The Poker Boy* (Bloom Miracle Poker Machine) By Gaetan Bloom, Chris Wasshuber

1 review for The Poker Boy* (Bloom Miracle Poker Machine) By Gaetan Bloom, Chris Wasshuber

1. Rated 5 out of 5

   Andy Martin – January 23, 2021

   If you are a fan of Al Stanger’s Miracle Poker Machine (and the Fitch Cheney effect it is based upon) then you are going to absolutely love The Poker Boy*.  This is a brand new creation by Chris Wasshuber and Gaetan Bloom: The Bloom Miracle Poker Machine. It can do everything that Al Stanger’s Miracle Poker Machine can do and a lot more without any of the pesky battery or resetting issues.

   Just like the original machine there are five phases available:

   1. Force Card
   2. Stud Poker
   3. Invisible Die
   4. Climax
   5. Magician Slayer

   Other features of this Device and Custom Software written by Chris Wasshuber:

   • You can choose which phases you want to use – in the video I chose Phase 1, Phase 3, and Phase 4 which to me is the perfect combination of amazement, spectator interest, and length of routine. 
   • You can change the force card.
   • You can change the spin time before revealing the card.
   • Non-Volatile RAM – this device never loses the program or your custom settings even if the battery runs out.
   • USB Rechargeable Battery – just plug it in and recharge it to go again.
   • Battery Level gauge – just by turning it on you can see how much charge remains.
   • Better input control – When the spectator inputs the cards it is much easier to fix them should they make a mistake, even if they press the wrong buttons.  Chris has programmed in all sorts of checks to make it almost impossible to mess up the inputs.
   • Tiny footprint – much smaller than the original TI-85 (see final photo).

   As Chris says in the instructions: “I consider it therefore an evolution and frankly an improvement of the old gimmick.”  I wholeheartedly agree, although the original Poker Machine was an amazing device it was quite restrictive and easy to mess-up, and heaven forbid you change the batteries incorrectly or let them die, then it was all over. 

   Chris has does an excellent job with Gaetan’s routine as a starting place and spent the time and research to find the best device (it could not be a smart phone, that kills this routine) and learned the new development environment to program it.  He spent a lot of time bullet proofing the inputs to make it almost impossible to break, and added some great improvements many of which were based on my early feedback.

   (* Notice: the name Poker Boy is the name I use as it goes with my patter below. I added the label to the unit Chris sent me as it made it easier to refer to during my routine.)