When the pack of cards has been arranged by the sharper, whether he prepares them beforehand, or only in the presence of his adversary, he must be very careful not to disturb them.
To avoid this, he has recourse to various methods of evading a proper shuffle.
Of these there are four kinds, which vary according to the circumstances required.
They are:
PART I.
THE ARRANGED SHUFFLE.
The arranged shuffle consists in pretending to shuffle, whilst all the time you are arranging the cards, in the order you require them for cheating. Let us suppose, for example, that a Greek, in playing Écarté, places in the pack four cards of the same suit, three of which are trumps, and the fourth is the turn-up card; this he manages to do by arranging the shuffle in the following manner. He divides the pack of cards into two parts, holding one in each hand, as it is usual to do in shuffling in the ordinary way. In mixing the two packs, he knows how to slip in successively, above the four cards, seven others, which will complete the series necessary for the deal.
He then hands them to be cut, makes a false cut, and when he has dealt out the eleven cards, the four remaining are three trumps and the turn-up card.
The arrangement of the game of Piquet, mentioned in another chapter, is a further instance of this trick.