Learning How to Shuffle Poker Chips

Do you know how to shuffle poker chips the right way? Maybe you’ve seen your buddies doing it and wondered how they do it, or perhaps you’ve tried it yourself and you’re wondering if you can do it, too. There are many different poker chip strategies that have been devised.

Here’s how to shuffle poker chips the smart way: 

Do an initial round of poker with the bare hands: just working on your chips skills, and then spend a few minutes playing with those same chips on the same playing surface – the same poker table, which means that it’s on a real playing floor, not a haphazard table inside your basement. Doing a few practice shuffling sessions with the same hand and same chips on this same playing surface will greatly help your in-the-arena poker table shuffle skills. This will not only improve your in-the-arena shuffle skills but also sharpen your in-the-arena card judging skills. Just by doing this, you’ll see a difference the very next time you play! 

When shuffling your chips: make sure you are dealing each hand at the same speed. The idea is to get the feeling for how the chips feel when you grab them with your two hands – a light weight stroke on your index finger and a quick twist on your thumb. This will allow you to create an easy finger motion for picking up and removing chips from your cards. If you need some help with your finger motion, there are instructional videos on the Internet that can show you exactly how to shuffle your chips the right way. As with the case when you’re dealing, make sure each hand is dealt at the same speed. 

It’s important to remember to always deal the minimum number of chips per hand you are dealt: One way to do this is to use a single stack of chips, which is the most common number of chips dealt in a game of Texas Hold’em. Sometimes, it might seem like a good idea to go with a single stack to start out with, since that’s generally the number of chips anyone can afford to start out with. But if you end up getting dealt a single stack or an overly aggressive hand, simply switch to another strategy and work on different types of bets without having to throw away all your chips in a single, last-ditch effort. 

Two stacks are usually dealt offsuitly: so keep in mind that the person you are playing against likely has three chips, which makes them the “queen” in the pot. It’s important to remember to always stay in, no matter what. If someone is betting with a hand containing two of the same cards, there is no need to fold – simply call with a strong flop. When playing against someone with a four-card hand, however, it’s more important to be aggressive and play aggressively with your chips, especially after the flop. This is when it can be worth it to go with a low-low split of your chips (too low, one high), though be careful that you don’t spend too many on the turn because you may end up chasing a hand, especially with a three-card flop. 

The third type of chip stack to learn how to shuffle is the four-card hand: While it’s usually a bad idea to go with just two stacks, sometimes this is the only bet that a player can make after the flop, especially if their hand is bad and they have nothing but a pair, a premium, a straight, or a flush to make the raise with. Four-card hands generally aren’t as advantageous as other types, so make sure you’re using a good sized chip stack by having a comfortable size hand.

You’ll need to be able to manage these chips around your finger, so having a thick, strong middle finger is helpful.