To be considered truly fair, casino card games must deliver completely random and unpredictable hands. So how can that be achieved? Quite simply, by teaching dealers to shuffle their cards correctly – or via the use of an automatic card shuffling machine.
Both options are used in land-based British casinos as well as in live dealer games at online casinos. Today, these games can be found on nearly every reputable gambling platform. Just like with slots, you can often take advantage of various promotions, with many of them handpicked and reviewed by experts at https://legalcasino.uk/bonuses/. The big difference with live dealer games, though, is the human touch. Instead of just spinning reels or clicking chips, you’re actually interacting with a real person who’s running the game in real time. And yes, regulators like the Gambling Commission keep an eye on things to make sure the equipment – including those shuffling machines – is all above board.
Still, many players have their own preferences. Some trust the dealer’s manual shuffle more, while others are perfectly happy with the speed and efficiency of a machine. Which method do you think is winning out these days?
How Do Card Shuffling Machines Work?
Often deployed in land-based casinos and the live dealer games offered at online gaming sites, a card shuffling machine is able to create a completely random sequence of cards.
The deck is fed into the machine, which is then split into two halves mechanically. A system of rollers and wheels then reintegrates the pack, pushing the cards together to form a single deck at random intervals.
This process can be undertaken numerous times to ensure that the deck is ordered in a wholly different manner to how it went into the machine – or that any similarities occur completely by chance.
There are two general types of shuffling machine: automatic (ASM), which shuffle an entire deck of cards in one process, and continuous (CSM), in which one or more decks are continuously shuffled, with cards used in the previous hand returned to the CSM before the next set are dealt.
What are the Differences Between Manual and Automatic Card Shuffling?
A professional dealer is taught to shuffle fairly and efficiently before taking up their job on the casino floor.
They can use one of many different shuffling techniques, such as the ‘wash’, the ‘riffle’, ‘overhand’ – the technique most of us use when playing cards at home – or the ‘strip shuffle’ method.
Whichever option is favoured, the objective is that the deck will be reassembled completely at random, ensuring that the cards dealt are sequenced in an unpredictable fashion.
With automatic, machine-based shuffling, the ASM or CSM will typically use a variation of the riffle method – a deck, split into two separate halves, that is then shuffled back into one set with each card (most likely) taking up a new position in the deck.
So the technique used in manual and automatic shuffling is, for the most part, the same, although some players favour the use of a shuffling machine as it generally speeds up play. Often, a dealer will have one shuffled deck ready to go as they feed another into the machine.
Is Manual or Machine-Based Shuffling Fairer and More Trustworthy?
Although it’s not always easy to convince players that shuffling machines are fair and to be trusted, that is very much the case.
They use a series of processes that are completely randomised to ensure a fair deck of cards for every hand played. Of course, some players don’t trust them because they cannot see what is going on inside the machine as the cards are shuffled – it’s simply human psychology that we trust our fellow man or woman more than we do machinery.
But all shuffling machines within a casino are tested and certified by an independent, third-party auditor – so there’s no question of any funny business going on. In the UK, for example, live dealer casinos are further regulated by the Gambling Commission, which sets out Remote Gambling and Software Technical Standards (RTS). These require that all shuffling procedures in live dealer studios are demonstrably fair, auditable, and carried out with casino-grade equipment. Compliance is monitored through independent testing and regular audits.
Manual shuffling is also fair and, for most, more trusted, as players can watch the dealer like a hawk to ensure that they are deploying their chosen shuffling technique properly.
Card Shuffling Machines in Online Casinos
Although it’s hard to give an exact percentage, it’s true that online casinos use card shuffling machines more prominently than they do manual shuffling.
As mentioned, these speed up play, which is typically the goal of the casino and the players themselves. It should be noted that online casino card games have different rules on how often the cards are shuffled – for some blackjack variants, it will be after each hand. For other games, it might be after two, three or even four hands.
In any case, the takeaway point is that all of the shuffles that take place in a licensed online casino – be it manually by a professional dealer or via a machine shuffler – are fair, random and can be trusted by players.
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