End-stage cardiac failure where appropriate is best treated with cardiac transplantation. With improvements in medical therapy, the emergence of primary percutaneous coronary intervention, and an increasingly ageing population, patients with right, left or biventricular failure, who are not suitable for cardiac transplantation or long-term ventricular assist device therapy, present for cardiac surgery. The modern cardiac surgeon needs to have a safe strategy for dealing with these complex cases. We report two cases that illustrate simple and safe cannulation techniques for temporary left and right ventricular failure.