T. Nelson Downs Poker Deal

Effect: A boxed deck of cards is placed in front of a spectator. You show a strange ring that was supposed to belong to a famous riverboat gamble. ( Possibly the devil?) The ring is put on the spectator's pinkie finger. Ask the spectator how many poker hands they would like to deal. They can choose from 2 to 6 hands. Stress the free choice. Have them open the card box. They deal the cards and get the winning hand!
Secret: A very ingenious stacked deck is used. The stack was invented by famous sleight of hand artist T. Nelson Downs ( Born March 16, 1867 - Died September 11, 1938 ) The stack from the top of the deck down is as follows:
Suit key: S= Spades,C= Clubs,D= Diamonds, H= Hearts
Js, 7c, 8d, 9d, 10s, 6h, 7h, 8c, 9s, 10d, 6s, 7d, 8h, 9c, 10h, 6d, 7s, 8s, 9h, 10c, Jh, Ad, 2s, 4h, 3h, 6c, Qd, 5d, 4s, 5h, Ah,... and the rest of deck.
Ask the spectator how many hands that they would like to deal. He can choose from 2 to 6 hands. The cards are dealt like in a normal poker game, the dealer being dealt last.
If he chooses 2 hands: You state; That's 10 cards. Deal off the top 10 cards from the deck into a face down heap ( Which secretly reverses their order). The spectator deals 2 poker hands with these cards and gets the best hand. Dealing procedure: A card to ( Imaginary) player 1, a card to the dealer, a card to player 1, a card to the dealer, etc.
If he chooses 3 hands: You state: That's 15 cards. Deal off the top 15 cards from the deck into a face down heap.( Which secretly reverses their order). The spectator deals 3 poker hands with these cards and gets the best hand.
If he chooses 4 hands: You state: That's 20 cards. Deal off the top 20 cards from the deck into a face down heap ( Which secretly reverses their order.) The spectator deals 4 poker hands with these cards and gets the best hand.
If he chooses 5 hands: Don't reverse count the cards. Just deal out 5 poker hands. I.E...A card to player 1, a card to player 2, a card to player 3, a card to player 4, a card to the dealer, a card to player 1, a card to player 2,etc.
If he chooses 6 hands: You state: Burn the top card as in a real poker game ( The top card is discarded.) Then say that's 30 cards.Deal off the top 30 cards from the deck into a face down heap ( Which secretly reverses their order.) The spectator deals 6 poker hands with these cards and gets the best hand.
A false cut and shuffle before the trick would not hurt, but I rather not touch the deck.
Make sure you stress that they have a free choice of how many hands to deal. Also, you can deal the cards instead of the spectator if you think there is a chance the person will try to " mess up " the trick. But having the spectator deal is VERY strong.
For the ring, buy some cheap, interesting ring from an occult supply shop. The stranger looking, the better. Weave an interesting story around the ring to make the trick more entertaining. Don't do the effect without some type of story. Add whatever you want to suit your personality and style.
If you like this stack, Charle's Jordans best Card Tricks has a lot of unique methods and tricks probably forgotten by todays magicians.