How To Casino Shuffle

Most casinos will not manually shuffle cards. Rather they will use machines which are called ‘continuous shuffling machines.' Understanding the Shuffling Machine. Shuffling machines are used across the casino industry to create more efficient randomisation of cards for any game in comparison to shu. The ShuffleStar ® Continuous Shuffler will revolutionize the way cards are delivered to players. With capacity for four to eight decks, ShuffleStar provides casino operators with ultimate deck integrity and uninterrupted play, without downtime for loading a shoe or shuffling cards. The sleek, flush mount, low profile of this revolutionary flat dealing shoe improves lines of sight and effortlessly delivers up to. Our local casino used to deal 6-deck blackjack, but it now uses the continuous shuffle machines instead – but they only have 4 decks of cards inside. That reduction in the number of decks used, all other things aside, is beneficial for the player. The lower the number of decks used, the lower the house edge for the casino.

For those who don't understand what you're asking, there are new machines that take the blackjack discards and place them randomly back in the deck after each hand. If you are using basic strategy, then the shufflers actually lower the house edge slightly, due to the omission of the cut card effect. It is my understanding that they do provide an honest random shuffle. However, the shuffling machine allows the dealer to waste less time shuffling and spend more time dealing. This means you will spend more time playing, and thus more hands for the house edge to grind you down.
For more information on the mathematical effect of continuous shufflers, please see my blackjack appendix 10.

Most online casinos shuffle after every hand. Others shuffle at random times but do not indicate exactly when to the player. I have noticed Microgaming casinos flash the word 'shuffling' about one hand in four.
However, if you track the cards between these announcements you will sometimes see the same card twice, which is impossible in a single-deck game, assuming you believe them about when they shuffle. As far as I know, they actually shuffle after every hand, but for reasons I do not understand, only indicate a shuffle occasionally. If I remember correctly, Cryptologic casinos do indeed indicate when they are shuffling their eight-deck shoe.

How To Shuffle Like A Casino Dealer

I know that one software company randomly picks two cards in the deck and reverses them, and repeats this numerous times. Since learning of this technique, that is also how I shuffle in my random simulation programs. As long as any method of shuffling is done enough times the deck should be properly randomized.
Manual shuffling is more vulnerable to a biased shuffle and consequently some players try to exploit this by shuffle tracking and card clumping. There are numerous ways an online casino might cheat, but a bad shuffle I don't think is one of them.

I first addressed this topic in my December 1, 2000, newsletter. For those who missed it I just added blackjack appendix 10 to my site, which explains the effect on the house edge under both a cut card and continuous shuffler game. To answer your question, no, the basic strategy does not change. Basic strategy is always developed based on a freshly shuffled shoe, which is always the case when playing against a continuous shuffler.

You're right, the discards are not mixed among all the cards but can not be placed close to the top of the shoe. I don't know the exact size of this buffer but it is about 10-20 cards I think. As a card counter it would probably be safe to use a true count from just the last hand played and off the top of a shoe. When converting to the true count you will rarely get anything far from +/-1. If you're any kind of counter at all I would forget about playing against a CSM, it isn't worth the bother.

How To Shuffle Casino Style

The exact numbers would be difficult to calculate and I won't get into that. However your speculation is right that the odds favor the dealer if he leaves a lot of high cards in the discard rack yet will put back into play a lot of small cards. This would be the same kind of thing as preferential shuffling, in which the dealer of a hand held game shuffles when the count is good but deals another round on a bad count. Preferential shuffling is something that definitely does happen here in Las Vegas so what you describe would not surprise me either.

I don't know when they shuffle but I would speculate after every hand. From my blackjack appendix 10 you will learn that the player's odds improve slightly if the dealer plays exactly n hands between shuffles (including one) rather than playing to cut card, finishing the hand, and then shuffling.

I would say about 1/3 to 1/2 of players would at least initially decline to cut. However if everyone initially declines somebody has to rise to the occasion and do it. Sometimes when players who refuse to cut will say something like 'I don't want the blame for a bad shoe' or 'I'm unlucky.' I've never seen it put into words but there does seem to be a superstition that the cut is critical to the flow of the shoe, and thus the act should only be done by a competent cutter. Of course this is nonsense. For recreational play it doesn't make any difference whom cuts or where they cut.

For the beneit of other readers, my blackjack appendix 10 explains, the house edge in a five-deck game is 0.028% less if a continuous shuffler is used, as opposed to a hand shuffle. The difference between five decks and two decks, all other rules being equal, is 0.18%. So the two-deck game without a shuffler would be much better. Let's compare a 5-deck continuous shuffler game to a 4-deck hand shuffled game. As my blackjack calculator show difference in house edge between four decks and five decks is 0.0329%. So the benefit of a continuous shuffler is worth less than removing a single deck.

I don't believe it. Dealers are not the most skeptical group, often believing all the usual gambling myths. Usually the term 'house shuffle' refers to the way the dealers are supposed to shuffle. For example, shuffle twice, riffle, and shuffle again. In this context, she seems to be saying she could alter the shuffle to the player's disadvantage, which I doubt.

Assuming this King was the bottom card and was left in the shuffler, it would have been in play in this first shoe (the cut was in rear portion of the deck). How much of an additional advantage did the house gain on me with this mistake?

How To Shuffle Casino Chips

Thank you for the kind words. I'm going to assume the dealer hits a soft 17, and double after a split is allowed. According to table D17 in Blackjack Attack by Don Schlesinger, removing one ten per deck increases the house edge by 0.5512%. Dividing that by six, for the six-deck game, the effect is an increase in house edge of 0.09%.

In a non-cut-card game, the house advantage is always the same for the non-counter. Clumps of high or low cards are just as likely to appear at the beginning of the shoe, as the middle, as the end. Just because the count is zero at the top of the shoe doesn't mean you'll have an exact balance of high and low cards. You seem to be suggesting that the cards are more clumpy at the end of the deck. However, if that were true, then the odds would change if the dealer dealt the cards in reverse order. Surely that is a ridiculous notion.

Let's say the basic strategy player has 16 against a 10 late in the shoe, and hits. If the count were high, standing would be the right play, resulting in what would look like an error to a counter who was watching. However, if the count were negative then hitting would be all the better. In the end, it averages out, for the basic strategy player.

For reasons I explain in my blackjack appendix 10, the basic strategy player should prefer a game with a continuous shuffler, if his goal is to minimize the house edge. Aside from that, the house edge is not affected by penetration. I should add that with a shallower penetration there will be more time spent shuffling, and thus a lower expected loss on an hourly basis.

One of the biggest myths in blackjack is about the house edge for the casino for games that use a Continuous Shuffle Machine (CSM). Recreational blackjack players are surprised to learn that the house edge doesn't go through the roof compared to when cards are dealt from a shoe.

House Edge Of CSM Versus Shoe Blackjack Games

It's true that it's impossible to count cards when playing a blackjack game that uses a CSM. It's not true that the house edge for those games is affected. A 3:2 blackjack game using six decks and typical rules has a house edge of about 0.43% when using a shoe. The same game when cards are dealt from a CSM has a house edge of about 0.41%.

The house edge calculator assumes that blackjack players are using correct basic strategy for both games. In the short term, anything can happen. However, the house edge for a casino game is derived from playing millions of games.

Blackjack Players Despise Continuous Shuffle Machines

The math says there isn't much difference between the two games. So why do blackjack players hate the CSM so much? Personal preference and psychology both play a large role in why blackjack players don't want to play using the continuous shuffle machine.

To be perfectly honest, I hate playing at a table that uses a CSM. First of all, this isn't the blackjack game that I grew up with. Second, it feels like I won't be able to count – even though I don't try to count. I usually drink when playing blackjack and my count is as good as my memory that gets a bit fuzzier as the night goes on.

I'm not the only person who doesn't like playing blackjack games that use a CSM. Professional blackjack players won't touch the game. Plenty of recreational blackjack players that also feel the CSM gets in the way of the game.

For reasons I explain in my blackjack appendix 10, the basic strategy player should prefer a game with a continuous shuffler, if his goal is to minimize the house edge. Aside from that, the house edge is not affected by penetration. I should add that with a shallower penetration there will be more time spent shuffling, and thus a lower expected loss on an hourly basis.

One of the biggest myths in blackjack is about the house edge for the casino for games that use a Continuous Shuffle Machine (CSM). Recreational blackjack players are surprised to learn that the house edge doesn't go through the roof compared to when cards are dealt from a shoe.

House Edge Of CSM Versus Shoe Blackjack Games

It's true that it's impossible to count cards when playing a blackjack game that uses a CSM. It's not true that the house edge for those games is affected. A 3:2 blackjack game using six decks and typical rules has a house edge of about 0.43% when using a shoe. The same game when cards are dealt from a CSM has a house edge of about 0.41%.

The house edge calculator assumes that blackjack players are using correct basic strategy for both games. In the short term, anything can happen. However, the house edge for a casino game is derived from playing millions of games.

Blackjack Players Despise Continuous Shuffle Machines

The math says there isn't much difference between the two games. So why do blackjack players hate the CSM so much? Personal preference and psychology both play a large role in why blackjack players don't want to play using the continuous shuffle machine.

To be perfectly honest, I hate playing at a table that uses a CSM. First of all, this isn't the blackjack game that I grew up with. Second, it feels like I won't be able to count – even though I don't try to count. I usually drink when playing blackjack and my count is as good as my memory that gets a bit fuzzier as the night goes on.

I'm not the only person who doesn't like playing blackjack games that use a CSM. Professional blackjack players won't touch the game. Plenty of recreational blackjack players that also feel the CSM gets in the way of the game.

Casinos like the CSM because they make the game move quicker. The more times a game with a house edge is dealt, in theory, the more profitable it will be. Apple poker. One of the problems blackjack players have with the CSM is the speed.

There's never a break in play since the cards are continuously shuffled. Gamblers can take a break but there's always a fear of missing out on a series of good hands. The break with shoe games isn't very long anymore since most casinos don't have the dealers shuffle by hand anymore. That said, the two minutes is still a nice break.

How Casino Shuffle Machines Work

Playing Blackjack With Continuous Shuffle Machines

How To Casino Shuffle

Continuous Shuffle Machines are typically used for low limits blackjack games. There are some casinos that use a CSM only for blackjack games with a minimum bet below $25. Most recreational gamblers usually play these games. There are some ways to make the best from a blackjack game that uses a CSM.

The CSM doesn't affect the house edge in blackjack as much as the rules of the game. Look for the best blackjack rules within the games that are offered. Always look to play a game that pays 3:2 when dealt a natural blackjack. Other rules to look for include dealer staying on 17, double and splitting rules, and surrender.

How To Casino Shuffle Cards

Playing blackjack games that use a CSM isn't always optimal so make the best out of the situation.