Cutting Card as Important aspect of Shuffling

Player`s duty

Playing at casino the procedure of cards shuffle is always performed by a dealer and a player can only choose or advice the way of different card shufflers techniques which in his opinion provides the best randomization of the deck. One more action that should be always done by gambler is cutting a deck of cards during the process of shuffling.

The cut always has place at the card game because it is considered to be one of the ways to reduce the probability of cheating by cards order manipulation for someone`s benefit. Casino rules require the cut process to be present to prove the innocence of a dealer. Many players also believe cutting to be a lucky beginning of the game.

The process

After the shuffling is completed by the dealer he put the deck face-down on the casino table in front of the player who are usually to the dealer`s right side. Then a player should remove a part of cards from this deck and put them before himself so those cards that are supposed to be dealt are closest to a dealer. The simplest way the cut might be performed is to take approximately the top half of the deck and put them on the table. Usually the dealer finishes the process by putting the remaining bottom part of the deck on the top of the cards which were cut before.

Then a dealer gathers the deck, squares or straightens it and finally deals the cards.

Various ways to cut

During the World War II John Scarne has developed the special method of cutting with the aim to protect soldiers from dealers` cheating. After the shuffle a player pull out the middle part of the deck and put it back on the top of a deck. After this the regular procedure is performed.

The method of multiple cuts implies a range of top-to-bottom cuts that are the same as a single cut. If you know a size of a deck and the cuts` size the compound single cut can be figured out as a sum of cuts` sizes modulo the deck`s size.

There is also a false cut that might be performed. It is always used for the purpose to cheat in a game. The false cut looks like the real cut but it doesn`t change the order of cards in the deck and the randomization isn`t provided properly. Moreover, professional cheaters can cause some particular changes and use them later for their advantage.