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Author: Rick Carruth

The unbelievable story of Matthias Buchinger, 18th century polymath, magician and artist..

The unbelievable story of Matthias Buchinger, 18th century polymath, magician and artist..

Ricky Jay is one of the greatest sleight-of-hand artists in the world, which is to say that he deals in deception, misdirection and the seemingly impossible. His shuffles can leave aces congregating at the top or the bottom of the deck depending on his requirements, and he will even deal from the middle if needed. Once asked, in a New Yorker profile, if there are people who still play cards with him, he replied, “Sure. Silly people”, and plenty of his most honest skills are so astonishing that they still have a touch of artifice to them. For many years, the climax of a performance has seen Jay throwing playing cards with such force that they will penetrate the “thick, pachydermatous outer layer” of a watermelon – a fruit that he often prefixes with the term “his majesty”. It should not be too surprising, then, that having finished Jay’s latest book, a biography of the 18th century magician, musician and calligrapher Matthias Buchinger, I raced online to see if there was any truth in the tale I had just read.  Read more…

http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2016/04/unbelievable-story-matthias-buchinger-18th-century-polymath-magician-and

World Poker Tour to begin shot clock this month..

World Poker Tour to begin shot clock this month..

The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino of Hollywood, Florida has been playing host to the World Poker Tour Hard Rock Poker Showdown since the 31st of March. Game play has continued over the past few days with this Friday marking the beginning of the Showdown, which will have a $3,500 buy-in. While the tournaments are big news, it is the introduction of a shot clock that has been getting all the buzz. Later this month, the WPT will finally begin using an action clock which will help streamline game play.

Mike Sexton, a top poker pro and announcer for the World Poker Tour, has been calling for an action clock for some time. According to the poker pro, in more than 90% of poker hand decisions, the choice can be made within the time that will be offered on the action clock which makes the game more fun for the players, dealers and those watching.  Read more…

https://news.worldcasinodirectory.com/world-poker-tour-to-begin-shot-clock-this-month-25577

No sleight of hand: At 85, they’re still making magic together..

No sleight of hand: At 85, they’re still making magic together..

Three minutes of magic on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1967 changed Dick and Joanne Gustafson’s lives forever.

Both 85, they now tour suburban senior centers and school assemblies instead of the European night clubs of their heyday. But their flame burns as brightly as it did when they performed “Magic by Candlelight” on national TV nearly 50 years ago.

Dick Gustafson was a career research chemist at Rohm and Haas, doing magic as a hobby, when fate changed his focus from reality to illusion.

“I married a chemist, but I got a magician,” Joanne Gustafson said, smiling at her husband of 62 years in their cozy Horsham living room.

“She has said that for a million years,” he said. “Then she usually says, ‘Where did I go wrong?’ ”

Read more at –  http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20160405_No_sleight_of_hand__At_85__they_re_still_making_magic_together.html

What The Shrunken-Finger Illusion Reveals About the Brain

What The Shrunken-Finger Illusion Reveals About the Brain

There’s a popular and simple magic trick involving multiplying balls: The magician holds a ball, usually red, between her thumb and index finger. They flick their wrist and suddenly, a second ball appears between their index and middle fingers. They keep on flicking and balls keep on appearing..

The secret is simple: the first “ball” is really an empty hemispherical shell, with the second ball nesting inside it. When the magician flicks their wrist, they roll the second ball out of its shell. With a few flourishes, they can then load the third and fourth balls into the shell, before rolling them out in turn. Audience members automatically assume that the empty shell is a full sphere, because it’s indistinguishable from one when viewed from the front.

But there’s more to the trick than that, says Vebjørn Ekroll, a psychologist at the University of Leuven in Belgium. We deeply, strongly, resolutely perceive the shell as a sphere because our brains create a full representation of the ball. The hypothetical back half that we cannot see feels as real as the front half that we actually can.  Read more..

http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/04/what-the-shrunken-finger-illusion-reveals-about-the-brain/477288/