Twirl
Poker amateurs may have first seen this trick when Gus Hansen performed it on an episode of the World Poker Tour. Dutch Boyd and countless others have also done it during World Series of Poker episodes. It is one of the hardest tricks to learn, but one of the most fun to do. Other popular names for the twirl are “chip spin” or “chip twirl.”
Before you begin
Trick Difficulty - 3
Chips needed - 3
There are variations that use more than 3 chips, which I’ll discuss later.
Tutorial
Start by holding 3 chips between the index and ring fingers (perpendicular to the fingers), with the middle finger bracing the back of the chips. The grip is exactly the same as when you start the thumb flip. The chips shouldn’t be any closer to the finger tips than a half an inch.
Using the thumb, loosen the two outer chips. Only the middle chip is still held firmly with the index and ring fingers. Once loose, pull these two outer chips up with your thumb so that they are held by the thumb and index finger.
You can also view this as pulling the single chip down and out with the ring finger.
This next section is different from the way that you will see most people do the twirl, but I believe it’s easier this way. I’ll discuss the other variation at the end of the tutorial.
As the ring finger pulls away and the chip rolls along the index finger, bring up the pinky to grab the bottom of the chip. Once you have a firm hold, remove the ring finger from the chip.
Place your middle and ring fingers on the edge of the chip held by the index finger and pinky. Bend these two fingers in towards the palm, spinning the chip 180 degrees in the process by using the index finger and pinky as axis points.
By using two fingers to spin the chip, you have more control.
Once the chip is perpendicular to the fingers, carefully pull the middle and ring fingers out. With your pinky roll the chip along the index finger and back up. At the same time, the thumb helps to bring the outer chips down so that the single chip gets inserted back in between the two.
This trick has several hard parts. Seperating the outside chips from the middle chip can be difficult the first few times you try. Spinning the chip, but keeping it in place between your fingers can get extremely frustrating at times. Stay patient, keep practicing, and you’ll catch on.
Variations
After pulling out the middle chip, a lot of people like to keep it between the ring and index fingers. They then spin it with only the middle finger. I’ve found this method to be more difficult. By bringing up the pinky and using it as an axis, you are able to get more distance between the two groups of chips, making it easier to complete the spin. I’ve also found it to be more stable to spin the chip with two fingers instead of one and this would not be possible if you didn’t use the pinky as an axis.
Once you can easily spin the middle chip, try using a total of 4 chips. Pull the two inside chips out and spin them both before inserting them back in the between the outer chips. Or take 5 chips, only pulling out one and spinning it.
Comment #20 by PwNeR
October 21st, 2004 @ 8:40 PM
When I first tried this trick I somehow managed to get the outer two chips to drop down and spin the remaining chip with my pointer, it being held on my middle and thumb and the other two chips between my middle and pinkey… lefty’s for you… psshht
Comment #19 by Bob F.
October 19th, 2004 @ 6:07 PM
this is one hard trick >:( But ill be happy when I finally perfect it, which im sure will take weeks. I always wanted to do it ever since I first saw it on TV.
Comment #18 by Jeffrey Duckworth
October 19th, 2004 @ 2:55 PM
I can get the chip separation, but I have trouble making the individual chip stay on my pinky while making the twirl.
Comment #17 by Sherman
October 16th, 2004 @ 10:20 PM
What Gabe said in comment number nine is really cool. I saw some guy do it at the roulette table this weekend. he was one of the chip handlers and he could do the twirl real easily and he would flip it in the air and catch it. If you can post some pics or vids of that it would be cool.
Comment #16 by krazycanuck82
October 16th, 2004 @ 5:34 PM
this trick opens up room for many variations. after the twirl i like holding the single chip between my index and pinky fingers. Then, closing the gap between the other two chips, push the single chip against the edge of the other two. this will send the chip shooting out. done in one smooth motion this looks sweet. just be careful of table etiquette.
Comment #15 by JL
October 15th, 2004 @ 10:21 PM
i can do this trick really well now. and i want to know some harder variations to it. i can do it with 4 chips now spining the 2 middle chips, not using the pinky and use the ring finger, and i also started spinning the chip multiple times b4 putting it back in… anymore suggestions?
Comment #14 by Ethan
October 14th, 2004 @ 2:58 PM
Hey guys i need some help i just started to learn this trick and i am almost an expert at seperating the middle from the otehr two but when i try to twirl i cant keep the chip firm enoug hon my index and pinky and it just falls what am i doin wrong
Comment #13 by Greg
October 14th, 2004 @ 2:12 AM
looking for good tricks one night i stumbled upon a coin trick site where most chip tricks must orginate from and found a variation of the twirl that adds a really cool flip. heres the address to the page. http://www.coinmanipulation.com/Coin/Tricks/Twirl.html
Comment #12 by David
October 13th, 2004 @ 3:12 PM
I do this trick a little bit differently b/c I saw it done only briefly by dutch boyd in the ‘03 series. My method is to hold the 3 chips b/w the index and thumb and use the middle finger to move the middle chip down slightly. I then rotate my pinky all the way to the top of the middle chip (so that my pinky is actually touching my index finger) and pull the chip down, having achieved good axis points b/w pinky and thumb. I twirl with the ring finger and push the chip back up w/ my pinky. It takes a little while to get good control w/ your pinky, but once you have it, the trick is very stable.
Comment #11 by Mike
October 9th, 2004 @ 2:59 PM
Top Website, Top Tricks. Keep them comin!!