Shuffle Tracking

This method consists of observing cards: the way in which they are grouped at certain places in the deck following the shuffling of the cards until the deck is empty. This allows you to determine if the following pack of cards in the deck contains more or less cards with a 10 value (i.e. 10's, J's, Q's & K's) and more or less Aces.

The observation of card shuffling is a relatively new art, and as such you will not often hear it discussed. It consists of a little known technique and you will find it quite difficult to find information regarding the subject. This technique is advanced and fairly difficult to master.

The technique is known as ‘shuffle tracking' or sometimes ‘card steering'.

The general principle consists of finding and following the basic sequence of the 10 value cards and the Aces, in such a manner that allows you to determine which portions of the deck contain the most of these cards. It is a question of observing the way in which the cards are playing through. As explained in the card counting section of this site (located in the Casino and Gambling Articles section) the cards of a value of 10 or more are the most favourable to the player in comparison to the croupier.

What is the definition of a well shuffled pack?
In order to be truly shuffled, the cards need to be shuffled more than 40 times by the croupier! Obviously, this never actually happens. The cards are thus never well shuffled, certain sequences of cards will reappear throughout the game, the cards of a value of 10 or more will accumulate in certain locations in the deck, and this is a matter of statistics.

When is the deck re-shuffled?
The croupier inserts in the deck a cut card, in general, at three-quarters of the deck. At the point at which the cut card is dealt, the croupier will reshuffle the deck.

The reasoning behind the re-shuffle occurring at the three-quarter mark is so that more of the deck is shuffled, 75%, rather than placing the cut card in the middle, as then only 50% will be shuffled each time.

How does Shuffle Tracking work?
Once you start playing with a new deck, mentally note the flow of the cards by dividing the deck into equal sections and then try and establish which sections have the greater percentage of Aces and 10 value cards, then observe how the cards are dealt on the table.

Observe how the croupier shuffles the cards; keep in sight the accumulations of the high value cards, and where they will reappear in the next play through.

When you play the next play through, raise your bets when the croupier reaches a section that contains a lot of high cards and lower your bets if you are playing in a section with fewer high value cards (10's - Aces).

Counter measures carried out by casinos:
This technique is fairly hard to master, so casinos are not too worried about it. The technique is useless where an automated shuffle is the norm, or when there is a double discard.