A Rare Look Inside a Casino Automatic Card Shuffler

By Scott Roeben, on August 14 2013

2 min read 42 comments

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.

It's complicated. Like prostitution in Las Vegas. — Automatic card shufflers are complicated. Like Las Vegas prostitution.

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.

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.

A random discovery at SHFL headquarters. See what we did there? — 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.

We’re endlessly fascinated by how casinos do what they do. And you?

Want to explore more stories? Read about US gambling here:

You can also learn about online gambling in Canada here:

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August 14 2013 — 1 min read — 0 comments

42 Comments

Henry Gondorf February 29, 2024

The shufflers red light when a card is dented, discolored, different weight and duplicated / missing cards. They READ all cards, that is a fact. A casino in Windsor Canada (OLG) named like a casino in Las Vegas, started a dealing procedure in Sept 2023. A procedure that has never been done before, in ANY card game. They deal Ultimate Texas Holdem with the 5 community cards first, then 2 to the DEALER (house), then the players! First 7 cards every hand are house cards. I complained, but the AGCO ( Ontario Gov) runs the casino? Anybody know a game where the dealer gets cards before the players? The casino says it does not change the outcome of the game? Then why did they change the way cards are dealt in all games known to mankind?
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Vin Gigante August 18, 2023

Can these machines be fixed in favor of the house
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Terry June 4, 2023

These are not card shufflers, they are card sorters. As a regular gambler I’ve picked up on the patterns and have decided not to play their rigged games any longer. These machines know exactly which player has what cards. I’ve overheard pit bosses and dealers let things slip many times. It took me awhile to get it thru my head but there’s no way the deal constantly wipes out every player at the table. So, until they go back to hand shuffling I for one refuse to be fleeced out of my money.if every gambler stuck to the Texas hold ‘em games in the poker rooms with other player then the casinos would have to get rid of these card sorters that are only spitting out an occasional win. Just like a slot machine.
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Brucewh April 7, 2023

I should love to know how the shuffling machine can be rigged at a Texas Hold 'em or PLO table. There are nine seats, occupied by nine human players. Every hand, one of those human players wins the pot (or chops the pot with another player under certain circumstances). In some places … Washington, for example … the house takes a rake on every hand, regardless of who wins. In other places … Oregon, where I live, for example … state law does not permit a rake (except in tribal casinos), so the card room simply charges every player a fee to play whatever game for the day. There is no rake, and the (technically) nonemployee volunteer dealers must be tipped in cash, not with chips. The exception to this is traditional tournaments, in which everyone pays an entry fee. No rake, no tipping. The number of players in the tournament is displayed on the traditional information display board/clock, and anyone with average high school math skills can figure out how much of the tournament entry fee is being paid out to players. In Oregon, by state law, 100% of the tournament entry fee money must be paid out to the players; the facility gets no share of the entry fee money; here, again, the daily fee to play is where the facility gets its money. It is, of course, possible that some players at the table work secretly for the facility, and part of the money they win goes back to it. That is, of course, illegal, and card rooms have on occasion been shut down or fined heavily after getting caught trying to pull that off. In addition, I know many of the regulars at some of the local card rooms. Nobody is sitting at these tables taking the other players off their coin for enough money, often enough, for the facility to make all that much money. For my part, I don't win a lot of money, but I come out ahead more often than not, and none of the card rooms or casinos are getting any kickback from me. All of which is to say, since the house isn't playing in any hands, and I know the players well enough to know that I'm not playing against the house secretly — especially in tournaments — how or why could or would the shuffling machines be doing anything to favor the house?
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Zaldy Santa Cruz Rogero March 23, 2023

I been playing PAI GOW for many years. I noticed something about the shuffle machine. I think this is a rigged. Imagine I got PAI GOW four times in a row. I think there is something fishy about this game. It is about the SHUFFLE machine that it might have an electronic remote control. The casino knows who get the bad seven cards and who get the good seven cards. The reason why I said this because if the SHUFFLE machine can read cards, it can be programmed somewhere whoever has the control the distribution of the seven cards. The green button has nothing to do with it. The casino already knows what would be number who get the first seven cards. Besides, I also noticed that when I just started playing and there are 3 or more players already in the table playing, on or two players will drain their chips and leave one player and myself in the table. Now, between the two of us, the other player will drain his/her chips and leave me by myself alone in the table. That is the reason why I said it that the SHUFFLE machine is electronically controllable by somebody out there inside the casino.
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MikeC December 4, 2022

I've just stopped playing a game that is offered by multiple casinos. I was playing at MGM online. What follows is why I stopped playing the game. MGM offers a blackjack game "Evolution". It is almost standard blackjack. If interested observe the game and read the rules. I enjoy playing the game with the "buster" option which pays the player varying odds depending on how many cards the dealer hits when he eventually busts. In any blackjack game (without counting) the probability of a player or dealer busting when they have 16 is approximately 8/13. I realize that this is approximate because the actual probability would depend on the cards that are left, but for this discussion use 8/13 as the probability of busting in a game using 6 or 8 decks. If the dealer has 5 or 6 cards adding up to 16 and he busts, the payout is very large. I think is 50 to one 6 cards and 250 to 1 on 7 cards. I do not have statistics, but I can tell you from having played many, many hands, the dealer hardly ever busts when he or she has a total of 16 with 5 or 6 cards. It's almost as if the card sorter strings low cards together and makes sure there are at least 7 of them when the 5, in a row, are low valued. It come down to this; can the automatic shuffler recognize the face value of the card and is the automatic shuffler programmable. If the answer to both of these is yes, then what is a profitable process for the casino would be deemed cheating by any player.
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Steven D. August 30, 2022

100% these shufflers are rigged in favor of the house and are not random. I play Texas Hold'em on a regular basis and one things us humans have a good eye for are pattern recognitions. How do they rig them you may ask? My thought is the shuffler always knows the position the dealer is in when they push the green button for the last position. The shuffler will then shuffle the next deck in favor of the dealer for the next hand. Often times I will sit at position closest to the dealers hand and and sit out a hand or two and then jump back in and this seem to be effective in changing the benefit for me as a player. Another thing I noticed, if I'm getting a lot of off suit 2/9's or 2/10's, and other players are not getting face cards, I slow it down and bet minimum until it changes. I recently saw a dealer kill the whole table five hands in a row when this happened. Dealer got 4 straights in a row and a full house. I'm no mathematician but this seems virtually impossible for a shuffler that is not rigged. Straights seem to be the one hand that dealers always seem to pull out, so if there is a possibility I will usually muck unless I have a great hand. I just wish the casino's will admit they are merely slot machines (I've irritated a lot of pit bosses with this accusation) and not the random generator they think/say it is.
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karl August 16, 2022

It's obvious that these machines can be programmed to favor the house! Who is kidding who?
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Average joe April 14, 2022

The machine should not make sure the cards come out randomly,it should just shuffle, if it do more then it false presentations with the word “shuffle” Casino do get advantage when it glitch or burnt out in favor for the dealer b/c the machine not only sorts it also organized the card to come out the way it was fresh or it’s first state They often make that happen with a press of a button when changing cards that’s why one dealer hands gets to beat six players hand five times in a row…that’s a glitch or a burnt out machine.
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Nicholas G.Mastromatteo September 29, 2020

I came upon this site, looking to investigate my worry of the automatic shuffle machines. I am more worried now, than before that the automatic shuffle machines are built to give the house an even greater edge. I would be willing to take on the facts the more hands dealt is an advantage to the house; and, for a card counter which I never learned, can't count against the shuffle machine. What I am not willing to do is to trust any casino; I believe the technology exists, to minimize the 6-7-8 array of combo's to one player which was one of my primary concerns as I am interested in learning Spanish 21 & tired of basic black jack but see my casino has moved to install automatic shuffle machines on every table. I do not believe, this installation was soley like the plexiglass dividers to better combat covid-19 spread.
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thomas smith October 1, 2018

Im glad I found this site. I feel poker (holdem if you will aswell as real poker) is in jeopardy . It appears that in many casino's the locals win and those going at times don't. I feel there are the chosen winners for tournaments . If a combination of skill and card combinations used to tell the winner when to play . Then skill and skill of reading combinations becomes the best player. I hope not, but the young often change things by going along with something they think is great only to find out later they chose their on screwing.
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Jmky September 28, 2018

Nice
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DR Hameed Teh July 23, 2018

from my observation in the casino ,any card games especially Baccarat games ,there is no way to predict the outcome anymore.Before one can still win one out of every 3 shoes but no more.the casino has programmed the decks in a manner to entice and lure you to bet and 99 percent of the time you would lose.They set unbelievable patterns which are impossible to attain by hand shuffle.The trends the create at time are too good to be true.That is why most people lose. I recommend that everyone should boycott baccarat games in any casino until they switch back to hand shuffling.Remember united we stand ,divide we fall. Twenty years ago by playing Baccarat I made millions in months out of few thousand dollars but with the introduction of automated shuffling machines and programmable type ,no more money can be made.
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Rex December 3, 2023

I totally agree that the auto card shufflers are rigged. Many times when playing Baccarat my system would win for a few days or even up to a week before there rigged card shufflers made me lose. For the regular players, i think the casino also has AI technology where it works out the regular players bets and then makes them lose by going against what they are betting.
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Dave Simpson July 13, 2018

As a long time player of the "let it ride"carnival game , I played for almost 3 years before the shuffle machines were used. The difference is dramatic. I have sat at a table where all 6 players were regularly dealt 10 to 12 hands and no one won at all. That virtually never happened with hand shuffling. Today, in most deals, only one player, if any, on the table wins. In the past it was not unusual for 2 to 3 players to win something if just a pair of 10's in most every hand. Even with the addition of the bonus 3 card spot on the table I see only about 1 in 200 or more hands dealt winning the bonus. I know that the shufflers have cameras in them and are remotely controlled. There is NO WAY you are going to convince me that these machines are not rigged. The table is a giant slot machine! I tried to convince my wife just this last weekend of it. By the way, in talking with many, many dealers, they hate these machines because they are tipped by customers who WIN and their customers usually DON'T anymore. Many of them believe that the machines are rigged too! That's why you don't see me at the tables anymore.
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jg September 16, 2019

I agree with you 100 percent. We used to win at 3 card poker all the time. Same with texas hold em. I played in Vegas for several years now since the shufflers...and, I hardly ever get a winning hand. I am convinced the machines are completely rigged. Your response is exactly how I feel.
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hary January 22, 2020

i agree 100 %. So called random shuffler machine is not so random after all ! Easy games to spot casino cheating are in ULTIMATE TEXAS HOLDEM AND PAIGOW GAMES. Watched the game a few weeks ago for almost 90 minutes, almost full tables ! Players seldom win 2 in a row , and did not see 3 in a row the entire 90 minutes. No big flop either. Did not see 3 of a kind in the community card etc. only 2 casinos that I know that introduce random aspect of the game. meaning even though the casino using shuffling machine prior to distribute the cards the dealer cut the deck !! SOUTH POINT CASINO AND M RESORT are the only two that are honest in my opinion !
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Mark July 6, 2018

Cindy. I am wondering the same thing. I have played enough to of theses card games and it just seems odd that you can go 1 time and people win and loose, and another people just loose. I believe these machines can be manipulated.
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Cindy williams May 15, 2018

My question is: can the Pai Gow machine for example, be programmed to read a bonus hand but then shuffle so it is not delt. Can it be programmed to give out fewer bonus hands on one night and then programmed to give out more bonus hands on another? I think it is worth exploring.
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SEG 1 February 7, 2017

The machine knows exactly where the dealer cards are. First the machine knows how many players are at the table. This occurs by the dealer delivering the player cards then his group of cards. The dealer now pushes the button to extract the stub of cards. The machine actually reads each card and sorts the cards for the dealer spot on the next deal. As players come and go it resets accordingly. The feature of card sorting is publisized by the company and a selling point for the casino to lease.
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Nathan Osier October 12, 2015

Why can't they shuffle the cards by hand I do not trust this machine and has a photo I in it somewhere to give the odds to the house
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Richard Harney November 28, 2015

Why would that machine give the house an edge? The machine doesn't know which hand is going to be the dealers hand. You might say that the machines will churn out more hands per hour which will increase the house earnings based on that, but don't misconstrue that to mean the house will win more often.
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Dung Tran July 27, 2016

it does give the House an edge... let's take at Black Jack with Lucky Lucky bonus that pays out 6-7-8 or 7-7-7 suited or non-suited... it looks obvious that the 6s, 7s, 8s card are dealt next to each other or in other words the shuffle machine intentionally splits the 6s,7s, and 8s cards... how could you possibly get triples 777s when 3 players in a row each gets 1 7 card? the chance is very minimal.. the shuffle machine has to make sure that the House has an edge on the game but not totally impossible for players to win the bonus. When you go to play regular BJ with no bous bets like that, you will see you get 6,7,8s quite often? How come?
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Richard Harney July 27, 2016

You will not get 6,7, and 8's more often. You only notice them more often when you want to fit your example.
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Dung Tran July 28, 2016

Mine is an observation not example... the machine does not know which card is dealt to the dealers... Let me explain you about the side bet... If your first 2 cards and the dealer's face up card is in the combinations of 6-7-8 or 7-7-7 you win the bonus... the machine just makes sure that it groups 6,7,8 cards together to secure the edge for the House... You can observe it yourself and you will see that Player1 gets 6, Player 2 gets an 8, players 3 get a 7 or any of that sequence... It is obvious that the machine groups those 6,7,8 cards together so when it is dealt, the 6,7,8 cards are splits to the players... One more thing is that I had a chance to get close enough to the machine and I read the CODES printed on the machine that says: CODE 1 is for Baccarat, CODE 2 is for Black Jack... WHY so? Like any other games, the House MUST SECURE THEIR EDGE....
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Richard Harney July 28, 2016

The house already has their edge secured. The different codes on the shufflers let the machine know how many decks are in the shuffle and other criteria of the game being dealt. The machine needs to know if you're playing Spanish 21 so it knows that there shouldn't be any 10's in the machine. If the shuffler is a baccarat shuffler and can read the cards then it will only deal the cards that the dealer is allowed to pull. Your observation is only true when you want it to be true. If it were really true then no one would ever get a 6,7,8 combination. The machine also doesn't know who is betting the side bet and who isn't. It doesn't know how many players are in the hand. What if it were 1 on 1? Grouping the 6,7 and 8's together would give the player the bonus extremely often. Have I mentioned that I actually work as a dealer at the casino and know these machines very well. There is no secret to them.
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Dung Tran July 28, 2016

The machine does not need to know how many decks in the shoe to shuffle. In fact, if 1-1, the odds to have is more often... that is why i often play 1-1... once the machine does not need to know who bets on bonus or not, it just secure the edge for the House by grouping 6,7,8s... and how often do you the table with 1-1? How come when you go to Reno where casinos still shuffle by hands, the players often win on BJ, they lost in the end because simply they do not stop after winning or because of their greedy.
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Alex Kumlin August 8, 2016

Your an idiot because Richard is right. You come up with some random half ass concoction of a story to try to prove your briefs but if that is true then all you have to do is buy one of their machines new for 8-10 grand prove it will take the odds on purpose and sue all casinos that have side bets for millions. Why would a casino when it already has the upper hand advantage make their machine cheat when if it was proven it would mean they'd lose millions in a lawsuit and pretty much all their client base since theres other casinos to go to that wouldnt cheat them for a few extra dollars. Its like a 1 to 200 payout so technically you have to win at every 200 hands with the other way against you even if you were hand shuffling but if you add in all the other things still have slightly worse odds than playing Blackjack correctly.
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Dung Tran August 8, 2016

I'm talking to 1 idiot right now! Casinos are controlled by Vegas and nobody can do anything about them! The idiot is the one that does not recognize that! They turn Gambling into Gaming! Likewise, all sport betting are also set up! What in the world that caused the delay 40 minutes in the Superbowl between 49ers and Ravens? Vegas did that,Idiot! Billions of USD! Remember you cannot sue Vegas or casinos because you cannot win! The rich and powerful take what they want! Again, you are the moron!
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Alex Kumlin August 8, 2016

Yet another excuse, they arent controlled by vegas they don't all go a 100 CEO personal meet to decide we want to steal money by cheating. Besides its not explaining the point that there are more casinos outside vegas in the us than inside
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Dung Tran August 8, 2016

Alex, you need to understand the concept of Gambling and Gaming! The outcome of Gambling is not controlled! Meanwhile, Vegas turned Gambling into Gaming that has its outcome controlled! Now, when you bet on any games in casinos, Vegas needs to be able to control the outcome! The casino winners are the lucky ones that hit right spot at the right time! Like you purchase a scratcher ticket or play at slot machines, the outcome has already been set! when the outcome is not preset, Vegas needs to be able to predict the outcome! There is no case in the world that the very first moment they bring out the slot machine that there is a person hits the Jackpot. No way! the slot machine needs to collect more $ than it pays out! Likewise, Vegas need to collect more from side bet before they pay out! so they set up the shuffle machine does exactly what they want. It may not be cheating but when the outcome of the game is preset or predictable, it is no longer Gambling but Gaming! It is funny you do not realize that outside the USA, Vegas still in control! Sport betting Houses from all over the world re-insured thru Vegas! remember, anything that deals with $ is in control by the rich and powerful! Not only casinos, but sports betting too!
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Alex Kumlin August 8, 2016

Your talking about completely different things than a card shuffling machine. They don't need it control the outcome it's just like Counting Cars it's not based on the amount you win in one hand it's amount of hands you play because you win a theoretical percentage of the total bet you place and the more hands the more money you would receive. When the percentage is lower than the outcome you again over many poles of a slot machine they would come out ahead every time you don't need to have control besides a slot machine it's not like you have a 49% chance of winning you have like a 20-40 based on social deals and bonuses they can be running to attract more people. They make their money quickly since every hand if you placed $100 down can a slot machine you would technically be losing 10 on theoretical averages.
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Alex Kumlin August 8, 2016

Use logic it works wonders not conspiracies
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Scott Roeben" height="43" width="43">

Scott Roeben August 10, 2016

Name-calling won't be tolerated in these comments. You're welcome to have opinions, but this community is about having fun and treating others with respect. First and final warning.
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Dung Tran August 10, 2016

I'm totally ok with people calling me "idiot", at least in my own culture! If it is not accepted, your "warning" should be given to Alex who called me "idiot" first. I'm leaving this topic here; I want more freedom of speech! Nice words sometimes are just lies! Donald Trump used words like "ugly".... I like him! He is truly speaking for me! Sometimes we have to express ourselves! Again, I'm totally fine with Alex's calling me! See you Alex!
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Scott Roeben" height="43" width="43">

Scott Roeben August 11, 2016

I'm not singling you out. I've asked both of you to be civil and not resort to name-calling. Thank you for contributing, but these threads aren't about freedom of speech. They're about telling me how great my blog is. Or at least that's what it should be. ")
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Scott Roeben" height="43" width="43">

Scott Roeben August 10, 2016

As mentioned to Dung, name-calling won't be allowed in the comment threads of this site. Appreciate your comments, but would appreciate the discussion remaining civil.
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dustind1241 July 27, 2015

Where can you buy a card shuffler and dealer machine like that?
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Frankc October 7, 2018

Guys I have read thru all these notes and for the most part you are both correct in your thinking! Let me explain, I have been professionally gambling for over 42 years! Although I play poker I also play with the house and grind money out! We will leave that for another topic! But I want to address the shuffle master and what is called the sort mode. A great example of this casino edge/ control,can be found in Pai Gow, a game were the dealer is always positioned at 8 or 15 spot as the cards get dealt . There is only one house in the USA who still uses a dice shaker with the three dice in this shaker to determine who gets the first cards from the shuffle master and that is Harrahs AC. This now tends to allow a randomness to the game. In other houses they use what is call “verify” which is a 7 inch display which calls out the first cards position before the cards are they are given out to the player Like I said if you or the shuffle master knows the dealers position of either 8 or 15, then the dealer or house can get the better of the hands dealt leaving the house rake at a constant flow and win! Think about that and I’m here to further discuss!
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thomas smith October 7, 2018

How do you feel about time given to call a hand. I guess it is different at various casinos. however I think at least a minute and a half should be the least. If you look at the online games the time is insufficient and doesn't allow a player to think thru the hands. Less time gives less control to the player, I feel.
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Howard. July 26, 2021

It seems to me that the shuffle machine knows the composition of the hands being placed and the auto placement feature knows where each hand is going. The placement feature is activated by a button on the shuffle machine, it seems to me that co-ordination of the two would be possible for the Casino and if just a couple of hands an hour were manipulated, it would increase house advantage and it would be difficult for the Gaming Commission to monitor . Just saying. Better to find a game using dice for olacement.
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Dennis Doerr September 12, 2021

I've played for card 4 crazy poker and I have the dealer winning at a high rate. If you have six players at a table how can the dealer continuously beat five of them over the course of several hours? I do not trust the card shuffler if it was legitimate the table wins would even out some .
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A Rare Look Inside a Casino Automatic Card Shuffler

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