If you absolutely must have a stacked deck , then in my opinion that shouldn ' t be your first effect . Do two or three other tricks where the spectators shuffle the cards , the spectators hold the cards , the spectators examine the cards . then switch in a cold deck for your miracle . Have a good false shuffle up your sleeve . You don ' t need to learn 5 , 000 different false shuffles . just one , that you can do perfectly every time . Have something else up your sleeve so that you can seamlessly switch to a different effect and no one the wiser . So this guy wants to shuffle the cards . He misses a great trick . His loss . Or , you could conveniently go deaf Here , take a card . Let me shuffle the cards ! Any card at all . Really , let me shuffle ! Thank you , sir , show the card to those around you , and replace it in the deck . I want to shuffle ! I put the cards back into their case , and the case into my pocket . I wanted to shuffle them ! Nothing in my hand . For a final getoutofjailfree card . keep an Invisible Deck in your pocket . Say you genuinely mess up . lose your break . or accidentally drop the deck off the edge of a 20 story balcony . the spectator forgets which card they selected . or the spectator is a total dick you found his card , he knows you found his card , but he looks you right in the eye and lies , No , that ' s not my card . What do you do ? Invisible Deck to the rescue !