quote of the moment

"the master minds of card conjuring, those who aspire to the heights of
virtuosity in the handling of cards, have sought for years to master the
perfect riffle shuffle; that is to say, to make the shuffle by
interweaving the two packets card for card. by dint of incessant
practice some performers have attained sufficient skill to make the
perfect shuffle some four times out of five but, in spite of all
attempts they cannot acquire an absolute certainty of success. by
resorting to subterfuge, however, not only is all this tedious practice
eliminated, but success is assured every time."

-- jean hugard & frederick braue; "expert card technique," 1940