According to Bill Kalush and Wesley James, the card system known to magicians worldwide as the “Si Stebbins System” first appeared in print in 1593 – about 200 years after the introduction of playing cards, as they are known today. It was published in “Giocchi di carte bellissimi di regola e di memoria,” an Italian book of mathematical card magic. Ten years later (1603), it was translated into French and nine years after that (1612), Portuguese. It was not until 1630, however, that some of the material first appeared in English.

In 1896, Si Stebbins, an American vaudeville and circus performer, popularized the system in a book he published under the pseudonym of William Vino, entitled, “WM. Vino’s Card Tricks.” Five years later (1901), Howard Thurston, the leading American stage illusionist of the period, published the system as his own origination in “Howard Thurston’s Card Tricks.”

In the years that have followed, Si Stebbins has emerged as the most popular card magic system in the world. The references to it throughout the vast body of magical literature of the last century are too numerous to mention. Even today, in this advanced technological age, magicians continue debate its pros and cons in open forums on the Internet. New systems and “improvements” to Si Stebbins continue to appear regularly, while this 400-year-old workhorse just plows along.

The major argument against the Si Stebbins System is the colors alternate and as a result, if a spectator were to examine the faces of the cards too closely, he would discover the pattern. Yes, that’s true. Is that a weakness? Yes, but then ALL methods in magic have weaknesses. Furthermore, any potential problems in this regard are easily solved with proper handling.

If simplicity is the Si Stebbins System greatest weakness, it is also its greatest strength and the reason it has stood the test of time. Therefore, the question should not be whether or not you could develop a more complex system to overcome the weakness in the arrangement, because many of magic’s best and brightest have – but rather, whether or not you could develop a system that’s easier to understand, use and set-up. With the continued popularity of the Si Stebbins System, we already know the answer to that question.

As the great Al Baker used to say, “Many a good trick is killed with improvements.” Perhaps the same could be said of card systems.