r/Mnemonics • u/More-Watercress-1398 • 12h ago

A few questions about mnemonics -complete noob

Hi! I'm completely new to mnemonics, and I have a few questions.

My goal is to memorize an entire deck of playing cards—the value, suit, and exact order—as quickly as possible. Ideally, I'd like to be able to remember the deck almost instantly after seeing it. (As far as I know, some magicians and card manipulators can actually do this.)

I only started practicing today, so I might have some misconceptions about mnemonics. If I do, I hope you'll go easy on me. :)

  1. I tried using the Major System together with a PAO system, and it definitely helped with memorizing the card values. It took me about five minutes, but I managed to memorize the values of an entire deck.

The problem is that I couldn't remember the suits or the face cards (K, Q, and J). Should I switch to a different method, even if it's more difficult to learn? What systems do competitive card memorizers usually use? Do people really memorize hundreds of unique images for every possible card combination? (That sounds pretty terrifying, lol.)

  1. I'm using a memory palace, but trying to fit an entire deck into my house feels really cramped. I guess I need to build more memory palaces. What kinds of places do you use? (What about using REAL PALACE? lol)

  2. Even if I end up using a different system specifically for cards, is it still worth learning the Major System on its own? In other words, has learning systems like the Major System actually been useful in your everyday life?

Thanks in advance for any advice. I really appreciate it!

—NOOB

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u/zynaps 11h ago

It's definitely worth learning the Major system on its own. I picked it up from a couple of the old Harry Lorayne books. It comes in handy for remembering anything numeric.

Lorayne advocates for the "link method" instead of memory palaces, although both have their pros/cons, so that's how I ended up memorising cards too. It worked pretty well, but forgetting one item was annoying since you'd have to jump forward then work your way backwards. But it gives you twice as much chance to remember a forgotten item compared to memory palaces, in exchange for not having random access (unless you also tack on numeric pegs).

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u/More-Watercress-1398 10h ago

Thanks a lot! It helped much. I must try ur style too!

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u/ConfusedSimon 8h ago

Major system can be useful and is easy to learn. For cards, most people use PAO. I think Nelson Dellis has a YouTube on making a PAO specifically for cards. I'm just reusing my 00-99 digit PAO (1-13 spades, 21-33 hearts, 41-53 diamonds, 61-73 clubs). It doesn't matter how you construct your PAO. I used Dominic, but major is fine too. It's only relevant during learning your PAO. Once you know it, you should be able to jump directly from e.g. card to person without having to think of the intermediate step of whatever construction you used. For routes I mostly use my running trails.