Card shuffler (1 Viewer)

[Michael Simmons]

Hi everyone. Have any of you used any card shufflers that you feel work really good? I am looking for one that is good quality that works really good and wondering which one would be best.

Thanks

 

[Blaster]

I think most of the currently available "consumer" shufflers are not looked upon well by serious hobbyists (noisy plastic toys), real casino shufflers are not readily available and very expensive
There was a mid grade consumer shuffler a few years back, that had a flush mount kit, but I think the company night have disappeared before they delivered their "pro" model that was bridge size compatible..
The name escapes me right now,(shuffle-tech?) but I'm sure someone will chime in with that name..

 

[Kyle]

Good question. I don't think there is a large market for these at this point of time.

I think Shuffletech was the only one to use at a point of time. I do not think they are in business anymore. I believe you have to find them in the private market like eBay and maybe here. I believe they go for around $500 or so.

There are several cheap ones out there for around $10 but I would not use them. Especially if you value using plastic cards.

Most of the PCF members actually prefer to shuffle our cards anyway. Due to cost, jams, etc.

 

[Michael Simmons]

I think most of the currently available "consumer" shufflers are not looked upon well by serious hobbyists (noisy plastic toys), real casino shufflers are not readily available and very expensive
There was a mid grade consumer shuffler a few years back, that had a flush mount kit, but I think the company night have disappeared before they delivered their "pro" model that was bridge size compatible..
The name escapes me right now,(shuffle-tech?) but I'm sure someone will chime in with that name..

Thanks. That is why I am asking about them because I have never really found a good one anywhere.

 

[namsupak]

I have one that I put into a cart. It is a Shuffletech ST1000. I would say that it has overall been a good machine for our game. It does jam every once in a while but if you have a dedicated dealer they definitely appreciate it. In the consumer market it is the only choice. I have been looking at the Shuffle king and it is $9000 so overkill for the regular home game. The cheap ones are junk, don't waste your time.

Here is the link to the thread that I had about the shuffler and the cart.

LINK

If you have any specific questions you can message me or just post in your thread..

 

[Michael Simmons]

I have one that I put into a cart. It is a Shuffletech ST1000. I would say that it has overall been a good machine for our game. It does jam every once in a while but if you have a dedicated dealer they definitely appreciate it. In the consumer market it is the only choice. I have been looking at the Shuffle king and it is $9000 so overkill for the regular home game. The cheap ones are junk, don't waste your time.

Here is the link to the thread that I had about the shuffler and the cart.

LINK

If you have any specific questions you can message me or just post in your thread..

Thanks, I will look into it. I am more wanting one for when we have smaller groups because the hands go so fast. But for the bigger games I think would just hand shuffle. The shuffle king is definitely out of my price range though lol.

 

[namsupak]

This is our situation. We play a 7-9 handed game and we use 2 decks. Just like at the casino, one is shuffling while the dealer is dealing the hand out. It decreases hand fatigue and it seems to increase our hands per hour, additionally it seems like we have less complaining that the cards aren't getting shuffled, etc. More hands is also more tip for our dealer.

 

[FDLmold]

The shuffletech website is still active, I bet you can still get one of their shufflers.

 

[Michael Simmons]

The shuffletech website is still active, I bet you can still get one of their shufflers.

Yea, I just saw that a little bit ago. You can even buy them from amazon too.

 

[grantc54]

Be careful with Shuffletech. I got a refurbished unit, worked good for a year then started jamming.

Paid to have it fixed but it only lasted another 6 months.

They won't respond to any of my emails when asking what options are.

Grant

 

[Poker Zombie]

@Mr Tree had one built into his table. There's a thread somewhere detailing the process used to remove it from the table and repairing the hole where the machine sat.

Buying a table with the shuffler built in, and then removing it - speaks volumes to me.

 

[BGinGA]

Pro units like ShuffleMaster are the only way to go, if you can afford it. Don't waste your time or money on anything less.

 

[namsupak]

Be careful with Shuffletech. I got a refurbished unit, worked good for a year then started jamming.

Paid to have it fixed but it only lasted another 6 months.

They won't respond to any of my emails when asking what options are.

Grant

I bought mine used and I fixed it myself. It's not an overly complicated machine and I am not saying anyone can do this but it's leaps and bounds easier than building a poker table. I think that for occasional use like a weekly game it works great. I am not sure how it would stand up to daily use. There are rubber belts inside that I replaced and have been keeping an eye on. There are also some plastic gears which appear to be in good shape. Other than that there is small electronic circuit board in there, now that is something that would be impossible to replace without something from the manufacturer. I will admit maybe I got lucky with it, but I still think it has been valuable. We have been using it now since around Fall 2014 I think.

I have heard that the customer service is bad, luckily so far I have not had to request any help from them.

@Mr Tree had one built into his table. There's a thread somewhere detailing the process used to remove it from the table and repairing the hole where the machine sat.

Buying a table with the shuffler built in, and then removing it - speaks volumes to me.

This is why I put it in a cart. For us we play in a multipurpose room so the table is folding and goes away after our games, so I didn't want to be committed to hooking it up to the mount each time we take the table out. Which I will say I am not that impressed with the mount either, but it does fit and it is made for this machine. It seems like a better system could have been devised. I think there were several reasons Mr Tree removed it. I wished I was more active on the forums around that time, I would have bought it. I'd even buy a partially working machine on the cheap just for the parts.

Pro units like ShuffleMaster are the only way to go, if you can afford it. Don't waste your time or money on anything less.

I had a line on one of these for around 3000 last year, it was a Deckmate 1st gen. I've never had a Shufflemaster but the ones I have seen in the casinos around me look good and they seem to work right. I've heard that the casinos around here lease them because they breakdown at times and its cheaper to lease them with some repair/replace service agreement. I would have bought the Deckmate but it was multiples more than what I spent on the Shuffletech. The Deckmate is a better machine for sure but I was worried that I wouldn't have access to the parts for replacement if needed and since there are a lot more "electronics" to the Deckmate and it is a more "intelligent" machine that more could go wrong with it.

With regards to ROI, I think that the Shuffletech ROI is much more attainable and since we get more hands in, the players and dealer find it more enjoyable. Kinda gives our games a more professional feel.

 

[justsomedude]

Do the Shuffletech units accept bridge sized cards? Poker size only? Both?

 

[kk405]

Pro units like ShuffleMaster are the only way to go, if you can afford it. Don't waste your time or money on anything less.

This. Or just get a dealer for each game (y) :thumbsup: (I know they are not mutually exclusive)

 

[dennis63]

Even the best machines jam and stop working pretty regularly in casinos. Sometimes, for no reason, the machine will "red light" and need to be reset.

Don't get the false impresson that somewhere out there is a shuffling machine that works perfectly all, or even most, of the time.

It doesn't exist -- not even in the casino.

The answer is simple: If you really want a shuffling machine, buy the best one you can afford and keep the manual handy.

 

[Blaster]

Do the Shuffletech units accept bridge sized cards? Poker size only? Both?

They were at one time showing a "deluxe" or improved new model compatible for both sizes, but I don't think it was ever produced. The original was for Poker size only, and if I recall they originally actually recommended only Copag to avoid jams.

 

[namsupak]

It's works on both sizes but it appears to work best on "poker size" cards. The bridge size still work but there just appears to be more space where jams could occur with the more narrow the card. I have used both sizes in there but mainly use wider cards, I haven't done a real comparison to see if there are significantly more jams, just something that we seemed to notice in the beginning.

 

[namsupak]

They were at one time showing a "deluxe" or improved new model compatible for both sizes, but I don't think it was ever produced. The original was for Poker size only, and if I recall they originally actually recommended only Copag to avoid jams.

Yeah I don't think that the deluxe ever made it to market. As for the card types, it seems like cards that are too slick are a little harder for the belts to grasp but I have used copags, davincis, kems, and plastic bicycles in the shuffler without problems. It does seem to like the copags and kems best. We played a 6 hour session and there were 2 jams I believe, both towards the end. That was with kems.

 

[Ryanzlock]

I had a shuffletech for a little while. It worked ok but it was very noisy and worked much better with poker size than bridge size. The bridge size cards jammed much more frequently. Ultimately I would say it wasn't worth it easier and less annoying to shuffle yourself. I eventually sold it and was able to find a shuffle master deckmate that works great for about $1500. They occasionally show up online you just have to search around patiently and wait for someone willing to sell one for a decent price. I mounted the shuffle master in a cart that can sit alongside the table.

 

[namsupak]

I had a shuffletech for a little while. It worked ok but it was very noisy and worked much better with poker size than bridge size. The bridge size cards jammed much more frequently. Ultimately I would say it wasn't worth it easier and less annoying to shuffle yourself. I eventually sold it and was able to find a shuffle master deckmate that works great for about $1500. They occasionally show up online you just have to search around patiently and wait for someone willing to sell one for a decent price. I mounted the shuffle master in a cart that can sit alongside the table.

For $1500 thats a deal. I like your cart too. I find my cart is a little large.

 

[Ryanzlock]

For $1500 thats a deal. I like your cart too. I find my cart is a little large.

Bought the cart from Ikea it was a rolling set of drawers just didn't use all the pieces and cut a whole in the top.

 

[codeman00]

One of our regular players approached me if I had ever thought of getting a card shuffler. I told him I'd look into it which I am. Since the deal rotates around from player to player, and the person next to the dealer is shuffling, I've never felt a need to have an automatic shuffler. I'm not sure how we would easily pass the shuffler around and where it would sit when we were playing. It seems to be more trouble than it's worth...especially if the cheaper versions are known to eat cards.

 

[namsupak]

Bought the cart from Ikea it was a rolling set of drawers just didn't use all the pieces and cut a whole in the top.

I did that too, but at the time I just used scraps we had and then stuff from the As-is section. I am thinking of redoing it now in a smaller version like yours but I haven't seen anything in the scratch and dent section that will work yet.

One of our regular players approached me if I had ever thought of getting a card shuffler. I told him I'd look into it which I am. Since the deal rotates around from player to player, and the person next to the dealer is shuffling, I've never felt a need to have an automatic shuffler. I'm not sure how we would easily pass the shuffler around and where it would sit when we were playing. It seems to be more trouble than it's worth...especially if the cheaper versions are known to eat cards.

Yeah if you rotate the deal the shuffler isn't going to work.

 

[upNdown]

One of our regular players approached me if I had ever thought of getting a card shuffler. I told him I'd look into it which I am. Since the deal rotates around from player to player, and the person next to the dealer is shuffling, I've never felt a need to have an automatic shuffler. I'm not sure how we would easily pass the shuffler around and where it would sit when we were playing. It seems to be more trouble than it's worth...especially if the cheaper versions are known to eat cards.

I think that's the biggest factor that makes shufflers wrong for most home games.
You could either have a designated shuffler (who sits where the shuffler is mounted or next to the shuffler-cart) or else mount the shuffler in the middle of the table where everybody can reach it.
And both options stink.

 

[namsupak]

Honestly even when we have not had a designated dealer someone usually chooses to just sit and deal/play. If I am hosting and something happens where the sealer cant make it. I just sit in that position and play and deal. Shockingly it seems like since I am paying more attention my play gets better.

 

[upNdown]

Honestly even when we have not had a designated dealer someone usually chooses to just sit and deal/play. If I am hosting and something happens where the sealer cant make it. I just sit in that position and play and deal. Shockingly it seems like since I am paying more attention my play gets better.

Do you think that's common for home games? I've assumed that the majority of home games rotate the deal. Somebody should start a poll.

 

[namsupak]

Do you think that's common for home games? I've assumed that the majority of home games rotate the deal. Somebody should start a poll.

For our area it seems common. I actually don't like rotating the deal at all. I guess if the table was round or octagon that might be okay but I have never played on a table that wasnt an oval or kidney shape.

 

[codeman00]

I've never been to a home game that with a single dealer unless it was a raked game where the dealer was paid to be there.

It sounds like I'm on the right track just to have everyone hand shuffle/deal. I just can't see a way to make a shuffler work. It's just too bulky to pass around.

 

[BGinGA]

Do you think that's common for home games? I've assumed that the majority of home games rotate the deal. Somebody should start a poll.

I've been hosting for 12 years, and not a single event in that time has been pass-the-deal. Very few of the other events I attend locally are pass-the-deal, either.