ok.... why dont you want to use crimps? thats like me going into a set saying i dont want to use Double lifts, or i dont want to use false cuts. why limit what you use? (hasn't praetoritevong gone on this rant before, this is sounding very familiar...)
Besides CRIMPS which are awesome.. especially the breather crimp, i will second palming. Palming is an invaluable skill with so many applications so work at it and get good and you will use it almost in everything. In addition to that i will say shuffle tracking. If you control your spectator right, as in lead them down the method of shuffling, I.E. a riffle shuffle even a decent shuffle retains top and bottom stock mostly. So control a card to top or bottom, let them shuffle and watch to see if the top card or bottom remains in position or at most is moved a few cards up or down. With a quick peak in the course of a cut or something you can glimpse how many down or up it is and adjust accordingly. Sometimes, they set up a double lift for you by sheer coincidence. I use this with my ACR often