Bricks
My first marked deck of playing cards was DeLand’s Automatic Deck. At the time, I knew very little about presentation and the deck had an unusual back design making it very suspect. The designer of the deck, Theodore DeLand, had a very interesting life. He is accredited as the inventor of packet tricks.
I stayed away from marked cards for many years because I didn’t find a marked deck that I liked to work with. Not until I discovered the Ultimate Marked Deck (Bicycle Back), did I start using marked cards in routines. The only drawback was the cost per deck. I have also purchased Madison Dealers Marked Cards, Ellusionist Bicycle 1800 Series Marked Cards and Ellusionist Bicycle 1900 Series Marked Cards. All of these decks are at price points that I can’t bring myself to treat the cards as carefree as an ordinary deck of cards.
Then came along a marked deck of cards offered by Penguin Magic. A Maiden Back deck that’s priced very close to a standard deck of cards. My first concern was that the markings were not adequately concealed. To my pleasant surprise, not one spectator has caught on to the fact that these cards are marked. I’m sure that selection of effects and presentation has something to do with it.
All of this being said, I purchased two “bricks” (one red and one blue).
