Casino Technology Casinos have been actively encouraging the development of products and technology to thwart the small number of skilled players that are able to gain a small advantage over the house through card counting and other strategies. A host of companies have developed products to eliminate player advantage and making catching and barring them easier. The biggest deterrent to card counting is the development of continuous shuffling machines. Automatic shuffling machines like the “Shuffle Master” work as a combination shuffling machine and shoe. The dealer picks up the cards after a round and inserts them into the continuous shuffling machine, where they are randomly inserted in to one of 19 shelves in the shuffler. The shuffler then randomly selects a shelf of cards to insert into the shoe. The cards are randomized twice, once when they are inserted into the shuffler and once when they are inserted into the shoe. This makes it possible for every card discarded to appear in the next round. Casino managers like the shuffling machines because it reduces the down time of manual shuffling. More rounds per hour means more profit for the casino. In addition, the casino retains advantage over card counting players at all times. A new blackjack table has been developed that has special sensors under the table and in the dealer shoe. The show sensors tracked the value of the cards dealt to all players. The sensors in the table could keep track of every bet made by every player. All the data is fed into a computer in the blackjack pit. Casinos are then more able to track a players betting patterns and rating their play. The software can also help determine if the player is counting cards. Another product recently developed is an automatic discard rack. This device is designed to deter shuffle trackers. The dealer put the discards from a round into the automatic discard rack which has an adjustable time delay and a gripper then picks up a random portion of the cards and holds on to them until another hand of discards is inserted. This process continues after every round. The device helps to mix up discards and inhibits the shuffle tracker’s ability predict how the cards are dealt in each round. If these devices aren’t enough to deter advantage players then casinos will have an easier time tracking these players through the development and use of facial recognition software. If the pit boss suspects someone of counting cards or shuffle tracking they will call casino security. Security cameras will take a photo of the subjects face and use special computer software to identify the person. If a match is found, they are then escorted from the casino. Don’t think this technology is in the distant future. Nearly a hundred casinos currently use facial recognition software and many are testing continuous shuffling machines every day. Casinos have a difficult job of deterring card counting players and shuffle trackers, yet keep players coming to play. If they are not careful, they could see a reoccurrence of player boycott similar to the one in the 1960s after the release of the book “Beat the Dealer” and subsequent changing of casino rules resulting in player boycott.

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