Читать книгу Expert Card Technique - Jean Hugard - Страница 65

b. As with other sleights developed at the gaming table this false shuffle defies the closest scrutiny. By its means a top stock is sent to the middle of the deck and yet remains under perfect control. The sleight is an easy one and can be applied advantageously to any trick in which it is necessary to retain a small packet of cards at the top of the pack.

We will suppose, for example, that five cards have been selected, brought to the top and that a shuffle is to be made to strengthen the belief that they are lost in the pack. Proceed thus:

1. Undercut about two-thirds of the deck with the right hand and place the inner corners of the two packets together to form an inverted V.

2. Begin the riffle by dropping cards from the left hand packet first. Then let the cards from this packet drop faster than those in the right hand packet so that the five card stock will fall together under the last dozen or more cards of the right hand packet. Take care that no cards are interwoven into the stock.

3. Grip the ends of the two packets between the thumbs and second fingers, press the third fingers against the middle of the ends and rest the tips of the forefingers on the backs of the cards. Keep the hands well over the cards and push the packets together at an angle as in Fig. 1.

4. When the packets have coalesced, press the tip of the left second finger on the projecting corner of the right hand packet at X, lifting the inner side of the packet above the stock. Fig. 3 shows this action as seen from behind. Press downwards and inwards with the left thumb to secure this break and at the same moment push the packets square with the thumbs and third fingers, Fig. 4.

5. Lift the pack, keeping the hands in the same positions, and pressing downwards with the tips of the first fingers on the back so that the outer side of the pack presents a perfectly regular appearance, Fig. 4.

6. With the right hand make a running cut, pulling off a few cards at a time from the top and dropping them on the table until the break held by the left thumb is reached. Finally drop all the remaining cards on top of the pile thus formed. The stock is again on the top of the pack.

After the left thumb secures the break above the stock, a straight cut can be made instead of the running cut, or a packet with the stock on top of it can be pulled out of the middle and dropped on top. Again a small packet can be undercut with the right hand, the pack then divided at the break and the shuffle repeated. These are matters for individual taste.