I recently read the introduction for the Dover edition of Expert at the Card Table by Martin Gardner. He says that his real name was Milton Franklin Andrews. According to Gardner, Andrews was a prime suspect in a murder who committed suicide at age 33. Gardner also talks about how much Erdnase didn't include in his book. The picture on page 19 doesn't explain the correct technique for the slip cut and the text doesn't match the picture. Gardner also says that since Erdnase's bottom deal method is somewhat challenging and weird that he could have done that on purpose so that people wouldn't be able to perform it. The same can be said about his bizarre shifts. It also says that he got caught cheating on a ship using the spread method which isn't described in the book.
So my questions are:
How does Mr. Gardner know Erdnase's identity when all the threads on this site say no one knows?
Why did Erdnase omit material from his book?
What is the spread technique that he used?
So my questions are:
How does Mr. Gardner know Erdnase's identity when all the threads on this site say no one knows?
Why did Erdnase omit material from his book?
What is the spread technique that he used?