After the deck has been shuffled, what is the point to cutting the deck?
- Jinx
So that the person who shuffled can’t stack the deck by putting cards beneficial to him/herself arranged at the top. The new top of the deck will be randomly created.
For this reason, sometimes the person cutting the cards will just tap the top of the deck without actually cutting the cards – this signifies “I trust you that these were truly shuffled.”
My WAGS: so the dealer can’t stack the deck in his and his partner’s favor. Also, so that if you shuffle in a way that allows other players to see the cards so that no one will know what cards are at the bottom of the deck.
It’s really more about the bottom than the top. It is extremely easy to get the card the dealer wants to the bottom of the deck and then later deal it as he chooses. Note that cutting the deck should be the very last operation on the deck. Anything else happens, new shuffle and cut.
Hence, when playing Euchre, you will want to often cut just the top two or three cards, since they must be dealt in twos or threes.
Ironically, if the dealer can effect a perfect shuffle, the cards aren’t randomized at all. That’s why in poker tourneys you’ll see the dealer do a Farmer’s Shuffle.
That’s a horrible strategy. If a dealer in Euchre actually is trying to stack it, cutting only 2 or 3 lets him know what cards are in the kitty (assuming he’s stacking a Jack onto the bottom).
twickster, a “farmer’s shuffle” is throwing all the cards facedown on the table and mashing them all around, like children who don’t know how to shuffle do.
Good point. Still, I learned it from a solid, experienced player. Maybe if he didn’t do that he could have gone pro!
Another thing: If he’s stacked a Jack to the bottom and you cut only 3 cards, he turns up the Jack!
- Cut in the middle.
- Press down on the deck while you cut it. People who “stack the cut” do so by finding a Jack, putting it in the middle of the deck, quickly bend from just below the Jack, so that when you cut you “naturally” cut from the Jack. Pressing down on the deck ensures that “bend” won’t be a factor.
Certain shuffles are easy for the shuffler to control (the side shuffle*, for instance takes about ten minutes of practice in order to be able move cards to the top or botton of the deck at will). I’m sure there are ways of manipulating the standard shuffle to put cards where you want them; by cutting, that changes the order.
*You hold the deck on one hand and move the hand back and forth, dropping a few cards at a time into the other hand.
I have a friend who is a magician. We took a trip together to a nearby town. We were a little late getting back, and he was going to be late to a performance. He was driving, so he asked me if I would stack his deck for him.
I was a little disappointed. I thought, aw, gee, all the magic will be gone. I’ll see how his first trick works, and what fun will that be?
He told me to put the queen of hearts on top, followed by the 1-10 of spaces, then put the jack of diamonds on the bottom, etc., and I arranged them as requested.
When we got to the show, he shuffled the deck, then did six different tricks with it, shuffling in between each trick and during some of them, as well. I recognized some of the cards I had stacked in the sixth trick.
It was most definitely the most impressive magic performance I’ve ever seen! Usually I’m only moderately impressed by magic tricks, because I know they’re tricks, but this time I got a glimpse of how much skill really has to go into a good performance.
Isn’t that 52 pickup?
Blackjack, 21. Tomato, tomahto. 6 of one, half a dozen of the other.
I thought 52 Pickup was when you sprayed the cards all over* and told your friend to pick them up…
*like one side of a shuffle, aimed into the air.
Back to the OP, I learned by playing nickel/dime poker that the dealer always lets the player on the left cut; that player is to place the cut cards to the side of the deck or between the deck and the dealer, and the dealer is to pick up the other half and place it on top of the cut stack.
In bridge, the deal passes clockwise, but two decks are used. Thus, while your partner deals, you shuffle, then leave the deck to your right for the next dealer. For the following hand, the person clockwise from your partner will move the deck from his/her left, where you left it, to his/her right, for your partner to cut; he or she then deals while his/her partner shuffles the deck that was just in play.