Читать книгу Expert Card Technique - Jean Hugard - Страница 20

First of all, hold your left hand out flat before you with the fingers pressed tightly one against the other. Bend the four fingers, as a unit, at the innermost joints, placing them at right angles to the palm of the hand. Note that the point of the right angle thus formed is marked by the crease from which both the so-called life line and head line stem. When a reference to the palm is made hereafter it will signify that portion of the palm above the head line crease—that portion of the palm which forms the upright arc of the right angle. To secure the correct grip of the pack, proceed as follows:

1. With the left hand held in the above position, place the deck in it, its left side pressing flat against the palm of the hand above the head line crease. The top of the pack thus falls just below the base of the thumb; the inner left corner is pressed into the palm an inch from its inner side, and the outer end extends half an inch beyond the side of the first finger, the end of the pack and the length of the palm being parallel. The left fingers, pressed closely together, are grouped at the right side of the pack, their tips flush with the top, the little finger being at the inner right corner.

2. Grip the pack by an inward pressure of the joints of the left third and fourth fingers. If the position is properly taken, the left first and second fingers can be removed completely and the pack will still be held firmly by the third and fourth fingers pressing its left side flat against the palm of the hand. The fingers now arc slightly under the top of the pack, Fig. 1.

3. Place the right thumb and second finger at the right ends of the cards and bevel them approximately a quarter of an inch inwards, Fig. 2. This action is of great importance since it materially aids in the action of pushing off two cards as one.

4. Place the left thumb tip upon the edge of the top card at the middle of the end. To do this it will be necessary to bend the top joint so that the point of contact with the card is the side of the thumb tip, as marked A in Fig. 3.

5. Move the left thumb three-quarters of an inch to the right in an arc which is a segment of an imaginary circle, the center of which would be a point midway between the tip of the thumb and the inner left corner of the top card, which is pressed into the flesh of the palm, Fig. 1. Again, it is important that the left thumb should not push the card straight off the pack to the tight but should describe the small inward arc as stated; the nature of this action will be more fully explained in item 2 of the actual deal. The reason for this arcing push-off is that the card pivots at its inner left corner against the flesh of the palm and is at all times under the control of the left thumb, whether it is being pushed off the pack or drawn back onto it.