A slightly modified Erdnase Stack

The one aspect of the Erdnase Stack that I have never liked is the undercut and throw during the second part of the stack. Below is the description of the four card stack for a five handed game with that step in bold:

FOR any game in which cards are dealt singly. Three of the desired cards are placed on top, one on bottom. Under-cut about one-third deck, injog top card, run two less than twice number players, out-jog and shuffle off to last card, so that it will be left on top. Under-cut to out-jog, forming break at in-jog, run one less than number players, throw to break, run one, in-jog running one less than twice number players, out-jog and shuffle off. Under-cut to in-jog and throw on top. Under-cut to out-jog, run one less than number players and throw balance on top. This gives the four desired cards to the dealer in four rounds.

Erdnase, Expert at the card table

Normally during an overhand shuffle you don’t simply cut a block off and throw it to the top. Instead, what I do is what was done in the first halve of the stack, namely, undercut to the out-jog and form a break at the in-jog. Then as I start the second part of the shuffle, I let the cards below the in-jog drop onto the top of the deck as I run one less than the number of players. This effectively hides the throw and reduces the right hands shuffling motion.

I think it makes the shuffle more deceptive.

EXPERT CARD TECHNIQUE: A SYSTEM OF STOCK SHUFFLING

Going back to one of the first books on card magic that I owned, “EXPERT CARD TECHNIQUE: Close-Up Table Magic by JEAN HUGARD and FREDERICK BRAUE”, I took a look at their system of stacking a poker hand. They described stacking four cards for a four handed game. Below I have shown instructions, using their system, for stacking four cards to fall to the dealer on a five handed game. I recommend looking at the book for more information.

As noted in some of my other posts on stacking with overhand shuffles, this stack has some drawbacks. In particular, in step 4 you have a run of 20 single cards. Also, twice you have to manage an injog and outjog together, and throw a block of cards. After the description I will offer some modifications that I think make this better.

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A variation on a “Variation on the Milk Build stack”

So what makes a good overhand stack technique. In my opinion the key factors are a good rhythm, without too much repetition, without too many long sequences of single card runs, and the whole stack being done in a couple of shuffles. The problem with the basic milk build stack in that you repeat the milking action four times. The rhythm is not random.

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