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November 2, 2007

Strange But True!

Q. We don't advocate this because it's unethical, or worse, you could wind up on Boot Hill. But let's say you want to deal yourself all four aces in a deck of cards, surreptitiously of course...

A. You'll need to practice up on your “perfect shuffle,” where you cut the pack exactly in half and then interleave the cards one after the other, says Prof. Persi Diaconis in “New Scientist” magazine. Magicians are able to do this, so why not you? Now if you can set the deck with all four aces on top and shuffle it perfectly, the aces will be every second card. Shuffle it again and they'll be every fourth card. “If I were a crooked gambler and dealt four hands, I'd get the aces. Gamblers have been writing about what they can and can't do with a perfect shuffle for 300 years.”


 
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