If Erdnase was all about doing things the ``natural way" then why does he teach bottom dealing and second dealing with a very unnatural grip.
I have seen all laymen deal cards with 4 fingers on the side of the deck. I learn't magic with cards holding the deck with forefinger at front and 3 fingers on the side. It might seem that for the laymen my way of holding the deck was very unnatural.
Was it common in his time to hold the deck with 2 fingers at the front ? Dai Vernon in the Revelations video series tells us that this grip is the ``mechanic's grip" and it was used to guard against the ruse of edge marking important cards such as aces. By holding the two fingers at the front the front short end of the deck was hidden from view.
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First of all, you have to take the times into account; Erdnase played long before the internet, house procedure, or any of that shit. There was no one accepted way of dealing cards, especially if you were playing with people like Erdnase, who was more or less a grifter. You would probably see many different ways of shuffling, dealing, and checking your cards in those games.
As Darwin Ortiz remarks in The Annotated Erdnase, the boxed/Erdnase grip somewhat resembles the protection grip used in casinos now in order to thwart edge markings and some daub scams; so it's hardly some sort of designated cheaters grip.
Magicians are too quick to dismiss Erdnase grip or modified Erdnase grip deals because they think of them as a "tell" for other magicians. By the way, for reference the mechanics grip is with one finger on the front edge or outer right corner, and three fingers along the side.
First of all, you have to take the times into account; Erdnase played long before the internet, house procedure, or any of that shit. There was no one accepted way of dealing cards, especially if you were playing with people like Erdnase, who was more or less a grifter. You would probably see many different ways of shuffling, dealing, and checking your cards in those games.
As Darwin Ortiz remarks in The Annotated Erdnase, the boxed/Erdnase grip somewhat resembles the protection grip used in casinos now in order to thwart edge markings and some daub scams; so it's hardly some sort of designated cheaters grip.
Magicians are too quick to dismiss Erdnase grip or modified Erdnase grip deals because they think of them as a "tell" for other magicians. By the way, for reference the mechanics grip is with one finger on the front edge or outer right corner, and three fingers along the side.
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