The Best (and Worst) Ways to Shuffle Cards - Numberphile

http://www.democraticwarrior.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=1538

As some of you know, I play a mock game of blackjack at home. When I shuffle the cards I draw off about half the deck from the top. Then I riffle shuffle with the cards in my right hand (what was the top of the deck) starting first and the cards in my left hand (the cards that were on the bottom) being last to fall. That way there's always a new bottom and top card after each shuffle. I shuffle about 7 times then deal.

But some times I practice a pass-though shuffle and second deal. Ooooohhhhh.

Quote: Greasyjohn

As some of you know, I play a mock game of blackjack at home. When I shuffle the cards I draw off about half the deck from the top. Then I riffle shuffle with the cards in my right hand (what was the top of the deck) starting first and the cards in my left hand (the cards that were on the bottom) being last to fall. That way there's always a new bottom and top card after each shuffle. I shuffle about 7 times then deal.

But some times I practice a pass-though shuffle and second deal. Ooooohhhhh.

what's a pass through shuffle again? Thanks.

Idk what a "pass through" is, but I would guess he means either a step-ladder or two-pass.

Quote: RS

Idk what a "pass through" is, but I would guess he means either a step-ladder or two-pass.

Thanks.

Quote: Greasyjohn

As some of you know, I play a mock game of blackjack at home. When I shuffle the cards I draw off about half the deck from the top. Then I riffle shuffle with the cards in my right hand (what was the top of the deck) starting first and the cards in my left hand (the cards that were on the bottom) being last to fall. That way there's always a new bottom and top card after each shuffle. I shuffle about 7 times then deal.

If you can get to the point where you can cut exactly 26 cards consistently, then do eight perfect riffle shuffles so the top card is always the same, you have a marketable talent - as a close-up magician. (Eight perfect shuffles puts all 52 cards to the positions they were in before the first shuffle.)

Quote: BigJer

what's a pass through shuffle again? Thanks.

The "pass through shuffle" is not a shuffle. It involves riffling the cards together, then when pushing the cards together, not doing so completely, allowing the next grab of cards to return the deck to the pre-riffled order.

That sounds complicated. The effect is that to an untrained eye (and probably a few trained eyes), it looks like the deck gets riffled, but the order of the cards doesn't change. It can be combined with some other techniques to move just a few cards around to specific positions in the deck.

Very simply: it's stacking the deck in plain sight, and it's hard to see what's happening, and for the most part nobody can tell.

Second dealing is dealing the second card from the top of the pack instead of the top card.

They're both "cheating" moves in a live game. They're highly entertaining when performed as a skill.