Ender's Review: DeLand's Marked Deck

In here you'll find rabbits in hats and aces up sleeves.
User avatar
EndersGame
Member
Member
Posts: 1450
Joined: Fri Mar 24, 2017 12:26 am
Cardist: Yes
Collector: Yes
Player: Yes
Magician: Yes
Has thanked: 521 times
Been thanked: 1181 times
Contact:

Ender's Review: DeLand's Marked Deck

Unread post by EndersGame »

DeLand's Marked Deck (= DeLand's 100 Dollar Deck & DeLand's Automatic Deck)

An ultimate trick deck that is a timeless classic

Overview


This deck can be found under a variety of names, because it has a long history. It was created by Theodore De Land more than 100 years ago in the early 1900s, and the fact that it is still being published today is a testimony to its ongoing popularity and effectiveness as one of the ultimate trick decks. You'll see it sold under the name "De Land's Original $100 Deck" and also as "DeLand's Automatic Playing Cards" - these are the same deck, but there are differences in quality, which I'll cover later.

Image

But first, what's so special about the deck? Well De Land's deck is different from your average deck, because it contains a variety of secrets that will aid you to performing a whole bunch of amazing tricks that would never otherwise be possible. Best of all, you do not need to learn any complex moves that take a long time to learn. These all can become almost "automatic" once you know the secret!

To give you an idea of how powerful this deck is, check out this promo video here from the publisher. It has to be one of the most elaborate and highly produced trailers for a magic effect, and is a story all on its own. But the good part is the final half of the video, where you'll see a stunning routine that is easily possible with this deck.



Box

The tuck box is a simple box, with a blue colouring over the whole box, and the name of the deck on the front, which is not ideal as it does seem partly suspicious, but nothing gives anything totally away of the true nature of the deck. The front features a simple floral pattern or Ace of Spades (depending on which version you have), and the back of the box shows the back design of the cards. Having the name of the deck (whether "De Land's 100 Dollar Deck" or "DeLand's Automatic Playing Cards") on the box is somewhat unfortunate, because it can arouse suspicion or generate questions from your audience. But if you bring the box out quickly your audience won't have time to think about it. You could always use a different tuck box if you really had to.

Image

Cards

The back design of the cards is composed of a series of circles, creating a very interesting back - and these also do a good job of hiding the clever marking system. The faces of the cards are all entirely standard except the Ace of Spades, which is just a large and simple ace, and the two Jokers, which feature the head of a Joker in black and white. This all creates a very simple and usable deck of cards that is not likely to raise suspicion amongst the audience.

Image

The Secrets

First of all, this is a stripper deck of cards. That means that one end of the deck is shorter than the other, allowing a card to be placed into the deck the opposite way to then be "stripped" out of the deck with ease, making finding a spectator's chosen card extremely easy! This is a very effective and helpful tool for a magician, and definitely one you should try out! No complex sleight of hand is needed, making this ideal for the beginner magician to learn to use as well.

Secondly, the cards are marked. This allows the magician to be able to identify any card in the deck just by looking at the back of the card. The marking system is extremely subtle, meaning that the audience will have no way of knowing what the card is from the back, allowing you, the magician, to have an easy advantage over them. This allows you to be able to know their card without having to rely on fancy and difficult moves that you normally might need as a magician.

Image

Also, there is a third marking system which allows you to be able to know how many cards the spectator has cut, and how many cards are left in the deck. This requires you to have the deck in a specific order, but this order also allows you to do a variety of other effects, which can be strengthened even further by the fact the deck is marked.

All of these marking systems are extremely subtle, and it is very unlikely that the spectator will figure them out, unless they are told. The way they are used is simply by dots which will be meaningless to the spectator unless they know the secret. Once you as the magician however know the secret, you will find using these marking systems very easy!

Image

Instructions

All versions of the De Land deck come with printed instructions that give a simple rundown on the main marking systems, as well as how to use a stripper deck.

But there is also an online link which takes you to a place on the publisher's website that has a variety of resources for the De Land deck, including how to read the marking system, set it up in a special order, as well as a number of tricks you can quickly learn to perform with the deck. Included as part of these online materials is a PDF file that has detailed instructions about how to use the deck and its marking system.

Image

Tutorials

The online video tutorials are quite extensive, with no less than ten different videos. While they don't have verbal instructions, they feature extensive annotations and very clear images.

The first couple of videos teach you how to set up the deck in a very easy-to-follow way, and explain the concept of a stripper deck, and how to use it to control cards in the deck.

The teaching videos about the marking system are very good, and you shouldn't have any difficulty learning how to use the marking system, and to use it to learn the identity of the top or bottom card of a deck. There's a video teaching how to read the backs of the cards, and another video explains how to identify the bottom card. These are also well made, and with the help of a number of examples, will leave you able to read the marking of the backs in no time!

Two other videos teach how to know how many cards were cut, and how many cards are left in the deck. Like the other videos, the teaching here is easy-to-follow. Using the marking of the deck to know exactly how many cards there are leaves you in a very powerful position! It makes a great trick in itself, because it appears that you can really guess how many cards are in a small stack, which a wonderful effect! The marking system to do all this is ingenious because it is well hidden, yet easy to read.

Image

Other videos teach how to instantly name the location of any card in the deck. The spectator names a random card, and you will be able to say exactly how many cards down the card is! This is a truly amazing trick, and due to these magical cards, you don’t need any fancy moves to do it! Also taught is an effect where you can name every card in another person’s hand. This is a great effect because you can have the spectator choose some cards and you will easily be able to name them! Both these tricks are easy to learn due to the video and the qualities of the deck.

Two final tricks teach you how to deal out a royal straight flush, or a perfect bridge hand. These two effects are great to perform on poker or bridge players, as they will see them as truly impossible and amazing. Again, like all the effects, the videos teach these well, and with the cards you will be able to perform these effects easily. Although I wouldn't recommend doing this right before a game of poker or bridge!

Image

Effects

Using the skills you've learned from the tutorials, you can perform a wide range of stunning effects. The PDF that is available for free download with the deck has some nice bonus routines created by card magician Simon Lovell. These include The Memory Man, Am I Crazy or Not, Gotcha, It's A Match, Oh So Sneaky, Number, Reversed Card, Amazing Reversal, and A Fun Little Betcha, so you'll have plenty of material and ideas to get you started.

You can see Simon do a quick demo with the deck in this video trailer from the publisher here:



For some more effects and introductions to the deck, check out another short videos from the publisher here, plus a couple of more overviews here and here, and a nice routine here.

Versions

Different versions of this deck are available, and the main difference is the quality of the cards included. "De Land's 100 Dollar Deck" is the best one to get, because its cards are printed by United States Playing Card Company (USPCC) on high quality Bicycle stock. This means that they are like a standard Bicycle deck of cards that you might already own, but they just have many more magical elements built into them! These cards should last a long time and you will find that they spring, shuffle, fan and spread well, so it is not a deck that feels bad in your hands!

A cheaper quality deck was produced under the title "DeLand's Automatic Playing Cards". This has cards printed in China, and they don't handle or perform nearly as well. If you have the choice, I'd recommend getting the USPCC produced deck instead. The "De Land's 100 Dollar Deck" also has the advantage that it is comes in a special pre-arranged order, and extra gaff cards that you can use to perform the Million Dollar Monte (an effect De Land called "Pick It Out").

The cheaper version is readily available online for under $10, but in my opinion it's worth spending the extra to get the higher quality "De Land's 100 Dollar Deck" that was printed by USPCC, since these cards will be more durable and handle better.

Image

Recommendation

The DeLand deck is an absolutely amazing deck of cards that is a great addition for any magician. I can recommend it to anyone interested in card magic, and whether you are a relative beginner or a more advanced magician you'll find it to be a powerful tool that can work wonders. It is wonderful for beginners because it gives you a great starting point for some easy and truly amazing magic, and you get a whole series of tricks that can be learnt with the deck. More experienced magicians will be able to use it to perform miracles otherwise not possible with sleight of hand, and when used in conjunction with ordinary decks, will seem truly impossible.

There's a good reason that DeLand's marked deck has remained popular for more than a century, and I highly recommend it.

Image

Want to learn more?

Publisher's pages:
- DeLand's 100 Dollar Deck
- DeLand's Automatic deck (Blue)
- DeLand's Automatic deck (Red)
- DeLand's Marked deck

Amazon:
- DeLand's 100 Dollar Deck
- DeLand's Automatic deck (Blue)
- DeLand's Automatic deck (Red)
- DeLand's Marked deck
--
BoardGameGeek reviewer EndersGame => Playing Card Reviews <=>Magic Reviews <=> Board Game Reviews <=

Image
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 41 guests