Proper Poker Shuffle

Paul Wilson is an expert on cons, scams and the art of deception. Former writer/presenter of “The Real Hustle”, a world-renowned magician and adviser to players and casinos on cheating. The Table Riffle Shuffle This is a simple shuffle which you will see performed at the casinos or poker rooms. The reason this shuffle is used is because it is very effective and it is impossible (depending on the dealer) for the players to see exposed cards. The previous shuffles often give other players a chance to glimpse at the bottom card. Shuffling techniques Overhand shuffle. One of the easiest shuffles to accomplish after a little practice is the overhand shuffle. Johan Jonasson wrote, 'The overhand shuffle. Is the shuffling technique where you gradually transfer the deck from, say, your right hand to your left hand by sliding off small packets from the top of the deck with your thumb.'

Proper Poker Shuffle App
Proper Poker Shuffle Game
Proper Poker Shuffle Poker

Like Adam said: A Wash shuffle is a great shuffle opening if you have the space. After that some alternating Riffle and stripping shuffle produce a fast and thorough shuffle. Since OP is planning to go for card sleeves the Weave shuffle becomes an ideal substitute for the riffle. Just split the pile in half and push them into each other. 3 THE RIFFLE SHUFFLE We would now like to choose a realistic model of how actual cards are physically shu†ed by people. A particular one with nice mathematical properties is given by the ri†e shu†e.' (Sometimes called the GSR shu†e, it was developed by Gilbert and Shannon, and independently by Reeds.) It goes as follows.

Posted on 2015-02-19 Comments (0)

Shuffling is one of those things that people often learn at a young age, when they first start playing card games. Usually, though, whenever your parents taught you how to shuffle cards, they didn’t teach you the way that the casinos use. And that’s a bad thing—most players shuffle cards in a way that threatens game integrity, by exposing cards while they shuffle or not adequately randomizing the cards. If you host regular card game nights—especially poker nights—learning to shuffle correctly is a valuable skill that will ensure that your games go smoothly.

How to shuffle

The standard casino shuffle consists of the following procedure:

A wash (for the first hand of the game)
Three riffle shuffles
A strip shuffle
One more riffle shuffle
The cut

The wash

A wash or scramble is typically only used in a casino at the beginning of a game, when the deck of cards is still in the order it was packaged in. In a home game, you should, at the very least, perform a wash at the beginning of the game or whenever the cards have been recently verified. You should consider performing a wash more frequently when playing a game like Crazy Eights that tends to result in the cards ending up in some sort of identifiable pattern. In a game with quick hands and frequent shuffling, like poker, you should skip the wash for most shuffles to avoid bogging down the game.

The riffle shuffle

The riffle shuffle is the element of shuffling that most people are familiar with, and forms the bulk of the actual shuffling procedure. Yet it’s the element of shuffling that most people get wrong. Many people shuffle too dramatically, with exaggerated movements that unnecessarily expose cards.

The number one key to avoiding the exposure of cards is to keep the cards low to the table. The cards should never be more than an inch or so off the table. The intuitive method by which someone squares up, say, a pile of papers is to lift it off the table and tap its edges against the table. Keep yourself from falling into this habit when dealing with cards. It shows off the bottom of the pack to anyone who cares to look, and many of the other cards sticking out at odd angles will expose their indices. Develop the habit of squaring up the pack with your fingers without picking it up off the table.

The riffle shuffle begins by splitting the pack into two. Hold the bottom half of the pack in landscape orientation (long edge parallel to the edge of the table closest to you), keeping it flat against the table and secure with one hand. Then slide the top half of the pack off with your other hand, keeping it close to the other half of the pack, and pulling it in the direction of the long edges of the pack, until you have two half-decks sitting side by side next to each other.

Next, orient the two half-decks in an inverted V (the point of the V pointing away from you). Move the decks toward one another, keeping them square with your index fingers on the short edges of the deck opposite you, your thumbs on the long edges of the deck inside the V, and your other fingers on the long edges of the deck on the outside of the V. Then, perform the actual riffle by arching the corners of the cards closest to one another, bending them between your index fingers, which are moved to rest on top of the deck in the corners of the cards, and your thumbs, which remain in the same position. Gradually release the pressure from your thumbs, which will cause the cards to begin falling off the bottom of the deck, pressed past your thumbs by your index fingers. If the two packs are close enough, their corners should interleave. With practice, the cards will naturally alternate between the two packs, thoroughly intermixing the two packs.

Now, complete the shuffle by rotating the two interleaved packs so that they are parallel to one another (but still intermixed). Push the two packs together until you can square them up into one shuffled pack. Do not perform the “bridge” maneuver, where the entire pack is arched to push the two halves together, as this can unwittingly expose cards.

Perform three riffle shuffles in this manner.

The strip shuffle

The strip shuffle is, on its own, not a very powerful shuffling technique. In combination with the riffle shuffle, however, it helps to further randomize the deck by rearranging blocks of the deck, helping to break up runs of cards that remained together through the three riffles.

The strip shuffle is, essentially, the beginning of a riffle shuffle. Hold the pack in landscape orientation, then pull the top fifth or so of the deck off the top, keeping it close to the remainder of the deck, and set it down next to the pack. Then do the same with the next fifth of the deck, placing it on top of what was the top fifth, and so on, until the entire deck has been gone through in this way.

After completing the strip shuffle, do one more riffle shuffle, and then you’re ready for the cut. After that, it’s time to deal!

6 Card Shuffling Tutorials

There are many different ways to shuffle a deck of cards. For these card shuffling tutorials I’ll be covering the following methods:

The Overhand Shuffle – This is the shuffle used by most people. A good simple, lazy, sloppy shuffle.
The Hindu Shuffle – A simple, quick and very elegant shuffle. One of my personal favourites.
The Weave Shuffle – A very simple shuffle to perform and for those yet to master the riffle shuffle.
The Riffle Shuffle – This is a great way to shuffle cards and not as difficult as it looks.
The Table Riffle Shuffle – This is easier than the in the hands riffle shuffle, yet just as effective and elegant.
The Strip Shuffle – Also known as running cuts and is a great finish for the table riffle shuffle.

The Overhand Shuffle

The overhand shuffle is the shuffling technique most employed by beginners so this is where we’ll start. The standard overhand shuffle is a simple way to shuffle cards. It is a very open, casual, somewhat sloppy shuffle, in contrast to the more elegant riffle shuffle and table shuffle which will be explained later.

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The Handling

Hold the deck by the sides so that the deck is on its edge.
The fingers of the right hand rest lightly against the back of the deck, thumb on top.
The left hand grips the deck and lifts off as the thumb holds a few cards back
The thumb moves out of the way as the left hand comes back down.
The thumb then takes a few more cards.
As the left hand again moves up
This action is repeated several times
The deck is finally squared up.

Important Points / Tips

The important point with this shuffle is to have a light touch.
You may also like to curl the index finger of the right hand around the deck to offer extra support.
If you find the thumb is taking too many cards in big groups or it is only taking single cards then don’t worry about this, with further practise you will get the balance right.
Instead of using the thumb to pull the cards off, you can just use the other hand to throw the cards down. Some people find this easier to do and a more natural action.

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The Hindu Shuffle

I don’t know why this is called the Hindu shuffle, but my guess is that it originates from India. I have seen lots of Asian people shuffle cards using this technique. There is a similar shuffle called the Arab Shuffle, but I prefer this handling. The shuffle is very simple and quite easy to perform. Once you have the hang of this shuffle I’m sure you’ll use it all the time.

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The Handling

Hold the deck by the end with the thumb and middle finger. The index finger can rest lightly on top for more support.
Here is an image from below.
The right hand comes underneath the deck. The thumb, middle and ring finger touch the side of the deck. The index finger stays out in front.
The right hand lightly takes packets of cards from the top of the deck.
The removed cards fall onto the palm of the right hand. The index finger stops the cards from flying forward.
The right hand goes beneath the deck once more and removes another packet.
This action is repeated several times until there are only a few cards left. These are placed ontop of the deck, which is then squared.
An image from behind to show you the correct technique.

Important Points / Tips

The key to this shuffle is to form a trap with the fingers so that the cards fall neatly into the palm. The index finger is especially important as it will stop the cards from flying everywhere.
The index finger of the other hand can go where you like. I usually keep it well out of the way.
It is up to you about how many packets you glide off the top. I usually drag about ten packets then repeat the shuffle again.
Don’t go too fast at first, unless you want to perform the 52 card pick up trick!

The Weave Shuffle

To be honest I rarely use this shuffle as I prefer the riffle shuffle, which is much quicker. However this is a very easy shuffle and is ideal for people who have yet to master the riffle shuffle. It’s easy yet it does a good job of mixing the cards.

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The Handling

Hold the cards by the edge and using the thumb seperate about half the cards.
Align the upper pack of cards against the lower pack.
Weave the cards together by the edges.
Push the cards together by about an inch or so.
Bend the cards with the palm of the left hand and then release the pressure.
Square the cards up.

Important Points / Tips

Don’t be too rough with the cards. This shuffle can damage the cards when performed badly. Use a light touch and you will find the cards will weave together more easily.
It’s also easier if you weave the corners together rather than the whole sides.
You do not have to perform the cascade finish with this shuffle. The other option is to just push the two packets together and square the deck.

The Riffle Shuffle (in the hands)

This is a great way to shuffle cards. While this shuffle looks impressive, it’s actually far easier than you might think. Yes, I’ll admit it does take some getting used to, but once you have a feel for the cards it’ll be second nature.

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The Handling

The start position is this. The thumb of the left hand goes on the top edge. The middle and ring fingers support the bottom edge. The little finger can be placed on the back edge and the first finger can either go on the front edge or bent ontop of the deck to lend support.
The thumb now riffles have the deck away. The first finger can lend support here by bending in behind (i.e. on top of the deck).
The riffled packet can now fall onto the the middle and ring fingers of the right hand. The index finger of the right hand should come to the front edge and the little finger on the other edge.
Both packets should now be firmly gripped in the position shown. The use of the index and little fingers should lend support here.
As you can see in this picture, the fingers are supporting the deck with the two thumbs on the top edge of the deck.
The hands are turned over whilst keeping a good grip of the cards. Because of the solid grip, the cards should not fall.
The thumbs now riffle the deck together. The thumbs should just move slowly up the edge of the cards. The cards will riffle together.
The solid grip of the cards supports them as they riffle together. Some people are in the habit of using their knee or a table. With a solid grip it isn’t necessary.
The cards should now shuffled together an inch or so. You can either push the two packets together and square up….or…
You can perform the cascade finish. Simply bend the cards whilst keeping your thumbs on the top. This will stop them from going everywhere.
Now just gently release the pressure from your thumbs and the cards should cascade.
Square up the deck and shuffle again if necessary.

Important Points / Tips

Some people are in the habit of doing this against their knee or against the table. It is not really necessary to do that as long as you’ve got a good grip on the cards.
If you’re having trouble getting the cards to shuffle together then just experiment with the distance between the cards and the position of your hands.
You do not have to perform the cascade finish with this shuffle. You can just push the two packs together. However the cascade finish looks really nice and it’s the easiest part of the shuffle. It is basically self working.

The Table Riffle Shuffle

This is a simple shuffle which you will see performed at the casinos or poker rooms. The reason this shuffle is used is because it is very effective and it is impossible (depending on the dealer) for the players to see exposed cards. The previous shuffles often give other players a chance to glimpse at the bottom card.