This one reminds me of the golden days of packet magic, when Emerson and West, and Nick Trost, and others, were printing all kinds of colorful and cartoon-ish cards to illustrate packet magic stories.  Call me a nostalgic drip, but I still love those old packet effects.  The amount of magic that is packed into a four or five cards is always impressive for lay people, even if the cards have cute designs and the patter stories are silly.

Jackpot Cards is from Merlins Magic, in the UK, and so the cards feature depictions of UK coins.  So maybe this is why it was not a huge seller here in the good ol' USA.   (Or maybe it was because the retail price was around $25 which seems high to those of us who love packet magic!)  But the props are colorful, and the changes magical, and (if you buy it from TMGS), even the price is good!

I perform this one in the USA, for American lay audiences, and it plays well.  For American audiences, I tell of my recent trip to the UK, where it is legal to play slot machines all over the country, so every time you turn around, you find a slot machine (or fruit machine, as the Brits would call it). 

  I show the packet of cards, which has blue denim pockets on the backs.  Count the cards, showing three pockets and a 10 pence coin.  "I saw a slot machine, checked my pockets, and I had a dime... oh, I mean a ten pence!"   Turn the 10p card facedown and it has a "Lose, Lose, Lose" picture of a slot machine display.   Turn the 10 pence card coin-side up again and deal it on the table.  "So I checked my pockets again.  And I found a 50 pence coin".   Turn the 50p card facedown, and it also shows the Lose, Lose, Lose graphic, so you put the 50p card next to the 10p card on the table.   "One more time, I looked in my pockets, and I found a 1 pound coin.  I put it in the machine, but..."   Showing its back, again, there is the Losing graphic.  So you place the One-pound card on the table.   "But just when I thought I was gonna leave the UK flat broke, I did a little magic!"   Wave the pocket card in your hand over the three coin cards.   Turn the coin cards over to show a Cherries graphic on the back of every card.   Then turn the pocket card over to show a big bold "Jackpot".

Brand new, with nicely printed cards and written instructions.   (I just go a few of these at a super close-out price, so passing the savings on to you!!)

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