Less Trouble Double

By Doug Edwards

Done properly this is an imperceptible double turnover. It may feel a bit awkward during your first few tries, but it will reach a comfort level pretty quickly. It probably will be done just a bit differently in different hands, but the basic idea is the same for all.
Hold the deck in left hand dealing position and bevel the top cards to the right by pressing inward with the base of the left thumb. Then contact the top card of the deck at the right long side with the fleshy part of your right first finger tip. Lift that top card ever so slightly as the finger tip contacts the side edge of the second card. The beveling makes this easy. The first finger tip is now under the top two cards (Fig. 1). Note that the right hand is basically palm up.

Turn the right hand palm down and start to 'ride,' or glide, the first finger tip down towards the deck's inner end and it continues moving to the left. The nail of the first finger glides along the two cards directly above it (Fig. 2). Firm pressure by the left thumb is maintained during the above action.
As the first finger tip approaches the deck's inner left corner move your right second finger tip up onto the top card(s). Continue moving the, now, two finger tips around the inner left corner and starting up the decks left long side, toward the base of your left thumb.
Here's where it may look, and handle, a bit differently for different people with different size and shape of hands. You can move the left thumb base back a bit to allow the two finger tips to slide up to and adjacent to it, as in Fig. 3. Or you can stop before you reach that point, or even at the left side of the double's inner end.
When those two finger tips stop, turn your right hand palm up to the right turning the double card face up in order to display it (Fig. 4). The two finger tips hold firmly, of course, so that the cards don't spread. And, if you move the double card downward, toward you, as you start the turnover, the long sides slide down between the rear of the left thumb and left finger tip, which assures that the two cards remain aligned.
Now, to turn the double down, revolve your right hand palm down and repeat the described action except this time allow the nail of the second finger to ride/glide beneath the double card (Fig. 5) and clip it with your right third finger (Fig. 6), turning it back down (Fig. 7).
Or, simply move the double to the right, a bit off the deck, and flip it face down to the left. Do whichever feels more natural to you. And smoothly, please; no jerky movements.