Maryland Live, the state’s largest casino, also uses continuous shufflers. “High-limit players tend to be a little bit more traditional.” “It’s fairly typical to feature those machines outside of high-limit,” Chamberlin said. The practice is employed successfully by a small minority of players, who try to calculate when favorable cards may be due and bet accordingly.
While some players say they prefer that quicker pace, the machines ultimately favor casinos’ bottom lines by magnifying their slight statistical advantage. By eliminating shuffling down time, the machines increase hands per hour by 20 percent or more. In recent months, Horseshoe - joining many other casinos around the country - has introduced increasing numbers of continuous shuffle machines. Anything that might tilt the balance between dealers and players in such a popular casino card game is considered significant in the industry. They are about the size of a small printer and make a barely audible clicking noise.īut serious players have taken heed. Gambling novices might not notice the continuous shuffle machines sitting next to the green felt at three dozen Horseshoe Casino Baltimore blackjack tables.
Baltimore Sun eNewspaper Home Page Close Menu
