Riddle of the Day :: Dividing the Deck Into Stacks

Vorezo

Elite Member
Mar 21, 2009
334
6
Here's how it works. There are ten face up cards in the deck. When you count out ten cards to the table, you will get X number of face cards in those ten. So, there will be 10 - X cards left in the remaining 42 cards. Let's say it was 3 face up cards counted in the ten dealt to the table, that would leave 7 in the remaining 42 cards. If 3 of the 10 cards counted are face up, then seven are face down. When the pile of ten is flipped over, you now have seven face up cards in the pile of ten and in the pile of 42.
Sounds right to me!
 
Jul 10, 2010
21
0
The obvious method is to hire Rick Smith Jr. to come out and start throwing cards at people. Then when everyone is distracted, david blaine goes back in time using his powers he learned in a mountain in Tibet. He looks at the order of the cards comes back and tells you how to do it.
I'm suprised no one has thought of this, it's ingenius
 
Oct 15, 2008
826
0
Tennessee
You do the Intense Chris Angel "im about to make something magical happen" face, wave your hands over the cards and make them turn into jelly beans. Problem solved
 
Feb 16, 2009
217
0
South Bend, IN
JB, You should have mentioned that this is a puzzle that needs some mathematical thinking. Calling it a riddle makes people think of "out of the box" solutions which can be interesting but are all wrong. I think Wildereachday is the only one who got it right.
 
May 8, 2008
1,081
0
Cumbria, UK
JB, You should have mentioned that this is a puzzle that needs some mathematical thinking. Calling it a riddle makes people think of "out of the box" solutions which can be interesting but are all wrong. I think Wildereachday is the only one who got it right.

See, I think the mathematical answer is the most...riddle-esque answer. The others all (or almost all) require knowing something, or require a certain level of skill, or something, whereas the mathematical answer could be worked out without any extra knowledge.
 
Feb 16, 2009
217
0
South Bend, IN
See, I think the mathematical answer is the most...riddle-esque answer. The others all (or almost all) require knowing something, or require a certain level of skill, or something, whereas the mathematical answer could be worked out without any extra knowledge.

See, you are never actually going to lock yourself in a dark room with a pack of cards mixed face up and face down and try this sort of thing. The whole idea of such puzzles is to give your brain something interesting and fun to do. Think of it as a thought experiment. Whatever other skill/extra knowledge you are referring to is moot. The mathematical solution is elegant, straightforward and doesn't require extra assumptions (like whether the cards are curved in a particular way).
 
May 8, 2008
1,081
0
Cumbria, UK
See, you are never actually going to lock yourself in a dark room with a pack of cards mixed face up and face down and try this sort of thing. The whole idea of such puzzles is to give your brain something interesting and fun to do. Think of it as a thought experiment. Whatever other skill/extra knowledge you are referring to is moot. The mathematical solution is elegant, straightforward and doesn't require extra assumptions (like whether the cards are curved in a particular way).
That was my point. Most other answers require extra knowledge or assumptions, and therefore I think the maths way as the way to do it.
 
Sep 26, 2007
591
5
Tokyo, Japan
Wildereachday got it right. If you haven't read his answer, go back and read it.

This is the premise to an amazing prediction/ mentalism trick that I do (taught to me by Mr. Chang). Very hard hitting.
I will give you the effect, you guys try to work out the method =)

A deck is handed to a spectator and the spectator is asked to take out a handful of cards, any amount between maybe 15 and 20 cards (this is just an average amount). The rest of the deck is discarded and not looked at. The spectators pile of cards is shuffled and the spectator is asked to deal out a certain number of cards and give them to the magician to keep as his pile. Amazingly, the amount of red cards the magician holds is the exact same number of black cards that the spectator holds, matching the magician's prediction. The spectator is reminded that he did all of the shuffling and dealing, and that he chose the original pile of cards.


Great trick =)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Searching...
{[{ searchResultsCount }]} Results