holding back cards in zarrow (and 2nd dealing)

Feb 4, 2021
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i am in the process of practicing zarrow shuffle, and everybody talks easily about holding back the three cards after the first shuffle. it seems nobody has any problem with it at all. the common problems of the ''unweaving'' being flashed is often addressed and so is a fake bind.

my question is, how do people hold back those 3 cards (or so) without staring at your hands while shuffling? will it come with practice only? did anybody else have problem with it or am i just not ''getting'' something?

a few queries about the second deal, is ect a good source? is there any common problems it highlights? also, is a little bit of pointer finger pain common when doing it constantly, due to digging the deck in your palm so that the pushed off cards pivot of the palm?
 
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Gabriel Z.

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Zarrow and Second Deal.... For that matter all the other sleights require tons of practice.
Expert Card Technique is a great place to learn False Dealing.... But it should not end there. Revolutionary Card Technique is
an awesome source for false deals as well.

I'll admit my Second isn't the best but here it is as of 6 months ago:


Hope you keep motivated and most of all keep practicing.
 
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Nov 3, 2018
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my question is, how do people hold back those 3 cards (or so) without staring at your hands while shuffling? will it come with practice only? did anybody else have problem with it or am i just not ''getting'' something?
It's practice, nothing more. To get started, just stare at the deck for visual confirmation and go r-e-e-a-a-l slow when nearing the end of the shuffle, to be sure that you hold back three cards (or however many you're aiming for). Pretty soon, you'll hardly have to slow down with the shuffle, and the glance down will be less of a necessity and more of a habit, which you can easily break. You just have to get started with practicing.

a few queries about the second deal, is ect a good source? is there any common problems it highlights? also, is a little bit of pointer finger pain common when doing it constantly, due to digging the deck in your palm so that the pushed off cards pivot off the palm?
I'm not familiar with ECT, so I can't say anything specific about the description there. Does it teach a strike or a push-off second? (strike = you push over the top card and take the second; push-off = you push off the top two cards)
Though I don't know the description from ECT, when your fingers start hurting, something's not right. Whatever deal or false deal you're doing, your hands should always be relaxed, and you shouldn't have to "dig" the deck in your palm for the card to pivot correctly. In the beginning, it'll always be a problem that the top card seems to "wander" away from that pivot point when doing many consecutive seconds, but when that happens, just interrupt your dealing and adjust the deck. With practice, this "wandering" will get rarer, and you'll be able to do microadjustments with your left thumb without interrupting the deal.
With the second deal, it helped me a lot to go to YouTube and have a look at many different second deals -- not tutorials, but demonstrations of masters of the deal. For the push-off, check out Richard Turner (YouTube has some good close-ups of his deal); for the strike, have a look at Steve Forte (his TV Special and "The Hand Is Quicker Than The Eye"). When you watch carefully, you can pick up a lot of good tips from there. And of course, if something's unclear, you can always ask here at the Forums :)

Hope this helps!
 
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