Hustler’s Monte – Steve Johnson

This is a commercial, four-card street hustle that has been a closing effect in Steve’s close-up act for a quarter-century.

Effect: This is the classic “Monte” style street hustle. The magician removes a small packet of cards from a wallet. He counts the four cards showing red backs on one side and then turns them over and fans the cards showing the faces to be a red nine and
three black twos.

The hustler tells his marks that the object of the game is to follow the nine, but try as they might, the audience members can’t seem to keep track of the nine. The hustler tells the crowd that he will make the game easier by placing a paper clip on one of the twos. The cards are mixed again and the paper clip winds up on the NINE! To make the game “easier” the hustler removes one of the twos from the game by placing it back into the wallet. The remaining cards are mixed again. When the three remaining cards are displayed, they are all twos, and the nine has appeared in the wallet instead.

The hustler tells the audience that he will “explain” the trick to the crowd. He closely shows the red back of the nine to the audience, telling them that it is actually a marked card.

No one can see the mark.

The hustler puts the nine face up on the table and deals the three twos face down, showing their red backs. “Compare the Nine to the
Twos,” says the hustler. When the audience turns the nine over they are stunned to see
that it’s back is now BLUE!

“See?” says the hustler, “A marked card.”