Introduction to blackjack shuffle tracking

I came across a really great article the other day written by a guy named Michael R. Hall.  It’s about shuffle tracking, an advanced blackjack strategy that some players use in addition to counting to get maximum advantage over the house.

Unfortunately his website BJMath no longer exists (yes this is an update).

Below is a summary of some of Michael’s key points.

So what is shuffle tracking?

Counting cards gives players an advantage because it allows them to gauge, to a certain extent anyway, the composition of the remaining cards to be dealt from a shoe – if these cards are high (ie more tens, pictures), players’ chances of winning improve.  Now while card counting provides a means to gauge shoe composition during the deal, shuffle tracking takes things a step further and gives players a means of keeping track of shoe composition during the shuffle so that they are in an advantage position at the commencement of the next deal.

Underlying the approach is the assumption that most casinos shuffle their shoes in a non-random way.  If you have some idea of card composition pre-shuffle, the picture post-shuffle can be loosely predicted.  Now this all falls down  if the casino uses a machine shuffle, or very thorough manual shuffles.  But for reasons of time management and maximum playing time (therefore profits) more often than not shuffles are quite basic.

A commonly employed casino shuffle, and one that lends itself to shuffle tracking is the ‘zone shuffle’.  You’ve probably seen this one – the shoe is split into manageable piles that are each shuffled in turn.

Do I need to know how to count cards?

Yes – knowledge of counting is a prerequisite, simply because you have to have some idea of shoe composition before the shuffle, and the only way to do this is to employ an effective counting method, like Hi-Lo.   If you are aware, through application of your counting strategy that the cards remaining in the shoe at the end of the deal are low, and you can track that section during the course of the shuffle, then when it comes time to insert the cut card, you can, if possible seek to eliminate this segment of cards from the next deal.

More complicated tracking methods necessitate being aware of the count/composition with regard to multiple, distinct card segments – rather than just at the end of the deal.  If you know the rough composition of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th sections of the shoe, you may then be able to get a good sense of the composition post deal.

What are the essential benefits?

1. knowledge of card composition by region AT THE BEGINNING of the deal; and

2. ammunition to insert the cut card to clear advantage.

Can I shuffle track playing live blackjack?

To some extent you can.  But its effectiveness is limited.  For a start, given most live blackjack games re-shuffle mid shoe, count penetration is difficult.  Secondly, you aren’t physically there to insert the cut card so even if you could form a picture of the cards in each shoe segment, you can’t use this to your advantage with an aggressive cut card insertion.

Generally the dealer will insert the cut card mid shoe, as illustrated below.

2 replies
  1. vegas poker listings
    vegas poker listings says:

    It is not easy to learn to count cards. It takes a lot of concentration and good memory to be able to do it quickly and accurately but with regular practice you can master it.

    Reply
  2. hope
    hope says:

    anyone know how to reach michael hall? I played with him back in the 90’s and we lost touch. Email, phone number, where he’s at? Thanks..

    Hope

    Reply

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