Hi all, I created this guide as a one stop shop for everything Deckmate related. When I first joined PCF one of the craziest gambles I did was buy a Broken Deckmate off of eBay before any chips, tables, or even a hotdogs roller.
Deckmate 1 was created.....
Better yet here is the wiki if you are interested
To sum it all up Deckmate is now owned and operated by Light and Wonder. They do a lot of the popular casino digital slot machines in Vegas. Which means they strictly only deal with Casinos, who have contracts with them. I have tried to get through their customer service lines several times but no luck.
Parts for the DM1
Luckily I was able to find a company who would set me up with a parts order as long as I had the parts #. The company is Patriot Gaming who has a contract with L&W to purchase from them. There is a gentleman by the name of Jim who was very helpful in getting an order for a roller kit. If you have no other means of getting a part this is the best method in doing so.
Where to buy a DM1?
This can vary depending on the condition. In some case you can find a great deal on eBay as some have followed with my broken deckmate story but it's still a gamble. I would not pay anymore than $4500 for a deckmate 1 with new rollers or 3800 for used rollers as this is what I can sell them for.
I remember seeing these go for about 6k a few years back on eBay
A lot of sales pitch terms used such as "Low mileage, reconditoned, or warranty" don't believe any of it. Ask for picture for rollers and a video of the shuffler shuffling the cards. There is a lot of bait and switch with these resellers who have a stock photo listing and then send you a completly different machine. If you do want to buy through eBay I have bought things from Greg who's username is plyboysales and Rafeal from American Gaming who will for the most part make things right if something is wrong. Greg sometimes can be slow to respond as this is a side gig for him too. I found Star parts sometimes to be helpful but going off a few stories of shufflers that people have sent me to fix are usally from them and my past dealings with them just weren't the best experiences as they just ended up costing more money.
The cost of a deckmate is a steep price to pay and to have that uncertain or unknown feeling you might lose money on a machine that could be broken or have errors is what I am trying to curb here regardless of where you purchase from, having an understanding of the machine inside and out should give you the confidence that on a rare unicorn chance you find an inoperable one on Facebook market place selling for cheap to take the leap.
Service manual
I found this using a quick google search
https://casinosuppliesandservices.com/user-guides
The deckmate specific one is Here absolutely free!
If you would like to purchase a copy visit Rye Park and pay $48 for the same PDF. I wonder if he charges shipping via email? (Sarcasm)
Common misconceptions
This is an industrial card shuffler that is a beast of a machine. There is this negative connotation that these things always break down at the casinos but unless my home games start picking up a 40 hour/week game I don't foresee any major breakdowns aside from a once in a while maintenance of wiping the rollers with alcohol wipes. In some cases I have people who do have games running all day long and I am really taken back on how many shuffles they have put through this machine.
Can a deckmate 1 be hacked?
Yes, but it would be an overhaul on parts and you have to add a camera inside to read the cards.
Another method would require a firmware flash but very limited to what you can do. The high level hackers never released the hack and really just wanted to expose that it can be done. The DM2 does have a camera and the fuctionality of the hack is capable of a lot more. These could be loaded through the USB port which could be disabled by unplugging internally from the motherboard or changing the jumper setting to not allow usb software loading. More information about the hack could be found here explaining the capabilities at a blackhat event in 2023 Here
Some people believe deckmates are just used for cheating. My thing is if someone is going to cheat the game there are going to cheat. Cards could be marked, hidden or visable security cameras can view your cards, RFID readers, false hand shuffling/dealing. The list goes on. Where ever you play cards, shufflers or not you have to have some trust in the facility/location that you play at that no one is cheating.
A new deckmate is not possible because they have phased out and no longer being produced. Even if they were still producing it you would have to be able to convince LNW to sell you one. Starting price was I believe 13-18k which I have heard of stories of Shuffle Master selling a new one to a high profile poker player back in the day.
How does the deckmate work?
The deckmate works going off of a seed number that then randomly generating a number sequence 1-52 for each individual card assembling the deck. Which if you really think about it, the machine does not shuffle, it places cards in a random order until all 52 cards are together. So it's a random deck assembly?
PCF Success (got lucky) stories
If anyone purchases a DM1 from anywhere regardless of where you got it please post or message about it. I am interested in all things DM
aside from My own success story
@Buge purchased a broken one for $600 dollars from a really sketchy guy. He said he poured in about 1k in parts and got it working. One of the parts was a sensor worth $90 from the manufacture but Rye Park charged $300. Still all in all $1600 for a deckmate is a heck of a deal!
Another PCF member @LowerBama1714 got one from an eBay listing had an error that would occur with the door opening and closing randomly before a shuffle. After we put our heads together we were able fix it by changing out a harness wire.
If you have a basic understanding of the insides of a computer these things are fun to work on.
Starting from the top
The Deckmate logo is actually etched into the metal top. I always thought it was a sticker going off of pictures I saw online but you can run your fingers over it and feel the grooves. Some deckmates, depending on where the machine is coming from will be painted over as this is a way mask the wear but add a clean even look to it. This sort of add a layer over the logo but you still may have that etched feel. There is also the subdue logo or maybe it's faded. This is all cosmetic and have no affect on the machine overall.
The VFD
Yes, I said that correctly it's not an LCD. VFD stands for Vacuum Fluorescent Display. You (Well some of you) might of seen these in your old car stereos, microwaves, or a cash register back in the day. They are not as popular as they used to be but the advantages of this display is the brightness and ability to see the display clearly from a lot of angles. The company that makes this is called Noritake. They are a Japanese company that have multiple locations across the globe. Finding a replacement was nearly impossible as it's been decades since they had a line production of this model. I made progress with emails to a manager from Noritake in Japanese (thanks google translate). It took a few weeks but he did eventually get back to me and found the part at UK Noritake. It was a lot of work to find documentations/spec guide of the screen as it was not listed any where but he was able to provide it, as well as informing me to use a third party vendor to order the part from. I chose Mouser which is where I found other parts for the DM1. There was a 2 month wait time to get it in stock but eventually it shipped and I got a brand new VFD. Lucky for you all I did all the leg work if you need one, they should have it in stock if not just backorder it and you would get it in a month or two. (We had someone who read my guide and ordered it all the way out in Australia to fix his DM1)
VFDs can fade eventually dim very low then burn out. We found in some cases cable #4 could short out and fry the screen somehow.
Model number of the VFD and Link
GU144X16D-K610A2
The next items should be the Red and Green Push buttons next to the VFD. These are made from a company called EAO here is the manufacture part number and link Green Switch 84-8511.5640 If you are looking for the red switch or the whole housing then use this link to the EAO 84 Halo CS
Poker Door is this fine contraption that opens and closes when the cards are presented to you. This is one of my favorite features and gets me excited every time when that door pops opens and cards are raised on a platform. Well in order to function this way there are a few important things to help make it close automatically. That is the torsion springs that are left and right specific. I had to replace mine and used Jim to help order these for me. There is also a bushing which I can't remember if I got it from Grainger or somewhere online but here is the Bushing dimension, 1/8 ID, 1/4 OD, 1/4 LG It's a real pain to line the springs up with the door but you really shouldn't ever have to take the top off when doing regular maintenance or getting into the machine.
Thanks @Buge for the pictures.
Inside the door lays a magnet that trips our first sensor on the DM1. This sensor is called a Hall Switch (open/closes the circuit based on the proximity of a magnetic pull) which tells the machine when the door is open/closed. There is also a Green/Red LED that flashed the corresponding color depending on if the sensor is open/closed(mine is missing that in the picture). My switch was damaged and this was the same for @Buge who warns to be super careful when removing the lid. I was able to rig a wire to trick the machine open/close when I was trying to find this part. This is a shufflemaster specific part so the only means of getting this is through Jim who quoted me $90 dollars. I tried other aftermarket hall sensor parts but was unsuccessful with this.
Rolling right along (pun intended) to the inside we can see a bunch of rollers. This is a good visual representation of new rollers vs used.
In this first picture you can see the rollers from my old DM1 (remanufactured in 2018) have a bright white color.
The next picture is from google and seem to have a yellowish tint which either could be a different manufactured rollers or just aged.
The third picture is also from google but shows the rollers as a cherry red tint to them. I think this could be either the paint of the red and black cards rubbing and absorbing into the rollers after so many shuffles. Out of all the shufflers I seen I found it rare that a deckmate would need a roller change but something to take notice when buying a DM1. I always been biased and want new rollers because of the sound of a clean crisp sound of the cards shuffling.
Roller kits if you plan on changing them out on your own these can be purchased from Patriot gaming for around $800 shipped or currently right now, there are some on eBay that can you can grab for a little bit lower then this.
There is a total of 14 rollers
The purple arrow shows the rear black rollers that really just move freely these should be the plastic ones and will not wear down.
The blue arrow points to hump like piece that is actually used adjust the downward tension onto the cards thickness so that only one card passes through the rollers at a time. It has a single "Locking roller" which means it rolls freely one direction and locks the other. The best way I can explain this is if you take your finger and spin the roller it should freely roll towards the platform and lock towards the loading hopper.
In the same blue arrow area there is an addtional locking roller on the bottom.
both rollers can be either aluninum or both urethane roller I found that when adjusting for heigh I would need more downwards pressure with the aluninum rollers and less pressure with the urethane. See video below on how to adjust for card height.
The Green arrow is a part with strands of string on the end that brush the cards for anti static. I see a deckmate without this before and the cards would levitate from the static and slide off the top of the deck when you set the cards down.
Removing the blue and green arrowed parts you expose all of the rollers.
The blue arrowed part looks like this below which I been refering to has the hump roller
The Red Arrow points to a set of rollers that have holes in them that lock the rollers onto the bar. The motor moves the belt that drives the bar and the roller forwards and backwards. 1 x 1 inch roller and 2 x 1/4 inch roller. All 7 "1/4inch" rollers are all holed rollers and locked to the bars.
The Orange arrow are a set of guide bars that serve a few purposes. They hold the bars for all the rollers and help cards not fall in-between the rollers. The orientation has been known to confused a lot of the rookie technicians who work on these daily.
Initially in my old DM1 it sat in the machine with this hump end downwards under the green/blue area. However this is completely wrong and needs to be faced upwards. This solved most of my jams I was getting in the machine initially when I first got it working.
Fun Fact the description of the roller kit said "160,000 CYC" this tells us how many shufflers we should be getting out of the lifetime of the rollers.
Roller should last about 6500 shuffles before a cleaning is needed. Use isopropylol to clean off the rollers. The machine has a cleaning mode which will run the rollers in either directions continuously so you can wipe the rollers by just holding what ever rag or cloth against the rollers. Refer to the manual for how to activate the cleaning mode and the timeline for the recomended maintainence intervals.
KIT,ROLLER/BEARING,DM,10010
1 - 104652,(160000 CYC)
Photo Credit @LowerBama1714
Now depending on your particular serial number we can kind of see settle differences between the machines. @LowerBama1714 serial number is about 2000 machines behind mine. So we can guess going off my original manufacture date that his could of been done a year or two after mine.
My DM1 was manufactured FEB 2008 but was re-manufactured in 2018 10 years later. In some cases serial numbers have been wiped off or the label is removed. Alternatively, You can go into the settings to view the serial number but even that could be changed in the menu.
A. This roller is the pair of plastic rollers in the back of the machine the purple arrow in the diagram above. The older machines have a belt connected with ABC and G. However, I guess they have decided to move away from this and not use A anymore with the belt. On my remanufactured model they don't even have the gear outside anymore the rod itself is capped off.
The B. and C. gears are for the Red and Blue arrowed rollers They are combines with the Speed up belt. Initially I thought this needed to be tight in order for it to work it but found that it's the complete opposite that you actually need a bit of slack in this belt. The cards being shuffled may start to make a loud crank or jaming noise if it's to tight.
D. is for the of rollers under the green arrow the last rollers the cards see before entering the elevator platform.
These roller are connected to G which is a pair of servo motors
You would think these belts would run down but I haven't had an issue with mine yet but if you need to change them out @Buge has replaced his from https://sdp-si.com/ I don't know the sizes so maybe he might fill us in on his order. It's somewhere in this thread.
E. is a PhotoEletric Sensor made by a company called Baumer. I'm not entirely sure how this thing works but it emits a red light which I think it measures the reflection of lights off the cards and will calibrate speed of the rollers.
F is the gripper brackets the upper portion have plastic pieces with grooves in them. When the gripper engages the deck it creates a small gap inbetween several cards and a card is slid into the gaps. The bottom of the bracket is another belt systems connected to a servo motor that brings the grippers in and out.
I think the best way to describe this side of the machine would be follow the numbers. On the bottom of the machine it's labeled 1-13 on this side and 14-29 on the other. All of these are the peripherals of the machine.
1 is connected a separate board that then is connected to the roller attached to that long belt that runs the elevator up and down. The circular thing the motor is connected to is the miniature Optical Shaft Encoder which detects the exact location of the elevator based on the recolutions it turns. I was able to speak to the customer service rep for US Digital on a replacement part for S4-300-B and was given S4T-300-250-S-B
2 Self explanatory it's a power cable to power the mother board.
https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/qualtek/862-06-003/739555
3 this is another hall sensor to tell where the gripper is. Pretty much the exact same as sensor 9 which is to the door sensor but with a shorter cable.
4 this sensor detects if there is a card in the elevator. The elevator is a moving platform that holds the cards. This creates a hotspot for this cable to fail. As we learned from @LowerBama1714 this was a cheap fix replacing the wire.
5, 6,7, and 8 are part of the harness cable that lead to sensors or IR light of some sort.
9 Door sensor in this picture below it's missing the LED.
10* will update later when I have the machine in front of me.
11/12 is not used here
13 This sensor is the The Reflective Card Drop sensor that has been replaced with Look-Thru Card Drop Sensor. Serial numbers 104653 and up will be fitted with the updated part. Since Mine was remanufactured it was upgraded to the new type of sensor. The one pictured above in the side profile you can see the old sensor and can be retrofitted with the new one. This kit should have everything to complete the upgrade..
The Update Kit (‘DU1178-KIT’)
The top light that is red is the update sensor for this side.
The bottom part of the boxes houses the mother board
If you notice the slots on the mother board it has slots that have individuals cards that plug into them. These cards are refered to as I/O boards Input/Output boards that process functions and provide the RNG Random Number Generator Bios chip that houses the software. Any other savy people feel free to chime in if you have any further input.
Pictures of the three boards that were connected to the mother board.
Here is how all three boards sat on the mother board. Notice all the Styrofoam pieces all over the place. It was all in the machine with some dust. It is always a good idea to inspect this area and blow out any debris. We are trying to keep these machines running another 20 years.
Here is a parts list for the DM1 There are some things with measurements so it made it easier to order from elsewhere
P1204 QTY 6 SHCS, 2.56 X 3/16
E1456 QTY 1 Display, Miniature VF (Vacuum Fluorescent Display)
DU1022 QTY 1 Lens
DU1044 QTY 1 Spring, Door, LH
P1705 QTY 2 Pin, Dowel 1/8 X 1
DU1020 QTY 1 Plate, Top Poker
DU1056 QTY 1 Switch Assembly, Red EAO 84-8511.2640
DU1055 QTY1 Switch Assembly, Green EAO 84-8511.5640
P1148 QTY 1 Tie Down 3 1/4
P1729 QTY 2 Bushing, 1/8 ID, 1/4 OD, 1/4 LG
DU1045 QTY 1 Spring, Door, RH
DU1007 QTY 1 Door, Poker
DU1037 QTY1 Block, Top Plate Mounting RH
P1192 QTY 4 SHCS, 8-32 X 1/2
DU1052-02 QTY 1 Switch Assembly, HE, Door Closed (Door Sensor)
P1710 QTY 2 Bumper, Dome Top 1/4 X 1/16
E1098 QTY 1 Magnet, .040 X .080 X .200
DU1036 QTY 1 Block, Top Plate Mounting LH Poker
DU1082-02 QTY 2 Soundcoat, Door
E1057 QTY 1 Connector, CW IND #CWR-227-10.0203
DU1154 QTY 1 Gripper
I will continue to make edits to these guides as I reread them later on and find corrections or add additional information. Hopefully this is enough information to help you make a sound decision when purchasing or owning a deckmate 1.
How to setup your deckmate to the card height
Auto setup
Changing Door bumper
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