A form of the Side Steal, in which the outer right corner of the card to be extracted from the deck is clipped between the right third and fourth fingers and delivered to the top without being otherwise palmed. An early description, perhaps the first, of this sleight appears in “An Old Card Effect” described by Allan Peterson in The Magic Wand, Vol. 22 No. 159, Oct.-Nov. 1933, p. 140. The title Peterson gave the trick suggests he was describing something that was old at the time of its publication. Peterson seems to decline origination of the trick, possibly assigning it to Horace Goldin, saying, “[i]n this gentleman’s hands it is both weird and graceful.” However, the vagueness of this statement suggests caution.

Edward Marlo included the sleight in The Side Steal, 1957, p. 22, where he cited a Side Steal to the bottom of the deck by Arthur Buckley (described in “Triple Climax”, a manuscript marketed in late 1921; see Felsman's Magical Review, Vol. 2 No. 4-5, p. 9; see also, Buckley's Improved and Original Card Problems, 1930, p. 40), as a precursor. Marlo seems unaware of the Peterson article, which, although lacking technical details, describes essentially the sleight Marlo created in 1945.

See also Side Steal and Deliberate Side Steal.