- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: High Stakes Publishing (10 Jan 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1843440032
- ISBN-13: 978-1843440031
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,467,303 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"There isn't a card player who wouldn't cheat, if he knew how." - Walter Irving Scott, The Phantom of the Card Table
Product Description
Walter Irving Scott was the greatest man ever with a pack of cards, so said Max Holden, writing in The Sphinx magazine, an exclusive journal for magicians. This was in 1930 after Scott had bamboozled a room full of New York's finest card manipulators by dealing himself winning poker hands from a shuffled deck. He liked to say of himself that he "cheated the cheats." His skill with cards was extraordinary. He was elusive too, and soon became known as The Phantom of the Card Table. We all have a sneaking admiration for the man who can deal from the bottom of the deck and get away with it. That's why New York's finest magicians gathered to watch Walter Scott and later paid generously to learn his methods. And that's why Gazzo Macee, a magician from England, decided to track him down some sixty years later. To his utter surprise, he found him, living in a retirement home in Rhode Island. The two became friends and Scott openly discussed his work with a view to it finally being published. "I don't care what you say," said Scott, "as long as you tell the truth." This then, is the truth about Walter Irving Scott and those other phantoms of the card table who have spent years practising a craft they rarely talk about, cheating at cards.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
A deck of cards is the perfect tool for deceit. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
A deck of cards is the perfect tool for deceit. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
phantoms of the card table,
By A Customer
This review is from: Phantoms of the Card Table (High stakes: Cards) (Hardcover)
a great read and insight into the world of bygone card masters,all the topnames get a mention vernon,scarne,and miller not forgeting mr scott assteve forte calls him,it leaves you to judge for yourself if it was a windup what happened at al bakers house in new york in 1930 or not,was walterirving scott the greatest card man ever? if so why did he wait till diavernon was out of town before he did his stuff?gazzo does a great job hereas he new mr scott but let s the reader decide.well worth the money.mustbuy.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.7 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews) 14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Phantoms of the Card Table - a masterpiece,
By TJO' - Published on Amazon.com
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. 9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Book I've Ever Read on the Subject of Cards,
By ed accivatti - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Phantoms of the Card Table (High stakes: Cards) (Hardcover)
David Britland and Gazzo have done a teriffic job of putting together a really original book on card cheats and tricks. It makes me completely hesitant to ever play cards with strangers again! The fact that these people dedicate their lives to perfecting the arts of cheating and card sharping, and the extent of their skills, is completely foreign to most players. The detail in the book highlights the best cheaters and cardsharps of all time, including "The Phantom of the Card Table", Walter Irving Scott. A must-have for any card player, gambler or aspiring magician.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I Could Not Put Down This Book,
By Daniel F. Dattomo "Dan" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Phantoms of the Card Table: Confessions of a Card Sharp (Paperback)
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. |
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
