Card counting in blackjack, is it still possible with the automatic shufflers?

Question

Ive to head to my local casino to see the setup but i believe they have might have an automatic shuffler.

Answer 1

Remember, the whole POINT of card counting is to keep track of the deck so you can take advantage when the count hits a 'sweet spot'.

If the deck is reshuffled every hand (continuous shuffling) then your count will never reach a good count, so you can never take advantage.  (You can still count to your heart's content, you just won't make any money at it, brilliant mind or not.)

Answer 2

yes. but it takes a great mind.

Answer 3

First do you mean automatic shufflers or continuous shufflers?

Automatic shufflers = cards are shuffled by a machine but the 4-8 decks are shuffled after the shoe is over. The discarded cards stack up on the right of the deal until the shoe is done.

Continuous shuffle = cards are put back into the machine at the end of each hand.

With Continuous shuffle you can't count. The count is always 0 at the start of any hand.

Automatic shuffle you can still count but the machine prevents card clumping which is important for card counting. Card clumping leads to greater deviations from the norm. Automatic shufflers hurt counting a lot but it doesn't make it impossible in and of itself.

Also the main reason to not cut a lot off the end of a shoe is to not have down-time while the dealer shuffles. With an automatic shuffler there is no down-time so a casino can cut a lot off the end making counting useless.

Answer 4

Card counting does not work with continuous shufflers, but can work with automatic shufflers. It takes a great deal of concentration to do it, and the casinos will watch for a player counting cards, and if they suspect you are doing it, they will promptly escort you out.

There is also another method of gaining a playing advantage over the house called the "Blackjack Betting Trigger" which compared to card counting, is a relatively new system that works pretty well.

http://www.thedoverpro.com/blackjack.htm

Answer 5

Like the others have said, it depends on whether or not the machine is an auto shuffler or a continuous shuffle machine.

Auto Shufflers, this setup means that the shoe is dealt out without touching the machine, then placed into a machine that shuffles the entire stack, actually have a positive effect on your game (unless you are a shuffle tracker) because they speed up the game and give you more hands, which, if you're good, translates to more winnings.  They only replace the human act of shuffling the cards, they do not affect the count nor whether or not you can count cards.

Continuous shuffle machines, where the cards are placed into the machine after each hand, make it impossible to count cards.

Answer 6

Card counting is still possible with an "Automatic shuffle machine" they basically just shuffle a shoe while one is in play to speed up the pace of the game.

You may be confusing an "automatic shuffler" with a "continuous shufler"  A continuous shuffle shuffles the cards back into a shoe after every hand, and makes card counting a futile effort.

This is what a continuous shuffler looks like:

http://www.shufflemaster.com/02_eu_produ...

This is what an automatic shuffler looks like:

http://www.shufflemaster.com/02_eu_produ...

Answer 7

Yes, card counting is still possible.  Automatic shuffling makes no difference.  Every time the decks are shuffled, be it automatic or by hand, the count simply resets to zero.