Bottom Palming - When the Cards are Riffled - Alt.

How to Bottom Palm - with riffled cards.

bottom palmTo palm, grip the bottom cards with the left third finger at first joint, and press firmly against right thumb; raise whole deck slightly, swinging finger end of top portion against left thumb, keeping right thumb stationary as a pivot, until the finger ends of both packets are past each other, and straightening out left first and little fingers. (See Fig. 1.)

Then press right thumb with ends of both packets down into left palm, releasing under packet, and slide the deck out of left hand to be cut, turning over the left with the palmed ends at the same time.

After the deck is on its side the movements are perfectly natural in appearance, and the action of tapping the edges on the table to square up is common enough to pass in most any company. But tipping the deck may give an opportunity to note the bottom card, and the action will more likely cause a suspicion of that design than of palming. However, the tilting and tapping may be accomplished without haste and in a manner plainly evident that no one can possibly get a glimpse. The left hand should completely cover the bottom card, and the deck so handled that at no time does it face either the dealer or the players.

The actual palming can be done in a flash, and as we have said, the only objections are the necessary manoeuvres to obtain the position in a natural and easy manner.

Parts of this article were originally published by S.W. Erdnase in "Artifice Ruse and Subterfuge at the Card Table" 1902

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