when I'm working out new routines, I spend hours taking into account all the possibilities. If someone's going to cut the deck, will they hand me the bottom, and if so, will it matter? That sort of thing. I try to pair everything down to the barest of method, and what's left I then play with to see what possible variables I can hand control over to the spec and how I can hide the rest beneath the patter. I think that's why I'm a big fan of the Allerchrist Card Trick. The spec has real input to this self-worker, and can see their input reflected in genuine coincidences as it progresses, but it always ends the same. My own "Poker Faced" is designed so the spec feels he has control, too . By telling him that if he takes the experiment seriously he might be able to beat me, he becomes compliant. But to do so, he has to do absolutely nothing! You should see some of the fixed stares I get that are supposed to be poker faces!
