After years of using it to fool magic’s brightest minds, Craig Petty has finally released his groundbreaking solution to one of magic’s most iconic challenges.
Since being first introduced by David Berglas in the 1950s, the concept of a perfect Any Card at Any Number (ACAAN) has fascinated and perplexed magicians. Also known as The Berglas Effect, this holy grail of magic is where a freely-named card is shown to reside at a freely-named number in a deck of cards. They say a card. They say a number. And, with no tricky moves, that card is shown to be at that number in a deck of cards.
While the effect is simple to describe, creating a viable method has been a challenge countless magicians have attempted to conquer. While some have been quite successful, it often come with some sort of caveat that strays away from the simplicity that makes Berglas-style effects so fascinating.
Then, in early 2021, Craig Petty made a novel discovery that allows any magician to perform a routine that is about as close to the legendary Berglas Effect as we've ever seen on a mainstream level. Most importantly though, its not some convoluted impractical solution. This is an easy-to-do, incredibly fooling routine that works every time.
The Atomic Deck Effect at a Glance
A deck is openly on the table and everyone is asked to think of a card and any number they’d like. There are no forces and they can change their mind as many times as they want. They even double down to ensure they avoid commonly selected cards and numbers. Once everyone is satisfied, you invite them to watch intently as you slowly and deliberately pick up the deck and start dealing. You place cards on the table one by one until the freely chosen number is reached. That card is turned over and revealed to be a perfect match.
Their card. Their number. Every single time.
"That's better than any version of Any Card at Any Number that I've ever done... That genuinely is the cleanest version of Any Card At Any Number that I've ever seen in my life." Peter Turner
Note: Although a phone-less option is possible, the easiest method does use a borrowed phone for the effect.
Key Details
- Easy to do
- No sleight of hand
- No memorization
- No mental math
- No cuts or secret passes
- Deck stays in full view the whole time
- Can deal cards into their hands
- No roughing sprays
- They don’t even have to say their card or number out loud
Here is what legendary Mentalist Marc Paul, who was a friend and student of David Berglas and performed one of the most perfect ACAANs ever seen on national television had to say about “Atomic Deck”: "That is the Berglas effect... You've cracked it. This is every magician's dream... It's the closest version to The Holy Grail that I've seen anyone do."
Everything You Need to Know
While this might seem like real magic to people you perform for, we feel obligated to let you know that it is still a magic trick. So, yes, there is a method required. But, once you see how effortlessly the method, presentation, and gimmicks work together, it will feel like real magic.
“The Atomic Deck” comes with a specially-designed deck of cards that does 90% of the work for you. It’s a truly innovative creation that took years to create.
If you own Craig’s other projects, you likely assumed there was some sort of roughing element like a spray, stick, or powder. But, it's actually way more clever than that. Craig has sourced special decks with a revolutionary stock that helps facilitate the method without any roughing chemicals at all.
Just like as seen in the trailer, you really can let non-magicians look through the “Atomic Deck” pretty openly. Even if they examine it, laypeople won't notice a thing. These cards will also last you just as long as a normal deck of cards because there is nothing that will rub or off or wear away with use.
As far as other magicians go, they're going to be fooled. In fact, they'll be that type of fooled that makes them a little angry. You won't be able to let them inspect the deck closely though. If a magician gets their hands on the cards for long enough, they'll be able to recognize something is up.
In our opinion, the fact magicians can't inspect the cards is an extremely minor drawback, and worth the trade-off that it allows "Atomic Deck" to be done with no sleight of hand. If you can deal cards. You can perform this. It really is that easy.
There’s also no mental math. Yes, there are some pretty crazy mathematics that happen behind the scenes to make this work, but you don’t have to worry about any of that because your phone (or their phone) does all the hard work for you. While using a custom-made, genuine-looking statistics webpage, they'll unknowingly give you all the information you need.
This is so natural and organic, it really doesn’t even feel like part of the trick. In fact, they technically don’t even need to say their card and/or number out loud before you start dealing.
Not a fan of using a phone during your act? Don’t worry. Multiple additional methods are taught that allow you to perform “Atomic Deck” with seemingly no phone in play.
Everything is explained in the comprehensive tutorial video. As you’ve come to expect from Craig Petty, no stone is left unturned. You’ll learn every detail needed to start frying brains with “Atomic Deck”, as well as tons of variations and bonus content that ensure you can squeeze every drop of astonishment out of “The Atomic Deck”.