Shuffle

[Mr.Book]

hello all, I have been working on my card table artifice for a couple months now. I was wondering which "shuffles " and "cuts" you more experienced card people prefer.

Also, should I focus more on second, center, or bottom?

Many thanks for your advice,

Book

 

[Gabriel Z.]

Obviously practice the Overhand, Riffle, and Hindu True and False shuffles... Optical, G.W. Hunter etc..

1.Up The Ladder Cuts
2.Gamblers Triple False Cut
3.Vernon Cold Deck Cut
4.Affas-Cut
5.Erdnase Fancy Blind Cuts 1&2

These should get you started.

As far as Second,Centers, and Bottoms.. Experiment ,experiment, experiment.

 

[AmberGraci]

Most of my cuts are from Expert at the Card Table, I don't remember the names of all of them. As for shuffling, if I'm at a table I usually use the Pull Through shuffle, it's simple, and from my own experiences it's been very effective. I'm also working on the Zarrow Shuffle, and from what I've heard, it's one of the best, despite being a bit knacky. And if I don't have a table, I use a shuffle that I think is by Daniel Madison, which is pretty slick if performed well. It's a bit sloppy, and looks fair and natural and involves the packets "interweaving" side to side rather than end to end.

In my opinion, if you can master a good tabled riffle shuffle and an in-the-hands riffle shuffle, you should have no need for a false overhand or hindu shuffle.

I also thought I'd mention the Truffle Shuffle from Art of Magic. I haven't purchased it yet myself, but I've heard good things about it and the trailer looks very convincing. I'm planning to pick it up soon, so I'll let you know what I think about it then.

As for seconds/centers/bottoms, I almost exclusively use bottoms. Center deals are usually only to impress other magicians, and don't have much applications in performing for laymen, just learn a good bottom control and you're set. Seconds could be useful if you plan on working with a marked deck, but I've found there's not much you can accomplish with a marked deck that you can't with sleight of hand.

Hope this helps.

 

[obrienmagic]

My good friend Jeremy Griffith just but out a download using a very slick control called the "BC Shuffle."

Heres the trailer! Check it out!
https://lostartmagic.com/shop/download/bcjeremy/

 

[Joey144]

Also, should I focus more on second, center, or bottom?

There is no point in learning a center deal if you can't deal proper bottoms and seconds. The Second Deal is certainly the easiest false deal to learn. However the things you learn when practising the Second Deal (Timing, Rhythm) will help you for your other false deals aswell. That's why I would recommend to start with the Second Deal.
But don't rush it. Start slow. As soon as you get the hang of it, start practising the rhythm by alternating between tops and seconds. This is the most difficult part but it's also the most important. Here you will learn alot about false deals in general. Please do not become one of these guys that claim to have "perfected" the Second Deal when in reality all they do is counting cards in a pile in front of them.

If you spend a year or so on the Second Deal you can tackle the Bottom Deal. Same drill: Start slow and start with the easiest method the Erdnase Bottom Deal. There is no point in starting to learn the Bottom Deal from a mechanics grip. Start with the basic technique and learn the essential points that carry over to other grips.

Personally I don't see any use in learning a Center Deal other than impressing other cardmen. If you have solid seconds and bottoms, you have endless ways of faking a Center Dealing demonstration.

As for shuffles:
Learn the basic tabled riffle shuffle first. Practise until you can do a smooth, clean and fast shuffle. This sense of touch that you develop when doing this will also help you when you tackle the more advanced stuff like riffle stacking or shuffling in briefs.

One last point: Don't rush it. These techniques are difficult and they will take you time to get proficient at. Don't be one of these guys that practice the Second Deal for a week and then think they are a card cheater.

 

[obrienmagic]

I assume you are putting together a gambling type demonstration? If so, the second deal is prolly your best bet. It is the easiest to perform naturally and you can do cool stuff like turn the top card face p and show that you are dealing cards while the top card doesn't move.

If you are performing the false deal as an actual sleight (something you will not be exposing to the audience) then the bottom deal will prolly benefit you more. This way you can deal yourself the cards you want. Bottom deals are much more difficult to make look natural however.

 

[Mr.Book]

I assume you are putting together a gambling type demonstration? If so, the second deal is prolly your best bet. It is the easiest to perform naturally and you can do cool stuff like turn the top card face p and show that you are dealing cards while the top card doesn't move.

If you are performing the false deal as an actual sleight (something you will not be exposing to the audience) then the bottom deal will prolly benefit you more. This way you can deal yourself the cards you want. Bottom deals are much more difficult to make look natural however.

Yes, a demonstration, I am not at all planning on hustling cards.

 

[AmberGraci]

I think there's a bit of a grey area in the last two posts, a gambling demonstration doesn't necessarily entitle exposure. Watch Jason Ladanye, a fair portion of his routines are gambling demonstrations, yet none expose the devilry at work. I've found that the exposure of seconds, such as turning the top card face up and then dealing, are more effective on video. In person, the audience may be interested for a couple seconds, then quickly lose interest. Besides, you can perform the same demonstration with a bottom and save yourself the trouble of learning both.

In my mind there are two types of gambling demonstrations: educational, and entertaining. The educational demonstrations may entail more exposure, and you'll essentially be helping the audience know how to spot a cheater and what to look for. The entertainment demonstrations perform feats of artifice/cheating without exposure, and of course you wouldn't actually be cheating the audience out of any money.

So I think if you're planning on performing educationally, it's probably worth learning both seconds and bottoms, and introduce the concept of a marked deck with the seconds. But if you're purely performing for entertainment purposes, you would do better to just master the bottom and not worry about a second.

Hope this clears things up a bit.