Lucky in Glove

This is another routine built around the ancient Count-Back Force. To conceal the numerical procedure’s limited range, I’ve employed a thirty-two-card Piquet pack, a pair of dice, and a glove to generate a seemingly random number!

JUMP AHEAD

On This Page

Effect
Background & Credits
Requirements & Preparation
Method & Presentation
Cleanup & Reset
Performance Tips & Additional Ideas
Final Thoughts

Effect

You propose a magical test to determine if a bride and groom are truly “lucky in love” or “doomed to live a life of domestic misery!” To begin, you introduce a thirty-two-card Piquet pack, noting that the renowned Viennese magician Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser performed many of his famous card tricks using just such a deck. You also carefully remove a single cotton dress glove from a box, explaining that it once belonged to the great conjurer himself, and that whoever wears it can do “amazing things with a deck of cards.”

The groom thoroughly shuffles the cards as the bride dons the glove. She touches a card, which is revealed to be the Queen of Hearts. Taking the Queen in her gloved hand, she waves it over the deck, magically causing the King of Hearts to reverse itself in the centre of the spread. The King and Queen of Hearts are removed, and the glove is passed to the groom. The royal pair is cut back into the deck, which is then thoroughly shuffled, separating the lovers. You explain that only the couple’s secret “lucky number” can reunite them.

To generate this number, the groom cuts the pack (using his gloved hand) to select a random card; this represents his “inescapable fate” and provides a numerical value. Next, the bride—wearing the glove once more—rolls a pair of dice to generate a second number, representing the tumbling chaos of chance. These two totals are combined to create the couple’s unique target number.

You count that exact number of cards from the deck, explaining that this packet represents all possible futures for the couple. Now begins the “love ritual”: one by one, cards are eliminated—false paths, wrong turns, and roads not taken are discarded—until only two cards remain in play. When the final cards are revealed, the bride finds herself holding the King of Hearts... and the groom holds his perfect match, the Queen of Hearts! Against all odds, fate and chance have conspired to reunite the royal lovers—proving that this couple really is lucky in love!

Background & Credits

The Count-Back Force, also known as the 10-20 Force, first appeared in print in Billy O’Connor’s “After the Four Ace Trick” in the June–September 1935 edition of The Magic Wand. However, there is evidence to suggest the force is much older than this.

The phrase “She loves me, she loves me not” was utilised by John Guastaferro to eliminate cards in his charming packet trick “Love Me Not” in his 2014 self-published notes, 7 Wonders. Robert Neale also used the same idea in his routine “S/He Loves Me” in Life, Death and Other Card Tricks (2000).

The presentation and use of “Hofzinser’s Glove” was inspired by an entry in Roberto Giobbi’s book Hidden Agenda (see page 90). The entry for March 26 presents the idea as a presentational problem in need of a trick. The basic idea is that you introduce a glove once owned by Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser and, by wearing it, a spectator will be able to do “incredible things.” Giobbi suggests any Cutting the Aces routine as an obvious choice, but then poses the question: “What more can you come up with?” “Lucky in Glove” is my answer.

Hofzinser’s Glove by Roberto Giobbi. Video Credit: Vanishing Inc. Magic via YouTube.

The romantic framing of this routine is entirely in keeping with Hofzinser’s own style of performance. The Viennese master magician frequently wove themes of romance, courtship, and love into his magic, transforming standard tricks of the day into poetic allegories. He often used borrowed wedding rings, referring to them as symbols of the eternal—“without beginning, without end”—and subjecting them to “tests of love” to prove the authenticity of a person’s devotion to their partner.

For example, in his apparatus trick known as “The Fountain of Love”, he explicitly called the murky liquid in a glass goblet “water from the fountain of love.” He claimed that it acted as a “touchstone”. That is, if a wedding ring “worn in true love” were thrown in, the “brackish” water would become crystal clear. In this way, the trick acted as a test of the purity of the couple’s love. Eventually, he adjusted the effect (and the method) to appear to use ink rather than murky water, which he described as the essence of a thousand love letters. 💌

Hofzinser also used a mechanical flower dial and cards printed with flowers on their faces to divine the “consuming passion” or “jealousy” of his spectators in a routine known as “The Magical Greenhouse”. In his patter for this trick, different aspects of love were represented by different blooms: the red rose for love in general, the “burning love” plant for consuming passion, and the yellow nightshade for jealousy. The dial also included the nettle to represent “the sting” of false love!

Finally, in “The Apotheosis of the Rose”, Hofzinser would recite a poem about a rose that reflected a youthful heart and love-pained grief. As he did this, the image of a rose in a hand mirror changed from red to white. The rose vanished from the mirror, reappearing in a crystal vase. To finish, the bloom reverted to its original crimson colour.

Although “Lucky in Glove” isn’t as spectacular as the routines of Hofzinser described above, I’ve tried my best to capture his romantic spirit in the suggested script.

Requirements & Preparation

You will need:

• A thirty-two-card Piquet pack. Take a standard deck of playing cards and remove all the Twos, Threes, Fours, Fives, and Sixes (along with any Jokers or advertising cards). This will leave you with a “Piquet pack” consisting of 32 cards.
• Two regular six-sided dice.
• A white dress glove.
• A storage or presentation box for the glove.

Remove the King and Queen of Hearts, along with any indifferent card, from the deck. Put the Queen face up on top of the deck, followed by the face-up indifferent card. Finally, put the King of Hearts face down on top of all.

Put the glove, the Piquet pack, and two dice in the presentation box. (You can also print out a photograph or illustration of Hofzinser to put in the box as well.)

Method & Presentation

Begin by introducing the box and explaining that it contains a valuable piece of magic memorabilia. Open the box and remove the Piquet pack, as you say, “This isn’t an ordinary deck. It’s a Piquet pack—the preferred deck of 19th-century conjurers. Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser, the father of modern card magic, used these very cards to test the hearts of Viennese society.”

Perform a standard overhand jog shuffle, retaining top stock. As you square up the cards, get a little finger break below the top three cards. Take the lid off the box, rotating your right hand palm up in the process, and turning the lid upside down.

Mention that the glove once belonged to Hofzinser as you pick it up with your right hand. To facilitate this action, temporarily place the lid on top of the deck held in your left hand. Once you’ve given the glove to the bride, retake the lid in your right hand, thumb on top, fingers below. As you grasp the lid, secretly lift the three top cards off the deck by inserting the fingertips of your right hand into the break.

As soon as your right hand has secured the lid (and the setup below it), hand the deck to the groom and instruct him to shuffle the cards. In this way, the lid makes it incredibly easy for you to hold out without resorting to palming.

Once the deck has been thoroughly shuffled, offer your empty left hand to the groom, prompting him to return the cards. Now mention the dice. Transfer the lid to your left hand, secretly loading the three-card setup back into the deck so your right hand can pick up the entire box and place it inside the lid. Remove the dice with your right hand and place them in front of the bride. Then put the combined lid and box on the table.

Tell the bride to roll the dice in the box to prove that they’re fair and not loaded (using the box as a dice tray reduces the chance that you’ll end up crawling about on the floor looking for a wayward die).

Next, tell her that anyone who wears the glove, its previous owner, will be able to do incredible feats of magic with a deck of cards.

Spread the cards, pushing off the first three or more as a block, and ask the bride to touch any card with her gloved hand. When she touches a card, break the card at this point and say, “Are you sure? This card acts as a significator—a reflection of your true self. If it’s a Heart, you are a deeply loving soul. A Diamond suggests you like stability and wealth, but might be a little materialistic. A Club indicates a headstrong nature, while a Spade reveals a hard worker—perhaps even a workaholic.”

Give the bride the chance to change her mind and adjust the cards accordingly.

Flip all the cards above the one indicated face up, allowing them to coalesce with the lower portion of the deck. Carefully spread through the pack until you reach the first face-down card (the Queen of Hearts). Push this card to your right, sidejogging it, so that the bride can take it from you.

Let her react to the fact that it is the Queen of Hearts, “the most loving and romantic card in the deck.” As she does this, quietly flip all the face-up cards over, square up the deck and place it on the table.

Instruct the bride to take the Queen in her gloved hand and wave it over the deck. Ribbon spread the cards across the table to reveal the King of Hearts face up in the centre of the face-down deck. Smile at the bride and say, “Look, you’ve located your soulmate—the King of Hearts! He’s known as ‘Casanova’ or ‘The Amorous Lover’ because he has four hands!”

Remove the King from the spread and place him to one side with the Queen.

Ask the bride to remove the glove and pass it to her husband, who should now put it on. Instruct the groom to shuffle the cards and then table the deck. With his gloved hand, get him to cut the deck and complete the cut. Take the top card of the deck and place it, sight unseen, in front of the groom. Pick up the face-up deck and get a left little-finger break below three cards. Pick up the King, place it on the face of the deck and perform a Double Undercut. Ask the bride to pass you the Queen of Hearts. As she does this, establish a break below two cards. Put the Queen on the face and repeat the Double Undercut.

Situation Check: The King is seventh from the top of the face-down deck, and the Queen of Hearts is third from the top, e.g., X-X-QH-X-X-X-KH (where the Xs represent any indifferent cards).

Perform your favourite blind shuffle followed by your best blind cut. Then, place the deck on the table.

Next, ask the groom to return the glove to his wife, who puts it back on her hand. She is then asked to roll the two dice in the glove box to generate a random number. Once she has done this, say, “Love is a delicate balance between two forces: Destiny—represented by the card your husband cut to—and Chance—represented by the tumbling chaos of these two dice. We need both to find your true path.” The total number rolled is then added to the value of the groom’s mystery card to create the couple’s “lucky number”.

While this process of number generation seems random, it is a “ranging force”. The total will always be a number between nine and twenty-six. Why? Well, the lowest number you can roll with two six-sided dice is two (two ones). And the lowest value card in a Piquet pack is a Seven. Therefore, your spectators will never generate a number less than 9 (7 + 2 = 9). The highest value card is an Ace (fourteen), and the highest roll achievable with a pair of dice is twelve (two Sixes), so the maximum “random number” is twenty-six (14 + 12 = 26).

Note: If the groom’s card is an Ace, and the total rolled is less than eight, then you must declare that Aces are high. When this happens, say, “When playing Piquet, the Aces have a value of eleven. However, in Poker, Aces usually have a numerical value of 14. So, which will it be? Eleven or fourteen?” This approach still gives the spectator a sense of agency while limiting them to a number between nine and twenty-six. If, however, the bride rolls a number greater than eight, you can let the groom decide between a value of one, eleven or fourteen for his Ace.

According to probability, the most likely number rolled is seven (3.5 + 3.5 = 7). So you can expect the “random number” to be in the teens (between 10 and 20). In this case, deal the same number of cards from the deck, e.g., eighteen. Then, say, “Hofzinser was a great believer in numerology. According to this mystic art of divination, you must add the two digits of your lucky number together to form another ‘inner number’. One plus seven equals eight. So I’ll deal a pile of eight cards onto the table.”

Deal the sum to the table. Then say to the bride, “Do you want me to swap the cards in my hand for the ones on the table?” If she replies in the affirmative, swap the piles and immediately drop the cards from the table onto the deck, discarding them. However, if she replies, “No,” pick up the pile on the table and drop it on top of the deck, then discard it. Either way, you eliminate the nine-card pile that does not contain the King and Queen of Hearts. 

Note: If the “random number” generated is twenty or above, then you need to proceed a little differently: add the two digits together and count that many cards back onto the deck. Then quickly count the cards remaining in your hand without changing their order (you will always have eighteen cards). Say, “Hmm, eighteen cards. One plus eight is nine, so I’ll deal nine cards to the table.” You can then proceed as above.

Hand the nine cards to the bride (who should still be wearing Hofzinser’s glove). Look at her and say, “This is the ancient ritual of the daisy, translated into cards. With every card you discard, you are removing a false path or a ‘road not taken’, narrowing down the possibilities until only one remains.” Guide her through an Under-Down Deal. As she slides a card to the bottom, tell her to say, “He loves me…” When she deals a card to the table, she should announce, “He loves me not…” Tell her to keep doing this until she has one card remaining—it will always be the King of Hearts!

Instruct the bride to remove the glove and give it to the groom, who puts it back on his hand. Guide him through the same “love ritual” with the remaining eight cards. He’ll always find the Queen of Hearts!

As you put the props away in the box, say, “Hofzinser believed that a deck of cards could test the purity of a couple’s love. Tonight, the cards have spoken. The glove may have guided your actions, but it was your connection that created the magic. I’ll put the glove away, but you should keep the King and Queen of Hearts.”

Hand the King and Queen to the bride and groom as a keepsake of the magic, then finish by saying, “Hofzinser used these experiments to uncover the truth, and tonight the answer is clear: against all odds, no matter the challenges you face, you will always find your way back to each other.”

Cleanup & Reset

This trick is best suited to a more formal, parlour-style performance, so an instant reset is rarely required. To reset for your next performance, simply return the King and Queen of Hearts, along with any indifferent card, to the top of the deck (see Requirements & Preparation).

Performance Tips & Additional Ideas

This routine is particularly strong because it is highly interactive. If you have only one opportunity to perform for a bride and groom, a routine like this—rich in romantic themes and hands-on magic—ensures the moment is memorable.

Should you prefer to use a full fifty-two-card deck, you can force any Seven spot on the groom (I’d recommend a Cross-Cut Force or Cut Deeper Force). This will then result in a random number between nine (7 + 2 = 9) and nineteen (7 + 12 = 19). This is precisely what you need when performing the Count-Back Force (a number between, but not including, ten and twenty), and it makes the trick even easier because there’s less to remember.

Likewise, you can also experiment with different handlings using more dice. With one card and two dice, you have a ranging force that generates a number between nine and nineteen. However, if you add a third die and force a Six spot, your range is expanded to cover a number between nine (6 + 3 = 9) and twenty-four (6 + 18 = 24). And with four dice, you can force a number between nine (5 + 4 = 9) and thirty-nine (5 + 24 = 29). This approach could be combined with the method from “Double Happiness” (see Easy Does It #8 in Marty's Magic Ruseletter) to make a very memorable piece of wedding magic.

Final Thoughts

This interactive piece is both highly engaging and a powerful tribute to the history of card conjuring. Its successful execution, however, requires a suitable environment—specifically, one with ample table space, which isn’t always available at a wedding venue. Consequently, it’s worth arranging exclusive access to the bride and groom before they get too busy with other activities (talking to guests, posing for photographs, and so on). Performing a short routine, such as “Lucky in Glove”, before the wedding breakfast or evening buffet is a wise strategy.

The routine’s real strength lies in its dual focus. On the one hand, it acknowledges the legacy of close-up magic by incorporating “Hofzinser’s Glove” as the catalyst for the magic. This elevates the piece from a simple self-worker to a celebration of the craft. Crucially, however, the magic remains profoundly personal. Despite the historical framing, the narrative ensures the focus stays firmly on the bride and groom. The effect is designed to reflect and foretell positive aspects of their relationship, making the experience deeply resonant and memorable for the couple on their special day.