Every casino varies in terms of what shuffle point they use…meaning how far into the deck, or decks, they go before the cards are re-shuffled. This is an entirely different variable than the type of shuffle used. A 50% shuffle point is somewhat average, at least out on the West Coast of the United States. Where the dealer places the marker will tell you, most of the time, where the shuffle will be.

If you’re a card counter, having the ability to go deeper into the deck is favorable, since you see more of the cards pass through before they are shuffled, and thus can assume with a higher probability of accuracy the probability of certain cards showing up.

So why would a casino favor a deeper shuffle point? It would seem only to benefit the card-counting player? The one major reason why can be attributed to competition. Not between you and the house, but between different casinos, especially outside of a famous location where the game is the only draw. Players, especially knowledgeable ones, are more likely to frequent a casino where they feel the odds are closer to even than at other places. Casinos know this, and adjust little things to draw a larger crowd.

Regardless of which card-counting system you use (high-low, red 7, Ten Count), a deeper shuffle point increases your odds at the table. Why else would a casino do this regularly? Another answer is it’s not the casino, but it’s the work of an ignorant dealer. Don’t kid yourself, they exist in every casino across the world. In the top hotels, they are identified early and dismissed, but it lower-level casinos, you can easily happen upon one who just doesn’t care or doesn’t know enough to consistently pay close attention to the shuffle point. For a professional gambler, one playing blackjack solely to make money, finding yourself across the felt from one of these dealers is like having a rare chunk of meat plopped right in front of a caged tiger.