Did a review of my table and someone asked for a review of the shuffletech that I got as well. @val316
Thought this would be useful since I didn't find very many in depth reviews when I was thinking about getting the product.
First, some quick updates. When I bought the device I asked about if they were coming out with a new card shuffler soon as there was a rumour circulating on one of the threads here. The customer service said it is a long while away and in the meantime, the shuffletech st-1000 has gone through "significant upgrades" in the last 6 months. I asked what these upgrades were but they were non-specific and just said "it runs better now than ever before". lol.
Shipping 10/10
Fast. Ordered on October 4th, received on October 8th at my USA reshipper
Packaging 9/10
Well packaged with cardboard and there was little to no risk of damage. There is a slip of paper inside that tells you to keep the packaging in case you need to ship it back to shuffletech for repair. A bit worrying to see as a customer as it doesn't instill confidence in the product.
Came with 1 set of jumbo poker sized COPAG cards included
Shuffle time: 9/10
28-29 seconds.
This is very fast, The best in class Deckmate 2 does it in 22 seconds. The Deckmate 1 which costs 6 times more used is 40+ seconds. I have never had to wait for the shuffled cards in an 8 handed game except for the 1 or 2 times where everyone folded really quickly
Shuffle randomness: 6/10
I would say since it mimics hand shuffling, it is not that random. It does a riffle riffle box riffle without the final cut. Based on my testing of around 100 times, I have observed that if you use setting 3, the bottom card before the shuffle will never be more than 7 cards from the bottom. So definitely not truly random. I would do a quick wash before putting the cards in and a quick cut before dealing.
At the same time, I am more comfortable with these than the deckmate 2 for now because the deckmates can definitely be programmed to cheat.
Sound: 6/10
This is loud. It is quieter than the cheapo china shufflers by a fair bit but still fairly audible while its' doing its thing.
However, in a game where people are chatting with music in the background, you quickly stop noticing it. My friend who sat next to it one game and furthest away from it in another commented that he didn't notice it at all when sat further away.
I also notice most of the sound comes out the top and just putting my hand over the lid drowned out 30-40% of the noise. Will look into some mods to quieten this thing and I did see some threads around
Jams / Cards used: 7/10
I tested the copag cards that came with the shuffler and there were zero jams in around 100 tries.
In my games I used some WPT cards I had from Taobao and over an 8 hour game there was 1 jam which required a bit of finger prodding to undo. Mind you these cards have seen at least 10 games and are a little sticky. Still handled them pretty well.
I also tested some really cheap chinese plastic cards and didn't see a jam. Will update if the rate of jamming goes up
Overall use: 8/10
I place it in a small chair next to me, and it has sped up gameplay massively. The downside is now I am always the one dealing. There is a setting which makes the shuffler start automatically without having to press the button. That was useful.
Takes up space in my small apartment which means I have to put it slightly behind me so that we can fit all the players. Not ideal but not a concern if you have a bigger sized table/house.
My players like it, more hands are played, they don't have to deal. Frankly, most of us are pretty shit dealers and one person does most of the dealing each game. And after 4 hours usually starts complaining of hand pains!
Other notes
I bought the table mount flush kit but have no plans to use it right now. Will update if this changes.
There is definitely room in the market for a superior product with better parts and less noise. This is ridiculously expensive for what it is tbh but there aren't any good alternatives out there. The only way I managed to rationalise this purchase was that it cost less than 1 rack of some of the chips I own. Oh well.
Hope this was useful!
Thought this would be useful since I didn't find very many in depth reviews when I was thinking about getting the product.
First, some quick updates. When I bought the device I asked about if they were coming out with a new card shuffler soon as there was a rumour circulating on one of the threads here. The customer service said it is a long while away and in the meantime, the shuffletech st-1000 has gone through "significant upgrades" in the last 6 months. I asked what these upgrades were but they were non-specific and just said "it runs better now than ever before". lol.
Shipping 10/10
Fast. Ordered on October 4th, received on October 8th at my USA reshipper
Packaging 9/10
Well packaged with cardboard and there was little to no risk of damage. There is a slip of paper inside that tells you to keep the packaging in case you need to ship it back to shuffletech for repair. A bit worrying to see as a customer as it doesn't instill confidence in the product.
Came with 1 set of jumbo poker sized COPAG cards included
Shuffle time: 9/10
28-29 seconds.
This is very fast, The best in class Deckmate 2 does it in 22 seconds. The Deckmate 1 which costs 6 times more used is 40+ seconds. I have never had to wait for the shuffled cards in an 8 handed game except for the 1 or 2 times where everyone folded really quickly
Shuffle randomness: 6/10
I would say since it mimics hand shuffling, it is not that random. It does a riffle riffle box riffle without the final cut. Based on my testing of around 100 times, I have observed that if you use setting 3, the bottom card before the shuffle will never be more than 7 cards from the bottom. So definitely not truly random. I would do a quick wash before putting the cards in and a quick cut before dealing.
At the same time, I am more comfortable with these than the deckmate 2 for now because the deckmates can definitely be programmed to cheat.
Sound: 6/10
This is loud. It is quieter than the cheapo china shufflers by a fair bit but still fairly audible while its' doing its thing.
However, in a game where people are chatting with music in the background, you quickly stop noticing it. My friend who sat next to it one game and furthest away from it in another commented that he didn't notice it at all when sat further away.
I also notice most of the sound comes out the top and just putting my hand over the lid drowned out 30-40% of the noise. Will look into some mods to quieten this thing and I did see some threads around
Jams / Cards used: 7/10
I tested the copag cards that came with the shuffler and there were zero jams in around 100 tries.
In my games I used some WPT cards I had from Taobao and over an 8 hour game there was 1 jam which required a bit of finger prodding to undo. Mind you these cards have seen at least 10 games and are a little sticky. Still handled them pretty well.
I also tested some really cheap chinese plastic cards and didn't see a jam. Will update if the rate of jamming goes up
Overall use: 8/10
I place it in a small chair next to me, and it has sped up gameplay massively. The downside is now I am always the one dealing. There is a setting which makes the shuffler start automatically without having to press the button. That was useful.
Takes up space in my small apartment which means I have to put it slightly behind me so that we can fit all the players. Not ideal but not a concern if you have a bigger sized table/house.
My players like it, more hands are played, they don't have to deal. Frankly, most of us are pretty shit dealers and one person does most of the dealing each game. And after 4 hours usually starts complaining of hand pains!
Other notes
I bought the table mount flush kit but have no plans to use it right now. Will update if this changes.
There is definitely room in the market for a superior product with better parts and less noise. This is ridiculously expensive for what it is tbh but there aren't any good alternatives out there. The only way I managed to rationalise this purchase was that it cost less than 1 rack of some of the chips I own. Oh well.
Hope this was useful!
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