# What's up with this card trick?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-card-trick/332637>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 25, 2005, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-card-trick/332637 "2005-11-25T01:23:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Tweek239](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@Tweek239](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tweek239)\
**Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-card-trick/332637/1 "2005-11-25T01:23:01Z")

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O.k. Go to this site and do what it says (It dosen’t take long, promise.) If you know exactly how this works please tell me cuz I am baffled. Thanks 🙂

[http://www.btinternet.com/~appleby.manor/andy/ajsdocs/ajsprank/carda.htm](http://www.btinternet.com/~appleby.manor/andy/ajsdocs/ajsprank/carda.htm)

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**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\
**Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-card-trick/332637/2 "2005-11-25T01:24:42Z")

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Easy. All the cards in the second viewing are different from those in the first.

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**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\
**Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-card-trick/332637/3 "2005-11-25T01:25:28Z")

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Look closely. All the cards are changed.

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**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-card-trick/332637/4 "2005-11-25T01:26:49Z")

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Simple. NONE of the cards in the second set are present in the first set. In other words, it starts out with 6 cards being displayed, then displays 5 completely new cards. So, of course, the card you chose disappears.

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**Author:** ![Tweek239](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@Tweek239](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tweek239)\
**Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-card-trick/332637/5 "2005-11-25T01:36:35Z")

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Oh, jeez. Duh. Now I see. You do realize that I feel like a moron now for not realizing this sooner. Thanks anyways 🙂

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**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-card-trick/332637/6 "2005-11-25T01:51:08Z")

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If it makes you feel any better, it’s specifically designed to be difficult to figure out–otherwise, it wouldn’t be much a trick. First off, the very premise of the trick is to get you to concentrate on only one of the cards, so that your mind is only tangentially aware of the other cards, anyway. Further, the replacement cards on the next page are similar enough in suit and value distribution so as not to be obvious that none of them have the same suit AND value as the originals. All you really notice is that YOUR card is no longer there.