Most basic card instruction start out with how to hold the deck. At first the left hand is covered, then once in a while there is a fleeting and brief reference to the right hand placement, something which is apparently so obvious that nobody finds it neccessary to explain in detail.
For me however, there is one thing that I cannot find any logic to: What does the curled right index finger do in a Biddle Grip? Thinking about it now, it seems to me that I have seen several explanations to effects that emphazise that the right index finger MUST be curled on top of the deck? And then, as the sleight commences, the finger is no longer curled, like they simply forgot about it.
What does it do, except giving the right hand a theatrical appearance? Is it a tradition thing? For me it looks similar to people drinking tea with their pinkys stretched out. You see that finger curl inwards when the hands aren't really doing anything, as if to prove that the carditian is qualified to do this. But what people really see is a finger moving itself into an odd position. Doesn't that just potentially raise suspicion where none is warranted? If it has no actual function, I mean.
Wouldn't it also seem logical that if you curl up one finger, then you have rendered one tenth of your arsenal useless? And had one third of your front cover blown? Unless you are very eccentric. (Jerry Reed curls up his right index finger, the strongest of his right hand when playing finger style guitar. To get it out of the way. If others copy that then they are simply learning a bad habit, because most people just aren't wired the same way as him.)
I can imagine however, that a curled right index finger may prevent right index finger stretching/signaling during a classic pass. If you can slide the packet away from under it, that is. But what other advantages does the curl have that makes it so indispensable? And why then go away from it as a move starts?
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