I'm gonna go off the beaten path here so far, and could get flamed to hell for it, but here's my bit on it.
I will agree, know your tracks, especially your "secret weapons." This is true for a variety of reasons, not just for this particular topic. For a lot of people, routine practice will get you there no problem.
I have a Top-40 residency at a small nightclub around the area, and frequently end up pulling the newest stuff from my record pool a few days in advance of the gig. This means I don't usually have a lot of time to commit tracks to heart. What I typically do is prep each track something like this:
Cue point 1 at the best mix-in point.
Cue point 2 at the first drop
Cue point 3 at the breakdown after first drop
Cue point 4 at the second drop
I then put in Cue point 8 at the natural mix-out point of the track. With tracks prepped this way, it's a matter of mixing Cue 1 of the new track on Cue 8 of the old track, giving you a seamless mix.
Hoping I won't incite a riot here with this laptop-centered blasphemy
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