False shuffles: The arranged shuffle—The partial shuffle—The fan—The dove-tail.

It may be said that a false shuffle is not cheating, since the cards are but retained in their original order. Such acts, however, are not far removed from cheating, and the persons who are guilty of them may be compared to the receivers of stolen goods, who, though not the actual robbers, are judged to be so by the law.

When the pack of cards has been arranged by the sharper, whether he prepares them beforehand, or only in the presence of his adversary, he must be very careful not to disturb them.

To avoid this, he has recourse to various methods of evading a proper shuffle.

Of these there are four kinds, which vary according to the circumstances required.

They are:

• The arranged shuffle.
• The partial shuffle.
• The fan.
• The dove-tail.

PART I.
THE ARRANGED SHUFFLE.

The arranged shuffle consists in pretending to shuffle, whilst all the time you are arranging the cards, in the order you require them for cheating. Let us suppose, for example, that a Greek, in playing ÉcartÉ, places in the pack four cards of the same suit, three of which are trumps, and the fourth is the turn-up card; this he manages to do by arranging the shuffle in the following manner. He divides the pack of cards into two parts, holding one in each hand, as it is usual to do in shuffling in the ordinary way. In mixing the two packs, he knows how to slip in successively, above the four cards, seven others, which will complete the series necessary for the deal.

He then hands them to be cut, makes a false cut, and when he has dealt out the eleven cards, the four remaining are three trumps and the turn-up card. The arrangement of the game of Piquet, mentioned in another chapter, is a further instance of this trick.

PART II.
THE PARTIAL SHUFFLE.

The partial shuffle is employed for those games, where only a portion of the cards is distributed at a time, such as ÉcartÉ. In this instance, we will suppose the Greek to have arranged eleven cards, so as to enable him to win the game, and it is of consequence that these cards should not be disarranged.

He therefore puts these eleven cards at the bottom of the pack, and, at the same time, carefully keeps his little finger between the upper and lower packet, which he avoids mixing, until after dealing the twenty-first card. This done, he performs the saut de coupe a second time, to bring the arranged packet again on the top of the pack, unless, by making the bridge, he gains the same end by forcing his adversary's cut.

PART III.
THE FAN.

The following trick is termed the Fan, because the Greek, to do the false shuffle, spreads the cards out in the shape of a fan. He then divides the pack into two parts, holding, as before, one in each hand; then, by a certain manipulation with the fingers of his right hand, he passes the cards under those in the left, which, to the spectator, gives the effect of mixing the cards; but this is far from being the case. The cards retain the position they would have done if the pack had been cut, as the upper packet has passed beneath the lower one. The operation, consequently, requires to be gone through a second time, to bring the cards into their original position. This shuffle may remain in the above condition as long as the Greek finds it convenient.

PART IV.
THE DOVE-TAIL.

The ways of doing the false shuffle are numerous, each Greek having some special method of his own. All of them are more or less derived from the principles I have just described.

It would take too long, as well as be useless, to enter into the details of these proceedings, as they are nearly all the same.

The false shuffle, with which I am about to close this chapter, is a peculiar one, and is very often used by sharpers.

To prevent any suspicions which might be raised by the use of the preceding shuffle, the Greek sometimes employs the Dove-tail, which consists in separating the cards into two packs, and then shuffling them one with the other; but, instead of finishing the shuffle by equalising the pack, the Greek manages to leave them at an angle as they are represented in figure 16 below.

Then begins an operation which is hidden by his right hand.

The Greek, after having passed packet No. 1 across packet No. 2, twists round the lower portion in a semicircle towards the right, which completely separates it from the other, and allows him to replace it beneath packet No. 1, as it originally was.