This is a way to ascertain the identity of a freely chosen playing card. What separates the Transport Peek from other methods is that the selection procedure is done entirely in the participant’s hands, and you do not need to look at the deck before, during, or after the procedure. That’s right. You never look at the deck.

What’s more is that they pocket their selection. They give you the deck, and you put it away while looking away the whole time.

I want to talk about the two events that led to the creation of this idea and, ultimately, this post. A couple of years ago, I was performing for my mentor; who was mentioned in the post Rubiked Mentor. 

I had a deck of DMC Elites in the Tamariz stack. I had him cut the deck over and over under the table, take the top or bottom card, and place the deck back on the table. I peeked at the marking of the top card and told him what his card was. His response was something to the effect of, “Well, if the cards were in some order, then cutting them wouldn’t disturb it. On top of that, if they were somehow marked, then you’d know my card from just looking at the top card”. I was stunned. I thought the method was almost bulletproof, but he outright guessed it. One thing to note is that he is an excellent mathematician. For most people, repeatedly cutting the deck feels like the deck is being mixed. I thought it was his gift in math that helped lead him to his guess, but it was still troubling, as he was a complete layman.

Editor’s note: It might be time for an article about how we sometimes underestimate laymen when we should really know better. Like when I tried Gemini Twins on a relative who was a Math Olympiad as a kid and works in the field of theoretical computer science. Oops. That story actually helped inspire Jerry to come up with his more bulletproof variation on Gemini Twins. Not that I’ve had the guts to try it on the lay-relative yet.

Then came a jam session with fellow Oval writer Franklin. He wanted an extra clean card selection where you never looked at the cards. What I came up with ultimately didn’t help him (he had a specific look and context for the peek he wanted to achieve), but I recalled the time I was rumbled by my mentor and the Transport Peek came into fruition. 

The method consists of a stacked deck and a palm. I realize that these methods might sound a little intimidating, but I promise the choreography of the peek renders each technique a straightforward process. Choose a stack that appears mixed (Si Stebbins should do the job fine if you don’t use a memorized stack). As you talk and introduce the effect, do some false shuffles. Give them the deck face up, and tell them to cut the deck face up and to keep doing that until a card they like is at the face of the deck. Before they start doing so, you turn away and tell them to make sure you’re not even looking in their general direction. Once they tell you they’ve stopped cutting, tell them to take the card at the face and put it in their pocket. Additionally, you can tell them to check the top card as well and give them a choice between the two cards. In any case, they have a selected card in their pocket. 

Facing away from them, outstretch your hand (left or right, it doesn’t matter, whatever is more comfortable for you) and ask for the deck back face down “so you don’t see anything”. Immediately place the deck in your jacket pocket without looking at it. As you’re letting go of the deck in your pocket, take the card off the bottom of the deck and palm it. This is all happening in an instant, in your pocket. This is in any pocket of whatever article of clothing you happen to wear at that moment. If you feel comfortable palming with your right hand instead of your left, it’d be in your right pocket. If the pockets in your pants are too tight, you’d be using your jacket/hoodie pocket. I’ll let comfort and common sense dictate how you interpret this.

You will take your hand out of your pocket, secretly palming the card. You will be peeking this card in your palm. You will be peeking the card that was next to their selection in the stack, giving you the information needed to discern what their card was. The timing for this peek will be contextual to you and will vary in performance. You need to find a motivated time to look at your hand. I don’t know your body language habits or personality, so you need to adapt the peek to the way you perform.I recommend not to look at the palmed card right away. Give it some time. After you’ve “deduced” the card, place the palmed card into your pocket, ditching it as you say “Also check your pocket, make sure the card is still there”. 

Now you can reveal their card however you wish. 

This is quite deceptive for a couple of reasons. First, the card you’re revealing is never near you or in your field of view, ever. They hold onto their card from the beginning, and it’s safely in their pocket. Second, the deck is clearly never looked at by you. There is seemingly no information in sight for you to utilize; this was the logic trap I wanted to implement after being rumbled.