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I think league back bikes have a one way design on them.

I had this conversation with Roy Walton and some other magicians in Tam shepards, he said that most decks have imperfections.

It is possible that the background has changed sionce hugard wrote the book. It must be at least 50 yrs old.

Thanks all for the very helpful comments.

magikmax wrote:you might want to try and get a few packs of bicycle seconds. I've got a couple that have been printed off-centre, and would definitely work as a one-way deck if I wanted.

Yes, I've just opened a pack of seconds and found I got a one-way deck as a bonus. Mine's really too far off-centre to use seriously, though.

As mentioned, bicycle league cards are a one way back, quite subtle which is a bonus

If your margins aren't sufficiently offset to see, then either open another pack or use some form of back or edge mark. Alternatively, exploit some of the one wayness of some of the cards themselves.

With the tip of a sharp exacto/razor knife, you can scratch the design in a way that allows you to remove the paint very sublty and create your own marking or system....have used if for various cards at times and it works just fine with no problems at all. Never done it for a full deck, but no reason at all why it can't be done...if you pick a subtle spot to remove some ink in the back design and do it too all cards it will work just fine...when done sublty nobody would ever notice. I have done it with specific key cards and under situations that would draw incredible scrutiny and nobody has ever called me on it.

moodini wrote:With the tip of a sharp exacto/razor knife, you can scratch the design in a way that allows you to remove the paint very sublty and create your own marking or system....have used if for various cards at times and it works just fine with no problems at all. Never done it for a full deck, but no reason at all why it can't be done...if you pick a subtle spot to remove some ink in the back design and do it too all cards it will work just fine...when done sublty nobody would ever notice. I have done it with specific key cards and under situations that would draw incredible scrutiny and nobody has ever called me on it.

Reminds me of Annemann's (I think it was) idea for making one-way faces by scratching off bits of the index pips. I was going to describe the code here, but it might be considered telling too much.

I'm with Moodini on this one.

So long as you are GENTLE when removing the ink. If you're heavy handed you'll scratch the shiny surface and this will pick up dirt really easily and show up under certain lighting conditions.

I've read elsewhere, coming back to the original question, that the Bicycle Rider Backs were at some point in the distant past constructed in such a way that part of the design made it a very subtle one-way design.
Alas, this is no more the case.
But it's not difficult, using a craft knife to replicate it.

The joy with taking off the ink yourself is that you can pick the location of the marking to suit your needs.
A League back is ok, but you need to see just about all of the back of the card.
If you mark your own, you can pick a convenient spot on the left upper quarter and thus be able to detect your card even in a simple fan.

By chance I heard a Boris Wild lecture last week where he was promoting his new deck. This does all I need and more but thanks for all the solutions that I can use with a regular deck. For info, here is the thread relating to the Boris Wild Gamblers deck - it is a very nice product. http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/sutra271222.php#271222

About twelve years ago, I found a one-way pattern in Bikes. It might have been the bridge-sized ones only.

The difference was so tiny, that it wasn't always easy to spot, which rather ruined the whole thing!

Why make things difficult or expensive for yourself? Just buy a sharpie and get on with it!

Tally Ho circle backs are very easy to mark up too by the way. Look along the long edges, and count.

very few standard bike decks are printed exactly in the middle. Basically one white border will be ever so slightly larger than the other...is it noticeable enough to do a trick?? i'd say its not fool proof enough.

There is easier ways anyway like a small crimp. Or riffle the cards so they bend slightly one way and then after they select the card riffle and bend slightly the other way. Easy ways to find a card without traditional control methods. You can even let laymen shuffle most of the time, as (in the UK) 99% people use the overhand shuffle.