Newton Playing Cards
Marking System Tutorial
Thank you so much for purchasing and supporting the Newton Playing Cards. Hidden within its elegant and intricate back design is a devious marking system that allows you to secretly know the identity of the card without looking at its face!
The Newton Playing Cards back design has markings in the top left corner of the deck. The markings are also duplicated in the bottom right corner of the deck, so that no matter how the cards are oriented, you will be able to read the markings off the top left corner.
Now, let’s zoom in to take a closer look at how the markings work.
Along the left edge of the back design, there is a white line with gaps / breaks at certain positions (indicated by the red arrows). Each break will represent a number (either 1, 2, 4 or 8, as shown in red) - these numbers will help you identify the value of the card.
As for the suit, it is indicated by the position of the star, represented by a large white dot just to the right of the white line. There are four possible positions (indicated by the yellow arrows), with each position representing a suit (either Clubs, Hearts, Spades or Diamonds, as shown in yellow). Note that the order of the suits from the top is the popular CHaSeD system.
The key thing to remember is to watch out for the breaks in the line, and the position of the large white dot. Let’s use examples to illustrate what I mean.
Take a look at this card, for example. You’ll notice that there is a break in the line in the “1” position (indicated by the red arrow), and the white dot is in the “C” position (indicated by the yellow arrow). The “1” means the card is an Ace (value of 1) and the “C” means it is a Club. Hence, this is the Ace of Clubs.
Here’s another example. This time, there are two breaks in the line at the “2” and 4” positions (indicated by the red arrows). This means you have to add up 2 and 4 to get a total of 6. The white dot is in the “H” position, indicating Hearts, so this card must therefore be the Six of Hearts.
Now, some cards will have three breaks in the line. But don’t fret - simply add the numbers up! In this case, we have the breaks in the line in the “1”, “2” and “4” positions (indicated by the red arrows), giving a total of 7. The white dot is in the “S” position, indicating Spades. Hence, Seven of Spades!
Finally, some cards will add up to numbers greater than 10. They represent court cards - Jacks are 11, Queens are 12, and Kings are 13. In this example, the breaks are in the “1”, “4” and “8” positions, which add up to 13 - a King. The white dot indicates “D” for Diamonds - so, King of Diamonds!