Hearts, the
third is the Queen of Hearts, the fourth is the Nine of Spades and the
fifth is the Ace of Diamonds - so pretty well shuffled, then. I’m going to
continue calling out cards with their position. I’d like you to remember
one of the cards as I call them out, okay?”

The spectator nods. The performer picks up the sixth card, looks at it
and continues.

“The sixth card the Seven of Spades, the seventh card is the Two of
Diamonds, the eight card the Three of Clubs, the ninth card is the Five
of Hearts and the tenth card is the Jack of Spades. Have you got one of
those in mind now?”

The spectator nods their head.

“Could you give the deck another shuffle for me please?”

As the performer hands them the deck, he continues.

“As you mix those cards, what I would like you to do is work out what the
mate of the card you are thinking of is. Let me explain how. The mate of
a card is always the same value and colour but the opposite suit. So if
you were thinking of the Queen of Hearts, her mate would be the Queen
of Diamonds. And if it was the Nine of Clubs, then the mate would be the
Nine of Spades. Do you understand?”

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TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

The spectator nods as they shuffle.

“Great, then can you work out the mate to the card you are thinking of
and let me know when you know what it is?”

“I know what the mate is," says the spectator.

“In which case, could you turn the deck towards yourself and search
through the deck to find the mate for me? Be sure you keep it to yourself
and when you have found it, take it out and hold it against your chest.”

The spectator does this as the performer averts his gaze.

"Done.”

“Okay, I'm going to keep my back to you and what I would like you to do
is to take the card you have and place it onto my extended index finger.
It might sound weird, but I am going to try and combine my sense of
touch with my sense of sight, essentially seeing with my finger. This isn't
an exact science, so do bear with me.”

The performer extends the index finger of his right hand behind his back
and the spectator places the chosen card onto the finger.

“Okay, it's beginning to come through. It's a black card.”

“Yes."

I can see Three.”

“Yes.”

“This suit is a Spade - this is the Three of Spades right?"

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TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

“Yes it is! How did you do that!?"

The performer turns around and smiles.

Okay - I'll be honest here, had they been holding the Five of Diamonds,
the conversation would have gone like this:

"Okay, it’s beginning to come through. It’s a black card.’’

“No."

“Oh - I’m sorry, I’ve got something on my finger, let me give it a clean.”

The Performer rubs their finger, and puts it back under the card.

"Yes red, I can see it now."

“I’m actually getting a lot of white here. This is a number card, and a low
card at that.”

“Yes.”

Running the index finger across the top of the card, the performer
pauses to think.

"It’s a Heart.”

“...Erm...”

“Let me clarify - The card you were originally thinking of is a Heart,

because this here is a Diamond, there are two pips at the top and at the
bottom and one in the middle. This is the Five of Diamonds, right?”

“Yes! How did you do that?!”

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And the above is the worst case scenario for this effect.

The performer turns around and his audience are astounded.

"i know that seems impossible - but that was just a warm up. You had a
card in mind earlier, the mate to the one you are holding now. It doesn’t
take a mind reader to work out that you must be thinking of the Five of
Hearts then."

ATLAS NOTE: The performer smiles at his feeble joke and waits for the
sympathy of his audience to compel them to do the same.

"Could you pop the Five of Diamonds back into the deck and give it a
shuffle for me please?"

The spectator does, and when satisfied, hands the deck back to the
performer.

"I’m going to try and use this same skill to locate the card you’re thinking
of. There is no way of knowing where it is in the pack - let’s hope it’s not
the last card I try this with.”

"I don’t want you to think I can see the cards, so I'm going to place them
into my outside jacket pocket here and also turn my head away." -

The performer reaches in to his pocket, pulls out a card and shows it to
the spectator. As he does so, he rubs his finger over the index.

“Nope.”

As he says this, the performer drops an indifferent card to the ground.

Another two cards come out and, at the fourth card, the performer
pauses.

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TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

"Can I just check I’m getting the right colour here? This is a black card,
right?”

"Yes."

"Perfect - then it’s not that one.”

Another two cards are taken out, shown and thrown away.

"Red, Diamond, lots of white, correct?"

"Yes."

The performer continues pulling out cards, speeding up.

"Three, black. Club, yes?"

"Yes."

The pace continues to build.

Suddenly, the performer stops removing cards.

"Red. Heart. Five. This is your card!"

Everyone goes crazy.

METHOD
The method for this is cheeky, and employing the Solution simplifies the
original method that Michael shared with me.

To start with, when you perform this, you will need a pocket large enough
to comfortably house a deck.

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TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

To set up for this effect, remove five cards from the deck.

The cards i use are the Seven of Spades, Two of Diamonds, Three of
Clubs, Five of Hearts and the Jack of Spades.

In the Solution system, those are the seventh through eleventh cards in
the deck. You will need to be able to memorize the cards, and so I have
chosen consecutive numbers that I can recall with ease.

I refer to this as the 7-Eleven routine, which is a convenience store in

America, and remembering it this way acts as a prompt to help me recall
which cards the effect involves. The other reason I chose this set is
because of the variety between the cards themselves, as that aids me in
the subsequent fishing for the identity of the card.

There are several other cards you may choose to use from the deck.
The other five I’ve often used in the past are 38 - 42, Queen of Hearts
to the Queen of Spades inclusive. If you are confident enough you could
actually use any five card run in the deck that you choose.

The use of five consecutive cards not only aids in memorization, but is
useful if you are asked to shuffle the deck. In my years of performing
with cards, I have only ever been directly asked to shuffle the cards
once. But by keeping the cards in consecutive order, I can simply cut my
chosen cards to the top, overhand shuffle off five cards one at a time,
obtain a break with the fleshy part of my middle finger whilst continuing
the shuffle, and palm away my selected five from the bottom of the pack
covering the motion by handing the cards to my participant and asking
them if they’d actually like to shuffle the deck themselves.

Using this approach means that if you not are already set up for this
effect, you can pocket your cards right under your audience’s noses. No
matter your situation, you can perform this at the drop of a hat.

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TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

Begin by handing the deck to the spectator and asking them to shuffle.
That’s right, your little stomach churned a little at the thought of someone
shuffling your memorized deck. Ah well, sacrifices must sometimes be
made, and - trust me - there is a benefit to occasionally mixing up your
deck, as you will subsequently need to refresh your memory by putting
it back into order, thus keeping the Solution system fresh in your mind.

Now, if you think that a layman would be able to tell that the packet they
are handed is not a full deck of cards and that there are, in fact, five
cards missing - rest assured on that count. They will not notice.

Trust me.

When I demonstrated this with Marc Oberon and Atlas, Marc handled
the cards and Atlas at the end suggested that there may have been
cards missing. Marc immediately ruled it out and swore blind that it must
have been a full deck. This guy is used to using the ’Master Deck’, which
requires a great deal of touch sensitivity (a fantastic product whose
method could be applied to the Solution - Do check it out from Marc’s
website www.MarcOberon-MagicTricks.co.uk].

My point here is that if a professional magician couldn’t feel that there

were cards missing, you won’t need to worry that a layman will.

Anyway, ask your participant to shuffle the cards as much as they would
like. Then take the deck back and casually display that the cards are
mixed. Do this by counting off the top five cards one at a time, naming
each card that you see. It’s important that you casually let the participant
see the cards that you are counting off, but don't overemphasize this
fact. Be subtle.

Congratulate your participant on mixing the cards so thoroughly and

move the cards you’ve just looked at to the bottom of the deck. Now
continue by instructing your participant to remember one of the cards

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TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

that you are about to call out.

As you look at the sixth card, keep it positioned towards yourself.

You’re going to miscall the next five cards you see as the five cards in
your memorized 7-Eleven bundle,

Now, the trick is that you’ll want your participant to choose one of the
five cards that you’re about to rattle off. There is a nice verbal ploy that
we can use to get them to select a card within the window that you are
about to offer them.

When you move from card to card, don’t use any transitional preposition.
Simply drone on from one card to the next: The Seven of Spades, the
Four of Diamonds, The Three of Clubs, the Five of Hearts AAAND The
lack of Spades.

By emphasizing and drawing out the word ‘and’, then looking up at your
participant as you call off your final card, they take the verbal clue that
we are now done looking at cards and they will select one if they have
not already done so.

Follow this by squaring and mixing up the deck, effectively hiding the
fact that you’ve miscalled the last five cards.

Now comes the really cheeky part.

As you hand the deck back to your participant and ask them to mix it
further, you continue by explaining how to find the mate of the card they
have in mind and then you ask them to look for it.

What’s cheeky about this?

Well, by asking your participant to focus on the mate to their card, you’ll

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find that as they go through the deck, their attention will be so fixed
upon finding that specific card that they will fail to notice that their
actual card is missing from the deck.

Once they’ve found their card, ask them to remove it from the deck and
place it out of sight.

Once they have done this, I don't look anywhere near where they have
placed the card so as to avoid the idea that I am looking for markings of
any description. How you present what follows is up to you.

My preferred presentation is to turn my head away, covering my eyes

with my left hand and extending my right index finger towards the
person holding the card. Michael’s original method called for your back
to be turned but this is not necessary now.

Now you are going to have to fish.

Don’t groan! Get used to fishing - it’s an incredible technique when done
well!

Now to be fair, this is actually more of an anagram of sorts... and there

you were thinking you’d got through a whole of a book with Atlas
Brookings’s name on it without anagrams being mentioned!

Rest assured, this one is easy and there are some nice subtleties built in
to cover any misses.

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This is a Sorry, i apologise, I must have had a bit of

black dirt on my finger... (wipes finger) ahh yes, red.
card...
I’m getting lots of white though, this is a
number card. It’s a diamond...
I I
/
I ♦
It’s the Five of No, the card you have
Diamonds in mind is a diamond
because this Is the
Two of Hearts

This is an It’s an odd looking card, there’s lots of colour

odd card... (erm) on it, the Jack of Clubs

/
\
I can see a -X - Yes, focusing on the suit, there are three bits,
three (•rml this is a dub.

I’m picking up on a lot of colour

I I I
/ / X i«™ i
i I ♦
This is the This is the Jack of Yes, lots of white
three of Clubs on this card, this is
spades a number card, the
Seven of Clubs

We fish using the 7-Eleven run of cards, but as we are revealing the
matched card, remember, the suits you fish for will be opposite those in
your pocket.

Remember your options:

7ofC 2 o fH 3 o fS 5 o f D JofC

The above is a guideline, and you can choose to use it as is or to develop

your own approach.

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The key here is to keep your chatter light-hearted.

If you study the above, you will see how I am delivering little lines to
cover those moments when i am wrong.

You’ll also note that when I get a ‘No’, I follow it up with something i know
completely to be one hundred percent true.

When delivering something like this, it is important to play upon your

participant’s reactions and cues.

You may ask why, if I know the Five of Hearts is likely, do I start by asking
if it’s a black card. To be honest, it’s literally so i can get the gag in about
having dirt on my finger, I would rather get that in than be 100% right
more often than not. That’s just me and my personality - again, you can
change things to suit you.

At any rate, you reveal what card your participant had removed from
the deck.

No mean feat of mind reading.

You continue by now bringing their attention back to their original card.
Have them shuffle the deck again and now that you are ’warmed up’, let
them know that you will attempt to find their card in the deck.

To do this you place the deck into y^ur pocket where the five set up
cards remain. If you were prepared for this effect beforehand, these
cards should be in order seven through eleven and facing outwards,
away from your body. If you had to pocket them on the fly, their order
will be reversed because of how you ran the cards one at a time off the
top of the deck.

Place the deck into your pocket with the deck also face outwards, so that

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TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

these five cards now sit on top of the deck.

You now begin to remove cards from your pocket, “seeing" with your
finger and ditching them one at a time.

As you reach in, occasionally you will pull off one of the cards from the
top of the deck and reveal a piece of information about it - something
like its colour, suit, or value.

It is always impressive when you are shown to be correct.

Now, because you know the order of the cards that sit on top of the deck,
you also know where your participant's card lies in that order.

It is up to you when to remove and display it - I'd suggest waiting until

you’ve revealed at least something about three of your five 7-Eleven
cards before finally handing the participant his original choice.

Thanks again to Michael Murray of Mind FX for allowing me to share this

with you.

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GO FIGURE
This it my favorite routine with the Solution.

I like it so much that I nearly didn't include it in the book.

Genuinely.

I am sat here, right on the final edit of the book and reluctantly decided
to relent and write it up.

“Stop being selfish Atlas," I’m telling myself.

Imagine handing the deck of cards to s o m e o n e a n d having them fan

through it and mentally selecting two cards. They keep the deck, but you
are able to reveal both their choices.

That’s pretty much what you do here. I have performed this constantly
since i came up with it and it just plain works. Very weil.

It blends a number of themes that make mentalism so interesting and

engaging: Reading people, and determining whether they are lying or
telling the truth.

Hand your participant the Solution deck.

Ask them to fan through it and mentally decide upon any card they like.

Once they have done so, tell them that you are going to gauge their
personality by asking them to make two snap decisions:

’’Left or Right?’’

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TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

“Left.”

"Now, quickly give me a number between one and ten.”

"Six.”

"Fascinating. Your answers have given me some insight into how you
tend to think when put on the spot. You have a playing card in mind?"

"i do."

"Now, you said ‘Left’ and ‘Six’. Please find your playing card in the deck
and count six cards to the left of it. Remember the card that lies in that
spot."

"Okay.”

"You now have two cards in mind. Your original card choice was a free
selection. Put that to the back of your mind. Your second card was
randomly chosen and, had your personality been even slightly different,
you'd have selected a different card entirely. I’ve observed how you
respond when thinking under pressure. Now, I’d like to see what you
look like when you actively think about something - when you mull over
a problem. That’s why I’ve asked you to select a second card. I wanted
a random choice to help with what we do next. I’m going to ask you do
so some simple math.”

“Uh-oh!"

"Now, don’t fret at all. This will be easy. But it is important that I observe
you as you properly think something through and math is an extremely
efficient way of making the necessary observation. Your second card
- the one that was randomly chosen. Let’s turn it into a number. For
instance, an Ace would be one. A five would be five. A Jack is eleven.

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TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

a Queen is twelve, a King is thirteen. Have you got your card’s value in
mind?"

"Yes."

"Excellent. i told you this was simple enough. Now, each suit also has a
value. A Spade is worth one, a Heart is worth two, a Club is worth three,
and a Diamond is worth four. Have you got that?”

"Yes."

“Perfect. You now have two numbers in mind - your card's value and
your suit's value. Please multiply those two numbers together."

“Okay."

"Thank you! That was perfect and gave me a tremendous amount of

information about how you think. While you were doing your math, your
breathing slowed ever so slightly, and your eyes flitted upward and to
your left. You also closed your right hand into a loose fist. The calculation
was very fast, and yet I believe you made time to double check your
answer. This was very helpful. I know, it is a bit strange having your body
language broken down in minute detail, isn’t it?"

"Yeah, a little bit."

"But you’ve been a great sport. Now, one more thing is essential. I need
to see what you look like when you"te(l the truth. I don't want to ask
any outrageous questions like you might get in a game like 'Truth or
Dare’. I don't want to ask you anything that might make you even slightly
uncomfortable. People have all sorts of unexpected triggers, and so I’ll
simply ask for something safe and mundane. When you did your math a
moment ago, what was the answer to your equation?”

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TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

"Twenty six.”

"And that, right there. Great eye contact - strong, confident tone,
shoulders back and chin slightly jutted outward. PERFECT. That's what
you look like when you're telling the truth. I know that we've only just
met. but I feel like I have a decent understanding of your tells now. Shall
we play a little game?"

"Sure.”

"Remember the card that you freely selected? Move it from the back to
the front of your mind. This was the first card in the deck that you chose.
I'm going to ask you a few questions and you can choose to lie or tell the
truth. You can lie on one question, and tell the truth on another. You can
choose to attempt to be deceitful throughout. Or, you could decide to be
unremittingly honest throughout. It is up to you. Ready?"

"Yes."

“Was your card a red card?"

"No."

"And that was a lie. You paused ever so slightly, and your tone of voice
was slightly tremulous. It is a red card. Is your card a Heart?"

"Yes."

"Another lie. There was no hesitation there, and your tone of voice was
stronger, but it was forced. You can tell because it was out of sync with
your breathing. This was rushed in response to the tells I explained to
you a moment ago. Your card is a Diamond then. Is this a picture card?"

"No.”

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“And there’s the truth. Your shoulders visibly relaxed there, almost like
the subconscious challenge and weight of deception was keeping them
tense. Okay, so this is a number card. Look me in the eyes - I’m just going
to count there from one to ten."

The performer begins counting, stopping on the number eight.

"And right there, your head has lifted up slightly - the suppressed nod.
Your card was the Eight of Diamonds?"

The participant, astonished, confirms this. If the performer likes, they can
reveal the second card also.

The performer can then repeat this presentational theme using the
"Simple Peek and Reveal"

METHOD
I hope by this stage in the game that the method is obvious to you.

You'll ask your participant to select any card they like. You follow by
asking them to choose between ‘left’ and 'right' and to give you a
number between one and ten.

The answers they provide lead them to select a second card, the choice
being made by moving to the left or right of their first card [as they
so chose) by the number between one and ten that they decided upon
earlier.

You then lead them through the mathematical process required to

arrive at a Card Value for their second card. Once you know this number,
you can combine it with their answers to your quick fire questions to
determine their original card.

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TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

For instance, in the example above, our participant told us that they'd
arrived at the number twenty-six.

We now need to consider what cards could have that card value:

26 + 4 (Diamonds) ■ No Answer

26 + 3 (Clubs) “ No Answer

26 + 2 (Hearts) -1 3

26 + 1 (Spades) ■ 26

Of the above options, we have two complete equations that we now

need to convert to playing cards; The King of Hearts (13 x 2) and the
Twenty-six of Spades (26 x 1).

Clearly, only one of these is viable.

We now know that the King of Hearts was our participant's second card.
We also know that, in order to find it, they moved to the left of their
original card by six cards.

As you visualize the spread deck, you'll see that if you choose any card in
the deck, by moving to the left, we count downward toward the first card
in the pack. By moving to the right, we count upward toward 52 - the
last card in the deck.

If our participant moved to the left of his original card, he counted

downward. By six. To arrive at his original card, we simply reverse this
process and add six to the number he has just given us.

26 + 6 = 32

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TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

We now know his original card was the 32nd card in the deck - The Eight
of Diamonds. From here, it is all presentation.

Now, sometimes we will find that we have a few cards to choose

between.

For instance, imagine that our participant tells us that their math brought
them to the number eighteen.

When we consider this, we find that the math yields two possible cards:
The Six of Clubs and the Nine of Hearts.

One is the 18th card in the deck. The other is the 51st.

We need to pump at this point and determine which of the two values
above is correct.

We proceed by explaining the lie detector game we are about to play

and ask for a warm up prior to the main event - ostensibly to “test our
conclusions" about our participant.

You’ll find that, no matter which cards you end up with, they will
invariably have differences that you can use to pump with. In the above
example, one is a red card and the other is black. One is odd, the other is
even. Other groups may allow you to pump between picture and number
cards, or a high value versus a low one. There is always a difference that
you can use to pump with:

“Right, again - feel free to lie or tell the truth. This second card you’re
thinking of, is it a red card?”

“No.”

“Okay, I think you’re lying. Your eyes flitted away and down. Was I right?”

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TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

“Yes."

Once you have “tested" your conclusions, you will know for a certainty
which card you participant is thinking of and can move on to the "main
event”.

If, for instance, we determined that our participant had been thinking of
the Nine of Hearts, and we knew that they had earlier chosen ‘Right’ and
‘Four’, we can proceed by subtracting;

51 - 4 = 47

And we would now know that the Ten of Hearts is their original, freely
selected card.

This really is a powerful piece of mentalism, and I can’t express how

much I enjoy performing this effect. The reactions are always strong, and
I love that the deck is in the participant’s hands the entire time.

It seems so impossible and leaves you looking like the real deal.

I like that.

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TH E SOLUTION :: ATLAS BROOKINGS & RAVEN GAIRLOCH

APPENDIX:THE SOLUTION DECK ORDER

Below is the order of the deck with the reason for each card position. This is a
quick guide for you to refer to should you ever need to have a quick refresher.
If you’ve turned straight to this page, the table below is self explanatory, but
I highly recommend heading over and reading through the introduction as
this gives the background to give you a fuller understanding of how the deck
functions. I personally like to see things in their simplicity - so here it is. Refer
back to the explanation to refresh your memory on the rules.

H H ACE OF SPADES 1 X 1 1
2 1 TWO OF SPADES 2 X 1 2
ACE OF CLUBS 1 X 3 3
B i TWO OF HEARTS 2 X 2 4
FIVEOFSPADES 5 X 1 5
TWO OF CLUBS 2 X 3 6
H i SEVEN OF SPADES 7 X 1 7
8 TWOOFDIAMONDS 2 X 4 8
9 THREE OF CLUBS 3 X 3 9
-1 0 FIVE OF HEARTS 5 X 2 10
11 JACK OF SPADES 11 X 1 11
12 THREE OF DIAMONDS 3 X 4 12
13 KING OF SPADES 13 X 1 U *

14 SEVEN OF HEARTS 7 X 2 14
15 FIVE OF CLUBS 5 X 3 15
16 FOUR OF DIAMONDS 4 X 4 16
17 THREE OF HEARTS 3 X 2 6 CARD PRIME • This is a nice
force card and 17 is a good
force position
is SIX OF CLUBS 6 X 3 18
19 FOUR OF CLUBS 4 X 3 12 CARD PRIME - Four is one
above Three
FIVE OF DIAMONDS 5 X 4 20
SEVEN OF CLUBS 7 X 3 21
JACK OF HEARTS 11 X 2 22
EIGHT OF HEARTS 8 X 2 16 CARD PRIME • Two Eights
left over. This is the first and
is a Heart like the Three of
Hearts at 17

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CARD X SUIT VALUE REASON

24 SIX OF DIAMONDS 6 X 4 24
25 EIGHT OF CLUBS 8 X 3 24 CARD PRIME - Second Eight
and a club like the Four at
postion 19 • both positions
are Heart then Club
26 KING OF HEARTS 13 X 2 26
27 NINE OF CLUBS 9 X 3 27
28 SEVEN OF DIAMONDS 7 X 4 28
29 ACE OF HEARTS 1 X 2 2 Second Tier 27 +(lx 2 )> 2 9
30 TEN OF CLUBS 10 X 3 30
31 ACE OF DIAMONDS 1 X 4 4 Second Tier 27 + ( l x 4 ) « 3 1

32 EIGHT OF DIAMONDS 8 X 4 32
33 JACK OF CLUBS 11 X 3 33
34 QUEEN OF CLUBS 12 X 3 36 CARD PRIME - For this and
next two Queens in CHaSeD
order
35 FOUR OF HEARTS 4 X 2 8 Second Tier 27 + ( 4 > 2 ) > 3 5
36 NINE OF DIAMONDS 9 X 4 36
37 TEN OF SHADES 10 X 1 10 Second Tier 27 + ( 10 x 1 )
.3 7
38 QUEEN OF HEARTS 12 X 2 24 CARD PR IM E-Q ueen it

39 KING OF CLUBS U X 3 39
40 TEN OF DIAMONDS 10 X 4 40
41 FOUR OF SPADES 4 X 1 4 Third Tier 37 + ( 4 x l ) . 4 1
42 QUEEN OF SPADES 12 X 1 12 CARD PRIME - Queen it

43 SIX OF SPADES 6 X 1 6 Third Tier 37 + ( 6 x l ) < 4 3

44 JACKOFDIAMONDS 11 X 4 44
45 EIGHT OF SPADES 8 X 1 8 Third Tier 37 + ( 8 x l ) . 4 5
46 NINE OF SPADES 9 X 1 9 Third Tier 37 + ( 9 x l ) . 4 6
47 TEN OF HEARTS 10 X 2 20 Kind of third tier, actually
second tier meaning 27 + ( 1 0
X 2 ) . 47
48 QUEEN OF DIAMONDS 12 X 4 48
49 SIX OF HEARTS 6 X 2 12 Third Tier 37 + ( 6 x 2 ) . 49
50 THREE OF SPADES 3 X 1 3 FourthTier47 + ( 3 x l ) > 5 0
51 NINE OF HEARTS 9 X 2 18 No reason just the only one
left over
52 KING OF DIAMONDS 13 X 4 52

11 7