How to arrange your deck

The Si Stebbins System assigns a numerical value to each card: aces are one, all spot cards are the same as their face value, jacks are 11, queens are 12, and kings are 13. In this scheme, suits rotate in the popular Clubs, Hearts, Spades, Diamonds order – easily remembered using the mnemonic word, CHaSeD. Chances are, even if you are new to the Si Stebbins System, you’re probably already familiar with both of these concepts from other card tricks.

The deck is arranged so that every card is three points higher than the one that precedes it. The complete 13-card sequence is as follows: 1 – 4 – 7 – 10 – 13 – 3 – 6 – 9 – 12 – 2 – 5 – 8 – 11. At the end of this series, the rotation starts over at one. Unlike a “stacked deck,” cutting a deck set-up in Si Stebbins order does not disturb the arrangement.

What you can do with the Si Stebbins System

With the Si Stebbins System, you can easily identify one or more freely selected cards, locate a “thought of” card in the pack, and discover the identity of the card at ANY position in the deck. What’s more, you can do all this with a minimum of handling, no difficult moves, and the deck can be completely examined at the end.