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Shuffle Up and Deal!

It is a skill necessary in all card games. It shows how good a player one is. It displays the experience of a card player to the others playing. The mastery of the skills somehow could intimidate other players depending on how showy this skill can become.

What else is the basic skill in all card games? Shuffling.

Shuffling cards is necessary in every card game. In a game of poker, every dealer has to know how to shuffle. And in every private poker party, more often than not, the responsibility as dealer is on rotation. Players hate those who shuffle too slowly. Or inexperienced shufflers where the cards end up exploding into the air.

Shuffling in poker mixes up the cards to even up the chances of all players. This step can also avoid cheating as some players are capable of computing the probability of the appearance of a card if the deck is not shuffled properly.

In most poker games, a deck of cards should be shuffled at least three times. The dealer is obliged to shuffle at least once while the two other times could be done by anyone else present at the table. Once the deck has been shuffled, it is cut then ready to be dealt.

It takes practice to master this skills. It is simple and easy to learn and is all in the hands, more specifically, the fingers and the wrist.

Take a stack of cards. Divide this stack into two portions. Face down, of course. These portions should roughly be the same thickness. Hold one portion in the right hand and the other in the left hand. These portions should be horizontally placed to the body. The fingers should be holding unto the edges of the cards. The thumbs should be holding the edges immediately opposite each other while the rest of the fingers are at the other end of the cards.

The fingers and the wrist should be relaxed at this point. Let the thumbs slowly bend the edges upwards. Gently slide the two portions together so that they will interlock. Just using the thumbs, let go of the cards so that they could fall downwards meshing with the cards from the other portion. Push the two portions together and viola, the stack has been shuffled!

Repeat this two more times, have it cut and the stack is ready for the game. As dealer, hold the stack in one hand and use the other hand to deal the cards. Start with the person to the dealer's left then move clockwise around the table. While distributing the cards, it is ideal to move the hands a few inches closer to the player receiving the card. Slide the cards off the top of the stack to the players. Never look at the bottom card of the stack before and during a deal.

Master these steps and the inexperienced player won't seem so inexperienced after all. Soon enough, the phrase "shuffle up and deal" will be welcome any day.