How to Do the 4 Kings Card Trick

Co-authored by Kyle Hall

The Four Kings trick is a good beginner's card trick and one that children can easily master. There are many variations, and nearly all of them involve keeping the four kings together while leading your audience to believe that they were separated. Here are a couple of variations you can try that are sure to impress your friends!

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Setting up the Trick

1
Separate all of the kings and three extra cards of any other type. The three extra cards can be any cards from the deck.
2
Fan out the cards so that the four kings show. Keep the three extra cards hidden behind the fourth king.

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3
Explain that the kings are going to rob a bank. Tell your audience that they will enter the bank through the roof.
4
Stack the cards all together and place them face down on the top (roof) of the deck. The three top cards are your spares, but your audience will believe they are the kings that they were shown previously.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Mixing the Cards

1
Take the first spare card off the top. Without showing anyone the face of the card, say that this “king” is going to be on the first floor. Put it in the deck, somewhere near the bottom.
2
Send the second "king" to the second floor. Take the next spare card off the top of the deck and place it somewhere in the middle of the deck.
3
Send the third "king" to the vault at the bottom. Don't put any of the cards too close to the top of the deck, because the real kings are on top.
4
Flip up the king on the top of the deck. Tell your audience that this king will stay on top of the bank to be the lookout.
- Your audience will think this is the fourth king when it’s actually the first king. The other three kings are directly under it in the deck.
5
Have the top king say that the police are coming, so everybody needs to go to the top. He knocks on the roof. Tap or knock on the deck four times.
6
Take the four cards off the top of the deck and show them to the audience. They should all be kings.
- Your audience thinks you mixed all of the kings into the deck, even though you were actually just mixing in the three spare cards, so they’ll be amazed when you show them all 4 kings together at the top of the deck!
7
Display the four "rescued" kings alongside the deck. Invite someone from the audience to search the remaining deck for the spare kings that they will assume you inserted.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Trying an Alternate Method

1
Hide two random cards behind the second king when you fan them out. Put the kings and random cards on the top of the deck. They should be in this order, from top to bottom: first king, random, random, second king, third king, fourth king.
2
Show the audience the top card (the first king). Then, send it to the bottom of the deck.
3
Send the next two cards, which aren’t kings, to the middle of the deck. Do this without showing the audience the face of the cards. Since you showed them the first one, they're more likely to take your word for it that the next two are kings as well.
4
Show them the fourth card (the second king). The audience will believe this is the fourth and last king. In reality, you still have three kings at the top of the deck, and one at the bottom.
5
Cut the deck, putting the bottom half on top. This will put the first king back with the other three kings.
6
Fan out the deck and show the audience that the kings have stuck together through it all. The four kings should all be next to each other in the middle of the deck.

Warnings

Don't do the same trick twice.

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Don't tell anybody the secret of the trick or show off the hidden cards.

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Answer any doubts from the audience with complete phrases. Don't gush and smirk when explaining that your trick only requires faith from all that it was good.

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