If you want to look like an expert magician, knowing how to shuffle a deck of cards should be one of the first tricks at your fingertips. There are pretty impressive ways to shuffle a deck of cards, and this is a trick you can learn easily by following these steps.

It might seem a little tricky even for learners at first, but with enough practice you can become a card-shuffling pro in no time, explains Magician 4 All Occasions, a service that provides you a magician in Manchester. It is preferable that you practice this with a new deck of cards, as they would be smoother to handle.

• Start by holding the deck in one hand. Let your fingers rest at the bottom edge, with your thumb on the top edge. Ensure that your first finger is pressing the back of the deck right at the middle. This way, you can bend the deck at the middle and run the cards through your thumb into your left hand in a swift motion.

• As you run the cards this way, with your left hand deftly receiving the cards running through, take note of the motion. After a few times of running through the deck like that, stop halfway through. At this point, you have successfully divided the deck into halves.
  • Note: you are still holding the card in between your thumb and your other three fingers, with your forefinger resting at the middle of the card length. The two halves would be held like this in both hands.

• While gripping half deck in both hands with a nimble grip, ensure your finger is pointing back towards you. With a little pressure using your index finger, bend the cards on itself or bow.
  • Note: you would cause the cards to arch as you release the cards from your thumbs. This is known as creating the ‘bridge’ with the cards.

• Now, move the two half decks closer to each other, then move your thumbs slowly up to the top of the deck, thereby releasing the cards to fall on the table. At the point where the cards interlace, simply hold your other fingers under the deck, just at the bottom.

• It takes practice to shuffle the cards this way, but over time you get faster with the motions and amaze your friends who watch you as you perform the trick. The interesting part is in letting the cards fall on top of each other, in that perfectly intersecting pattern.

• Once the cards are fallen, you can then pack the deck together. By this, your shuffle is complete and you can begin a game or other magic performances, to the amazement of your audience.

• Another method known in card shuffling is the One-Handed Shuffle. This is another impressive style that also requires learning the hand motions. The card is made to hang horizontally in between your first three fingers on one side and your thumb and pinky on the other side. Holding the cards like this might feel difficult at first, but with practice it gets to feel more natural.

• The next step is to lift up a half of the deck using your thumb and your pinky finger. To do this, you have to release your middle and ring fingers from their grip at the same time. The trick now comes in moving your thumb counter-clockwise and your pinky in a clockwise motion, thereby putting the cards in two stacks next to each other. Don’t worry, this might take a number of attempts before you finally master it.

• By applying a bit of pressure using your ring finger and middle finger, make sure the lower pile of cards is even with the other half. Also, ensure the pinky is held firmly, while applying some more pressure to the other half with your thumb.

• By doing this, the ends of the deck closer to you will shuffle, even as your grip is nimble yet firm. This shuffle is mostly done by the pro magicians who have a lot of experience. However, they also started by making mistakes and clumsy attempts too.

Finally, card shuffling can also be learnt by watching an expert magician perform tricks, and then copying the motions. It is really about the hand motions, and getting this is what makes card shuffling pretty impressive. It is also more of a visually-acquired skill in fact. And using pictures, videos, or a physical performance to learn the motions would be a great idea.

After you master the basics, you can then advance to more interesting moves such as false shuffling. Although, the more advanced card shuffling would take more training and time to become an expert.

However, the simple steps shown here would be sufficient in order to learn the simple magician’s trick. For more instructions or visual explanation on how to shuffle cards expertly, click on any of the links provided below:

Shuffle Techniques

How To Shuffle Cards Like A Magician

Shuffle Cards Like A Pro