Mitch:

Regarding gaffs overall......

On second thought, as you are a beginner in magic with an obvious interest in card effects, you may want to give some thoughtful and serious consideration to learning classic sleights with cards, too.

In my humble opinion, even though gaffs can be phenomenal, skill with sleight of hand with cards will almost always be a stonger ally in a lifelong quest for your performing the "greatest card trick ever".

Yes, this takes time, dedication and lots of practice.

Do I think that the time taken by me and by other magicians to learn these skills using sleights with cards is well spent? Absolutley, yes.

And trust me, I just love using gaffs and I have some of the best card gaffs ever made, by the late Neil Lester of Cards by Martin, who made me many, many incredibly high quality, absolutely impeccable custom card gaffs. Neil's work was simply stunning.

Mitch I just thought I'd toss my 2 cents in for you learning card sleights as well as using gaffs.

Food for thought for a new magician.....

Thank you Rainboguy for your advice!

And thanks to everyone else as well!