How to Retain the Top Card in Magic

Use a riffle shuffle to retain the top card when shuffling a deck of cards and you will have the basis for many card stack deck tricks. The same basic principles can be applied to retaining the lowest card or any certain card in the deck, although it is more challenging.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Break the deck into 2 piles just as you do everytime you shuffle. Keep track of which side is the top of the deck.

2. Perform a normal riffle shuffle, being careful to only riffle together the corners instead of the whole edge of the cards. This allows you to block the cards somewhat with your hands.

3. Leave the top one, possibly two, cards from the side that contains the top card when shuffling. If you leave any more, it is painfully obvious to the viewer what you are doing. When you shuffle the cards together, the top two cards should always be the last to fall.

4. Bridge the deck quickly back together after shuffling. This takes practice to do quickly as well.

5. Repeat the shuffle several times, being careful to keep the card retained on top. Try to do this without keeping your eyes on the cards to make it the most believable.

6. Practice shuffling like this often to get more natural results. The faster the shuffling, the harder it is for the viewer to see what you are doing.