Review: Madison Dealers (Erdnase Green) Playing Cards

This review will feature the Madison Dealers Erdnase Green Playing Cards. Review taken from the archive of TuckCase.

Released by Ellusionist.com, the Madison Dealers are of Daniel Madison, popular card magician and illusionist.  Madison had these cards "printed to [his] specifications"  from the design right down to the paper stock and finish. These cards come in a common unlimited Erdnase green and a rare Scarlet red. In order to obtain the Scarlet deck one must purchase a brick of the Erdnase. The cards are not your typical playing cards as Daniel implemented a built in marking system for card hustlers to use for their advantage. It is not known whether or not these cards were printed by USPCC but it is highly speculated.



The specs:

Name: Madison Dealers - Erdnase Green
Company: Ellusionist
Release Date: June 24th, 2013
Stock: Casino Bee (Speculated)
Finish: Magic Finish (Speculated)
Colors: Erdnase Green (Also comes in Scarlet Red)
Face: Standard
Size: Poker

The tuck case design is all white with a card finish.The entire case design is rather minimalist with only the name of the cards plus "Luxury Playing Cards" and Madison's logo on the front in Erdnase green, which is the same color used on S. W. Erdnase 'Expert At The Card Table' first edition. The back design is on the box's back and "Madison Dealers" is written across the top flap. Extremely simple, extremely luxurious. An interesting design element that was added to the case is the "JL" on one inside side flap, which was done in respect to the artist of the cards -  Jeff Lianza. Jeff is also a good friend of Daniel's and makes an appearance in the card deck as the King of Spades.

The back design is a two way borderless design in Erdnase green that features Madison's logo repeated. This is reminiscent of the early house casino decks that were used around the time Erdnase's book was first published - 1902. Most people nowadays know borderless to be the Bee brand of cards. The back design also includes the special marking system that Daniel developed. Most marked decks comes at a hefty price tag but these are offered at normal cost of a custom deck (currently on Ellusionist.com for $6.99).

For the spectator, if they look at the back design enough, it will play tricks on them as the small repeating pattern tends to make the brain do odd things. The marking system in that sense is undetectable. However, as the card magician once you train your eyes where to look for the markings, the back design becomes much less confusing. If you struggle with sight and your vision is poor, this marking system may cause you trouble as the markings are only visible within arms reach. Holding this deck further away causes more problems so trying to use these cards to cheat in a poker game won't be of use.  According to the instruction video, the point of these cards were to be held close up - hence, being called "dealers."

Editors note: I played with this deck for a couple of hours after learning the marking system and was able to guess cards just by glancing at the back. My suggestion is to get used to finding/looking at the markings without giving yourself up first and then memorize the suits. Finally, once you know the suits, tackle the numbers and court cards. I learned if you break it up into three steps, instead of trying to get it all at once, you will get the system much quicker.  

The deck comes with a standard 52 plus 2 jokers, a double back and an ad card. The jokers feature a dead crow, which is extremely morbid for this deck of cards. Considering the deck says "Luxury Playing Cards" on the front of the box, anything to do with death and blood is far from luxury. The crows are not new to Madison's design as his last deck of cards the Rounders also featured them. Despite the morbid Joker design, a 3 of clubs reveal is built into the legs of the dead crow on one of the Joker cards. This is very undetectable unless you are really looking for it or have been told it is there. The Jokers also are not part of the marking system. If you plan on using the marking system it is best you take the Jokers out.

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The Ace of Spades follows the "Luxury" theme by creating an ace out of Madison's logo. The court cards all have a custom Anglo-American style design. Each court features someone from Daniel's life, whether it be another magician or good friend. Daniel is actually featured on the King of Diamonds, which also has a 9 of Clubs reveal.  The Rounders also used people from Daniel's life as well. The use of real life people in a deck of cards is quite interesting and makes these cards all that more personal.

The number cards are standard with no differences other than a slightly darker red ink used on the hearts and diamond.

The Madison Dealers are extremely durable. Used for over 24 hours for practicing and breaking them in, the cards still look, feel and perform like brand new. The cards are a bit stiff as shuffling will require some hand strength initially. Over time that does not become a problem. Fanning is extremely easy as no clumping of the cards occurs. They are almost too smooth so be mindful of that as they do have a tendency to slip away from your fingers.

Notes on the Madison Dealers:

• Brought to us by Daniel Madison and Ellusionist, who also brought us the Madison Rounders.


• This deck was speculated to be the Madison Red Rounders.


• The factory of this deck is not given out. It is speculated that USPCC printed this. However, USPCC is not mentioned anywhere on the deck or in any of the marketing material.


• Daniel Madison also brought the Madison Players to market with Theory 11.

Final Assessment: The Madison Dealers are an extremely useful and versatile deck of playing cards. Although they are not a designer deck where you will see a lot of depth and color, they are certainly a hustler's deck with many tools for performing tricks. This deck has two reveals and a marking system that can all be used in a lot of different tricks.  This deck is recommended for the magician who doesn't want to spend time marking his/her own deck. It is also for the magician who doesn't want to pay double the price for a marked deck. The Scarlet red version of this deck is something for all collectors to track down as there were only a limited amount made available.

Score: 9.5/10

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Deck View: Boardwalk Papers Playing Cards

Vintage. Fun. Ticket.

From the cool guys at The Blue Crown, the Boardwalk Papers deck was inspired by boardwalks and small theme parks of yesteryear… with a really fun vintage vibe.

Featuring custom back design, tuck, Ace of Spades, and Jokers by Drew Melton with enhancements by Randy Butterfield. The back looks incredible in a vintage-style two-tone brown design. The tuck box has gorgeous Gold and White Foil, plus embossing and inside printing.

Printed by Expert Playing Card Company for this deck, utilizing their incredible Taipei factory to produce a thin yet stiff card stock with a Master finish to ensure exceptional handling for magic tricks and flourishes, as well as incredible durability to withstand even the roughest night of gaming.

Boardwalk Papers playing card decks are available at JP Games.

Kickstarter: 7 Questions with Derek McKee of Deckades Playing Cards

Created by Derek McKee and illustrated by Logan Max, Deckades Playing Cards showcases America in the roaring 1920's, a boisterous period characterized by rapidly changing lifestyles, financial excesses, the fast pace of technological progress and the Stock Market Crash of 1929 that heralded the end of the boom-times, and the following Depression years in the 1930's. Deckades tells the epic story of hardships and triumphs Americans enjoyed and endured.

The time periods have been depicted in 2 decks of playing cards. The first deck depicts the 1920's and then the second deck depicts the 1930's. Both decks have beautifully illustrated back designs showing Main Street America. Each deck also has art deco inspired tuck cases, aces, and jokers that illustrate the perception of each decks' perspective years.

We managed to have a quick chat with Derek about his design background, the inspiration & design process behind Deckades, his experience from his previous Kickstarter projects and thoughts about the growth of crowd-funded playing cards.

Can you tell us about yourself and what is your design background?
My name is Derek McKee, I grew up in Denver, Colorado but currently live in Los Angeles, California. I am primarily a number geek and a concept creator, more on the business side of playing cards. My designer Logan Max is extremely talented when it comes to the actual illustration.

Can you describe Deckades deck and why you are passionate about it?
The Deckades is a series that I am really passionate about because both decks illustrate what main street America may have looked like in the 1920's and then in the 1930's. I find something very poetic about playing cards that tell a story. This deck series is all about how we can feel like we have everything figured out and never be so wrong. The illustrations on the 20's deck are all about glamour and excess just like what that era was all about, the 30's deck is all about how we had everything and then lost it because of neglect and misuse. The 30's deck is my favorite of the two because it reminds us of what we as a nation have endured and ultimately made us a better nation.

Walk us through the process you took to design this unique deck. How did you get to this finished product?
Every great thing starts with an idea. After our first deck The Melies Logan and I were sitting in my moms office trying to think of what the next deck could be. Logan and I have been friends since the 1st grade so naturally we started thinking about books that we had mutually read in school. We wanted to find a way to tell the story of Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities through a deck of playing cards. Both of us have always had a passion for history and especially loved early 20th century American history. By combining the concepts of The Tale of Two Cities with the Roaring 20's and the Depression of the 30's Deckades were born.

From the project page, what are a few of your favorite reward levels and why?
I love any pledges with mixed decks. This series although both decks can stand on their own look great as a set. When it comes to Kickstarters I like to keep it simple by having only cards and maybe one or two add-ons so backers don't get overwhelmed with all the items.

You have successful completed the Voyagers deck. What are a few key elements and principles you incorporated into your project that you think future Kickstarter creators could benefit from knowing?
The biggest thing I have learned about doing a playing card project on Kickstarter is keeping backers in the loop throughout the whole process. As a creator you should always expect delays like the artwork taking longer than expected to finalize or the factory closing for two week for maintenance.

Then you have shipping, when handling so many orders that a playing card project naturally gets packages will get lost in the mail, people won't fill out the info form, decks get damaged or decks get returned to you. Its just probability that if you ship out 200 or 300 packages some packages will have issues. The right thing to do is to keep backers in the loop and being 100% upfront and honest when an issue arises.

What are your thoughts about the continuous strong growth of playing card projects on Kickstarter?
It's incredible. The playing card community as a whole does an amazing job at supporting independent creators. Its really cool to see all the decks people are coming out with.

Finally, what are your favourite playing card decks?
Hmmm so many to pick! I was inspired to do playing cards when Chris Chelko's Whispering Imps were on Kickstarter. For me the coolest thing was seeing somebody create an extremely beautiful deck that also tells a story in history so naturally thats my favorite deck. Dan and Dave also consistently put out really high quality decks, especially the Fulton Octobers and the Hi My Name Is Mark collaboration would be in my top five.

Great insights, Derek! Thank you and all the best! If want to support Deckades, you can find it on Kickstarter here. 


Deckades Playing Cards will be available in two editions: the 20's and 30's. Both decks are unique and fully customised. These elegantly crafted decks will be printed by USPCC. Pledge starts from $12. No other add-ons are available for this project.

Collections: Sultan Treasury by Ellusionist

A "re-imagining" of the Original Sultan Republic deck by Ellusionist, the Sultan Treasury has an Indiana Jones feel to it for me. The detail and concept come across exceptionally well in this deck. While the weathered look has been done, again, it seems perfectly in place with the Treasury deck.

The tuck has an "Ancient" look to it, nicely embossed and a "Hidden" map layout on the inside of the tuck. While I'm not about to tear open the tuck for a full view of the map, it is a cool little feature of the deck that continues to tie the concept together.

Not quite 100% custom, Treasury does have custom Jokers and Ace of Spades, very subtle pip variations, the courts are "Standard" but have picked up the color and weathering of the deck design. Sultan Treasury was/is a limited deck by Ellusionist, available by special purchase or incentives. Only 2500 "Were released to the public..." I always find the wording interesting when it comes to print runs, but Treasury is a bit hard to come across and almost always has a bit of a premium attached to it, so make of it what you will.

A beautifully designed deck that just misses the "Must Have" tag, but a nice addition for collectors and enthusiasts alike.

The Collection segment is produced by Anthony Ingrassia of Kardify. No part of this article, images or video can be reproduced without written permission from the author and Kardify.com. To see more of  Sparkz- Anthony's collection please visit anthonysparkz.blogspot.com