blackjack decks pre-shuffled

[nowhammies]

At the local small-town casino, the blackjack decks are pre-shuffled and brought over to the blackjack table as needed. The players don't see the decks shuffled, and the cards are never spread on the table for inspection by players. It seems like there's potential for fraud, but I've been winning so I guess they're honest. They do something similar in Vegas with the machine shufflers, but I think they at least periodically spread the decks on the table for inspection there.

[Leibniz]

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It seems like there's potential for fraud

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Correct.

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but I've been winning so I guess they're honest

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Short term results cannot be used to make such a conclusion, as the sample size related to variance is too small. Furthermore, honest decks or not, blackjack is a -EV game which nobody can be a winner at, in the long run (unless you are counting cards).

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They do something similar in Vegas with the machine shufflers

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Correct, they bring new decks to the table, fan them out, hand shuffle them once or twice and then put them in the machine shufflers.

On the one hand, my observation is that very few people actually look at the decks to make sure they are correct when the dealer spreads out the new deck. On the other hand, I wouldn't feel completely comfortable with them bringing out the decks, sight unseen. My advise is to stick to poker.

[SheetWise]

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It seems like there's potential for fraud ...

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There's always a potential for fraud -- this is more like an advertisement. The deck seal should be broken at the table, when the deck is brought into the game. And there's still potential for fraud. When a deck is removed from the game, it should be manually reordered (verified) and then destroyed (punched or clipped).

A lot of Indian casinos don't have the oversight they should have to make me comfortable. I certainly wouldn't play this game.

[CORed]

I have to agree. With a setup like this, the house could easily juice their edge by adding small cards, removing aces or tens, or both.

[nowhammies]

Ironically, I usually win at this place, but have NEVER won at the only other casino within commuting distance, and they DO shuffle and display the cards.

[SamIAm]

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The deck seal should be broken at the table, when the deck is brought into the game.

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I saw a card magician who sold new stickers to "reseal" decks after you stacked them.

For magic tricks.

[SheetWise]

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The deck seal should be broken at the table, when the deck is brought into the game.

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I saw a card magician who sold new stickers to "reseal" decks after you stacked them.

For magic tricks.

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Which is why I prefaced my comment "There's always a potential for fraud ..."

I know I printed some of those seals in the past -- and I believe you're right -- it was for a magic trick.
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