Step Three Positioning the Ace by Crimping
The ace is now on the bottom after one overhand shuffle. Naturally, Neocheaters do not flash the ace or peek to make certain it is there.
Next, you are going to cut the deck without disturbing that bottom ace. As you finish your overhand shuffle, place the deck face down in the palm of your left hand. Pull fifteen or twenty cards from the center of the deck with your right hand as shown in Figure 3 and gently slap those cards on top of the deck. When done three or four times in rapid succession, such center cuts look very convincing, but the culled ace remains intact.
Figure 3
Removing Center Portion of Deck During Center Cut
Figure 3
Removing Center Portion of Deck During Center Cut
Now, as shown in Figure 4, grip the lower deck with your left thumb on one side, three fingers on the opposite side, and your left forefinger knuckled beneath the bottom card. Next, grip the upper deck with your right hand, four fingers on top, thumb pressed against lower left corner. At that moment, your right hand completely shields the deck. In a rapid "squaring" motion, press the lower left corner of the deck firmly down and inward with your right thumb to crimp that lower portion of the deck as shown in Figure 4. The thumb presses against and crimps one third to one half of the lower deck -- or roughly fifteen to twenty-five cards. That crimping move takes only a second and is undetectable.
Figure 4
Making a Side Crimp by Pushing Down Corner of Deck
Figure 4
Making a Side Crimp by Pushing Down Corner of Deck
After the lower inside part of the deck has been crimped by your right thumb, shift your right hand to grip the rear lower edges of the deck between your thumb and fingers. Then make an undercut by pulling about half the deck from the bottom and slap those cards on top in a final cut. As you put the deck on the table, quickly square the sides with your fingers.
The Neocheater places the deck with the crimp facing him. Thus, the sides facing his opponents have no visible gaps. Ideally, the crimp should not be visible, only felt. Good crimps leave gaps so slight that they are essentially invisible -- a sixty-fourth of an inch is good. And the gap should never be more than a thirty-second of an inch. (See Figure 5 in which the gap is just slightly larger than a thirty second of an inch for illustrative purposes.) Too much pressure leaves a glaring gap, which, although facing only the cheater, makes the deck look awkwardly tilted.
Figure 5
Deck with an Exaggerated Side Crimp
Figure 5
Deck with an Exaggerated Side Crimp
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