You've all seen that poker-playing uncle of yours do this with a feigned nonchalance that is so damned cool. And if you're like me, you went home and tried to do it yourself only to discover that you don't have enough joints to cut a deck the normal way using only one hand.
What you didn't know is that it's just a simple trick. Once I was shown how, I was able to do it once in a matter of two minutes, and consistently after about a half hour, though it took another hour or so of practice here and there to get the grace that makes this so impressive. So, without further ado, the step-by-step process:
- Shape your hand into a U, with your thumb on one side, and the rest of your fingers on the other. Hold the deck lengthwise between your thumb and other fingers at the top of the U. The face of the cards should be pointing towards your palm.
- Loosen your thumb's grip on the bottom half of the deck, so that it falls down at an angle. Done right, one edge of the bottom half should be up near the the rest of the deck, and the other (that used to be held by the thumb) should be touching the palm of your hand.
- Now use your index finger to push the top edge of the bottom half of the cards back. The bottom edge should be stationary, so that the top pivots around the bottom.
- Keep pushing until the top edge hits the thumb. Then keep going a little more, slowly pushing the thumb back, until the bottom half clears the top half completely.
- Done right, the top half should now fall onto your index finger, that you used to push everything else back.
- Gently lower and retract your index finger, so that the top half now lies on your palm. The bottom half, now unsupported, should fall right on top.
Now you've done this the first time and have decided your hand isn't big enough. You can't push the bottom half back because it's hitting the top half and pushing it out of your hand. Here's where you screwed up:
In step 2, you made the bottom half fall into the wrong spot. You don't want the cards to fall into the corner where your thumb meets your hand. They should go all the way down into the bottom of your palm. Now you've got all the room you need.
That's it. Impress your friends with your card handling prowess. Good luck, and /msg me with any questions.