This is my review for “the Score”， Daniel Madison’s new marking system for playing cards. Since I discovered Blood (also by d+M) a few months ago， I’ve really been into marking systems， which can be considered， in my opinion， as some of the most useful “gimmicks” available to both magicians and card players. However， I had just bought 12 Bee Stinger decks and was desperate not to have a proper marking system for them (I tried to come up with one， epic fail). Needless to say， I bought the Score the MINUT I saw it was available…
The PDF is 15 pages long， and divided as follows ：
Avant propos
an excerpt from The Card Cheat Journals proving， if needed， that Daniel is done being a magician (but certainly not done using his skills with cards).
Introduction and developments
After explaining the concept of a marked deck – and strongly advising you NOT to use one in a real game – Daniel exposes some of the techniques used to mark cards (filling， Pegging， etc…)， from which he took inspiration when developing the Score marking system.
The Score
This is it ! Daniel explains here the system used to identify the cards. As I’ve said before， I made my own attempts to create such a system so I was really eager to discover Daniel’s method. Well， this is pure genius !!! First of all， the Score is easy to read， yet completely invisible for the unknowing (if well applied of course， but that’s the case for every marking system). It’s also fairly simple to learn (you’ll be instantly able to read the cards)， and can be applied to any deck that has a white border， regardless of the back design (unlike Blood， which provided a specific system for each back design).
After giving the basic system (which can easily be adapted to suit better the kind of game you’re playing)， Daniel teaches two methods to mark the deck ： beforehand， and also during play， which adds tremendously to the value of this system !!! He also gives you tips to make you a fluent， confident reader even under fire.
Applications and suggestions
In this last part， you’ll be given ideas to take the most out of the Score， whether you plan to use this during play or to enhance your magic (how to combine it with sleight of hand， etc…)My opinion ：
The goal of a marked deck is simple ： allowing the reader to know in a glimpse the identity of any face-down card without anyone else noticing， or even suspecting the marking. And the Score marking system delivers as promised !!
the code is very simple to learn， you’ll get it instantly
the marks， after a bit of practice， are easy to apply on the cards (once you get it down， you can mark a deck in no time， like 10-15 minutes， probably less)
the marks are very well concealed， and although you’ll be able to locate them in a glimpse， they’re very hard to spot if you don’t know what you’re looking for， and can pass as the mere result of “use” if seen.
To sum up， from my magician point of view， this PDF is a MUST HAVE ! I truly think that every magician should posses a marked deck， and use it whenever possible. It’s not just that it allows you to perform brand new effects ; it makes the effects you already perform cleaner， smoother， and safer (in any “pick a card” kind of tricks， it’s invaluable information to know the identity of the chosen card). The point of Score is not to give you fish (as opposed to all the other marked decks available on the market)， it’s to teach you how to fish， by allowing you to create your own marked， decks for much cheaper， as often as you wish to (no problem then to sign cards， to rip them， etc， as you know you can create a new deck whenever you want).
In that perspective， I also strongly suggest you downloaded the Blood PDF (available for free on d+M’s website)， as it deals more with the use of marked decks for magicians and is a good place to start. Those two PDFs complete each other very well ： if you get one， get both.
Concerning the gambling applications of the Score (once again， you shouldn’t use it to cheat !)， I have to say I’m yet to use the Score during play， but I’m confident that it will play its role perfectly when I will. Marking the cards during a game using a borrowed deck will certainly require a great deal of practice beforehand， and nerves of steel while doing it， but having the ability to do it is a tremendous advantage over all the other marking systems available today.
The Score is by far one of the best purchases I’ve ever made to this day， and at this price (15$) it’s a steal (for him). Don’t miss the opportunity to take your magic to a whole new level， get this one and get it now !
