28-November-2009

False Overhand Shuffling

False Overhand Shuffle Basics

Performing a “false overhand shuffle” is extremely simple. It involves no more than a traditional overhand shuffle and a flick of the thumb. What's more, doing so helps lay the foundation for other moves because all sleight-of-hand tricks require that dealers have what’s called “card control”—i.e. that they have to know where specific cards are in order to deal them to themselves or their opponents.

Because putting cards in the middle of a deck makes finding them again impossible, there are really only two places a sharp can store cards: On the top and bottom. False overhand shuffling allows sharps to find specific cards and push them to the top of a deck without letting on that anything funny’s happened. As a result, it is a perfect—not to mention simple—way to achieve card control at the start of a deal.

To perform a false overhand shuffle first set the deck you’re using in the palm of your passive hand—as opposed to your dominant, or writing, hand—so that its long side rests in your palm and the cards’ faces are turned toward your thumb. Angle the deck so you can see the cards’ faces, but make sure to do so only slightly; do not make the fact that you’re peeking obvious by angling them so much the other players notice.

Next, begin overhand shuffling normally by grasping the cards’ short edges with your dominant middle finger and thumb and dropping them into your passive palm. When you see a card you want simply clench your passive thumb against the card’s face. Meanwhile, pick up the rest of the cards with your dominant hand.

As you draw the rest of the deck up, your passive thumb will push your chosen card against your passive fingers. All that’s left to do, then, is to drop the rest of the cards into your passive hand. If done right, the cards should fall with their backs facing your chosen card’s face, and assuming they do, voila: The card you want is at the top of the deck, and the rest of the players are none the wiser.

Advanced False Overhand Shuffling

Overall, the basics of false overhand shuffling aren’t very complicated. But mastering the trick enough to use it effectively in live poker games is a different story altogether. One reason for this is that in poker you must always deal to the other players first. And if you don’t have some way of keeping your card in place while dealing your opponents junk you’ll basically be handing out a freebie.

There are a couple ways of handling this problem, though neither is particularly easy: The first involves leaving your chosen card where it is and dealing your opponents the cards beneath it; the second entails selecting the cards you pick up with your dominant hand by applying varying degrees of pressure to the cards’ sides.

We’ll explain the first of these two methods, called “dealing the second,” in a later installment. As for the second option, you’ll naturally need to practice your manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination. Beyond that, though, there is one technique we can suggest to help you hide your hot moves more successfully.

With a false overhand shuffle you can easily hide a deck by repositioning your hands. All you have to do is turn your passive hand forward so the knuckles of your index, middle and ring fingers face away from you; then, by cupping your dominant index, ring and pinky fingers around their passive counterparts, you’ve basically made it impossible to see what you’re up to.

This position will feel extremely awkward at first, but with a little practice you’ll get used to it. Better still, once you’ve mastered it you’ll be able to hide several different card-sharp tricks, not just false overhands shuffles.

Of course, again, this isn’t to say we’re suggesting you actually use this trick. Just that, if you decide to learn it for “research purposes,” you can expect to see it used to perpetrate all kinds of deviousness.

By: Phill Provance & Tomas Batha
phill.provance@acehoyle.com

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