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
Now it may be a matter of opinion, but we think it
Now it may be a matter of opinion, but we think it would appear quite as natural if the performer were to shuffle the deck himself, immediately when the card is replaced in the middle, then palm off and hand the deck to the spectator to shuffle. If the spectator shuffles for the purpose of concealing any knowledge of its whereabouts, the performer's shuffle may reasonably be expected to increase the impression that it is hopelessly lost, and especially because his shuffle is made without the least hesitation, turn, swing, concealment or patter, and apparently in the most natural and regular way. Then the performer's shuffle gives a tacit reason for holding the deck while the card is inserted, instead of permitting the spectator to take the deck in his own hands.
Well executed, the blind shuffle brings the card to
Well executed, the blind shuffle brings the card to the top or bottom at will, defying the closest scrutiny to detect the manipulation. The card is then palmed while squaring up, and the deck now handed over for further shuffling. Should the performer wish to palm off the selected card without employing a shuffle, we believe the Diagonal Palm Shift is easier and far more imperceptible than the shifting of the two packets and then palming, assuming that the different processes are performed equally well.