I believe that dave hawkins pro english magciian uses one as my sister seen him

http://www.david-hawkins.co.uk

I've found the Svengali Deck to be a useful tool.

I still do the rokie mistake. I believe that part is the most delicious part of the food. I start Svengali deck performance with taking out the deck from pocket saying "This is a very special cards and a very special thing will happen". If you tell it is a special deck at first, spectators can't suspect it a special deck as you already admitted.

Hideo Kato

I sold more than 50,000 Svengali Decks at Tokyo Disneyland magic shop with that patter and know it works. But it might depend on personal showmanship.

Hideo Kato

P.S.
My name must be between two paragraphs.

Its also cool to cop 26 cards from a normal deck and then do a perfect faro with 26 Svengali cards.. it appears liek ur just shuffling but ur makin a Svengali deck on the moment try it., hope you like the idea

Cool idea!

Mr. Don Driver uses this as a pitching item, as I am sure you know! It is a great little deck that I enjoy having, even though I do not use gimmick decks so often...

--Tanner

A friend of mine won our local close-up contest doing a Svengali pitch (can't remember which one it was) it was very entertaining.

Another guy in the club fried the lot of us performing a triumph routine with a Stripper deck.

I personally don't use them but like Mr. Davidson said (not a direct quote) they are tools. If I ever need one of these particular tools I won't hesitate to use one.

Jered S.

Not garbage, never were, never will be.
The Svengali will absolutely crush the unsuspecting. That includes you.
The Stripper is still, card for card, one of the strongest decks in the world to use.
Just because everyone in the world might know how they're made, that doesn't mean they know when they are being used.

I have to say that with Svengali deck you can do miracles!!! I use it more than three years and if you perform in a right way nobody can suspects me. I love this deck!

I love the Svengali deck...they have made me a living for 30 years and still do.
Don

Wow its been a whiles since I checked this post. And I guess since the overwhelmign view is taht these decks are good I must be wrong. I am somewhat new to magic, (1.5 years.). The thing to stripper decks is that there isn't much you can do with it that I cant already do. Locate a card and get it to the top(wow). I just pinky break and do a super clean, super fast pass. Ive seen the triumph routine with a stripper deck and it by no means meets up to any of the 3 I do. All I'm saying is that I havent seen anything great you can do with a stripper deck that I can't already do with a normal deck. It may be harder but I already know the hard moves. The Svengali Deck is soo well known to laymen that I wouldn't use it in my table hopping. Even if only 1 in 20 says "oh I got one of those decks from the magic shop when I was little." But then again I don't know of any good tricks to do with a Svengali. could someone give me a description of a solid routine with a Svengali and it may change my mind.

Don Driver sells a DVD with his complete Svengali Pitch routine, look HERE.

If you buy it and watch it, you will see that there are plenty of things you can do with a Svengali Deck that can't be accomplished with a regular deck. However, that's not the point, as many others have noted. The trick is to learn to shuffle and handle a Svengali Deck just like a normal deck, so that so one suspects you're using it. Then you blow them away with it. For many good Svengali handling tips, see Mark Lewis' booklet, "The Long and Short of It," look HERE or HERE. SETH

If you take the time to learn a good deck switch (provided you're using a matching Svengali Deck after having used a freely handled 'fair' deck), you can absolutely slay magicians with it.

If you don't want to perform for magicians, that's OK. Switching out the deck slays laymen as well.

Don't discount or reject this item based on an initial impression.

As many have said on here, 'it's a tool.'

I own both a Svengali and a Stripper deck, and while I use them from time to time, they're not a part of my standard shows. I very seriously doubt that "all working magicians use them".

As has been stated before, they're tools, and they have their place. However, the tricks I do with them are totally different than what your average Joe does with a Svengali ...

Toy around with it and see what you can come up with. You might like it, or you might just stick it on your shelf and never touch it again. Either way, it's not whether the decks in question are garbage, but whether they fit your style and can be worked into your routine.

If you use Bicycle back cards the laymen will not know. It's that simple. Do an effect where the spectator can handle cards. Use a deck switch to get the Svengali. I have used this on other magicians and it works.

If you use decks that are unusual backed. It will always raise suspicion.

The Svengali deck is most certainly NOT garbage. All above are correct when they said, like so many other props, including regular decks, it is a tool to be used. I have pitched Svengali decks at flea markets and street fairs for years. It is a very salable item.

That said, I always have a Svengali deck with me when table hopping or doing close up. I will often have two decks so that the selected card changes from table to table. As long as you don't run the deck "all the same" and handle it well, no one will ever suspect. There are times, however, when I can’t resist turning the entire deck to their card. The look on the spectator’s face is priceless.

I recommend Don Driver's video on pitching the deck. Mark Lewis' booklet, "The Long and Short of It" will teach you things you never thought you could do with a Svengali deck including ribbon spreads and fans. I personally like the Svengali better than the mirage deck. But that is a personal preference. A good friend of mine swears by the mirage deck and even gave me a couple of them a while back to convince me of its superiority. I still like the Svengali.

Deck switches: I put it in my left pocket and take it out of my right. As long as something happens in between no one will pay attention. I have been doing this for years. Imagine my surprise when Aldo Columbini demonstrated the "deck switch" in his lecture. I guess I am in good company.

Like anything else, to do it well the Svengali deck requires practice. That is the difference between an amateur and a pro. A pro will hone his craft and constantly strive to perfect it. An amateur will have it out of the box for five minutes and run off to show someone a trick. Like the TT & silk, the Svengali deck has been exposed and over-exposed in the past. However, they are both wonderful tools and will fool even those that think they know.

I think it's also worth noting that while a Svengali Deck may not be the greatest magic trick in the world [OK, so it's only the second best trick in the world(!)], it can and has served as a good introduction to magic for millions of people.

Plenty of kids who started with a Svengali Deck were then motivated to hit the public library or the Internet and start exploring the world of magic. In this respect, the Svengali Deck has also served as a good "magic ambassador" for many years. And as overdone as it may be, there will always be a new generation of kids for whom it is unfamiliar and a new experience -- and that's good news for us Svengali pitchmen! SETH

As many others have already stated, the Svengali deck is a great tool. It's only garbage in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to use it. Using it to simply force a card opens up a world of possibilities.

No-sleight Card Stab. Riffle-force (or just let them cut, if you have somebody who you have noticed always cuts by the ends). Shuffle. Wrap the pack in paper. Have them stab with a letter opener. Presto, they have literally "cut" to their card. Clean, fast, immediate reset, a freakin' miracle, and nobody ever suspects TV Magic Cards!