How to Memorize A Shuffled Deck Of Cards In Less Than 60 Seconds

This comes from Tim Ferriss' blog.

It seems that there is a nifty technique for memorizing sequences of cards, numbers and the like. To memorize cards, you convert the 52 cards into 52 celebrities. The suits become personalities. The cards become professions. Then in the words of memory grand master, Ed Cooke, who devised the system....

“Having chosen 13 professions/categories and four personalities—just 17 things to learn—you can use your existent knowledge and opinions to fill out a 52-card matrix. The ace of diamonds, on my scheme, is a sports- man (ace) who got rich (diamonds)—OK, Michael Jordan. The jack of spades on my scheme would be a religious figure who’s amusing—the Dalai Lama has a good sense of humor. The six of spades, a humorously controversial woman—Lady Gaga, no question.

“Using this method, it should take less than an hour to fill the matrix out and come to be able to slowly recall the people who now correspond to the 52 cards. Once you have your cast of card-people, go through shuffled decks and practice translating the cards to their images until it’s automatic. This might take another hour to begin to master.”

So, to memorize a deck of cards, I have to learn an entire system of classification and then memorize that first?

If I want to gamble, I think I'll just buy a lottery ticket. I think I can remember how to do that.