Chris Ferguson card trick at 2004 WSOP - Page 2

Cyrus · #11 04-13-2005, 02:16 AM

I have no idea what can be the purpose behind Chris Ferguson's trick! If it's entertainement, the ratio of effort to effect is pretty high. If it's for some practical purpose, it entirely escapes me.

Blackjack card counters have come to realize that, against the multi-deck games, simpler is better, counting-wise. Link Accordingly, the most popular count systems today are the HiLo and the Knock-Out, the latter being a running count system too (i.e. there's no dividing the count by the number of remaining decks). Even a kid can do that.

Daliman · #12 04-13-2005, 02:27 AM

[ QUOTE ]
I have no idea what can be the purpose behind Chris Ferguson's trick! If it's entertainement, the ratio of effort to effect is pretty high. If it's for some practical purpose, it entirely escapes me.

Blackjack card counters have come to realize that, against the multi-deck games, simpler is better, counting-wise. Link Accordingly, the most popular count systems today are the HiLo and the Knock-Out, the latter being a running count system too (i.e. there's no dividing the count by the number of remaining decks). Even a kid can do that.

[/ QUOTE ]
The purpose behind his trick is IT'S A TRICK!

PygmyHero · #13 04-13-2005, 12:51 PM

So I tried this trick the other day. I actually went through the deck faster than Jesus appeared to because I thought that my short term memory would only last for so long.

After I flipped out all the cards I had the rank within 10 seconds. The suit took a little bit longer, but I was sure it was a black card that was missing. I basically guessed on the end and ended up getting it (I think I was better than 50-50 there).

To be honest it didn't seem that hard to me. I didn't use any counting method, I just allowed myself to memorize every card that fell.

I know, I know...its only one time and its a fluke, right? Probably. But immediately after naming the missing card I was able to recite large portions of the deck in order.

It seems like a lot of good 7 card stud players should be able to do this without counting.

goodFlop · #14 04-13-2005, 09:29 PM

pygmehero: You must have a very good memory to do it without card counting technique. My brother managed it once too some how.

For me, the modulo 13 method works; (A=1,2=2,...,K=13; add the ranks modulo 13 so that your running count is always between 1-13; another counter for suits) ....

just work out some details

PygmyHero · #15 04-13-2005, 11:57 PM

Okay, so I just tried this again. I actually was able to get it again. I had the rank of the card again almost instantly after finishing but the suit was hard for me. I took an educated guess and actually hit it again, but this time I think I was only 30-40% to get it. I was much more confident the first time.

I paid more attention to what I was thinking about this time and it was mostly stuff like, 'okay that's the fourth king so I know its not a king.' Which would obviously explain why I have more trouble with the suit.

I don't know, maybe I'm just getting lucky. I really was surprised to hit the suit (also I seem to be having trouble keeping the spades and clubs straight in my head).

I might try a counting method later - I'm kind of curious about that.