Magic Video - Daniel Madison - The Score
Description & Effect
Unleash the Power of 'The Score' by Daniel Madison
Step into the world of advanced card manipulation with 'The Score', Daniel Madison's revolutionary digital marking system. This 15-page PDF is an essential guide for magicians and serious card players alike, revealing secrets that transcend conventional techniques. 'The Score' isn't just another marked deck; it's a comprehensive education in the art of covert card identification, providing you with unparalleled control and insight.
Mastering Invisible Marks for Any Deck
At the heart of 'The Score' lies a brilliantly deceptive yet incredibly simple system. You'll discover how to create marks that are instantly readable by you, even under pressure, yet remain utterly undetectable to the uninitiated. Unlike other systems tied to specific deck designs, 'The Score' is universally applicable to any playing card deck featuring a white border, making it an incredibly versatile tool in your arsenal. The learning curve is minimal; you'll be reading cards almost immediately.
Mark On-Demand: A Game-Changing Skill
Daniel Madison takes you beyond mere preparation, teaching two distinct methods for marking cards: meticulously beforehand, or, astonishingly, discreetly during live play. This ability to adapt and mark a deck on the fly provides a monumental advantage, setting 'The Score' apart from every other system available today. Alongside the core technique, you'll receive expert tips and strategies to ensure fluent, confident reading, even in high-stakes situations. Madison's insights, drawn from his profound understanding of card mechanics, elevate this system from a trick to a true skill.
Elevate Your Magic and Strategy
For magicians, 'The Score' is a transformative tool. It allows for cleaner, smoother, and more baffling effects, giving you invaluable knowledge about chosen cards without any overt moves. Imagine the possibilities for new routines and enhancing existing ones, combining this system seamlessly with sleight of hand. For card players, while ethical play is always advised, understanding such systems provides a critical perspective and a potential strategic edge. 'The Score' empowers you to 'fish' – to create your own marked decks repeatedly and affordably, liberating you from reliance on pre-made options. This digital download is hailed as a 'must-have' for anyone serious about card magic or strategic card play.
Original Specs
This is my review for "the Score"， Daniel Madison's new marking system for playing cards. Since I discovered Blood (also by d+M) a few months ago， I've really been into marking systems， which can be considered， in my opinion， as some of the most useful “gimmicks” available to both magicians and card players. However， I had just bought 12 Bee Stinger decks and was desperate not to have a proper marking system for them (I tried to come up with one， epic fail). Needless to say， I bought the Score the MINUT I saw it was available...
The PDF is 15 pages long， and divided as follows ：
Avant propos
an excerpt from The Card Cheat Journals proving， if needed， that Daniel is done being a magician (but certainly not done using his skills with cards).
Introduction and developments
After explaining the concept of a marked deck – and strongly advising you NOT to use one in a real game - Daniel exposes some of the techniques used to mark cards (filling， Pegging， etc...)， from which he took inspiration when developing the Score marking system.
The Score
This is it ! Daniel explains here the system used to identify the cards. As I've said before， I made my own attempts to create such a system so I was really eager to discover Daniel's method. Well， this is pure genius !!! First of all， the Score is easy to read， yet completely invisible for the unknowing (if well applied of course， but that's the case for every marking system). It's also fairly simple to learn (you'll be instantly able to read the cards)， and can be applied to any deck that has a white border， regardless of the back design (unlike Blood， which provided a specific system for each back design).
After giving the basic system (which can easily be adapted to suit better the kind of game you're playing)， Daniel teaches two methods to mark the deck ： beforehand， and also during play， which adds tremendously to the value of this system !!! He also gives you tips to make you a fluent， confident reader even under fire.
Applications and suggestions
In this last part， you'll be given ideas to take the most out of the Score， whether you plan to use this during play or to enhance your magic (how to combine it with sleight of hand， etc...)My opinion ：
The goal of a marked deck is simple ： allowing the reader to know in a glimpse the identity of any face-down card without anyone else noticing， or even suspecting the marking. And the Score marking system delivers as promised !!
the code is very simple to learn， you'll get it instantly
the marks， after a bit of practice， are easy to apply on the cards (once you get it down， you can mark a deck in no time， like 10-15 minutes， probably less)
the marks are very well concealed， and although you'll be able to locate them in a glimpse， they're very hard to spot if you don't know what you're looking for， and can pass as the mere result of “use” if seen.
To sum up， from my magician point of view， this PDF is a MUST HAVE ! I truly think that every magician should posses a marked deck， and use it whenever possible. It's not just that it allows you to perform brand new effects ; it makes the effects you already perform cleaner， smoother， and safer (in any “pick a card” kind of tricks， it's invaluable information to know the identity of the chosen card). The point of Score is not to give you fish (as opposed to all the other marked decks available on the market)， it's to teach you how to fish， by allowing you to create your own marked， decks for much cheaper， as often as you wish to (no problem then to sign cards， to rip them， etc， as you know you can create a new deck whenever you want).
In that perspective， I also strongly suggest you downloaded the Blood PDF (available for free on d+M's website)， as it deals more with the use of marked decks for magicians and is a good place to start. Those two PDFs complete each other very well ： if you get one， get both.
Concerning the gambling applications of the Score (once again， you shouldn't use it to cheat !)， I have to say I'm yet to use the Score during play， but I'm confident that it will play its role perfectly when I will. Marking the cards during a game using a borrowed deck will certainly require a great deal of practice beforehand， and nerves of steel while doing it， but having the ability to do it is a tremendous advantage over all the other marking systems available today.
The Score is by far one of the best purchases I've ever made to this day， and at this price (15$) it's a steal (for him). Don't miss the opportunity to take your magic to a whole new level， get this one and get it now !
