?? Automatic card shuffler ???

[Willy]

A group of friends and I have started a very low limit home game where we play HORSE with an occasional NLHE tournament. We are all novices and thought an automatic shuffler might speed the game up a bit. The ones for sale on the net all look the same except for the logos ( Bicycle, WPT, WSOP etc).
Are these all the same and are they any good?
Thanks for your help.

[snoopdawg]

From what I've read / there was a post here like a year ago, they suck and nobody likes them. Things like noisy, ruins card lifespan, and almost slower than actual shuffling. The good ones in casinos require a liscense to buy and are thousands of $. I say no go with the shuffler. Just use 2 decks (1 person is dealing while another person is mixing the deck for next hand) if you want to speed it up.

[Lottery Larry]

[ QUOTE ]
. I say no go with the shuffler. Just use 2 decks (1 person is dealing while another person is mixing the deck for next hand) if you want to speed it up.

[/ QUOTE ]

Seconded

[ichthyologist]

The 1-2 deck shufflers may all look the same, but after reading a bunch of reviews of different ones on amazon.com, it seems there are some quality differences. The logo ones seem to be cheap plastic with marginal mechanisms; a more expensive one I bought was sturdier and quite reliable (though still a bit noisy).

That said, I almost never use it now. I bought it because I am not very good at doing a riffle shuffle. However, most of my friends are; some actually enjoy shuffling. The two deck approach is definitely the way to go, just be sure to use decks with different color backs so they don't get mixed up! Most quality plastic decks come in pairs like this, and good cards are definitely worth it.

A seperate note: I really like using the 4-color decks (blue diamonds, green clubs) online, so I got a nice pair of plastic decks like this. However, one of my poker regulars is color blind and had trouble with them, so I can't use them. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[nowags]

We used one at a home game last night. Shuffling on your own is actually faster. I wouldn't waste my money on one. I've heard that they occasionally trash cards too, which would suck if you're using Kems, or something else expensive.

[Grasshopp3r]

There is a more advanced card shuffler sold by a guy here in the Denver area. I was going to review it, but I have not yet.

http://www.tenstix.com/

[The X-Factor]

Anytime we had to shuffle in a home game we used two decks and the person next to be the button would be shuffling to speed the game up some. I am not a fan of the shuffle machines either though.

[pfapfap]

Unless you're doing extensive heads-up play and have a few of those things running, I can't see how they're at all useful. Hand shuffling the proper way with plastic cards takes a few seconds. Gathering them up off of the table takes longer.

[Willy]

[ QUOTE ]
There is a more advanced card shuffler sold by a guy here in the Denver area. I was going to review it, but I have not yet.

http://www.tenstix.com/

[/ QUOTE ]
Grasshopper, thanks for the link. If you try this please drop me a PM. I would really lke to hear from someone who tried it before spending $150.
Thanks
Willy

[Small Fry]

Something no one else mentioned but you might want consider is the amount of room taken up by these machines. I have one of the cheaper models you probably originally looked at and as already been mentioned they are no faster and noisy. It also takes up a decent size area on the table. If you don't have room on the table you're now stuck with it off the table and cards coming off the table to get shuffled. I'm not a fan of cards ever leaving the table, period. Just my .02

We use two decks and bb typically shuffles as he's last to act pre flop.