Second deal is...difficult?

[Lord Magic]

So I gather that one needs to practice their second deal a LOT. Practice makes anything better.
But the thing is...the way people talk about the second deal makes it seem as if it is a very difficult move.
Honestly speaking, I think the BASIC moves and the BASIC technique is really simple. As I said,
PRACTICE MAKES ANYTHING BETTER.
So the more we practice, more these second deals look better, like normal top deals. but isn't it incorrect to portray the move as difficult?
I mean I learnt a second deal very recently (like, yesterday prolly) and I can do a SATISFACTORY second deal without having to completely neck-tie the deck.
So am I correct in thinking that IF the need arises, I can use the second deal NOW in a trick ( keeping in mind I spent only one day on it) to someone? Maybe someone in front of whom I wouldn't mind screwing up...but the thing is I can do that, right?
Like, I don't have to wait months to do it. To do it better, obviously I'd have to wait and practice, but to do a satisfactory one, to just achieve its purpose...I can do it now, right?

Or is there some hidden principle in the second deal that I am being naively unaware of?
What I do is kind of pushing the top card in a strike second deal angle BUT it does not pivot on the base of my thumb. So...that is all, right? To achieve a great deal practice is required but to achieve a satisfactory one, one that a casual spectator won't detect, it is enough, right?
It will be great to hear you guys out on it.

PS:-Sorry for repeating the same stuff over and over again, but I wanted to correctly communicate that I am not saying that I want to perform a second deal as soon as I learn it. Practising is very important for the simplest of moves. It is just that some talk about the second deal requiring as much practice as a, say, classic pass. And I feel a satisfactory second deal is sooo much easier than a satisfactory classic pass!

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

The second deal, like the pass, is easy to learn, difficult to master.

There's also many versions of the second deal. Push off, strike, stud, etc.

The most important thing is doing the second deal the same way you deal straight. Which should be the goal of all false dealing.

Recommended practice is to do all of your deals to a beat. Get a metronome app and set it to 2 beats per second or something. On each beat, do another deal. Straight deal, second, bottom, Greek, etc. Mix it up, too, don't do it in the same order every time.

Doing one second deal is fairly easy to do convincingly. Doing a deck's worth of seconds is trickier - you start getting hangers and such.

 

[Hakaari]

what alot of people forget is that during a actual performance, you have TONS of opportunities to do moves that aren`t Perfect due to either natural misdirection, or just by directing their eyes. for a magic performance you can easily do a 2.nd deal after only a few hours of practice.....however, if you plan to be in a cash game and use your 2.nd deal to retain that Ace of spade for yourself...well, it better be more than a few days of practice behind it

Edit: however, due to the nature of the 2.nd deal, you should make yourself something clever to say or do for WHEN you fail it or for when you pull the 2.nd AND third card.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

It's good to have a plan for when you fail, but it's also important to practice until you're extremely unlikely to have that fail.

 

[Hakaari]

yes, this I agree with...however the 2.nd deal takes years to master to the point where it rarely fails, there are too many factors to it to reliably do it 100% of the time.
did someone touch your cards...now they are sticky...
is the weather humid...now your cards are sticky...
is the deck full or are you working with half a deck....
and this is just a few of ALOT of factors

In my experience the 2.nd deal is one of the trickiest moves to do even after years of deck handling, the most reliable way I`ve found to do it is to use the index finger and thumb then extremely lightly grab top and bottom of the card while at the same time slightly pull the top back with the thumb.

but yes, practice it until it rarely fails, then plan your Outs for when it fails

 

[Josh Burch]

The double lift is a difficult move, but that doesn't stop it from being performed poorly. It can be done after a few seconds of practice but that doesn't make it good, or even all that passable.

The second deal is probably more difficutl than the second deal, most routines require you to repeat the move, which adds to the difficulty.

I have been performing the move proficiently for over 7 years and can see improvements to be made in my own second deals. It's difficult to say what short comings a deal might have without seeing the deal.

 

[kleigh]

The second deal is probably more difficutl than the second deal, most routines require you to repeat the move, which adds to the difficulty.

Interesting thought.


Although I still can't quite understand why you think the second deal is more difficult than the second deal, I personally believe that the second deal is just a tad harder than the second deal.

 

[Jtroiano]

what alot of people forget is that during a actual performance, you have TONS of opportunities to do moves that aren`t Perfect due to either natural misdirection, or just by directing their eyes. for a magic performance you can easily do a 2.nd deal after only a few hours of practice.....however, if you plan to be in a cash game and use your 2.nd deal to retain that Ace of spade for yourself...well, it better be more than a few days of practice behind it

Edit: however, due to the nature of the 2.nd deal, you should make yourself something clever to say or do for WHEN you fail it or for when you pull the 2.nd AND third card.

If you plan to do it in a cash game then have an exit strategy, that includes a manner of self defense. Ha!