Free Memory System Search! Enter Your Topic Below:

Chapter - 19

How To Remember Playing Cards

If we wish to apply our system to playing cards without extra effort, we can associate the cards with our basic list of words. Before you read my suggestions on how to go about it, try to find a solution yourself. Since this idea may seem a little odd to you, here is the reason why you should.

Whatever your profession or occupation may be, you will face many problems which cannot be discussed and explained in this book. This is necessarily so because the book was written for the general public and not for specific individuals. Therefore it will be most useful for you if you yourself check your ability, which should be rather well developed by now, in applying this system to something new, something which has not yet been discussed. What you find out for yourself in one or two hours is much more useful than reading a ready-made solution in a few minutes, as you can do in the following paragraphs.

Here is the solution: In a deck of playing cards there are four different suits, which we number in alphabetical order:

            Clubs   1
            Diamonds         2
            Hearts  3
            Spades 4

To each number we append the number of the card, that is, its real value. For instance:

Club 4                                   is 1 and 4, or 14
(or the 4 of clubs)
Diamond 7                            is 2 and 7, or 27
(or the 7 of diamonds)
Heart 9                                  is 3 and 9, or 39
(or the 9 of hearts)
Spades 2                               is 4 and 2, or 42
(or the 2 of spades)

The ace has one pip on its face and may therefore be valued as 1, while the easiest valuation of 10 is zero (o). Consequently:

Diamond ace                            is 2 and 1, or 21
(or the ace of diamonds)
Hearts 10
(or the 10 of hearts)                  is 3 and o, or 30

Using this method, we arrive at numbers of two digits, for which we can substitute the key words of our basic list. If we do this with the cards listed above, we have:

The 4 of clubs is 14, or tar.
The 7 of diamonds is 27, or neck.
The 9 of hearts is 39, or map.
The 2 of spades is 42, or rain.
The ace of diamonds is 21, or net.
The 10 of hearts is 30, or mass.

Only the face cards remain. When we bring them into our system, we find that we have used only the first 49 words in our basic list. All the words between 50 and 100 are still free and at our disposal. Let us try this plan: For a face card, add 5 to the suit number. That will give us the following suit values for face cards:

Clubs   6
Diamonds         7
Hearts  8
Spades 9

The face cards themselves may be valued as follows:

Jack     2
Queen  3
King     4

If we follow the system we used for number cards, we arrive at these numbers:

Club Jack                                 is 6 and 2, or 62
(or the Jack of clubs)
Diamond Queen                       is 7 and 3, or 73
(or the Queen of diamonds)
Spade King                              is 9 and 4, or 94
(or the King of spades)

This is the easiest way to connect playing cards with the basic list of words, and it should not be difficult for you to repeat, in order, the names of a full deck of cards which you looked through only once or which someone called out to you. To give an example, let us suppose that the first ten cards in a well-shuffled deck are the following:

(1) 8 of clubs
(2) 2 of spades
(3) 5 of clubs
(4) 2 of diamonds
(5) 3 of diamonds
(6) Queen of hearts
(7) 5 of spades
(8) 7 of hearts
(9) King of diamonds
(10) 2 of hearts

It goes without saying that we have to handle the numbers which are substitutes for playing cards in the same way as we would handle other numbers; that is, we form the following connection:

(1) 8 of clubs, or 18, or taffy has to be connected with the first word of the basic list, which is tea. "I see taffy on the tea-table.'

(2) 2 of spades, or 42, or rain has to be connected with the second word of the basic list, which is Noah. "Noah survived the Deluge, or rain.”

(3) 5 of clubs, or 15, or tale has to be connected with the third word of the basic list, which is May.

"Many a love tale starts in May."

Now, assuming that you understand the system, I shall give the connections only:

(4) "The rays of the sun are most intense at noon.” (22, or the 2 of diamonds)

(5) "There is a law for changing one's name.” (23, or the 5 of diamonds)

(6) "Shaw won fame as a writer." (83, or the Queen of hearts)

(7) "The key_ is hidden behind the stair rail." (45, or the 5 of spades)

(8) "The lecturer received a large fee for speaking on the mike." (37, or the 7 of hearts)

(9) "You can drive around the bay in a car." (74, or the King of diamonds)

(10) "Do not tease this man." (32, or the 2 of hearts) Once you have impressed these connections upon your mind, you will find it easy to recall the playing cards by thinking through the list of words. In order to repeat the cards, proceed as follows:

1. The first word of the basic list is tea. With tea we connected taffy. Taffy is 18, and 18 is the 8 of clubs.

2. The second word of the basic list is Noah. With Noah we connected rain. Rain is 42, and 42 is the 2 of spades.

3. The third word of the basic list is May. With May we connected tale. Tale is 15, and 15 is the 5 of clubs. And so on.

If you master the list of words, you will face no difficulties. There is only one way to prove it: Try it! And do not forget to write me as soon as you can repeat a deck of 52 cards.

Remembering Playing Cards In Connection With Persons

This experiment combines the training of your memory for playing cards with developing a sound memory for names. It is much more interesting than the foregoing, but it is also more difficult. Therefore, do not attempt it until you can remember the cards in sequence. The experiment goes this way: Suppose that you are at a party with ten other persons. Their names, and I have chosen the real names of some of my students, are:

Mr. Black
Mr. Lynch
Miss Warter
Mr. Caine
Mr. Gold
Miss Adams
Mr. Singer
Mr. Goodstein
Mr. Tunis
Mrs. Fields

Each of them takes one card at random and tells you which card he holds. Let us assume that the cards are distributed as follows:

Mr. Black                                 5 of hearts
Mr. Lynch                                4 of diamonds
Miss Warter                             ace of diamonds
Mr. Caine                                 2 of hearts
Mr. Gold                                  Jack of clubs
Miss Adams                             3 of diamonds
Mr. Singer                                10 of hearts
Mr. Goodstein                          5 of clubs
Mr. Tunis                                 King of diamonds
Mrs. Fields                               5 of spades

The ability to remember which card each person holds is based on the same principle as the ability to remember the cards in sequence. Again we translate the card into a number, and the number into the corresponding word of the basic list. But instead of connecting this word with our list of words, we connect it with the name of the person who is holding the card. So, we may form associations like this:

1. Mr. Black has the 5 of hearts. The 5 of hearts is 35, or mail. As a connection we may use the word blackmail.

2. Mr. Lynch has the 4 of diamonds. The 4 of diamonds is 24, or Nero. We think of Nero as a tyrant who murdered, or lynched, many persons.

3. Miss Warter has the ace of diamonds. The name "Warter" has no meaning in itself. Therefore we substitute water, which is quite similar in sound. She is holding the ace of diamonds, which is 21, or net. If we imagine a fisher man's net in the water, we have an easy connection.
 
Assuming that you understand this procedure fully, I am condensing the following associations:

4. Mr. Caine has the 2 of hearts. For "Caine" substitute cane. The 2 of hearts: man. "A man carries a cane.”

5. Mr. Gold has the Jack of clubs; that is, a chain: "a gold chain.”

6. Miss Adams has the 3 of diamonds; that is, name: "Adam was the name of the first man.”

7. Mr. Singer has the 10 of hearts: mass. "He sings at mass."

8. Mr. Goodstein has the 5 of clubs: tale. "A good tale.”

9. Mr. Tunis has the King of diamonds: car. Visualize a carat army headquarters in Tunis.

10. Mrs. Fields has the 5 of spades: rail. Visualize rails of a railroad stretching through fields.

Obviously, it is easier to make this experiment with persons whom you know than with strangers. The reason is that we have no difficulty in forming associations with persons familiar to us because there are many things we can connect with them. For instance, besides the name we can associate occupation or profession, character traits, hobbies, some expression of personal opinion, or countless other items. If, however, we are making this experiment with strangers, we have nothing to go on but the name and appearance of the person in question. Therefore our task is more difficult. On the other hand, it affords better training. So try it first with acquaintances and then with strangers, and gradually increase the number of persons from ten to fifty-two—the number of playing cards in a deck.

That this experiment has a practical value far beyond its apparently frivolous character will be shown in the next chapter.

Are You Ready To Move Onto The Next Lesson? Click Here...