Becoming One of the Quick: The Poker Chip Drill

The Poker Chip Drill wasreportedly used by Americangunfighters of the old Westto increase their drawingspeed. Bill Jordan used toemploy a variation of thisdrill using ping-pong ballsduring demonstrations.

Jordan was so fast, hecould hold his hand (ping-pong ball balanced on top ofit), directly above the hol-stered pistol and draw withsuch lightning speed that theball would drop into theemptied holster.

I have found that thePoker Chip drill, when prac-ticed professionally andsafely, still provides tremen-dous benefits to the modern-day pistoleer.

Presentation speed isincreased, physical dexterityis improved and moredeeply ingrained, and confi-dence rises as basic skills arestrengthened. The fact that it

is also a lot of fun to perform, especially when in competition with your-self or others, provides another strong reason for using it, for the more youenjoy working with your pistol, the more positive your attitude toward thispotentially life-saving tool.

126 The Officer’s Guide to Police Pistolcraft ...................................................................................................................

1. Place the poker chip on top of the drawinghand. The drawing hand is placed directlyabove the holstered pistol. The holster's retain-ing strap/ device is secured.

IMPORTANT! All pistols must be verified to be safe,clear, and empty prior to performing the Poker Chip Drill.

The Poker Chip Drill (Continued)

2. Initiate the presentation. Thechip (visible in circle) is allowed tofall naturally off the hand; it is nottossed up or thrown.

Note: Sequence shown in real time.Images enhanced to make chipeasier to see in photos.

3. The objective of the exercise is tocomplete the presentation as cleanly aspossible before the poker chip (visible incircle still falling) hits the ground. Mostpeople should be able to achieve thisduring the first practice session. Oncethis can be consistently achieved, try todraw and DRY FIRE on target beforethe chip hits the ground.

Chapter 4 §5 Presenting the Pistol 127 ...................................................................................................................