Appreciation post: The guy who taught me how to shuffle cards properly at a con

Last year at Gen Con, I was playing a deck builder and this older dude next to me watched me struggle with a mash shuffle for like 10 minutes. He finally leaned over and showed me a bridge shuffle trick using my thumbs differently, no bending the cards. I had been mangling corners for years, thinking I had to be rough. Has anyone else had a random stranger at a game night totally change how you play?

3 comments

3 Comments

reed.elliot2d ago

Did he show you with sleeves on or off?

the_ruby22h ago

My bridge shuffle still looks like I'm trying to wrestle an alligator half the time. One time I was so proud of myself for not dropping any cards that I accidentally sent the entire deck sliding off the table like a hockey puck. The guy who taught me probably saw me coming from a mile away with my thumb placement disaster. Now I just warn people at game night that if they hear a noise like someone steping on a bag of chips, that's me having a rough shuffle moment. Small victories like not bending the cards still count as winning, right?

sage_green2d ago

Wait, was this guy secretly filming me for a blooper reel of shame? Because that sounds exactly like my first few years of shuffling (completely mangling corners, sleeves flying everywhere). He showed me with sleeves on, which honestly saved me because I’d already wrecked three decks by then. I still mess up the bridge shuffle about 40% of the time, but at least I’m not sending cards flying into someone’s drink anymore. It’s amazing how one small tip can make you feel less like a bull in a china shop and more like a functioning adult at the table.