Hello,

I have a question about squaring the deck after the riffle shuffle. I'm practicing the riffle shuffle on a hard surface, and I was wondering if I have to lift both the left and right packets to square the deck after the shuffle. Or do I simply push the two packets together with my ring finger contacting the table?

Thank you.

No you don't have to do it any certain way. There are "tabled" riffle shuffles, and there are "in the hands" riffle shuffles. How you "Square the Deck" is your style of handling.

If you are new to card magic, obtain the books "Royal Road to Card Magic" and "Expert Card Technique" these books take a progression in learning from the shuffle to complete routines using many of the moves explained in the books.

In the old days, gamblers use to square the deck on the table. Some magicians have picked up the style, I guess for personal reasons.

Keep Practicing!

Like Bill said, it really doesn't matter. Just what ever you do, do it naturally (hear that Dai I'm passing on the word!) Try to do it without looking at the deck but rather looking at your audience and do it as "mindlessly" as possible.

The pushin without lifting is great and also works well for false shuffles.

There isn't a right or wrong answer here. But try for elegance and economy of motion.

A spectator acussed me of doing something `dodgy' while lifting after a riffle shuffle. Even though nothing was going on ! I agree with Gord.

Marlo recommends squaring up by placing the thumbs at the inner corners and the index fingers at the upper outside corners, then sliding the index fingers down to the inner outside corners.

If you are an IBM member, Believing, take a look at the Roberto Giobbi Introduction to Card Magic available n their website. He goes over the riffle shuffle in detail, and makes no mention of lifting during the squaring.

Howard

Hello Believing,
When I do a riffle shuffle I do it in the air, you can do this by letting your left fingers curl under the deck while doing the shuffle and making sure that a card in the left stack is the first to go. As far as squaring the deck goes, to find a easy way to do it, it is hard to explain, is called the bridge, so go to your favorite search engine and search "riffle shuffle with bridge" and you should find it. Hope this helps, Roy

I think the method described in Royal Road is elegant and lovely. After the two piles have been combined, push them together using your middle fingers, one on either side of the pack. At the same time, stroke the lengthwise side of the pack with your thumbs, starting in the middle with your thumb tips together and then sliding outward, towards the corners, meeting your middle fingers at the two corners nearest you.

No need to hurry while performing this pretty move.

To me the effect suggests folding linen, or tying a bow with ribbon.

I've never really though it matters. Just make sure it looks good. I would recommend doing one similar to your favorite false shuffle

My older brother does a "bridge" (kind of a reverse riffle) following his riffle, both mid-air. Its very pretty.
But I could never get the hang of it.

My mother taught me how to do an over-bridge during family Rummy night. It actually helps to “unbend” the cards after a stiff riffle. I later learned to do an under-bridge, and finally in the air like Roy mentioned. Now, as a Mentalist, I feel the need to pretend I know nothing about cards, so a blackjack shuffle, flat on the table, and a simple push together is as fancy as it gets.

Do what feels natural to you. It doesn’t even have to be neat