talkmagic.co.uk

This afternoon I saw Michael Vincent perform Darwin Ortiz's "The Sting" from CardShark. It makes a lot of use of "riffle stacking" - has anyone got any good tips on getting this technique perfected and up-to-speed, especially as MV and DO emphasise doing it without looking at the cards, which seems very challenging at the moment!

Take it very slow to begin with. Get used to holding back two, three and four cards with each hand.

Remember to start very slowly, then gradually build up speed. It's a long road - many months - so best not to get bad habits early on.

Take care, Ian

I think there are two things that are vital to getting riffle stacking to an acceptable standard.

Firstly, forget about stacking all together. Just practice riffle shuffling and ending with a single card held back with no pace difference. Do the same for two, three and four cards. Once you can hold back any of those amounts of cards back without hesitation, the stacking bit will soon come.

Secondly, one of the main problems I had with stacking, was either shuffling into the part I had already stacked, OR, being TOO cautious and thus leaving a big block under the top few cards.
To cancel out both problems, I turned the fourth ace down(in the sting routine) and riffle stacked normally. You then just have to time having the four indifferent cards left, as close to the face up. This stops you shuffling random cards into the stack and also helps you perfect when to stop etc!

Good luck though! This is just step one! Doing it fluently without looking is the real test, something I am desperately working on now.
I think that other shuffling faze in the routine...hold back three and six...drop one, drop two etc is the hardest bit. A real knack.

Check out Weapons of a Card Shark, available I believe from the Merchants of Magic.
This should contain all the info you need on riffle stacking and a lot else.

Chris Tennant

I might also add, I am assuming you have CardShark by Ortiz, if you intend to perform The Sting?

If so, take a look at "Darwin's Bottom Run Up System"...significantly easier than a normal riffle stack...