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Playing Blackjack With Shuffle Machines
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How To Play shuffle Machines
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Playing Target 21 Blackjack With Shuffle Machines

QUESTION FROM CLIENT REGARDING "TARGET 21 COMPLETE" AND SHUFFLE MACHINES

"Since the basis of most of the (Target 21)strategy depends on card clumping, what effect do the new automatic shuffle machines (ASM's) and continuous shuffle machines (CSM's) have on the strategy?"

Let's deal with the two (2) most popular types of Shuffle Machines in the casinos.

First, let's talk about the original and most widely used "Shuffle Master" machines. These machines originally used two (2) decks of cards. They are generally used with 6 and 8 decks of cards in today's casinos. You may be lucky enough to find a 4 deck game with these machines, but most 2 deck games have long since gone, and for very good reason we will discuss later.

Most people think the Shuffle Master machines were introduced to "speed" up the game. There is some logic behind this thought. After all the dealer is freed up to just deal continuously as he does not have to slow down the game to go through his hand shuffle routine. And, the casinos are NOT making any money while the dealer is shuffling the cards. Makes since, right !

Now, try this on: Here is a very recent quote from an experienced surveillance director at Treasure Island in Las Vegas, who has been around a long time. This was published in a magazine interview as recent as August, 2006. Here is his quote about "Auto shuffler" machines; "Cards stay pretty clumped together even after a shuffle. If you see 10 or 20 high cards go into a discard rack, and you watch the shuffle, you can pretty much see where those cards go. So there are shuffle trackers who will track those groups of cards during play. An Auto shuffler machine alleviates that because players can't see the cards being moved."

We have known this for many years, yet the "unknowing" average Blackjack player has no clue. Why, because he was never educated. Knowledge is the most important ingredient a serious player can attain in any casino game. The vast majority, over 90% of all blackjack players are casual players, looking for nothing more than entertainment. And this huge majority of players feed the casino's massive amounts of profits. It's no different with the other casino games; the casual player has a vast lack of knowledge. The casinos do not lack the knowledge of how to beat the average player. That's why the casinos are raking in huge profits every day.

OK, how do you play these Shuffle Master machines?

First you must "identify" which type of game this "shoe" is producing for the players and you do this before you buy in. Refer to your Target 21 DVD and or Manual to know how to identify game type's "A", "B" or "C". A shuffle master machine can and does produce games that match all three (3) types. You must know the type of game it's producing before entering the game. You do not want to buy in at a table that's producing a player Breaking Table. Move on and save your money. The two (2) types of games you do want to find is a dealer breaking game or a neutral "Back and Forth" type game. Many

Shuffle Master machines can produce very close to a "Back and Forth" or neutral game. In fact, that is what they were designed to produce. But they are not always 100% dependable and at times the machines do not break up the clumps.

When you identify a neutral "back and forth" game you will use standard Basic Strategy Rules. Here is how we monitor a game that qualifies as a good random back and forth game. You flat bet this game and monitor your results creating a "Barber Poll" effect with your chips (this is demonstrated on the DVDs). You need a supply of white ($1) chips and a supply of red ($5) chips. Doesn't matter if your playing on a $25 minimum green table, you can still get these chip denominations. Each time you lose a hand you place a red chip in a stack. Each time you win a hand, you place a white chip in the stack on top of the previous one. You are looking for no more than three (3) red chips in a row, or three (3) loses in a row out of a stack of ten (10) chips in your barber poll. Once you have reached a full 10-stack barber poll, you continue to monitor the game results by removing the bottom chip and replace with the appropriate color chip for that hand. You only need to know the results of the last 10 hands to determine the status of the game. This provides the most current information and will tell you if conditions are changing in this shoe. You are always paying very close attention to the card flow, always, always; know what's happening, your money depends on it.

Now, if you have more than three (3) losses you have exceeded your 3 Unit stop loss and you're out of there. This is not the game you want to play. Scout till you find a winnable game to play. Or do not play.

If you have reached your total of 10 hands played and you have no more than 3 red chips (losses) in a row, you are now ready for the "Negative Progression Betting Strategy". This means, each time you loose you double your bet. Example: 1st hand bet one unit, loose; 2nd hand bet 2 units loose; 3rd hand bet 4 units and WIN. Results, you lost 3 units on hands 1 & 2 but won 4 units on hand # 3. Yes, you're up only 1 unit, but for every time you win a hand, you flat bet one unit and win a unit. The result is your over all hands result in winning the casino's money. Yes, if you lost the 3rd hand your DOWN 7 Units and you are out of this game. No more losses to your bankroll.

NOW, this is very important

With a Shuffle Master Machine you must monitor each deck of cards separately. Remember there are two complete separate decks of cards, the RED deck and the BLUE deck. YOU DO NOT USE YOUR BARBER POLL MONITOR FROM ONE COLOR DECK TO BET THE OTHER COLOR DECK. EACH DECK OR SHOE MUST STAND ON Its ON QUALIFICATIONS. You see the RED deck may qualify using your barber poll monitoring method of no more than 3 hands lost in a row. But the Blue Deck may not qualify.

I have personally played this method many times and have made very good money scalping the casinos. Keep in mind, the fewer number of decks used in this type shuffle machine the closer to random the game will be. Example: A few years ago while at the 4 Queens I played these machines with only 2 decks of cards. That means 2 RED decks, and 2 Blue decks. It was a marvelous time in deed as I Killed-Em using the negative progression. It was so good, that the pit could saw my accumulation of chips and introduced new fresh decks. This was my cue and I was out of there with a lot of their money. It's NOT likely you will find any two deck Shuffle Master Machines games, but if you do, please call me, I want to be there.

It's much harder for the Shuffle Master machines to produce similar results with 6 and 8 decks of cards. Although, they can and do, so that's why you should use Target 21 table scouting factors to find these types of games and exploit them to the fullest. Many players have experienced a "back and forth" game, played for long periods of time and little to no money was made or lost. They were entertained with little to no expense. But, they missed a golden opportunity to "scalp" the casino for nice profits by not knowing how to bet.

Now For The Continuous Shuffle Machines

This will be much shorter and simpler. These machines actually pull cards out of play to shuffle from the decks of cards the dealer is using in the game. We have NO way to know what cards are in the machine and what cards the dealers are using. We have NOT found these machines as player favorable.

Simply put, we rarely find a continuous shuffle machine worth playing. We are seeing many players avoiding these games as they are finding they don't win. You may be seeing more games going back to hand held shuffle games, which is what we ultimately prefer because they produce the greatest clumping effect. We use our Target 21 key factors to determine if these hand held games are player favorable or dealer favorable games. We only want to play at PLAYER FAVORABLE, or NEUTRAL games!

While this has been a long answer to your question, it was a very good question and deserved a detailed answer. I hope this answer was helpful.

John "Bagger" Vance

Sailfish Productions

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