shuffling

rabidwolfie

NRA - National Rifflers Assoc. LOL

I am deffinetly a riffler. Lacing doesn't mix them adaquatly enough for me. Plus, I like to use reversals, & lacing alone does not allow for a proper mixing of upright & reversed cards.
 

Scorpio Kitten

I do both! I usually lace the cards three times, riffle three times, and then lace three more times. Only I don't use reversals often so I have to make sure that when I riffle I flip one half of the deck around so that when I riffle them they fall in the same direction. I do have some decks that are difficult to rifle due to their large size, but I have always felt that riffling is a more thorough way of shuffling, at least for me.
 

nisaba

What is "lacing" and what is "riffling"?

I shuffle by holding the deck in my dominant hand nad using the thumb of my subdominant hand (musical background there) to pull a few cards onto its palm, until the cards that were bottom of the deck in the dominant hand are now top of the deck in the subdominant hand. Then repeat until the deck is happy.

I've seen people break the deck in two, and bend up the corners of both halves to fan them into each other. I'm not happy with that- it damages cards.

I'm not happy with putting them face-down on a table and swirling them about, either - it potentially bends cards if the surface or the cards are not perfectly flat, and it takes forever to bring them back into a manipulable deck.

Which one is what?
 

Raindance

I like to "wash" the deck. (I place them face down and mix them like mahjong tiles.) Then, I lace them in a variety of ways--mostly what the cards prefer. I don't do the "Vegas" shuffle because that bends my cards. (I have one "bent" deck that I picked up at a used bookstore because it called to me from the moment I walked into the store.)
 

Miss Divine

nisaba said:
What is "lacing" and what is "riffling"?

I shuffle by holding the deck in my dominant hand nad using the thumb of my subdominant hand (musical background there) to pull a few cards onto its palm, until the cards that were bottom of the deck in the dominant hand are now top of the deck in the subdominant hand. Then repeat until the deck is happy.

* This is lacing.
I've seen people break the deck in two, and bend up the corners of both halves to fan them into each other. I'm not happy with that- it damages cards.

* This is riffling
I'm not happy with putting them face-down on a table and swirling them about, either - it potentially bends cards if the surface or the cards are not perfectly flat, and it takes forever to bring them back into a manipulable deck.

* This is washing

Which one is what?

I usually lace them because most of the cards I have are too big for me to riffle.
The smaller decks I love to riffle shuffle.
 

SunChariot

nexyjo said:
i remember a discussion about shuffling and the different ways that people use to mix up a deck. my boyfriend used to work in a casino, and happened to mention the "proper" names for the two different types of shuffling that i'm aware of, so i thought i'd pass along that info.

what i would consider "normal" shuffling, the way you typically see a regular deck of playing cards shuffled is called riffling - "to riffle", pronounced like the firearm. that's when you divide the deck in half, one half in each hand, and bend the corners, and let the cards slip past your thumbs, effectively piling back the two halves of the deck, in alternate order from each half. sheesh, that's a confusing description - i hope it's clear enough. anyway, there are several styles of doing this, but it's all the same as far as shuffling. i see this method as pretty hard on a deck - it bends the cards, weakening them to some degree, and i believe causes some wear and tear.

the other common shuffling method is called "lacing" - "to lace", pronounced exactly as you'd think, like the trimming on my night gown. in this method, i hold the deck in my left hand, and with my right, grab most of the deck, and let several cards fall out of my hand, placing them in the front of the cards still in my left hand. i keep doing this until all the cards are back in my left hand. in the past, i incorrectly refered to this as "hand over hand" shuffling.

i think lacing is much less hard on a deck - my robin wod deck is shuffled every day with this method, for about a year and a half, and shows virtually no signs of wear. it's the only way i shuffle a tarot deck.

so, which method do you use? or do you use another method, like spreading the cards on a table, mixing them around, and piling them back up? or all three? or something else all together?

luv and light,
nexy


Hey I never knew what it was called, the way I shuffle. That's cool to know! I tend to lace more than anything else, also because I heard that that is the way that is easiest on the cards, and I sure don't want to damage my cards.

BUT what I do is I guess a modified lace because it is a bit different from what you describe.

Actually I start wtih the deck in my right hand. Then I let a take a few off the top and hold them in my left hand. Then with the thumb of my right hand I push a few off the top and add them to the top of the pile in my left hand. Then I push a few more off the top of the right hand pile and add them to the bottom of the pile in my left hand....alternating between adding it to the top of the bottom of the left hand pile until they are all in my left hand. Then I take the pile and put it back in my right hand and repeat as many times as needed.

Does that make any sense. I may or may not have explained that well. LOL


Barbara
 

Grizabella

nexyjo said:
what i would consider "normal" shuffling, the way you typically see a regular deck of playing cards shuffled is called riffling - "to riffle", pronounced like the firearm.

I always thought if there were two "f"'s it would be pronounced like "if" but the firearm is spelled "rifle" with one "f" and is pronounced with the "i" sound as in "life". To rifle through someone's stuff you go through it and make a mess of it, strewing it all around. To riffle is to shuffle as you described.

I guess we learn something new every day, don't we? :)
 

SunChariot

Grizabella said:
I always thought if there were two "f"'s it would be pronounced like "if" but the firearm is spelled "rifle" with one "f" and is pronounced with the "i" sound as in "life". To rifle through someone's stuff you go through it and make a mess of it, strewing it all around. To riffle is to shuffle as you described.

I guess we learn something new every day, don't we? :)

I've never seen rifle with two f's either. I thought it was a typo.

Babs
 

Courtnis

Thank you...

I am so glad to have come across this thread. I have been searching for some clarification on shuffling. Most books, online lessons, etc. simply tell you to shuffle w/o giving any further insight. i don't feel the cards get shuffled well enough when "lacing" but I wasn't sure if "riffling" was acceptable or not. Glad to hear it is :)
 

LippyCathedral

rabidwolfie said:
NRA - National Rifflers Assoc. LOL

I am deffinetly a riffler. Lacing doesn't mix them adaquatly enough for me. Plus, I like to use reversals, & lacing alone does not allow for a proper mixing of upright & reversed cards.

i was thinking this too, guess i'm a riffler, plus i like the sound the cards make when you shuffle this way

my friend who i've been learning with is a lacer but they fall out of her hands all the time and i think a little too often for there to be a meaning behind it, it's just the method she shuffles

although i think lacing looks prettier, the method almost seems aesthetically more spiritual and intimate.

at the end i cut the cards into three piles and then pile them back up again, mostly because thats what my friend showed me