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Steve Brooks Founder / Manager Northern California - United States 3780 Posts |
Darwin Ortiz makes his living with a deck of cards. As an entertainer and expert consultant he has performed on every continent except Antarctica.
At an age when other children were learning to play marbles, Darwin was learning how to manipulate a deck from the card "mechanics" in his South Bronx neighborhood. Eventually, he left New York University Law School to pursue his interest full time. Darwin practices religiously six hours a day, wearing out over five hundred decks of cards each year. Through his dedication, he has brought the art of sleight of hand to a new level of perfection. Many of the techniques he employs in his performances have never been duplicated. Magician: As the world’s greatest card manipulator, Darwin has been a featured performer at magicians’ conventions in the United States, England, Portugal, Argentina, and Japan, and has lectured on sleight of hand before countless magicians’ groups in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, England, and Scotland. He is listed in both Who’s Who in Magic and The Encyclopedia of Magic and Magicians. Entertainer: As a sleight-of-hand entertainer, Darwin Ortiz is constantly in demand to appear at corporate and private functions. His clients include IBM, Silicon Graphics, Purolator Courier, Aetna Insurance, Price-Waterhouse, the Pentagon, the senior management of the McDonald’s Corp., and a $2,500-a-plate dinner for the 2001 Presidential Inaugural Committee. His venues for corporate clients include conventions, banquets, hospitality suites, and management retreats. Media Personality: Darwin Ortiz has been featured in the New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Las Vegas Sun, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Atlantic City Press, Omni, Penthouse, and over forty other publications. He has appeared on over seventy television and radio programs, including The CBS Morning Program, shows on NBC, HBO, CNN, CNBC, A&E, The USA Network, The Learning Channel, and both America’s Most Wanted and Britain’s Most Wanted (as an expert on card cheating—not as a fugitive). He has also been featured on national TV in France and Argentina and BBC-TV in England. Casino Consultant: As the world’s foremost expert on crooked gambling, Darwin frequently conducts seminars for gambling casino managements and police agencies. His law enforcement clients include the NJ Division of Gaming Enforcement in Atlantic City, and the LAPD, for which he made a training film on the subject. He has also testified as an expert witness in casino cheating cases. His casino clients span five continents and include Hilton, Caesars Palace, and the Trump casinos. He has been a featured speaker at the World Gaming Congress in Las Vegas, the National Conference on Gambling sponsored by the University of Nevada, and the International Conference on Gambling in London. His overseas clients include casinos in England, Scotland, France, Spain, Belgium, Greece, Turkey, Slovenia, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Kenya, the Dominican Republic, and the Bahamas. Author: Darwin’s book Gambling Scams has been widely hailed as the definitive work on crooked gambling methods; it is presently being used as a reference and training tool by casinos in a dozen countries. He is also the author of Darwin Ortiz on Casino Gambling, and was technical consultant on Playboy’s Treasury of Gambling. His weekly column "Casinos" ran in the Philadelphia Daily News. He has been a writer, columnist, and contributing editor for several casino industry magazines. In addition, Darwin has written several books for magicians, regarded as must have titles for any magic library. They include Strong Magic, Cardshark, The Annotated Erdnase, At the Card Table, and his new release Scams & Fantasies. Gambler: Despite his skill at card manipulation, as a gambler, Darwin relied on his head rather than his hands. He belongs to MENSA (the high IQ organization) and has a photographic memory and a mathematical aptitude among the top 1%—qualities that made him a highly successful blackjack player until he was barred by all the major casinos. Darwin Ortiz is truly unique: an artist, an expert, and an unforgettable entertainer.
"Always be you because nobody else can" - Steve Brooks
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The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » The January 2003 entrée: Darwin Ortiz » » Darwin Ortiz: A small biography » » TOPIC IS LOCKED (0 Likes) |
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