How to wash a deck of playing cards for poker

Want to learn how shuffle a deck of playing cards? In order to be a great dealer for poker, baccarat, blackjack, Texas Hold'Em or any other gambling card game, you're going to need to learn how to properly shuffle the playing cards.

This "How To Shuffle" video tutorial will show you how to wash a deck of playing cards for poker. Washing cards is also known as The Scramble or scrambling the deck. This form of shuffling playing cards is considered to be rather "amateurish" by many players who are surprised to see it being used in a real casino. Scrambling cards is a legitimate form of shuffling and does an excellent job of randomizing a deck of playing cards. Washing the deck is used extensively when a new deck is brought to the table but dealers will also occasionally wash a deck of card between hands.

1. Place the cards face down in two rows (or in one or more piles) in front of you on the table.
2. Using the fingertips and palms of both hands, move the cards around the table in circular motions for several seconds, mixing the cards as much as possible. Lift your hands up from the cards and repeat this same procedure several times.
3. New decks should be washed for one to two minutes. Between hands, cards may be washed for as little as 10 to 15 seconds.
4. Collect the cards off the table and prepare to shuffle the deck with a standard riffle-strip-riffle-cut.

Collect the cards off of the table:

You will often have to collect cards that are piled on the table. The above video is a good example of how you should use a circular motion to group the cards and a back-and-forth motion to square up the deck. It is usually acceptable to take one card off the top of a pile of cards and slide it under the cards to assist you in lifting all the cards off the table.

Count the cards:

You should occasionally count the number of cards in each deck to ensure that 52 playing cards are present.