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 #70 by Jonathan
August 8th, 2005 @ 6:29 PM
Awesome work, thanks for your contribution =)
Comment #69 by Blair
July 20th, 2005 @ 5:31 PM
this trick took me about 3 hours to learn how to do. it is a very effective way to bluff your opponent out of a pot. a couple weeks ago, i was playing and everyone was trying to chip shuffle, so i started doing this trick instead, when they all saw me doing it, they were like, “hey, no pros. you can’t play”. needless to say, i ended up winning the whole game. try using this trick in games once you are able to do it at least half of the time you try it. it will help you a bunch.
Comment #68 by Kevin
July 11th, 2005 @ 12:56 PM
nvm, i got it today and can do the whole trcik about 95% of the time
Comment #67 by Kevin
July 7th, 2005 @ 11:45 AM
I can get the twirl down but after that i can’t reinsert the chip inbetween the other 2.. i can do it about 50% of the time though
Comment #66 by Brad
June 6th, 2005 @ 8:31 PM
Every freaking time i try to twirl it the chip goes off my ring or pinky once it gets parallel with it, this is so freaking frustrating
Comment #65 by Bob
May 12th, 2005 @ 2:50 PM
I found a way to possibly learn it quicker. Since the twirl is harder than seperating the center chip I did the following. Use a center chip that has a little smaller circumference. This lets you seperate it much easier. This will enable you to spend your time practicing the twirl which is much harder anyway. Once you are comfortable with the twirl you can replace the center chip with the same as the other two and perfect your trick.
Comment #64 by kell
May 5th, 2005 @ 1:56 PM
this is hard as hell i dont like it just thought id let some one know and i thing that the chan trick is the easyest along with the shuffle and the finger flip is hard forsome reason
Comment #63 by John
May 5th, 2005 @ 1:08 AM
i tried a cool variation that works best with thinner chips. instead of 3 chips use 5, remove the 2nd and 4th chips and twirl them then replace them.
Comment #62 by erik
January 8th, 2005 @ 6:28 PM
ya once i got the right hand the left was very easy. i like to do it rotating the chip between ring and indx fingers and spinning it with the middle instead of holding between index and pinky
Comment #61 by Brandon
January 7th, 2005 @ 4:14 AM
This may sound crazy, buy try going south-paw with it. I’m a righty, but was able to do it pretty consistently with the left hand after about 5 minutes.