Shuffle Machines

A lot of counters think the continuous shuffling machines are the bane of life’s existence. To hear some tell it they’re worse than pit bosses.

But a smart counter would investigate the math of the machines before they make a decision. And oddly enough, the reason you don’t want to play at a table with a CSM is not what you think it may be.

A Continuous Shuffling Machine is a combination automatic shuffler and 4 or 5 deck shoe. After each round the cards played are put back in to shuffle, meaning that you have a constant freshly shuffled 4 card deck before each round. Unlike a game that uses a cut card.

Which would make you think “Holy Crap! I can’t keep track of cards any longer if they could be popped right back out almost immediately!” And on the face of it, that’s true.

But a substantial mathematical inquiry was taken by Michael Shackleford which showed four points of consideration (and I’ll spare you the raw statistics):

1. The average number of 10s per hand is slightly higher in a CSM game than in a hand-dealt game
2. The probability of getting a blackjack is slightly higher in a CSM game than in a cut-card game
   Which would obviously lead you to the conclusion that
3. The casino’s edge over a basic strategy player is slightly lower (due to #1 moving odds in the players favor and #2 moving more money in the player’s favor) in a CSM game than in a cut-card game
   
   however
   (everyone I know has a big ‘however’, including me)
4. The player is dealt about 20% more hands per hour in a CSM game than in a cut-card game. This means the player will stand to lose about 20% more money per hour (as you cannot truly count a CSM game, only play basic strategy) because while the casino’s margin is smaller, the margin is still in the casino’s favor.

Best advice? Stay away from the CSM.