The trick works because it disguises . The spectator feels they are making a free choice by pointing to a pile, but they are actually providing the coordinates for a mathematical formula. Because the cards are dealt one by one across the piles, the "random" order of the deck is reorganized into a grid.
The core of the trick is a process of . By dealing cards into separate piles and having the spectator identify which pile contains their chosen card, the magician is essentially performing a manual "binary search" (or ternary search, if using three piles). 84 card tricks: explanation of the general prin...
The fundamental rule is that the "hot pile" (the one containing the chosen card) is always placed between the other piles during collection. If you have three piles of 7 cards (21 total), placing the target pile in the middle ensures the chosen card is now somewhere between position 8 and 14. The trick works because it disguises