How Do Casinos Shuffle Cards
I have been playing Blackjack for a few years now. I live fairly close to Blackhawk, CO where there is a small casino town. I have also visited Las Vegas 3-4 times over this period. Here's what I have noticed consistently:
/// Playing two-deck or one-deck blackjack at home and two-deck or one-deck hand-shuffled blackjack at a casino (where available) is VERY different than playing at a table with 4-8 decks using shuffle machines. ///
I'd say that about 65% play blackjack without a special strategy (other than 'bet more when I am winning and less when I am losing') and about 45% use probability.
*I have noticed that the probability strategy (which I use) does not work well with machine-shuffled tables or tables with more than 2 decks.
*There is a chance that the machines that shuffle the cards do not shuffle the decks randomly. Furthermore, unlike the hand-shuffled one and two deck tables, you do not get to see all the cards on the table (when they change decks). What would happen if the tens are clumped together in certain sequence? Probability goes out the window. Only people that will have a chance at an even game with the dealer would be someone with a big bank roll and consistent betting (i.e. betting $10 for all hands). And what if a few tens are missing from the decks? It gives the dealer a much higher chance of not busting.
If you are a BJ player using probability and betting strategy (betting high when you have a higher probability of getting better cards), avoid machine-shuffled tables at all costs. In my opinion, many of these casinos are going far and above to take your money and rip you off using whatever strategy they can even with the dealer advantage they have (i.e. whether dealer wins or loses, anyone that busts on the table loses first and the dealer gets the money).
I have found a few casinos that work well for me, and I feel safe playing blackjack there because they have hand-shuffled blackjack tables. These two casinos here in CO are run by the same company called, Affinity Gaming. Whatever the case, I recommend a casino that have one, two, or three hand-shuffled tables (three would even better since they only use half of the cards. So two-deck would feel like playing with one and three would be like 1.5 decks).
Low cards like 4, 5, and 6 are good for the dealer. They can allow the dealer to “draw out” and are seldom a part of a winning hand. Card counting is a way for a player to know an approximate ratio between the high cards and low cards at any given time during play. In a live casino the cards. Many casinos employ automatic shuffling machines to shuffle the cards before dealing. The machines can be a safeguard to avoid any situations in which employees may collaborate with gamblers by performing inadequate shuffles.
If you’ve played a card game in a Las Vegas casino, you’ve probably had your cards shuffled by an automatic card shuffler. These mysterious black boxes do their job, quietly and effectively, making sure the cards come out randomly, to protect both the casino and the player. Mostly the casino.
We were given a rare glimpse into the inner workings of an automatic card shuffler at a Strip hotel during some routine maintenance. Our mind still hasn’t stopped being blown.
Automatic card shufflers are complicated. Like Las Vegas prostitution.
Shuffle like a casino dealer. Many casinos now use automatic shuffling machines. This not only speeds up the games but also means that shuffles can be more random, as the machines can shuffle for. No they are not and indeed, there would be no real way to rig them. Current shuffle machines exist in two general types: Continuous shuffle machines, of the sort that you typically see on Blackjack tables where the cards are returned to a hopper t.
The shuffling machine’s a lot more complicated than we’d imagined. Wheels and gears and belts and motors move the cards around with robot-like efficiency, dispensing them based upon the game being played.
How Do Casino Card Shuffling Machines Work
The machine we saw the innards of was being used at a three card poker table, so the cards were coming out in batches of three.
We grabbed some sweet video of the automatic card shuffler in action. Which we’re pretty sure we weren’t supposed to do. We’re not a big fan of rules. It won’t take long for you to learn this about us. Let’s watch.
Amazing stuff, don’t you think? It’s like capturing footage of a Sasquatch, or something even more rare, like video of Criss Angel solving a math problem.
Most automatic shuffling machines you see in casinos were made by Shufflemaster, a company now called SHFL Entertainment for reasons lost on us. In the SHFL offices, there’s a wooden prototype of their first automatic shuffler, from 1983, made mostly of wood.
Imagine a global company being based on wood. You know, like Playboy Enterprises.
The history of card shufflers is riveting, so naturally, you won’t find it here. Go here if you care to learn more.
How Do Casino Dealers Shuffle Cards
We’re endlessly fascinated by how casinos do what they do. And you?