Introduction: The Secret to Performing the Jesse James Card Trick The Jesse James card trick is a simple trick to learn. You must tell the following story, or a reasonable facsimile of this story, prior to handling the cards: Jesse James is playing five card stud poker in a saloon with six other players. Jesse has been winning most of the hands, and he has not lost a single hand that he has dealt. Therefore, the other players are mad at him and assume Jesse is cheating, especially when he is dealing the cards. The next time it is Jesse s turn to deal, the other players tell him they figure he is cheating and that he is going to deal this hand with a new deck of cards. Prerequisites:. A new deck of playing cards or an existing deck of cards rearranged in the order of a new deck of cards, as seen to the right. - 1 -
You must know: How to cut a deck of cards: Remove any number of cards from the top of the deck and place them at the bottom of the deck. That five card stud requires you to deal cards to each player in turn. Deal the first one down, and after each player has one, continue with the next round, placing the card face up. Then a round of betting occurs, the next round of cards is dealt face up, and so on for a total of five cards. Normally the last four cards are dealt face up, but to show the trick, continue to deal the cards face down with no betting delays while telling the story. How cards are dealt: Start dealing to the player on your left and proceed clockwise around the table until everyone has a card, and then repeat this procedure four more times. How to Do the Jesse James Card Trick: A. Opening moves 1. Tell the story from the Introduction. 2. Pull out a new deck of playing cards or a deck arranged in the order shown in the Prerequisites. - 2 -
3. Remove the Jokers from the deck. (There should be two at the end of a new deck of cards.) B. Preparing the deck 1. Tell the audience that the other players produce a new deck of cards and that they further tell Jesse that they are going to cut the deck and he will deal the cards without shuffling them. 2. Explain that you are playing for all the other supposed players. Then tell your audience that the first player agrees to make a cut, and then you cut the deck for the first player. - 3 -
3. Repeat step 2 for the second, third, and fourth players. 4. Announce that the fifth player agrees to make a cut, but look at the bottom card on the cut when you make the cut (the card lifted off the deck). 5. Follow one of the two options in the table below: If the card at the bottom of the cut is: an ace, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, or nine a ten, jack, queen, or king Then Announce that the sixth player has decided the cards have been cut enough. Announce that the sixth player agrees to take a little cut and only cut five or six cards. 6. Report that the last player to cut the deck (either the fifth or sixth player, depending on the result of step 5) hands the deck of cards to Jesse. - 4 -
C. Dealing the cards 1. Now you are acting as Jesse. Deal one card to each of the seven players, starting with the player to your left. (Six players plus Jesse) Do NOT deal more than one card to each player on this first round. 2. Deal a second card to each player, but not to Jesse. 3. Now, deal a second card to Jesse off the bottom of the deck. - 5 -
4. Deal a third card to every player, including Jesse. 5. Deal a fourth card to every player except Jesse. 6. Now, deal a fourth card to Jesse, off the bottom of the deck again. 7. Deal a fifth card to every player, including Jesse. At this point, each player should have five cards. 8. Set the deck of cards on the table and proceed to the instructions for the big finale. D. The Big Finale 1. Tell your audience that the other players know Jesse cheated somehow, so they decide to compare hands. 2. Turn over the first player s hand to reveal a full house (three of a kind and two of a kind). 3. Repeat step 2 for players two through six, revealing that they all also have full houses. - 6 -
4. Announce that at this point the other players assume Jesse has dealt himself a hand that will beat a full house. Simulate the motion of someone pulling a gun from a holster and announce that the player s draw their guns on Jesse and tell him not to touch his hand. 5. State that the players order Jesse to deal the top five cards off the remaining deck and that those five cards will determine who wins the game, not the hand that Jesse dealt to himself. 6. Deal the top five cards off the remaining deck to reveal a straight flush for Jesse, which beats all of their full houses. 7. Turn over Jesse s original hand to reveal that it would not have beaten the full house that was dealt to all the other players. - 7 -