Shuffling chips can be frustrating at first but in time it becomes easy. Starting out, it is easier to learn on a soft surface like a pillow or a couch. When I first started trying the trick I only used 4 or 5 chips on each side. Being right handed, I position my fingers such that the index finger and the middle finger are on the left stack while the ring finger and the pinky are on the right stack. The thumb starts out on the left side of the right stack, lifting it slightly as the stacks are pushed together. Once the lift has been initiated, the thumb slides over to the right side of the right stack to help push the two stacks together. Note that on a soft surface the thumb can stay on the right side of the right stack the entire time because the initial lift can occur by simply pushing the two stacks together.

Once the first few chips fall into place on the bottom, the rest of the chips seem to follow easier as your hand moves up the pile.

One fun exercise is to start with 2 stacks of different color chips. If you shuffle them consistently you can notice certain patterns.

Top Right Merge - Top Right Cut
I put the right stack on top of the left stack such that the bottom left chip is at the bottom of the combined stack while the top right chip is at the top of the combined stack. Once I shuffle the chips together I take the top half and put them on the right, leaving the bottom stack on the left. The shuffle is repeated until the chips are back to the same colors. If I have eight chips in each stack then I get all the same color chips back in the same stacks after 4 shuffles. The list below shows the number of shuffles necessary for stacks of other sizes.
8 poker chips ==> 4 poker chips
7 poker chips ==> 12 poker chips
6 poker chips ==> 10 poker chips
5 poker chips ==> 6 poker chips
4 poker chips ==> 3 poker chips
3 poker chips ==> 4 poker chips
2 poker chips ==> 2 poker chips
1 poker chips ==> 1 poker chips

Top Left Merge - Top Left Cut
I put the left stack on top of the right stack such that the bottom right chip is at the bottom of the combined stack while the top left chip is at the top of the combined stack. Once I shuffle the chips together I take the top half and put them on the left, leaving the bottom stack on the right. The shuffle is repeated until the chips are back to the same colors. If I have eight chips in each stack then I get all the same color chips back in the same stacks after 4 shuffles. The list below shows the number of shuffles necessary for stacks of other sizes.
8 poker chips ==> 4 poker chips
7 poker chips ==> 12 poker chips
6 poker chips ==> 10 poker chips
5 poker chips ==> 6 poker chips
4 poker chips ==> 3 poker chips
3 poker chips ==> 4 poker chips
2 poker chips ==> 2 poker chips
1 poker chips ==> 1 poker chips

Top Right Merge - Top Left Cut
Put the right chips on top of the left chips while shuffling into one stack. Once shuffled, the top half is put in the left pile while the bottom half stay in the right pile. When the exercise is done in this way the list showing the necessary shuffles for different size stacks is as follows:
10 poker chips ==> 6 (Added Dec 2004)
8 poker chips ==> 4 poker chips
7 poker chips ==> 4 poker chips
6 poker chips ==> 6 poker chips
5 poker chips ==> 5 poker chips
4 poker chips ==> 3 poker chips
3 poker chips ==> 3 poker chips
2 poker chips ==> 2 poker chips
1 poker chips ==> 1 poker chips

Top Left Merge - Top Right Cut
Put the left chips on top of the right chips while shuffling into one stack. Once shuffled, the top half is put in the right pile while the bottom half stay in the left pile. When the exercise is done in this way the list showing the necessary shuffles for different size stacks is as follows:
8 poker chips ==> 4 poker chips
7 poker chips ==> 4 poker chips
6 poker chips ==> 6 poker chips
5 poker chips ==> 5 poker chips
4 poker chips ==> 3 poker chips
3 poker chips ==> 3 poker chips
2 poker chips ==> 2 poker chips
1 poker chips ==> 1 poker chips

The main thing to remember is that the more you practice shuffling the chips the easier it gets. When I first started with 4 or 5 on each side I thought that was difficult. Now I can do 10 on each side and it keeps getting easier.

For a long time I was stuck at 8 chips on each side but now I can do 10 on each side. When I first started the shuffle my preference was to separate the chips with my ring finger. Now I prefer to separate the chips with my middle finger. The cool thing about the shuffle trick is that the more I practice it, the more I can do it with multiple chips with all kinds of variations.

Shuffle Poker Chips Trick Variations
There are many variations of the shuffle poker chip trick. We have some talented members in our poker chip forum who can do all types of different things with this chip trick. The Poker Chip Trick Video Page has links to all kinds of poker chip trick videos. In the 3 stack shuffle video, Jeremy shows how to shuffle 3 stacks of chips at once. Most people shuffle 2 stacks into each other but Jeremy makes the 3 stack shuffle look easy. I'm not sure how long it took him to learn the shuffle this way but it is quite impressive.

Practicing the Shuffle Poker Chip Trick
The shuffle poker chip trick is hard to practice because you need so many chips. I was playing in an online tournament today for 90 minutes so I practiced the shuffle poker chip trick with my left hand the entire time. I ended up winning the FTR GAUNTLET I: TOURNEY (October 30, 2004) and the session was great for the chip shuffle. I practiced with my 11.5 gram big slick poker chips which are reviews on the 11.5 Gram Big Slick Composite Poker Chip Review page. Two of the videos on the right side of this page were made today with the blue Ace King Big Slick Chips. Practicing during the tournament helped me get better with my left hand where I used the middle finger lift technique. For the 12 chip on each side version I use the ring finger to lift the chips but I'm hoping to do 12 chips on each side with the middle finger lift too.

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