This heritage edition is a precise reprint of the much-lauded 1891 English translation of this seminal text. Written by French master magician Robert Houdin, and translated by Joseph Foster, this book is truly a two-edged sword. A thorough treatise on protection from cheating card sharpers, the book delves into the very mechanics of the cheats themselves, thus making it as useful for the budding card-sharper as it is for the honest gamber seeking to protect from cheating. Within its 288 pages, the reader will learn various scams, shams and confidence tricks and in doing so can protect himself from that villainous scoundrel, the gambler who never seems to lose.