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 #20 by Jason
October 11th, 2004 @ 2:47 AM
is it me, or is shuffling 10-14 chips easier than 6?
Comment #19 by Kevin
October 8th, 2004 @ 8:36 PM
After many ours of practice i can get it 3/4 times. I was about to give up but I started to get it. Really good video and explanation. Took me about 1-2 weeks. I just practiced over and over while playing poker on a free site.
Comment #18 by ryan jarvis
October 7th, 2004 @ 3:56 PM
I would suggest you not just sit down and practice this trick but instead practice while you are playing poker like when you fold just sit tehre and stack chips that what i did for like a month and i can do stacks of 10 easy now.
Comment #17 by Nick
October 7th, 2004 @ 2:14 PM
Much easier with chips that are smooth. I have some chips that are kind of grainy and it’s quite a bit harder to shuffle them.
Comment #16 by Jarrod
October 7th, 2004 @ 2:09 PM
Is this trick easier to perform with clay composite chips? I’ve got these true clay chips with rough edges that aren’t sliding in very easily.
Comment #15 by drew
October 7th, 2004 @ 12:00 PM
This tutorial is great. I went from fumbling with 6 chips to a 16 chip shuffle. It took A LOT of practice, once you get the feel, it becomes easy. I found if I keep my thumb and little finger on the outer most edge, and after the initial raise to relax my hand a bit it really helps. Thnx for the site
Comment #14 by Neil
October 6th, 2004 @ 10:17 PM
Yea this is kind of hard for me to do. At least I know it isn’t just me.
–Neil
Comment #13 by Nick
October 6th, 2004 @ 7:02 PM
Practice a few more hours…
Comment #12 by chad
October 6th, 2004 @ 6:41 PM
I can’t seem to figure it out. I have been trying for about an hour. I think the surface has a big part of what im doing wrong. I have tried both ways. any suggestions
Comment #11 by Tyler
October 5th, 2004 @ 1:32 PM
Thanks for the tips. I got into poker about 6 months ago and have been wondering how to do that like on TV. It took me just 15 minutes to figure out how to do it.