Shufflemaster shuffles

I am an occasional Las Vegas bj player. Most of the time I am relegated to playing at local (Indian) casinos in my state (NM). Is anyone aware of a strategy for playing games using the Shufflemaster which alternates two six deck shoes (at the end of each shoe the dealer inserts the discard deck and removes and cuts then places the "shuffled" decks in the shoe, and starts the game). I am just moving up from basic strategy and practicing KO, but I wonder about these shufflers. I am aware of the BorisBJ programs but am skeptical. Any advice other than do'nt play at the Indian casinos? Thanks.

myotherlife,

The shuffler you described is called an "automatic shuffling machine", or ASM. These are beneficial to counters: by nearly eliminating the shuffling time required on a hand-shuffled game, they produce more hands per hour for the counter.

You should play this game using the normal count method: no modifications are required when facing an ASM.

Hope this helps!

Dog Hand

If you are just a cardcounter or a basic strategy player, I do not see any difference between a hand shuffled game and an ASM game except in the case of the counter it may be better because the ASM gives you more hands per hour.

The advantage play it eliminates is shuffle tracking.

I think you may have confused these ASM's with CSM's (continuous shuffle machines) where there is just one group of cards that continuously play as the dealer puts the discards back into the machine every couple of hands.

If you see "Boris" on anything having to do with BJ, run for the hills!

Don

Thanks for the responses. I will keep practicing.