For a double deck game, is a single shuffle with no riffle or cut (other than the cut offered to the player), and the shuffle being a poor shuffle, sufficient to randomize the cards? Could such a shuffle be a prelude to possible cheating by the dealer?
For a double deck game, is a single shuffle with no riffle or cut (other than the cut offered to the player), and the shuffle being a poor shuffle, sufficient to randomize the cards?
[By "shuffle" I'll presume you mean "riffle", and by "riffle" I'll presume you mean "strip" (see the BJ Glossary on the left).]
No it's not sufficient. Studies have shown it takes at least seven riffles to randomize a single deck.
Could such a shuffle be a prelude to possible cheating by the dealer?
If the dealer is not following the house shuffle I'd be very suspicious.
fully randomized for typical blackjack results to occur in the long run. If the shuffle is incomplete I suggest you learn to track slugs of big cards through the shuffle and bet big into the slugs.
