Expert at the Card Table
- Thread starter MaryD3
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The Expert at the Card Table is a book published in 1902 by an anonymous character who many believe to have been E.S. Andrews. Other theories about who the authors true identity are floating around. However, to answer your question succinctly The Expert at the Card Table is often referred to as the Bible of card mechanics. It contain two main section Artifice(Cheating at Cards) and Legerdemain. Inside The Expert at the Card Table you will find moves such as the Second Deal, Bottom Deal, Palming, various Shift, Transformations etc. The final part of the book is devoted to teaching you various card tricks. As Jason England puts it , it is not a book for a raw beginner but anyone hoping to progress beyond that stage will have to read it. I hope this helps!! 
The material taught is probably intermediate - but the book itself is written in an odd way, archaic even for its time, so learning from the book is a bit advanced.
Thanks guys for the replies. I watched Richard Turner’s documentary and he talked the expert at the card table as well as his deals are legendary, so I just wanted have a chance at being to be able to perform deals and other sleights
@ChristopherT nailed it. If you are starting out, there are better sources to learn from. If you do get the book, I'd recommend getting Vernon's Revelations or Ortiz's Annotated Erdnase. That takes the book and provides some context and analysis.
This is going to be rambly, I'm sure.
Vernon said, paraphrased, "No book will reward the dedicated student more, or the casual reader less" about EATCT. I agree to an extent. This is a book that has to be studied, not just perused. I read it cover to cover twice before I even studied any sleights with cards in hand. Because I had a feel for how he/they wrote, it was easier to understand what they meant in specific descriptions.
But I also think times have moved on and the book isn't necessarily the revolutionary gem it may have been at one time. Techniques have advanced, playing cards have advanced. If I were to label something as the best source for a foundation in card magic today, I'd say Card College. That being said, I'm not focused on cards these days and I haven't been for years.
The reason I think every serious card worker should read and study this book is because it shows the genesis of so much of what's on the market today. You study this book and say, "Oh, that looks like XYZ I just saw released on a download."
I think two big things influenced the writing style of EATCT (And these are purely speculation, I have no data to back it up): 1) That was kind of the style of writing for magic books at that time. Other books I've read from that period have similar styles. 2) I think Erdnase was trying to sound more educated and eloquent than they actually were.
Vernon said, paraphrased, "No book will reward the dedicated student more, or the casual reader less" about EATCT. I agree to an extent. This is a book that has to be studied, not just perused. I read it cover to cover twice before I even studied any sleights with cards in hand. Because I had a feel for how he/they wrote, it was easier to understand what they meant in specific descriptions.
But I also think times have moved on and the book isn't necessarily the revolutionary gem it may have been at one time. Techniques have advanced, playing cards have advanced. If I were to label something as the best source for a foundation in card magic today, I'd say Card College. That being said, I'm not focused on cards these days and I haven't been for years.
The reason I think every serious card worker should read and study this book is because it shows the genesis of so much of what's on the market today. You study this book and say, "Oh, that looks like XYZ I just saw released on a download."
I think two big things influenced the writing style of EATCT (And these are purely speculation, I have no data to back it up): 1) That was kind of the style of writing for magic books at that time. Other books I've read from that period have similar styles. 2) I think Erdnase was trying to sound more educated and eloquent than they actually were.