Are Shuffle Machines "Fair"?

Just got a great question from my friend Robert about shuffle machines. Yup, we've all had that paranoid part of our brains rattling around about those things, and the fact that some of them can actually tell you what cards have come out makes it even worse. The good news is that the shufflers that have a camera inside and know the cards played are all used on games like Pai Gow, so jackpots can be verified and the "house way" can be shown.

However, that said, every blackjack player has had a session on a shuffler where the cards just don't ever seem to be anything but 12's and 16's. That's annoying, expensive, and frustrating. And then there's that rattling paranoia again. Well, I doubt you'll ever encounter a "cheating" shuffle machine in the US because the casinos don't need to cheat to win money and they won't risk the excessive money they make without cheating, just to win a little more. And, to tell the truth, a continuous shuffler with five decks in it is actually better (odds wise) for the player than a 5-deck shoe game! I swear.

Since blackjack can be beaten by playing well and following trends and by card counting, I tend to ignore shufflers and play only pitch games and shoes where the odds actually change back and forth like the rolling waves of the ocean. And, if you are playing on a shuffle machine that spits out all the cards and the dealer puts'em in a shoe to deal - you get the same deal (sorry for the pun). However, if you play on a continuous shuffle machine where the cards are constantly put back in the machine and the cards are always coming out of a "fresh" deck, that's another story.

Again, since you can't count cards on a continuous shuffler, I ignore them, but did you know that when playing on a continuous shuffler table you will see 20% more of those hands you hate - those stiff 15's and 16's? Do you know why?

Well, it's a trick question. It's simply because one of the main functions of those stupid shufflers is to get more hands out. A competent dealer will probably get 20% more hands out per hour on the game, so you will see those crappy hands a lot more. Sure, you'll see more good hands too, but the human mind is a funny thing. We have selective memory, and we remember the crap more often than we remember the good.

So, playing the continuous shuffler games means you'll lose more money per hour because you'll play more hands. That's the truth. The better you play basic strategy, the less it will cost you. The better you understand card counting, the more you'll be like me and skip the continuous shufflers, even if you have to play a 6-deck shoe. Mmmm, 6-deck shoe dealt down to one deck, yum-yum!