RANCHO CORDOVA, CA, September 1, 2026 — Vanishing Inc. and John Guastaferro released Bets in Show on September 1, featuring the routine from Guastaferro’s recently published card magic book Final Degree, supplying necessary props, and offering it as a standalone product. The release serves two audiences: magicians who already own Final Degree can now buy the high-quality poker chips and props built for the routine, while anyone who doesn’t own the book can buy the complete package, routine and props together.
Guastaferro told Conjurly, “This routine has been many years in the making. I am so proud of the result.” He shared that Bets in Show has become an integral part of his close-up act at the Magic Castle because, “It checks all the boxes of what I believe defines a great routine.” He highlighted that it is essentially self-working, interactive, has visual interest, transforms apparent failure into a blockbuster success, and features a surprise kicker that no one sees coming.
David Regal, who wrote the introduction for Final Degree, said of the routine: “This is that rare bird…a self-working effect that builds like a smoldering volcano and blows away a room.” Regal added that the piece is pure Guastaferro.
The effect uses five poker chips, each printed for a different casino. The names are chosen to sound believable while integrating into the presentation. Four chips are laid out in a row and the fifth chip is set aside. Guastaferro never touches the deck once it’s handed over. Spectators cut it themselves into four packets, splitting and mixing the cards in the process, and set each packet beside a chip.
After asking, “What would be a good card if we were in Vegas?” Guastaferro reveals the first card cut to is the ace of spades. Then he muses, “What if we could cut to all four aces? Check this out.” But the next three cards prove not to be aces. He continues, “I said what if we could. I didn’t say we would.” After pausing a beat to let the possibility of a trick gone wrong sink in, he starts the reveal. “What if these were the cards you were destined to get the entire time? The poker chips were subliminally guiding you to these cards along. You didn’t even know it.” Each seemingly random card matches the name of the casino on the chip next to it. For example, the Ace of Spades is next to a $1 chip from the Black Aster Casino, the Five of Diamonds is next to a $5 chip from the Five Points Royale, a King is next to a Crown Regency Casino chip, and a Queen is matched to a chip from the Queensbridge casino. Taking it further, each chip is flipped over to reveal that the exact cards are printed on the other side.
Right when they think it is over, the one extra chip from the Desert Oasis is pointed out. When turned over it has a blank prediction. That’s no mistake. That’s a prediction as well. Because now it is revealed that every single card in the deck is blank, except the four they cut to. The perfect ending leaves the magician completely clean. No deck switch, no trick cards, everything examinable.
Larry Wilmore, who wrote the foreword to Final Degree, praises the routine as one that starts with an accident, turns into a coincidence, and flips into fate.
“Bets in Show” first appeared in Final Degree, the 28-routine collection Guastaferro released through Vanishing Inc. in February 2026 to close out his “Degree” trilogy, following One Degree and The Nth Degree.
Guastaferro performed the routine live at his Final Degree signing and lecture at The Magic Apple in Studio City in March, an event Conjurly covered at the time. Guastaferro noted then that the one drawback to the routine was that the casino poker chips fitting the storyline were hard to come by. He told Conjurly he was going to explore getting a set of poker chips manufactured. Now that problem has been quickly solved, magicians can start performing the routine with the custom designed chips that add a punch to the effect. Vanishing Inc. says on its website that it worked closely with Guastaferro “to create a set of props worthy of this incredible routine.”
The new release includes the deck of cards, five high-quality poker chips, and a leather pouch to carry the chips in, along with a video tutorial in which Guastaferro teaches the routine and the presentation nuances.
Bets in Show is available for $39.99 from Vanishing Inc. and many magic retailers.
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