Editing One-way deck (section)

{{Short description|Playing card deck type}}
[[File:CH-NB-Kartenspiel mit Schweizer Ansichten-19541-page059.tif|thumb|An example of a non-symmetrical playing card back design.]]
A '''one-way deck''' is a deck of [[playing cards]] where the back of the cards has a pattern that can be oriented to have a "top" and "bottom". [[Magic (illusion)|Magician]]s and [[card sharp]]s can use the orientations of cards in one-way decks to encode information that allows them to perform [[card trick]]s.<ref name="Rourke2005">{{cite book|author=Dennis Rourke|title=The Everything Card Tricks Book: Over 100 Amazing Tricks to Impress Your Friends And Family!|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XKJbnk5jYnwC&pg=PA168|date=1 September 2005|publisher=Everything Books|isbn=1-4405-2345-2|page=168}}</ref><ref name="Hugard2012">{{cite book|author=Jean Hugard|title=Encyclopedia of Card Tricks|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=91vCAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA160|date=30 April 2012|publisher=Courier Corporation|isbn=978-0-486-15652-1|page=160}}</ref>

A certain number of the faces of playing cards are not symmetrical, and therefore can also be used as "pointer cards" (the seven of any suit, for instance, whose odd [[Pip (counting)|pip]] is off-center on most modern decks). When all aligned, these cards allow an otherwise ordinary deck (where the backs are all identical and symmetrical) to be used as a partial one-way deck.<ref name="Kawamoto2008">{{cite book|author=Wayne N. Kawamoto|title=Picture Yourself as a Magician: Step-by-Step Instruction for the Street, Stage, Parties, Card Table and More|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TdULAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA95|date=1 January 2008|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-1-59863-677-2|page=95}}</ref>