Tournament Strategies
After receiving pocket cards, you are immediately faced with a choice: play your cards and either raise or call the blinds, or fold.
Practice Matters
Sometimes the palm is made after the cut and maintained
Sometimes the palm is made after the cut and maintained throughout the deal for the purpose of holding too many. The dealer's cards are placed on the palmed cards, the whole skinned through, the discard palmed again in one or the other hand, and replaced when the deck is taken up again. If the bottom palm is made before the cut and maintained throughout the deal it both gives too many and avoids the necessity of bottom dealing, but it is a very poor substitute. This is fully explained under caption of Skinning the Hand.
The cards are palmed in the left hand and the deck
The cards are palmed in the left hand and the deck placed across them. The deal is begun immediately. The four fingers of the left hand are kept close together with the tips held firmly against the side of deck, and effectually conceal the palmed cards.