Poker Chip Trick: The Shuffle
When we see poker players shuffling their chips in between hands, we often assume that they've been around poker tables far longer than us. It leaves an impression that they're more experienced and more comfortable with the game… and that's pretty intimidating. But this poker chip trick is a learnable maneuver, that is, if we just take the time to study and practice it. So next time we're playing poker, we can shuffle our chips too and let them be intimidated by our chip savvy also!
While we don't really perform the shuffle poker chip trick like shuffling cards, the movement of objects is still the same. One chip goes in between two other chips and so on. So let's start with the basics:
Take four or five chips each of the same color (to see the positions clearly) and stack them side by side. You'll now have four or five chips of the same color in one stack and four or five chips of another color in the other. Keep in mind that you'll only be using one hand in performing this poker chip trick.
Place your pinky and ring finger on the outside of one stack and place your thumb and index finger on the outside of the other stack. It's like you're about the pick up both stacks by their sides. Apply slight pressure only as if you're about to close your hand but don't actually close it. At this point, your middle finger is resting lightly on the table which is right down the middle of these stacks.
The poker chip trick starts as you lift both stacks with your middle finger starting with the bottom chips and working it up to the top. At this point, the lift movement also involves separating opposite chips so they'd slide together to make a single pile. And as you're lifting and separating, use the rest of your fingers to bring the stacks together. You'll know if you've done the shuffle poker chip trick right when you've made a single stack of chips in alternating colors.
And that's how the shuffle poker chip trick goes down! You can see that using all five fingers in one hand creates a perfect shuffle. Now, it's hardly impressive if you do it slowly so you better practice over and over again. And ideally, you will be able to master it to the point when you don't really have to think about at all - just like a pro!
