SUPPLIES
- Clay poker chips, at least six
- Padded felt poker table
Overview
One of the flashier aspects of the game of poker is the chip trick, a delicate and mesmerizing balancing act that requires sophisticated finger dexterity and that uses poker chips as props. Some of these tricks are very complicated and take a great deal of practice to master, and players can sometimes use their ability to perform these tricks to intimidate their opponents. The most basic chip trick, and the one that players most frequently learn first, is shuffling.
Step 1
Gather at least six clay poker chips on a padded felt poker table. It's best to use clay chips rather than plastic chips because clay chips have more weight and are thicker, making them easier to grab. It's also easier to do this on a padded felt table because the padding allows you to push down with your fingertips and get leverage underneath the edges of chips, and the felt allows chips to slide smoothly. If you do not have the right chips or surface, you can practice this anyway, but it will be more difficult.
Step 2
Make two stacks of equal numbers of poker chips. If you've never shuffled chips before, it's best to start with two stacks of three. If you have large hands, two stacks of four might be easier for you. You'll have to experiment with stacks of different sizes to see what feels more natural to you.
Step 3
Put the two stacks side by side so that they're touching.
Step 4
Put your dominant hand over the stacks of chips with your fingers splayed out. Loosely grasp the stacks so that your thumb and index finger are touching one stack, your ring and pinkie fingers are touching the other stack and your middle finger is pressed against where the two stacks meet.
Step 5
Push down slightly with your middle finger, if using a padded felt table, to slide the edges of both sides of your fingertip underneath the edges of both stacks of chips. If you do not have a table with padding, get a grip on the stacks by pushing your middle finger against them with a little extra pressure. Slowly lift your finger up, causing the middle sides of the poker chips to tilt upwards.
Step 6
Use either the tip of the index finger or the ring finger to push down one of the bottom chips on one of the stacks. When the gap is created between this bottom chip and the chip above it, start squeezing all of your fingers together gently. The bottom chip from the other stack should go into the gap you just created, and as you squeeze the stacks together, they should all fall in line to shuffle into a single stack.
Step 7
Gently straighten the stack from the bottom to the top by squeezing it gently with the tips of all of your fingers.
Step 8
Move half of the stack back down onto the table and repeat.
TIPS AND WARNINGS
- TIP : Even though this is the most basic chip trick, it can still take some time to get it right. Practice until you feel comfortable doing it in front of other players, and then start using it to fill your empty time at the poker table to refine your skills.
Add more chips as you get better at this. You can shuffle about 16 chips at once before gravity and the instability of the chip stack start making it particularly difficult.
It is easiest to do this with two stacks of the same number of chips, but not impossible to do with a odd number of chips.
