Hi everyone,

Just some thoughts concerning the shuffle and cut card placement.

After spending close to 1000 hours counting cards in shoe games in the UK, I have the following I would like to share and am very open to debate or criticism on the matter.

1. I have noticed that poorly shuffled cards favor me. Try this test at home. Take 4 or 6 decks (new or in proper order), give them a minor shuffle, and deal to yourself. Even better, do not shuffle them at all and then deal to yourself.

2. In a casino environment, we rarely ever start with a with a small basic strategy disadvantage of (lets say 0.45% in house favor) with good rules. Unless you are tracking shuffles, it is impossible to tell how many of those big, juicy ten/ ace cards are located behind the cut card. We are in many cases starting a shoe with a disadvantage that is much greater than the one listed according to basic strategy, which brings me to my next point -

3. I have had massive counts of up to plus 10 and more, at this point counting tells us to place big bets, yet even more smaller cards fall out as all the big cards are behind the cut card and of course the dealer is making his/ her 4,5,6 card twenties or twenty ones, while we are stuck on 17 or less. All counting does is inform you of card depletion, yet helps nothing with telling you what is behind the cut card (@75% on a shoe game that would be 78 cards not seen!!). Of course if there is no cut/ penetration card - counting would work significantly well, especially towards the end of the shoe.

4. Shoes that go nowhere and the shuffles that affect them. Call this a ploppy thing :-) or what you like, but on some tables you will not win. if the cards remain in roughly the same order after the shuffle and you have not won in the last shoe, this trend is very likely to continue and I am completely convinced that many casinos, due to their excessive shuffling procedures, washing of cards etc. produce a casino favored shuffle with a much higher house edge that what is broadcast on their table plaques! My point being that well shuffled cards with no clumps and all cards evenly distributed offer no advantage whatsoever.

I do understand the math behind counting but really, who will ever play millions of hands to see their true win rate as a counter? I feel like I have finally had an epiphany and believe the only way to truly beat shoe games is by tracking shuffles and the clumping of cards within. The only way counting works is when the count begins to drop, then those blessed tens and aces should be falling!