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 #80 by Jim
December 8th, 2005 @ 12:53 PM
The twirl trick rocks and i wud like to thank the person who invented it
Comment #79 by paige
November 27th, 2005 @ 2:37 PM
This trick is kinda hard, i can get the it set up but it always falls off my pinky when i try to twirl the chip. I think the thumb flip is easiest and im starting to get the shuffle down.
Comment #78 by Cibbe
November 25th, 2005 @ 10:41 AM
Hi again! I just came up with another variation to the twirl (not sure its new but ive never seen it). Ok so here goes… do the twirl trick, you end up with two chips between index and thumb and one chip between index and ring. Now grab the single chip with your middle and pinky, add preasure and bring it away from the index. Now for the two chips between the thumb and index, place them ontop of your middle finger (the opposite side of where the single chip is) realese the thumb so your holding the chips with your middle and index. Move the thumb to the inner most of the two chips and roll it up the index with your thumb. Now you should have the chips feathered (pinky-middle, middle-index, index-thumb). Well that’s it actually… kinda like a twirl -> butterfly with three chips.
Comment #77 by Cibbe
November 24th, 2005 @ 6:20 PM
How can this be difficulty 3? This was the first trick I learned and it took about 10 min with coins before i started getting it right pretty frequently (about an hour to do it everytime) then it took like 3 tries to convert to chips. I’ve had alot more trouble with the tricks in difficulty 1 (yeah even the “easiest trick”. The 4 chips-bring down and spin 2 is alot of fun but my absolute favorite is a variation on the one here on the site where he spins the chip a little extra and flins it into his other hand (can’t remember the name of it) but instead of flicking it to the other han u make it go straight up in the air, change the position of the hand a bit and land it on top of the other two chips in your hand (kinda hard to explain but yeah..
Comment #76 by ludo
November 9th, 2005 @ 8:20 PM
I know what i am gonna spend tomorow doing
Great site!
Comment #75 by Chad
October 9th, 2005 @ 10:05 PM
I didnt read all the comments so this may be posted already… but a good way to loosen the 2 out chips is to do a thumb flip 1st then pull up on the 2 outer chips
Comment #74 by Brad
September 30th, 2005 @ 1:24 AM
The way described in the walkthrough seems weird to me. It seems a lot harder and less stable to pull the outside chips from the middle chip.
When I do the trick, I have my thumb and index finger put pressure on the outside chip, and use my middle finger to hold the inside chip. I then drop the middle chip out and catch it with my ring finger. When it’s almost out I put pressure on it with my thumb and index finger so I can hold it in place and move my ring finger against my thumb and pull the middle chip the rest of the way out, pivoting around my index finger. I pull the middle chip out and spin it with my middle finger then put it back in, never using the pinky.
It just seems so much easier to drop the middle chip down rather then pulling the outside chips up
Comment #73 by Torsten
September 28th, 2005 @ 12:01 AM
I have serious trouble getting it right with the method mentioned here. I find it much easier to hold all three chips between my thumb and index finger. I then loosen the middle chip with my middle finge, and roll the middle chip away from the two other chips with the ring finger. Then I do the twirl with the middle finger.
I am not using the pinky at all, as bending that will make my ring finger bend. And loosening one chip (the middle) in stead of two is also easier in my oppinion.
Great site by the way.
It’s the same way as Alan mentions in #72
Comment #72 by Alan
August 16th, 2005 @ 2:33 PM
Will .. Great site ! Great tips as well !! Best tip .. practise practise and a little more … Finally starting to get the twril .. break down each step individually till you are comfortable .. much easier .. I actually find it easier to do the twril not involving the pinky but rather holding the chip between the index and ring finger and using the middle finger to spin it !
Comment #71 by Fil
August 13th, 2005 @ 8:06 AM
If u think u can do it try this. Get 4 chips and take out the 2 middle chips, the same way you do in the twir. Then spin those 2 chips 180 degree’s and place them back into the middle again :O i dont really know if its difficult or not.. but it really makes people go “ooooo”.