Price$59.99
Media TypeDVD
CategoryGambling
Date AddedJun 02, 2014
Mechanic
Daniel Madison
Ellusionist
(Based on 1 review)
This DVD set is a treatise on the techniques used by Daniel Madison to put food on his table for years, as a professional card cheat caught up in the underground circles of London's criminal underbelly.
Every day and every dollar made it harder to get out of the racket he fell into - until a simple slip at the table took the decision out of his hands - and nearly cost him his life.
During the weeks in hospital Madison made the conscious decision to shift from card mechanic to Deception Artist. Now a reformed card cheat, Daniel meticulously teaches the handling, dexterity and psychology of deception with playing cards, step by step.
Over two and a half hours of invaluable advice, theory and method taught by a man in the unique position to have lived the life, each move seized from the cold school of experience.
Daniel learned the hard way so you don't have to. Add Mechanic to your cart NOW and benefit from his hard won experience.
Disclaimer: This is not a DVD on Card Tricks. This is detailed teaching of the actual skills used to illegally and unethically win money in illicit card games through the use of cheating. As study of this material has the potential to turn you into a successful card cheat, we must ask that any use of these techniques at the card table be for entertainment purposes only. Neither Daniel Madison nor Ellusionist can be held responsible for the consequences of cheating or unlawful gambling.
Reviews
(Top ▲)
I’m not sure what I think about Daniel Maddison. I enjoy watching him work but for me his products are very hit and miss. His style is a little rough and edgy I guess it works for him but I don’t feel like I carry an edgy style well.
I didn't get a lot out of Mechanic. Most of the stuff you learn is in Expert at the Card Table an Expert Card Technique. I think that the grips and deals taught in these classics are far superior to what is taught by Daniel Madison. The shuffles and cuts are also found on his Vimeo page for free. It's always helpful to see somebody perform these moves.
My biggest problem with the DVD is that he acted to some extent like the reason that we would purchase this DVD would be to cheat in scenarios similar to what he had. There are two things wrong with this. First, cheating is wrong so don’t do it. Second, the moves taught here are way too dangerous to use in most games and wouldn’t help you anyways if you could pull them off. The majority of techniques used by successful advantage players go completely unmentioned here so we are left with Daniel Madison’s versions of old fassioned, overly complex methods of cheating that are taught better, in my opinion, in other places.
Daniel Madison's magic is totally cool and creative, his gambling moves are, in my view, less practical and desirable than the moves taught in the classics.
DISC 1:
The intro is biographical. Daniel talks about his tough past and why he got interested in in cards and dealing. This was interesting and I liked how he touched on his sources of inspiration.
Fair Dealing: Madison goes over the madison grip in this section and underlines why it is important for you to find a grip that fits you. He also really emphasizes some point on fair dealing that are rarely talked about.
Bottom Dealing: Madison is skilled at bottom dealing but I don’t like his style much. In order to hide the movement he insists on adding a small rocking motion. Most who have some knowledge in false dealing consider to be a fairly classic “tell”. He gives some good pointers here and there highlighting a couple points that I haven’t thought about but I dislike his approach to the deal over all.
The Greek Deal: This is a less popular deal than the bottom deal but very deceptive. It is the act of taking the second to bottom card rather than the bottom card. This is a good move that could be used to simulate a center deal. Madison gives some pointers that can be applied to other grips
The Second Deal: Madison teaches the strike second deal here. This is one point where I feel like Madison’s approach to cheating misses something. Erdnase mentions that the second deal would be used in conjunction with some sort of peek or marking system. Madison on the other hand rushes through the second deal because he says that he prefers to control the cards that he wants to the bottom setup for the bottom deal. Unfortunately he doesn’t go into great detail on how to get the cards you want to the bottom of the deck. His argument is decent for why not to do it but I don’t see a solution for the problems he proposes included in the DVD.
False Overhand Shuffle: The version he teaches here is identical to what is taught in Royal Road. Madison performs it and teaches it well. It is completely false. He mentions that everyone uses an overhand shuffle I think that there is a little bit of a cultural difference here, in my experience it is more common to see a regular riffle shuffle.
Vice Shuffle: This is also completely false. It is Madison’s original shuffle and I like it. It’s a flourishy way to do an in the hands riffle shuffle. He teaches this on his Vimeo channel as well as this DVD.
False Table Shuffle: Here he teaches a quick sequence of false shuffles. He gives a good reason to learn a solid sequence here and his thoughts are great here. Included in the sequence is a running cut, a push through shuffle, and a false tabled cut
The Coat Shuffle: This is solid and has become my go to false shuffle. It should be noted that it is heavily based on the Zarrow shuffle and is available for free on his Vimeo channel.
DISC 2:
The Madison Shift: Is a tabled pass. It is fairly bold but usable at a card table.
The Frank Hop: This is a nice tabled shift. It is taught on his Vimeo channel.
The Covert Table Pass: This is a pass that would work great at a table because it happens directly after a spectator cut.
The Stalling Pass: This is a very bold move and there are a few ways to do it out there. Daniel teaches a solid way to do it.
The Poor Man's Punch: This is a marking technique that is not used very often. It is one of those things that is very old but as magicians do it today it seems completely fresh.
The Squeeze Shift: This is Madison’s version of the Diagonal Palm Shift. He doesn’t really cover how this would help you cheating but I can easily see how this would be used in magic as a control to the bottom of the deck.
The Cop Shift: This is a squeeze shift that ends in a gambler's cop. If you are familiar with Madison’s work he loves the cop and his work on it here is some of the best stuff on the DVD in my opinion.
The Drop Cop: This is a move that looks great. The hands are shown empty and without the deck contacting the card you are able to palm the bottom card. It is very bold but it looks sooo good.
The Top Cop: This is cool but it is very bold. Like I said Madison loves the cop and this is a creative solution for specific problem but it is very difficult.
O.T.T Deck Switch: This is a fairly classic way to ring in a cooler. It’s not the best out there but it is okay.
Muck Shun: This is a classic mucking technique, it is fairly bold but it is not incredibly hard to learn.
If you like gambling moves and are finding that Erdnase is too cryptic this may be the DVD for you. For me personally I found it kind of redundant as many of the moves he taught are either in Expert Card Technique, Expert at the Card Table or available on Madison’s Vimeo page for free. I didn’t feel like there was enough new information or insights that warrant such a high price. I disliked that he continually called attention to magicians learning techniques in the wrong places especially when I believe that in the classic books you can learn most of the techniques he taught and avoid the problems with his technique.
I didn't get a lot out of Mechanic. Most of the stuff you learn is in Expert at the Card Table an Expert Card Technique. I think that the grips and deals taught in these classics are far superior to what is taught by Daniel Madison. The shuffles and cuts are also found on his Vimeo page for free. It's always helpful to see somebody perform these moves.
My biggest problem with the DVD is that he acted to some extent like the reason that we would purchase this DVD would be to cheat in scenarios similar to what he had. There are two things wrong with this. First, cheating is wrong so don’t do it. Second, the moves taught here are way too dangerous to use in most games and wouldn’t help you anyways if you could pull them off. The majority of techniques used by successful advantage players go completely unmentioned here so we are left with Daniel Madison’s versions of old fassioned, overly complex methods of cheating that are taught better, in my opinion, in other places.
Daniel Madison's magic is totally cool and creative, his gambling moves are, in my view, less practical and desirable than the moves taught in the classics.
DISC 1:
The intro is biographical. Daniel talks about his tough past and why he got interested in in cards and dealing. This was interesting and I liked how he touched on his sources of inspiration.
Fair Dealing: Madison goes over the madison grip in this section and underlines why it is important for you to find a grip that fits you. He also really emphasizes some point on fair dealing that are rarely talked about.
Bottom Dealing: Madison is skilled at bottom dealing but I don’t like his style much. In order to hide the movement he insists on adding a small rocking motion. Most who have some knowledge in false dealing consider to be a fairly classic “tell”. He gives some good pointers here and there highlighting a couple points that I haven’t thought about but I dislike his approach to the deal over all.
The Greek Deal: This is a less popular deal than the bottom deal but very deceptive. It is the act of taking the second to bottom card rather than the bottom card. This is a good move that could be used to simulate a center deal. Madison gives some pointers that can be applied to other grips
The Second Deal: Madison teaches the strike second deal here. This is one point where I feel like Madison’s approach to cheating misses something. Erdnase mentions that the second deal would be used in conjunction with some sort of peek or marking system. Madison on the other hand rushes through the second deal because he says that he prefers to control the cards that he wants to the bottom setup for the bottom deal. Unfortunately he doesn’t go into great detail on how to get the cards you want to the bottom of the deck. His argument is decent for why not to do it but I don’t see a solution for the problems he proposes included in the DVD.
False Overhand Shuffle: The version he teaches here is identical to what is taught in Royal Road. Madison performs it and teaches it well. It is completely false. He mentions that everyone uses an overhand shuffle I think that there is a little bit of a cultural difference here, in my experience it is more common to see a regular riffle shuffle.
Vice Shuffle: This is also completely false. It is Madison’s original shuffle and I like it. It’s a flourishy way to do an in the hands riffle shuffle. He teaches this on his Vimeo channel as well as this DVD.
False Table Shuffle: Here he teaches a quick sequence of false shuffles. He gives a good reason to learn a solid sequence here and his thoughts are great here. Included in the sequence is a running cut, a push through shuffle, and a false tabled cut
The Coat Shuffle: This is solid and has become my go to false shuffle. It should be noted that it is heavily based on the Zarrow shuffle and is available for free on his Vimeo channel.
DISC 2:
The Madison Shift: Is a tabled pass. It is fairly bold but usable at a card table.
The Frank Hop: This is a nice tabled shift. It is taught on his Vimeo channel.
The Covert Table Pass: This is a pass that would work great at a table because it happens directly after a spectator cut.
The Stalling Pass: This is a very bold move and there are a few ways to do it out there. Daniel teaches a solid way to do it.
The Poor Man's Punch: This is a marking technique that is not used very often. It is one of those things that is very old but as magicians do it today it seems completely fresh.
The Squeeze Shift: This is Madison’s version of the Diagonal Palm Shift. He doesn’t really cover how this would help you cheating but I can easily see how this would be used in magic as a control to the bottom of the deck.
The Cop Shift: This is a squeeze shift that ends in a gambler's cop. If you are familiar with Madison’s work he loves the cop and his work on it here is some of the best stuff on the DVD in my opinion.
The Drop Cop: This is a move that looks great. The hands are shown empty and without the deck contacting the card you are able to palm the bottom card. It is very bold but it looks sooo good.
The Top Cop: This is cool but it is very bold. Like I said Madison loves the cop and this is a creative solution for specific problem but it is very difficult.
O.T.T Deck Switch: This is a fairly classic way to ring in a cooler. It’s not the best out there but it is okay.
Muck Shun: This is a classic mucking technique, it is fairly bold but it is not incredibly hard to learn.
If you like gambling moves and are finding that Erdnase is too cryptic this may be the DVD for you. For me personally I found it kind of redundant as many of the moves he taught are either in Expert Card Technique, Expert at the Card Table or available on Madison’s Vimeo page for free. I didn’t feel like there was enough new information or insights that warrant such a high price. I disliked that he continually called attention to magicians learning techniques in the wrong places especially when I believe that in the classic books you can learn most of the techniques he taught and avoid the problems with his technique.