I am really interested in how you would go about memorising a stack. How do you guys approach this?

a. Just remember it, its easy
b. mnemonics ie Using connected images with the cards in the same way that you would for a memory test (which is the way I am thinking about doing it for instant recall)
c. another way ie Cheating because you are blessed with a photographic memory

And on that subject:

What are your favourite whole pack intact false shuffles?

Hmm, looks like this thread has a lot on the subject

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......2&24

I just learned it by brute force. I made up flash card out of a deck of cards (wrote the numbers of the back of the appropriate card), and then started with the first five cards of the stack. I'd go through them in order, testing myself by first looking at the faces and getting the numbers, then by looking at the numbers and trying to recall the faces. Then I'd go through them backwords, doing the same thing. Then I'd shuffle and repeat, then I'd shuffle face-up and face-down and repeat. Once I could do that easily, I'd do the same with the next five. Then I'd add those five to the original five and do the same process on all ten. I'd work through the whole deck this way. I spent about 10-15 mins a day like this (generally in spurts of several minutes each), and in about two weeks I was set. This was about four years ago, and I still remember the stack (though it's not up to performance speed right now, a quick review should get me there).

Best tabled false shuffle, IMO, is the Zarrow. In the hands, a simple false overhand shuffle works, or you could learn something like the Heinstein shuffle, if you wand a riffle shuffle.

-Jim

My answer is:

b. menomics ie Using connected images with the cards in the same way that you would for a memory test

First, I learned pegs for 1-100 (OK, for cards, you're only going to need 1-52). Instead of the traditional card images (4H is "hare" or "hair", etc.), I used Bob Farmer's card mnemonics (click highlighted text for link).

I found the Bob Farmer mnemonic easier, because you didn't go through the trouble of reversing the card name, and then changing it to a mnemonic equivalent. They just "sound" like the cards they represent.

While there are several good ways to get to a memorized deck, I like the mnemonics method because mnemonics are so generally useful. They're a little extra trouble to learn, but their flexibility is worth the extra trouble.

Brute force - you'll be surprised how quick it is to learn this way.

Make sure you have a look at the thread as mentioned above:

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......2&24

If you simply just want to memorize a pre-set stack then try
Doug Dyments "Quickstack" it can easily be learned in under an hour..half an hour if you try.

Howard

I just remember the stack. It's very, very Easy to remember the stack once you get the hang of it.

I have to agree with Scott on this. Anything by Bob Farmer is worthy of your attention. The site Scott referenced is a fantastic resource. I wish he had kept it secret. Peruse all of this site...

Brian B

I used the mnemonics that Simon suggests in 'Bound to Please'. My feeling is that everyone's brains are hard wired to handle certain tasks more or less effectively. Numbers are very abstract concepts. Some people are better equipt to organize their thoughts which are condusive to memorizing these abstractions. Myself, I am more of a language oriented person. Images, which mnemonics utilize are more effective for me to visualize.
Is one better than the other? Ideally I would have liked to use a brute force method. Mnemonics helped create a structure in my brain which does not organize numbers that effectively.
I use the Heinstein shuffle and Dan Garrett's shuffle with my memorized deck work.
Hasta, Ed

I used also just Brute force and it is not as difficult as it may sound to some of you. Before cellphones people could easily remember 50 to 100 telephone numbers. 52 Cards is not so difficult.

The false shuffles I use are Heinstein shuffle, Zarrow shuffle and Variation of my friend Jari Santalas false shuffle.

Thanks a million for the Bob Farmer webpage link!

I think I'm going to go down the menomic route because it lends itself to so many other uses once I've done it

For instance, with the pegs I have already, I could remember an entire pack of 52 cards that someone actually shuffled and just read out. My problem has always been giving each card an identitiy, and Bob's method seems to do that as close as it can

When you guys were learning your card mnemonics, did you just write the names of the cards on the cards themselves to start with? No ones mentioned that...

For me, brute force was the way to go, but I suppose it depends on the individual.

For those who haven't seen it, StackView is a free software package that helps with stacked decks. The recent version has a "quizzer" that can help you test your knowledge of any stack. You can find it at http://www.stackview.com
Nick

I'm using brute force too, adding just a few cards per week as I'm not in a hurry!