Shuffle
Can you name a player that you haven’t seen shuffle chips during the World Poker Tour or World Series of Poker episodes? The sound of shuffling chips can be heard in poker rooms around the world. It happens to be my favorite trick, because once you learn it, you can’t stop. Another popular name for the shuffle is “riffle.”
Before you begin
Trick Difficulty - 2
Chips needed - 6 or more (even numbers work best)
Tutorial
To start this trick, place two stacks of chips (3 chips per stack) side by side on a table.
Practice on a table with a soft surface (such as a poker table) or on a hard pillow. A softer surface will make it easier to lift each stack properly.
For each stack use a different color of poker chip. This will allow you to see if the chips were properly shuffled.
The tutorial will explain how to perform the trick with your right hand.
Start by placing the thumb on the lower left corner of the left stack and the index finger on the upper left corner. The middle finger is placed in the space between the top of the two stacks. The ring finger is placed on the upper right corner of the right stack and the pinky on the lower right corner.
Others like to place the thumb at the middle of the left stack, the index finger in the space at the top of the two stacks, and the other three fingers on the right side of the right stack. I believe this method is harder because you don’t have as much control over the left stack. By using two fingers on the sides of each stack you have much more stability.
Lift up on both stacks with the middle finger. As you lift, lightly push each stack in with the fingers holding the outside edges. Ease up on the pressure applied by the middle finger, let gravity takes its course, and the two stacks will come together as one, alternating chips from each stack.
Once you learn the trick, you don’t even actually push the stacks in. You can use all of your fingers to lift up the stacks and by lifting a little bit more with the middle finger, the chips will easily fall into place.
The Shuffle mousepad makes a place to practice this chip trick on. The mousepad has a soft cloth surface with padding that will allow you to easily pick the chips up. It makes a great gift for the poker player who plays online poker at home or takes a few poker chips to work to practice their tricks.
Comment #146 by Andrew
May 28th, 2006 @ 11:24 PM
I think the shuffle, or weave, is pretty easy. My personal best is 24 shuffled correctly.
Comment #145 by Freedjoseph Eussebi0
April 28th, 2006 @ 9:17 PM
this is the easiest trick i have ever done! i got this trick down in 1 minute and 43 seconds. now i can do stacks of 15 chips! too easy. now im trying to do a combo: shuffling 16 chips in one hand and doing the butterfly in another hand.i got that combo in 12 minutes. well, im the best
Comment #144 by Ben K.
April 25th, 2006 @ 5:50 PM
I tried out this trick with some old plastic chips and found that it is much easier to do with clay chips. But when I do more than 2 stacks of 4 or 5, the chips either don’t shuffle at the top, or fall apart at the bottom.
Comment #143 by oOoDRAGOONoOo
March 7th, 2006 @ 6:53 PM
I also went with Note #2’s method being it’s more fluid when you cut the stack and shuffle. With this method in mind here’s some tips.
(index finger not really needed)
—when you initiate the lift with your index finger in the wedge between the two stacks try lifting the stack to your far right instead, only.
I found this creates a better topple effect and you get the sound and sensation of it shuffling rather than just pushin the chip stacks together horizontally.
[UPDATE]
Now that I’ve moved up to shuffling 14 chips you kinda have to change your technique.(These tips work for any amount but preferably 10 or more chips)
—cut the stack and initiate the “lift” DO NOT let any of the chips stack together yet! Now that there is a triangle shape under the stacks the stacks are begging you to let them topple over eachother already!
-Now lift the stacks; you’ll basically be raising them up in mid-air off your table and as you do this the weight and gravity will force your chips to topple with a LOUD shuffle too
Comment #142 by Jack
March 6th, 2006 @ 9:45 PM
The small hands probably does not play as large a factor as you might think. Lots of people think they have small hands but really, the differences are minute. Start off low, not with 6 chips in each, start with two, and then work your way up, perfecting each increase. If you get 3 in each stack down perfectly, and go to 4, and you can’t seem to do four, go back to three and keep working at it. Eventually it will come as second nature. The only thing small hands affect is doing larger numbers of chips in each stack, say 10 or 12, but I have small hands and I can do this with little difficulty. It comes down to practice making perfect.
Comment #141 by Ellie Willard
February 26th, 2006 @ 10:14 AM
I cannot get the shuffle down, and so want to do it. I have small hands, and I think that’s interfering with my trick. Would that be the case, and is there any tips for someone with small hands? Thanks,
Ellie