Phantoms of the Card Table: Confessions of a Card Sharp (Paperback)

~ David Britland (Author), Gazzo (Author) "A deck of cards is the perfect tool for deceit..." (more)
Key Phrases: gambling supply houses, card peek, outer right corner, New York, Walter Scott, Dai Vernon (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Walter Irving Scott may have been the greatest card shark ever. In 1930, Scott bamboozled a room full of New York's finest card manipulators by dealing himself winning poker hands from a shuffled deck, one of his many tricks. He liked to say that he "cheated the cheats." His skill with cards was extraordinary and he soon became known as "The Phantom of the Card Table." That's why Gazzo, a magician from England, decided to track Scott down some 60 years later. The two became friends and Scott openly discussed his work with a view to its finally being published. "I don't care what you say," said Scott, "as long as you tell the truth." This is the truth about Walter Irving Scott and other phantoms of the card table who spent years practicing a craft they rarely talk about - cheating at cards. A special chapter revealing master card tricks is also included.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Running Press (March 24, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568582994
• ISBN-13: 978-1568582993
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #412,252 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Now I will read Erdnase, June 17, 2004

By	Jason Barbour (Westminster, MD United States) - See all my reviews

Enjoying the occasional game of poker myself, I was immediately interested in this book on card cheats and their techniques. This book begins with a discussion of some of the original sleight of hand artists that were considered experts in their days. There is also a large wealth of information on the book, life, and mystery of S. W. Erdnase, author of "The Expert at the Card Table." From there, the main character, Walter Scott is brought into the book as the greatest card manipulator there was. It was interesting reading about the abilities of this man, but what was equally interesting was leaning about the correspondence, jealously, and relationships that existed between magicians and manipulators.

The middle section of this book introduces the co-author Gazzo and his pursuit to find Walter Scott. Fortunately, for the book, he does and the real Walter Scott is finally revealed. Perhaps the best part of the book is reading how Scott viewed his friendship and rivalry with magicians, his abilities, and his career choice as a cheater and musician.

The book concludes with a reprint of many of the techniques that Scott employed such as the second and bottom deal, peek methods, and his guarded edge work. While I fiddled around with the techniques, I am still unable to perform any of them correctly.

This book is a great for anyone interested in cards, magic, or con men. After reading it you feel you want to know more about the techniques, and that is my reason for purchasing the Erdnase book often referred to as the best card manipulation book ever.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Phantoms of the Card Table - a masterpiece, November 17, 2003

By	TJO' (Guelph, ON Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Phantoms of the Card Table (High stakes: Cards) (Hardcover)

This is not really a book for absolute beginners, and it's important that you have read "Phantom of the Card Table" (no "s" after Phantom) if you want to understand it.

This book is amazing. It's not entirely a historical book, and not entirely a technique book, it's a bit of each. I won't write what it's about, you can read that above somewhere. You will read things about some of the greatest card magicians that you did not know. If you have an involved knowledge of card sleights, you will be tipped off on some of the most subtle yet powerful work ever used. If you own the original "Phantom of the Card Table", you will learn about the information that Scott HELD BACK from McGuire, tiny details that were hugely important to his system, stuff that would freak most magicians and laypeople out, because it's been largely forgotten.

Scott was an interesting man, he lived quite a life! And Gazzo is my new hero, and not simply for his magic, but because of his experiences and what he went through to meet Walter Scott and write this book. I learned things about him that i just didn't know. The last section of this book was heart wrenching, i cried as i read it. Gazzo rules and deserves a very high place in magic history/present/future. Thanks to Britland and Gazzo, this book reads like a brilliant piece of fiction, but the fact is that it actually happened, and this makes it all the more amazing. It would make one helluva film.

Every card magician who cares about the history of the art should own this book and re-read it at least once a year. It's that important.

5.0 out of 5 stars I Could Not Put Down This Book, June 5, 2008

By	Daniel F. Dattomo "Daniel F. D'Attomo" (Chicago, Illinois) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I could not put down this book. I read it at home, at my Son's swim meets, in the car and on my lunch break. I am an amateur magician and I bought this book for the sleight of hand teaching it contains. Instead, I was totally fascinated by the history presented therein on Dai Vernon, Walter Scott and Eddie McGuire. This is a must-read for those who want to quickly pick up the history of close-up magic and of the obsessive behavior of both the magician and the card cheats from whom they learn their craft.

Daniel F. D'Attomo, Esq.