"Jill Deck" by Annabel de Vetten and Card-Shark.de
Suggested Retail USD$22.00
Available from your favorite dealer
In a Blink: 7 Out of 10

"Jill Deck", by Card-Shark.de and featuring artwork by the talented Annabel de Vetten, is a neat addition to the constantly-swelling ranks of gaffed decks, with a striking look, some great extras, and but suffers from a drawback that might reduce its value to workers who could get the most out of this.

The "Jill Deck" is one beautiful deck. It's a black deck, with stark and striking artwork throughout. The theme is very much women and guns. This ain't no nudie deck; it's stylish and sexy and, in some ways, quite sophisticated in appearance. But an art critic I'm not; I just know what I like and I absolutely love de Vetten's artwork here. The deck is also very well made. The card stock is sturdy without being heavy, with a feel close to Fox Lakes in handling. They certainly appear to be durable enough; my patent-pending, finger numbing, 100-faro-100-riffle-100-bridge test didn't show any of the usual peeling or flaking and the cards still handled well afterwards.

If that's all the "Jill Deck" was, it would be satisfying enough for some. But check out the price and it's on the high side for just a pretty deck. And that's where Card-Shark.de comes in.

You don't get just a stylish deck here. With "Jill Deck", you also get a selection of gaffed cards that is pretty thorough and at times unexpected. Along with the deck, you receive two mis-indexed cards (Ace of Diamonds/Three of Clubs, great for some monte routines), a double-facer (Queen of Clubs/King of Spades), a double-backer, a white-faced Ace of Hearts with a "Jill Deck" back, a topless Queen of Clubs, and -- my personal favorite -- a spare Joker with a nice looking bullet hole in one of the corners. In addition to all of that, "Jill Deck" is fully marked with a nice system that isn't hard to pick up and about as invisible as it gets (I'll cop to not finding it for a few minutes and I knew going in it was marked).

All of that, put together, makes "Jill Deck" a very nice deck of cards to have on hand.

There are a few things to consider, including one major thing we'll get out of the way right off the bat.

I said the marks are about as invisible as they get, and it's true. The marks are so subtle, in fact, that they are down-right hard to see, even when you're looking for them, in all but the best of conditions when it comes to lighting and distance. The marks are also deep in from the corners, making them hard to use in tight spreads or fans. As a marked deck goes, well, it's a nice feature but not all that useful with "Jill Deck".

Also, the deck is outright sexy, with the scantily-clad, gun-toting females and the hunky males (only on the Kings, folks; the women dominate this pack). Now for me, one who is known to whip out a Penthouse deck when the crowd is right and ripe, that's not a big deal at all. However, I know some are little more picky about such things and will be offended by this theme no matter the artistic value involved. So I mention this in passing just in case.

Lastly, and I'm not going to hit this one too hard because the deck is what it is, this is one for the more experienced of our number. The instructions cover the deck as far as the markings go, but little else. No big deal there, but to get the most out of the assorted gaffs a trip around the block is really necessary. Don't get this one expecting fleshed-out routines or tightly-honed thinking; those you'll need to supply yourself.

All in all, I love my "Jill Deck". It's different, it's beautiful, it's well made and the gaffs universal in application (and certainly the theme is easy enough to play with and come up with ideas for). My advice? Don't buy it for a marked deck; buy it for its theatrical value and for what you imagine you can come up with.

That could make it quite the little bargain.

"Jill Deck" Annabel de Vetten and Card-Shark.de
In a Blink: 7 Out of 10

Practicality: 10
It's a deck of cards with some really nice extras, so it's about as practical as any deck -- just a lot more striking and, well, pretty. Anything above and beyond that is all in what you do with it.

Workmanship: 7
The deck is very well made and quite sturdy, but with a different feel to them than the more traditional Bikes that will take a little getting used to. The biggest disappointment, though, is in the marks; the system is solid and quite nice, but way to hard to see in all but the best lighting conditions. Huge thumbs up for the very nice additional cards, though, that make this a nice tool.

Documentation: 5
The product is the deck, not things to do with the deck, and the directions reflect that, making this something for the more experienced to play with.

Effect: n/a
It's a deck and whatever effect you get from it is all in what you do with it. This also applies to...

Presentation: n/a
...Which, again, depends on what you do with it.

Shane

Available direct from your favorite dealer. Dealers, please contact Murphy's Magic Supplies, Inc. toll-free at 1-800-853-7403 or visit Murphy's Magic Supplies website.