Expert Card Technique. Jean Hugard
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shuffle was introduced to American conjurers; in those years it has become immensely popular since it is an easy and showy method of controlling a chosen card. The following new handling will be found to baffle even those who know the regular Hindu shuffle. Here is the procedure after a card has been drawn:
1. Hold the pack in the regular position for executing the Hindu shuffle, pull off about one-third of the pack with the left thumb and second finger, letting the packet fall into the left hand.
2. Have the selected card replaced on top of the cards in the left hand.
3. Pull off a small packet with the left fingers letting it fall on the first packet about half an inch inwards; that is to say, you injog the packet, Fig. 1.
4. Continue as in the regular Hindu shuffle but let all the following packets fall with their outer ends slightly irregular, thus covering the projecting packet.
5. Pick up the whole pack with the right thumb and second finger, first lifting the jogged packet slightly with the tip of the right third finger, making a break, and hold this break with the thumb and second finger.
6. Make the regular Hindu shuffle by pulling off packets from the top and letting them fall into the left hand until the break is reached, then let the last packet drop on top intact, thus bringing the chosen card to the top.
The formation of the break is completely covered by the action of putting the pack in the left hand to repeat the shuffle.
FALSE SHUFFLE RETAINING TOP STOCK
By means of this shuffle any small number of cards which need not be in any particular sequence can be kept intact at the top of the pack. For instance, let us assume that you wish to retain the thirteen cards of a suit at the top, in any sequence, for such a trick as The Mind Mirror, page 236. Here is the procedure:
1. Undercut somewhat less than half the pack, injog the first card and shuffle off the remainder of the cards.
2. Undercut at the injog and run the first six cards of the undercut, these being desired cards.
3. Throw the undercut on top of the other packet, making it project half an inch outwards.
4. Make a break at the point of junction of the two packets in squaring the pack by placing the right thumb at the inner end and pushing the upper packet inwards with the fingers. Hold the break with the right thumb.
5. Take the pack in the right hand, the fingers at the outer end, the thumb at the inner end retaining the break.
6. Riffle the lower half, up to the break, onto the left fingers, rest the outer side of this packet on the right finger tips, grasp its ends between the left thumb and fingers and make an end riffle shuffle. The top six cards of both packets are cards of the original stock and, by taking care to riffle these top cards together, the original stock will be returned to the top of the assembled deck.
GAMBLERS’ FALSE SHUFFLE
This very easy method of making a false riffle shuffle is so bold that it is hard to believe that any gambler respecting the integrity of his person would attempt it in any kind of game in fast company, and yet it is reported to be so used in certain card games south of the border.
For conjuring purposes, it serves well enough if done in a matter-of-fact manner, although it is not to be compared with more advanced methods. The moves follow:
a. 1. With the pack before you, grasp the sides of the upper half of the pack near the left corners between the right thumb and second finger, cutting the pack and placing this upper half to the right.
2. Immediately grasp the remaining packet at the sides near the right corners between the left thumb and second finger. Cover the packets as much as possible with the hands and press down with the forefingers at the middle of each end, Fig. 1.
3. Allow the cards to riffle off the left thumb and immediately afterwards riffle the cards off the right thumb so that the packet overlaps the other.
4. With the hands still covering the packets, push them together with the outer sides of the palms, simulating the action of telescoping the packets by exerting the proper amount of pressure, Fig. 2.
The entire shuffle should be made without hesitation and while the operator converses with the spectators.
Retaining Top Stock
b. As with other sleights developed at the gaming table this false shuffle defies the closest scrutiny. By its means a top stock is sent to the middle of the deck and yet remains under perfect control. The sleight is an easy one and can be applied advantageously to any trick in which it is necessary to retain a small packet of cards at the top of the pack.
We will suppose, for example, that five cards have been selected, brought to the top and that a shuffle is to be made to strengthen the belief that they are lost in the pack. Proceed thus:
1. Undercut about two-thirds of the deck with the right hand and place the inner corners of the two packets together to form an inverted V.
2. Begin the riffle by dropping cards from the left hand packet first. Then let the cards from this packet drop faster than those in the right hand packet so that the five card stock will fall together under the last dozen or more cards of the right hand packet. Take care that no cards are interwoven into the stock.
3. Grip the ends of the two packets between the thumbs and second fingers, press the third fingers against the middle of the ends and rest the tips of the forefingers on the backs of the cards. Keep the hands well over the cards and push the packets together at an angle as in Fig. 1.
4. When the packets have coalesced, press the tip of the left second finger on the projecting corner of the right hand packet at X, lifting the inner side of the packet above the stock. Fig. 3 shows this action as seen from behind. Press downwards and inwards with the left thumb to secure this break and at the same moment push the packets square with the thumbs and third fingers, Fig. 4.
5. Lift the pack, keeping the hands in the same positions, and pressing downwards with the tips of the first fingers on the back so that the outer side of the pack presents a perfectly regular appearance, Fig. 4.
6. With the right hand make a running cut, pulling off a few cards at a time from the top and dropping them on the table until the break held by the left thumb is reached. Finally drop all the remaining cards on top of the pile thus formed. The stock is again on the top of the pack.
After the left thumb secures the break above the stock, a straight cut can be made instead of the running cut, or a packet with the stock on top of it can be pulled out of the middle and dropped on top. Again a small packet can be undercut with the right hand, the pack then divided at the break and the shuffle repeated. These are matters for individual taste.
A SYSTEM OF STOCK SHUFFLING
The only means of stocking cards with an overhand shuffle heretofore published has been the Erdnase method, given in his book on page 68 et seq. While it possesses the merit which he claims for it, his method has the decided drawback that varying calculations must be made in dealing different numbers of hands, and this can be very confusing to the operator since there is no definite pattern to the shuffles. It is for this reason that the Erdnase shuffles are so little used, even amongst the experts.
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