Phantoms of the Card Table, David Britland and Gazzo

David Britland and Gazzo
Phantoms of the Card Table
Confessions of a Cardsharp

Walter Irving Scott may have been the greatest cardsharp ever. In 1930, Scott bamboozled a room full of New York's finest card manipulators by dealing himself winning poker hands from a shuffled deck, one of his many tricks. He liked to say that he "cheated the cheats." His skill with cards was extraordinary, and he soon became known as "the Phantom of the Card Table."

That's why Gazzo, a magician from England, decided to track Scott down some sixty years later. At first, Scott was hesitant to admit he was the elusive Phantom, but the two became friends, and Gazzo became Scott's only student. Scott eventually discussed his work with a view to it finally being published. "I don't care what you say," said Scott, "as long as you tell the truth." This is the truth about Walter Irving Scott, and other phantoms of the card table, who spent years practicing a craft they rarely talk about … cheating at cards.

Since card cheats rarely boast of their triumphs, at least not within earshot of the public, it has been left to magicians such as David Britland and Gazzo to document their techniques. In Phantoms of the Card Table: Confessions of a Cardsharp, they show us a world rarely witnessed by outsiders. Professional cardsharps manipulate games, tables, and crowds around the world, usually unnoticed. Moves such as "The Master Second Deal," "The Top Card Peek," "Scott's Punch," and "The Bug" — one of the best weapons for a lone card cheat — are outlined in the book.

As Scott told Gazzo, "It isn't enough to be able to do the moves well: you have to know why they work." The system Scott devised was never a random selection of moves. The secrets rest in knowing not only how to perform these moves to get away with them, but also when to use them. Pull a clever move too quickly, and people are bound to get suspicious. You're in the hands of an expert now, so pay close attention, it might just save you some money.

David Britland is the author of numerous books and articles on magic and mind reading including Chan Canasta: A Remarkable Man and The Mind and Magic of David Berglas. He works as a writer and consultant specializing in the art, craft, and psychology of deception.

Gazzo is an expert magician with a specialty in cons and scams. He grew up in England, but moved to the U.S. in the mid 1980s where he earned his living as a street entertainer. It was there that he met the legendary Walter Irving Scott, and became his only pupil, studying and perfecting the art of the second deal and other card sharking skills.

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