John Scarne

Orlando Carmelo Scarnecchia was born March 4, 1903, in Steubenville, Ohio and at some point anglicized his name to John Scarne (International Phonetic Alphabet). He moved to Fairview, New Jersey as a child. Leaving school after the eighth grade, he learned as a teenager how to perform card tricks like three-card monte and to gamble using cards and dice. His mother, disappointed in how he was making his money (the family was Roman Catholic), encouraged him to take up magic instead. He soon started making money at card tricks.

References

• Cook, Joan (July 9, 1985). John Scarne, gambling expert. The New York Times, p. B6.
• Eskin, Blake (July 15, 2001). A world of games. The Washington Post Magazine, p. W18.
• Deaths Elsewhere (July 9, 1985). The Washington Post, p. D8.