Continuous shuffling machines are a mainstay in the casino game of Blackjack. The game’s basic components contributing to your outcome is luck of the draw. Shuffling of cards automatically can affect both the odds of the players to win and the house advantage.

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Whilst this factor used to vary quite significantly depending on the shuffler of a game, with the advancements in technology new methods to shuffle cards have emerged, enabling a fairer game wherever played. Most casinos will not manually shuffle cards. Rather they will use machines which are called ‘continuous shuffling machines.’

Understanding the Shuffling Machine

The reason the CSM causes the house edge to go down ever so slightly is because of a phenomenon known as the “cut card effect,” which slightly increases the probability of getting tens and blackjack when a CSM is used. Now before you rush out and play blackjack on a table that uses a CSM, pay attention to the rest of the story. The reality is that the average blackjack player does have cause to worry about CSM’s but not for the reason they believe. CSM’s do not increase the house edge. In fact, if you play perfect basic strategy CSM’s actually lower the house advantage by a tiny bit.

Shuffling machines are used across the casino industry to create more efficient randomisation of cards for any game in comparison to shuffling manually. Since their invention, different variations of card shuffling machines have emerged, such as automatic shufflers and the continuous shuffling machine (CSM).

The continuous shuffling machine facilitates a type of automated shuffling used by most, if not all, casinos in an attempt to stop card counting in games. Continuous shuffling machines work by randomising the deck of cards, thereby allowing the game to be played at a quicker rate, (not having to wait for the dealer to shuffle and deal), whilst providing a fairer game through a more thorough, entirely objective shuffling system.

How Continuous Shuffling Machines Work

Typically, five decks of cards are placed into a CSM, with the machine throwing out and putting back in cards from each deck at random. The shuffling, as the name suggests, is going on continuously, with cards already used in the game having the chance to show up in subsequent hands. This makes attempts of card counting less likely to be successful than games with a traditionally shuffled deck of cards.

The original continuous shuffling machine uses an elevator-type system in which a shuffler will insert cards into the device’s shelves at random as the machine moves up and down. The Shuffle Master then randomly picks a deck for the game and places it into the dealing shoe. There are numerous different types of CSM, all providing a casino game with an effective, thoroughly random shuffle.

How Continuous Shuffling Machines Affect Player Strategies

Whilst playing a game of Blackjack that involves a CSM, there are a few things to consider in order to develop an effective gaming strategy, and to further yield the best possible outcome:

• Cards that have been used are placed back in the deck at random throughout the game. Therefore, counting cards throughout a game with a CSM will be less likely to work, if not impossible altogether
• Apart from card counting, games involving CSM will not change other basic Blackjack strategies, as these are almost always concerning elements of the game outside the shuffling of a deck
• Shuffle tracking could possibly be done if the CSM is integrating cards already used in the game back into the dealing shoe. Through this, players may be able to predict what cards are likely to be grouped together
• In a game of Blackjack with a CSM, the distribution of cards used is weighted in favour of the larger cards
• The fewer the decks of cards a CSM is set up for, the better the advantage for the player

Consideration of the above factors can help a player significantly whilst working out how to get the best possible outcome during a Blackjack game that uses a continuous shuffling machine.

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Can Continuous Shuffling Machines be Beaten in Casinos?

It has been claimed that Blackjack is the only game players can learn to beat regularly. Those that learn basic strategy techniques are much more likely to win a game, and with experience under their belt, move on to card counting to further increase their chances of winning.

The implementation of continuous shuffling machines within most casinos has drastically restricted the lengths to which card counters can go to. There are still various things that can be done to put an advanced player’s skill set to good use!

There are many different types and models of continuous shuffle machines, one of which is made by leading manufacturer Shuffle Master and is the One 2 Six Machine.

The One 2 Six types of the shuffler, similar to most of the basic layouts of continuous shuffling machines, have cards inserted into it at random and throughout the duration of the game, and then presents a predetermined, thoroughly shuffled, number of cards into the dealing shoe for use in the game.

Although players cannot know the exact cards distributed, what can be determined is that the cards in the game will not be dealt for a few hands. Therefore, this provides players with a move accurate guess as to what will be in this new pack of cards by filtering through what is least likely to be in it.

However, each type of continuous shuffling machine will slightly vary in its techniques, being able to hold different amounts of decks within the shuffling process. The higher the amount of decks involved in the shuffling machine, the harder it is to estimate what is in the deck and therefore the lower the advantage for the player.

Shuffling When Playing at Online Casinos

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When playing Blackjack at a live online casino, determining what shuffling technique is being used is a bit more difficult as simulations and algorithms are used for the most part.

Therefore, to help guess what type of shuffling technique is used and adapt player strategy accordingly, here’s what to bear in mind with online casinos:

• They often use a random simulation program in its shuffling technique to avoid bias
• Shuffling is typically done after every hand
• If you see the same card twice in a game, the casino is not using traditional methods, and rather is much more likely to be using CSM-styled shuffling

While continuous shuffling machines have made it harder for the more experienced Blackjack player to win, they level the playing field. Adapting your strategy towards beating the shuffler through a good knowledge of how your shuffling is done, and what this means for the hands dealt in a game.

In 2000 Shuffle Master introduced the first Continuous Shuffling Machine (CSM) for the game of Blackjack. Their machine was called “The King” and its main purpose was to help casinos foil card counters. In fact, the ads for Shuffle Masters Continuous Shuffling Machine proclaimed, “The King continuous shuffler is the card counters worst nightmare.”

For years casinos have been trying to thwart card counters who gain an advantage at blackjack by using expert play. While card counting isn't illegal, casinos don’t take kindly to it. In Las Vegas, casinos are allowed to bar players they suspect of counting. In Atlantic City, casinos can't ban players but they can limit the size of their bets and shuffle up on any player suspected of counting.

Card counters all over the country do their best to disguise their skills to avoid getting caught. It has become somewhat of a cat and mouse game and casinos would like nothing better than to eliminate card counting permanently.

Shuffle Master heavily lobbied casinos for the benefits of using CSMs for their Blackjack games. They claimed the advantage of a continuous shuffler is three-fold:

1. It eliminates card counting.
2. It speeds up the game by eliminating shuffling time.
3. It offers substantial cost savings because it uses four decks instead of six or eight in the shoe.

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Six years later many casinos around the world have adopted the Continuous Shuffling Machines for use in their blackjack pits, much to the displeasure of players and dealers alike. We spoke with several dealers and the consensus among them is a strong dislike for the automatic shuffler. Shuffling gives them a welcome physical and mental break from the game. While shuffling, they can talk and interact with the players and friendly conversation can also help their tips.

How A CSM Works

After a hand is over the cards just used are placed back into the shuffler to be mixed with the other cards in the shoe. Shuffle Master’s King uses an elevator system to randomize the cards. As the elevator is moved up and down, cards are randomly inserted into one of the 19 shelves in the elevator. The shuffler randomly selects a shelf of cards to deliver into the shoe. Because of the non-linear process, every discard re-inserted following a hand has a chance of appearing in the next round.

Although Shuffle Master says The King differs from their competitor's continuous shufflers because the others use a linear design, most CSMs do the same thing. They put the discards back into play and do away with the dealers having to physically shuffle the cards at the end of a shoe.

The House Edge

The continuous shufflers have no benefits for the player and have been dubbed the 'uncomfortable shoes.' It eliminates card counting for the skilled player and has a major disadvantage for the basic strategy player: it speeds up the game!

When the CSM was first introduced, many players felt it would likely increase the house edge. As it turns out this is not entirely true. Michael Shackleford--The Wizard of Odds--did a mathematical analysis of Continuous Shuffling Machines and found that there was a very slight reduction in the house edge.

In a four deck game the edge is 0.034 percent and in an eight-deck game it is 0.014 percent. Before you get excited about the slight reduction remember that when casinos use a CSM the speed of the games is increased by about 20 percent. The basic strategy player stands to lose more in the long run because they are exposing more money to the house edge.

It’s a treat to visit a casino that offers double and single deck games and it would be unfortunate to see them eliminated altogether. Even a multi-deck shoe game is preferable to the Continuous Shuffling Machines. The best way to make yourself heard is by refusing to play Blackjack at casinos that use a CSM for their Blackjack games.