Shuffle Cards Like A Grown-Up

Step One

Start with half of the deck in each hand, facing each other, thumbs at the top. Get a good grip on the cards. Keep your index fingers available.

Step Two

Apply pressure with your index fingers to force the cards to bend inwards.

Step Three

Rest the tips of your fingers on the surface of the table and crank on your thumb and index finger to bend the cards to almost a right angle.

Step Four

Slowly and smoothly inch your thumbs up and away from the top edge of each half, letting the cards snap down against one another. Aim for an inch to an inch and a half of overlap. The more the cards from each half alternate with one another, the better the rest of the shuffle will go and the more you will seem like an adult.

Step Five

Once you've release all the cards, firmly grab the edges of each half with the ends of your fingers. With your thumbs, apply pressure downwards against the middle of the bundle.

Step Six

With your thumbs still pressing against the top of the bundle where the cards meet, tightly bend the cards back downwards into an arch.

Step Seven

Keep your thumbs where they are! Move the bottoms of each half away from one another while loosening the grip of your fingers. You'll reach a point where the tension lets go and the cards begin to collapse inwards back into a single pile in (hopefully) a nice riffling motion.

You now have a shuffled deck of cards in your hands!

Step Eight

Square the cards back up and hold them in one hand.

Step Nine

With your opposite thumb, peel away half the deck.

Step Ten

Transfer the new half onto the fingers to your opposite hand.

Step Eleven

Grab the new half with your thumb.

Step Twelve

Use your index and pinkie fingers to square up both halves. You're now ready for another go! Papers published by the American Mathematical Society have determined that the optimal number of shuffles is seven.