The Mathematics of the Five Card Trick

Mary Beth Kilnoski

Omaha, NE

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts in Teaching with a
Specialization in the Teaching of Middle Level Mathematics
in the Department of Mathematics.
Dr. Susan Cooper, advisor

July 2010
 Kilnoski-MAT Expository Paper- 9

arithmetic. Some self-working tricks are those based on counting, and require understanding and

technique, but not necessarily the typical “magician” skills, like palming cards, false shuffling, or

peeking. Many mathematical card tricks also require proficiency in those and other basic card

handling skills.

Fitch Cheney’s Five Card Trick

The trick I am going to present is credited to mathematician William Fitch Cheney, Jr.

(1894- 1974). Cheney was a mathematician and professor for most of his life, but enjoyed

performing magic tricks for family and friends. He was a frequent contributor to the magazine

M-U-M, the official publication of the Society of American Magicians. The magical effect of

the Five Card trick is that the magician can name a card drawn randomly from a deck of cards.

As originally published in Lee’s (1950) book, Math Miracles, it was set up as a telephone trick.

After a member of the audience selected five cards at random, one magician turned one card face

down and laid the remaining four face up in a line on the table, and then phoned a second

magician. Magician 1 would name the four cards faced up on the table and magician 2 would

name the hidden card. In this way it was clear to all in the audience that there were no body

language signs between the two magicians. In the version that will be examined here, the

magician is simply out of the room. The assistant asks for a volunteer to draw five cards at

random from a standard deck of 52 cards. The cards are drawn and given back to the assistant,

who chooses one of the cards which will then be hidden. The assistant then lays the remaining

four out on the table. The magician is called back, surveys the four cards on the table, and names

the hidden card.

The probability of correctly naming 1 random card chosen from a standard deck of cards

is 1 in 52. This means that we are looking for just one card, called the favorable outcome, in a
 Kilnoski-MAT Expository Paper- 10

set of 52 cards, the total possible outcomes. The probability of naming the chosen card is 1 in 52

or about 2%. In this trick, since four additional cards are shown to the magician, the chance of

naming the hidden card correctly is just slightly higher, because now the set of cards has been

reduced from the total of 52 possible outcomes to 48. The probability of naming the hidden card

is now 1 in 48, which is still approximately 2%. With that probability, there would be no magic

trick. What do the magician and the assistant know in order to make this trick work? There must

be more than what we can see, but there is no telepathy or secret body language involved, which

is why it could originally be performed over the phone. The magic is in the mathematics behind

the trick. It is essential that the assistant and magician work together in order to make the effect

work.

Think about what the magician sees: there are four cards face up in a line on the table.

Can these four cards give the magician a clue as to what the hidden card is? The cards are

selected by a member of the audience, so the assistant does not get to choose them, but the

assistant does have all cards before the magician sees them, and in fact chooses which of the

cards will be hidden before laying out the other four. This is where the mathematics comes into

play. There are four cards on the table and 48 possible cards that could be hidden. How can the

assistant and magician use the four cards to identify the one that is hidden if every time the trick

is performed different cards are chosen? The solution to the trick has three mathematical

components: the pigeonhole principle, modular arithmetic, and permutations. Using these three

principles and following some conventions previously practiced will make the most of the

magical effect. We will look at how each one of these concepts works in the Five Card Trick.
 Kilnoski-MAT Expository Paper- 11

The Pigeonhole Principle

The pigeonhole principle is a simple, but important part of combinatorics. Let n = the

n
number of pigeons and k = the number of pigeonholes. We define the ceiling, shown as   , to
k 

n n n n
be the smallest integer ≥ . The floor of , shown as  k  , is the greatest integer ≤ k . When n
k k

pigeons are put into k pigeonholes, there exists at least 1 pigeonhole containing not less than

n n
 k  pigeons and at least 1 pigeonhole containing not more than  k  pigeons. For example, let

k = 4, to represent the four suits in a deck of cards (the pigeonholes), and let n = 5 to represent

the number of cards a volunteer draws from the deck for the trick (the pigeons). We know that

5 1
is 1 , so the ceiling is 2. Therefore, at least one suit (a pigeonhole) has more than one
4 4

representative among the 5 cards selected (the pigeons). Simply stated this means that if you

draw any five cards, at least 2 of them will match suit.

To relate this to our trick we think of the 5 cards selected by a volunteer and the four

possible suits. The pigeonhole principle guarantees that in any given draw of five cards, at least

two of the cards are of the same suit. It is possible that less than all of the four suits are

represented in the five cards selected, but we know that at least two of the cards must have the

same suit. This is the first part of the solution.

One of the cards that share the same suit will become the hidden card and one will

become the key card in the trick. The assistant scans the five cards to find a pair of cards of the

same suit. The assistant must then quickly decide which of these two will be the hidden card and

which will be the key card that the magician will see on the table with the other three cards. The

assistant then shows the card that will be hidden to the audience and turns it face down on the
 Kilnoski-MAT Expository Paper- 12

table. The key card is then placed in the first position face up on the table. Scanning left to

right, it will be the first of the four cards the magician is allowed to see before naming the hidden

card. The magician will know immediately the suit of the hidden card.

Modular Arithmetic

The assistant must also know how to count the numbers or faces of the chosen cards to

find the difference between the value of the hidden card and the key card. This is done by using

modular arithmetic. Modular arithmetic is a system that lets us think about operations of

numbers using repetitive cycles outside the usual base ten system. If we want to add numbers

using only those available to us in one suit of our standard deck of cards, we can use (mod 13).

In each suit the numbered cards are given their corresponding value, and then we assign the

value of one to the ace, 11 to the jack, 12 to the queen, and 13 to the king to make our system of

thirteen complete. In base 10 we can easily add 4 and 6 to get ten, and it is the same (mod 13),

but what happens when we want to add 10 and 6? We know 10 + 6 = 16, but in our deck of

cards, we do not have a 16 card, we can only count as high as the number 13 since the suit has

only 13 cards. Using (mod 13), numbers higher than 13 will be expressed by the congruence of

their remainders in (mod 13). Let’s imagine one of the suits from our deck arranged in a circle,

like the face of a clock (see Figure 1).

 Kilnoski-MAT Expository Paper- 13

Figure 1
Clock arrangement (mod 13)

Using (mod 13) we start counting clockwise with the ace (1), 2, 3, …, 11 (jack), 12

(queen), 13 (king), and then we repeat the cycle. So, instead of saying 14, as we usually would,

we start again with 1. We count 12, 13, 1, 2, . . ., and so on. Therefore, if we add 10 and 6, we

count 11 (jack), 12 (queen), 13 (king), 1, 2, and then 3. We can add from any number in the

circle and when we reach 13, we go around again. The base ten equation 10 + 6 =16 can become

a new problem in (mod 13). When we divide 16 by 13 we get a quotient of 1 with a remainder
 Kilnoski-MAT Expository Paper- 14

of 3. This remainder becomes our congruency answer in (mod 13). Using symbolic notation for

(mod 13) we can show that 10 + 6 ≡ 3 (mod 13). So, 10 add 6, counting clockwise, is 3.

Let’s try another example. This time let’s start with the queen (12) and add 2. We know

in base ten 12 and 2 are 14. Looking at the clock arrangement of the suit, we can count

clockwise from the queen 2 places and land on the 1 (ace). In (mod 13), we can say that 14 ≡ 1

(mod 13). This means that when we divide 14 by 13 there is a remainder of 1.

This clock arrangement is a very quick and convenient way for the assistant in the trick to

study the five cards the audience member has chosen and decide what to do next. Seen in this

repetitive cycle any two cards are no more than six positions apart moving clockwise. These six

spaces are important to the trick, and we will see why in the next section. How do the assistant

and the magician use modular arithmetic to communicate the value of the hidden card? We have

already established that the suit of the key card (the first upturned card) is the same as the suit of

the hidden card. That narrows down the number of cards that could be the hidden card from 48

to 12; the remaining cards in the suit of the key card. When scanning the cards, the assistant

chooses a pair of cards with the same suit. The assistant chooses which of the pair will be hidden

and which will be the key card based on the difference in the values which cannot exceed six, for

reasons we will see in the next section. For example, if the pair is the 2♥ and 8♥, the 8♥ will be

hidden and the 2♥ becomes the key card, since 2 + 6 ≡ 8 (mod 13). The two cards cannot be

switched, because to go clockwise from 8♥ to 2♥ the difference is 7 positions on the clock. Or

we could say 8 + 7 ≡ 2 (mod 13). The congruence is true in (mod 13), but this model will not

work in our five card trick, where we must limit the differences to 6 positions.

In another example, let’s say the pair is 4♥ and Q♥. We need to find the arrangement of

these two cards with a difference ≤ 6 positions. Counting clockwise from 4♥ to Q♥ is 8 positions,
 Kilnoski-MAT Expository Paper- 15

4 + 8 ≡ 12 (mod 13), but from Q♥ to 4♥ is only 5 positions, 12 + 5 ≡ 4 (mod 13), so the 4♥ is

hidden and the Q♥ becomes the key card. With the key card Q♥ on the table as the first card

faced up, how can the assistant use the remaining three cards to let the magician know which

heart is hidden? And why must the differences in their positions be 6 or less? For the Cheney

Five Card Trick, we use a code based on permutations.

Permutations

Recall that the volunteer has drawn five cards at random and handed them to the

magician’s assistant, while the magician is out of the room. The assistant looks at the cards,

decides which one will be hidden, shows it to the audience, and lays it face down on the table.

The assistant has also identified the key card, which matches the suit of the hidden card, and has

used (mod 13) to calculate the difference in positions on the clock of the two cards, keeping the

difference of 6 or less positions moving clockwise between the key card and the hidden card.

The three cards that the assistant still holds will all be distinct, but there is no way of knowing

until the trick is being performed which specific cards from the deck they will be. The

probability of simply guessing the hidden card now would be 1/12, an improvement over 1 in 48

as at the beginning, but there are still too many ways to go wrong to have a good magic trick.

The third part of the solution involves using the possible permutations of the three cards to

formulate a code which can transmit the value of the hidden card. The code is based on the

arrangement of the three cards.

A permutation is an ordered arrangement of objects. If we have a collection of three

objects, the permutations of three will show all the different ways those three things can be

arranged. Let’s say we have three cards J♠, Q♦, K♣ as shown in Figure 2.
 Kilnoski-MAT Expository Paper- 16

Figure 2
J♠, Q♦, K♣

How many different ways can we arrange them? These are the permutations of the three cards:

1) J♠, Q♦, K♣
2) J♠, K♣, Q♦
3) Q♦, J♠, K♣
4) Q♦, K♣, J♠
5) K♣, J♠, Q♦
6) K♣, Q♦, J♠

We can use factorial notation 3!, which means 3 x 2 x 1, to show that there are 6 ways to arrange

3 objects.

The magician and the assistant must have an order worked out ahead of time, so that the

assistant can arrange the cards into one of the six possible permutations and the magician will

decode the permutation to find the hidden card. Since there are only 6 possible arrangements of

the three cards, the addend discussed in the previous section must be less than or equal to 6. This

means that with any given pair, the hidden card can be a maximum of 6 positions from the key

card when counting clockwise on the clock model. In this trick the suits are arranged in

alphabetical order, such that clubs are the lowest, followed by diamonds, then hearts, and finally

the highest suit is spades (see Figure 3). Within each suit, the cards are arranged with aces low.

The aces are assigned the value of 1, number cards their corresponding value, jacks 11, queens

12, and kings 13. The order of the entire deck is determined first by suit and then by rank. Using
 Kilnoski-MAT Expository Paper- 17

this order, the lowest card of the deck is the A♣ and the highest is K♠. For example, look at the

following five cards: 2♠, 4♦, 4♥, 8♦, and K♣. Their arrangement from low to high following the

order of suits for the trick would be: K♣, 4♦, 8♦, 4♥, 2♠.

Figure 3
Order of suits

No matter which three cards the magician’s assistant has after choosing the hidden card

and laying down the key card, the cards can be put in order as low, medium, or high. This order,

or permutation, can represent a code for an addend. The code will tell the magician how many

spaces on the clock to add to the key card, which is in the first position face up on the table, to

get to the hidden card.

Using the permutations the 3 cards can be arranged in 3! = 6 distinct orders, as shown in

the code below.

1 = low, middle, high

2 = low, high, middle
3 = middle, low, high
4 = middle, high, low
5 = high, low, middle
6 = high, middle, low.

Let’s work out a few examples. The assistant gets the following cards from the

volunteer: 3♣, 7♣, 10♦, 7♥, and K♠ (see Figure 4). The assistant chooses the 2 cards of the same
 Kilnoski-MAT Expository Paper- 18

suit which are the 3 and 7 of clubs. The assistant decides that the 7♣ will be the hidden card

since 3 + 4 ≡ 7 (mod 13). Only this order will work since 7 + 9 ≡ 3 (mod 13) requires an addend

of 9 and 9 > 6. The 3♣, the key card, is laid down in the first position on the table and the

remaining three cards are arranged according to the order of suits corresponding to the

permutation middle, high, low, the code to show that 4 should be added to the 3♣, to get to the

hidden 7♣ using the clock model previously discussed.

Figure 4
Hidden 7♣

This is the key card.

This is the hidden card.

Now let’s try an example going from a card with a higher value to a card with a lower

one. This time let’s say that the cards the volunteer selects are: 5♣, A♦, 8♣, 4♠ and J♠ (see

Figure 5). The two cards of matching suit are the 4♠ and J♠. The assistant must hide the 4♠ and

make the J♠ the key card. Using the clock arrangement (see Figure 1), and counting clockwise,

we need to add six to the J♠ to get to 4♠. In (mod 13) we show this as 11 (jack) + 6 ≡ 4 (mod 13).

The assistant needs to select the hidden card with care since moving from 4♠ to J♠ on the clock
 Kilnoski-MAT Expository Paper- 19

would require adding seven positions, 4 + 7 ≡ 11(jack) (mod 13). (With only the six

permutations of 3 objects for the code, this arrangement does not work for the trick.) Therefore,

the remaining three cards, 5♣, 8♣, A♦, need to show “add 6”, and so are arranged in high,

middle, low (A♦,8♣, 5♣) order according to the permutation code.

Figure 5
J♠ add 6 to 4♠

This is the key card.

This is the hidden card.

Variations

After performing the trick once or twice, it might become obvious that the key card in the

first position on the table is the clue to the suit of the hidden card. One way to vary the position

of the key card is to use modular arithmetic in a new way. Look at the set of cards as shown in

Figure 6: 5♣, A♦, 9 ♥, 4♠ and J♠. The 4♠ is hidden, so we find the sum of the remaining four

cards giving the ace the value of 1 and the face cards the values of jack =11, queen = 12, and

king =13. In this case the sum of the four face up cards is 26. Convert the sum to its congruent

value in (mod 4), 26 ≡ 2(mod 4) and place the key card, J♠, in the second position, which
 Kilnoski-MAT Expository Paper- 20

corresponds to the congruency statement. The remaining 3 cards are put in the order of high,

middle, low, around the key card for the permutation code indicating add 6. The magician

comes in, quickly finds the sum of the four cards, determines the position of the key card, looks

at the arrangement, and correctly announces the hidden 4♠. This variation would only require a

bit more preparation and practice, but it would make the trick much more difficult for a spectator

to figure out after seeing it just a couple of times.

Figure 6
Key card (mod 4)

This is the key card.

This is the hidden card.

Now, let’s imagine another variation to make the trick appear even more difficult for the

magician. This time, let’s change the code from the arrangement of the three cards from low,

middle, and high, to face up or face down. A good bit of drama could be added here for effect.

Can the magician guess the missing card with only three cards to see? What about two? Suppose

the volunteer hands the assistant the following cards: K♣, 2♦, 4♥, 3♠, and 5♠. The cards of

matching suit are the 3♠ and 5♠, so the 5♠ is hidden. The 3♠ is the key card and the remaining 3
 Kilnoski-MAT Expository Paper- 21

cards need to show the magician to add 2 to the 3♠ to get to 5♠ using the clock model. Using a

different code for the six permutations of the three remaining cards showing them face up (U) or

face down (D), we can now present the six addends this way:

1=UDD
2=DUD
3=DDU
4=DUU
5=UDU
6=UUD

In this case with the key card, 3♠, and the hidden card, 5♠, we want to show add 2, so we arrange

the cards D U D (see Figure 7) after the key card.

Figure 7
Showing and addend of 2 with some cards face down

This is the key card.

This is the hidden card.

There are even more variations of the trick. In one variation called Fitch Four Glory, four

cards are selected and only three are displayed. To make this trick work, the suits need to be

redefined from the usual four suits of 13 to just three suits of 17 each. These new suits are called

alpha, beta, and gamma. Alpha is the entire suit of 13 clubs, A♣ through K♣, with the following
 Kilnoski-MAT Expository Paper- 22

4 spades added after the K♣ to complete the suit of 17: 2♠ (14), 3♠ (15), 4♠ (16), and 5♠ (17).

Beta is the entire suit of 13 diamonds with the next four spades added after the K♦ to complete

the suit of 17: 6♠, 7♠, 8♠, and 9♠. The third suit, gamma, is the entire suit of 13 hearts with the

next four spades added after the K♥ to complete the third suit of 17: 10♠, J♠, Q♠, and K♠. This

leaves three “super” suits with 17 cards each and the A♠ left over. With these three new suits, we

could use (mod 17) in the clock arrangement like we did with the original trick in (mod 13). In

this variation there would be differences of up to eight positions between any two cards.

Therefore, the code must be modified to find three new arrangements. The “super” suits are

ordered low to high starting with alpha: A♣ through K♣, then 2♠, 3♠, 4♠, and 5♠; followed by

beta: A♦ through K♦, 6♠, 7♠, 8♠, and 9♠; and finally gamma: A♥ through K♥, 10♠, J♠, Q♠, and

K♠. Since A♠ is not part of the “super” suits, it does not follow this order. Combining the low,

middle, high permutations and the face up and face down code, the addend 7 could be made by

keeping the three cards face up and placing the key card in the first position, followed by the

lower of the two remaining cards, and finally the higher of the two. The addend 8 could be made

by arranging the three cards face up with the key card first, followed by the higher of the two

remaining cards and finally the lower of the two. The complete code for the Fitch Four Glory

variation would be:

1 = U D D (key card in position 1)

2 = D U D (key card in position 2)
3 = D D U (key card in position 3)
4 = D U U (key card in position 2)
5 = U D U (key card in position 1)
6 = U U D (key card in position 1)
7 = U key card, U lower, U higher
8 = U key card, U higher U lower
A♠ = D D D
 Kilnoski-MAT Expository Paper- 23

As seen in the code, each of the other arrangements 1- 6 would include at least one card

face up, so the first face up card would be the key card and would communicate the suit of the

hidden card. If the hidden card is the A♠, which was excluded from our three super suits, the

assistant would lay the remaining three cards face down and the magician would guess the A♠.

Conclusion

The Cheney Five Card Trick is a prime example of using mathematics for recreation in a

magical application. The Five Card Trick, like the best mathematical magic, “combines the

beauty of mathematical structure with the entertainment value of a trick” (Gardner, 1956, p. xi).

We have seen that throughout history people have always enjoyed using math in games with dice

and cards. People began by playing games of chance with just a few simple materials and

concepts. Over time, our games have become more complex and elaborate, but the mathematical

concepts, the thrill of chance, and the allure of the unknown has remained the same. When

mathematics, magic, and mystery are combined like this we can truly experience the joy of

mathematics.
 Kilnoski-MAT Expository Paper- 24

References

Bogomolny, A. Modular Arithmetic from Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles.

http://www.cut-the-knot.org/blue/Modulo.shtml. Accessed 8 July 2010.

Chatto, W. A. (2010). Facts and speculations on the origin and history of playing cards.
Chicago, IL: Kirk Press.

Craig, S. (2002). Sports and games of the ancients: sports and games through history. Westport,
CN: Greenwood Press.

Dudley, U. (1978). Elementary number theory (2nd ed.). Mineola, NY: Dover Publications.

Gardner, M. (2001). The Colossal book of mathematics: classic puzzles, paradoxes, and
problems. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company.

Gardner, M. (1956). Mathematics, magic, and mystery. New York, NY: Dover Publications.

Hargrave, C. P. (1966). A History of playing cards and a bibliography of cards and gaming:
compiled and illustrated from the old cards and books in the collection of the United
States Playing Card Company in Cincinnati. New York, NY: Dover Publications.

Kleber, M. (2002). The best Card trick. Math Intelligencer, 24(1), 1-5.

Lee, W. (1950). Math miracles. Durham, NC: Seeman Printery.

McElroy, T. (2005). A to Z of mathematicians : notable scientists. New York, NY: Facts on File.

Mulcahy, C. (2003). Fitch Cheney's five card trick. Math Horizons. February, 10-13.

Mulcahy, C. (2005, February). Fitch four glory. Retrieved from

http://www.maa.org/columns/colm/cardcolm200502.html

Pappas, T. (1994). The Magic of mathematics: discovering the spell of mathematics. San Carlos,
CA: Wide World Publishing.

Pigeonhole principle. (n.d.). Retrieved from

www.mathdb.org/notes_download/elementary/combinatorics/de_D4.pd

Wilkins, S. (2002). Sports and games of medieval cultures: sports and games through history.
Westport, CN: Greenwood Press.

Zaslavsky, C. (1998). Math games and activities from around the world. Chicago, IL: Chicago
Review Press.