Csm Blackjack Europe
Card counting has been the most-popular advantage gambling method since the 1960s. It gives virtually anybody a chance to gain an edge casino in blackjack.
The shuffler was a continuous shuffling machine (known as a CSM). What the pit boss was saying was almost correct. It’s true that CSMs don’t increase the house edge. (Actually, the house edge decreases slightly with a CSM due to the absence of the “cut card effect” but that’s a story for another time.) However, what the pit boss. Ford: “That’s a CSM table.” Mike: “CSM?” Ford: “Continuous Shuffle Machine. The cards are re-shuffled into the shoe every few rounds. You can’t count at that table!” Mike: “Uhhhh. Please don’t tell Colin or Ben.” Mike finally fessed up. It was as much our fault for not training him to look out for CSM. The reason the CSM causes the house edge to go down ever so slightly is because of a phenomenon known as the “cut card effect,” which slightly increases the probability of getting tens and blackjack when a CSM is used. Now before you rush out and play blackjack on a table that uses a CSM, pay attention to the rest of the story.
A skilled card counter can beat any hand-shuffled game over time. However, you may find it impossible to beat tables that use a continuous shuffling (CSM).
Many say that games with a CSM can’t be beaten through card counting. But is this really the case?
I’m going to discuss more on continuous shuffling machines along with if there’s any possible way for you win with such games.
Why You Can Normally Beat Blackjack Through Card Counting
The “Four Horsemen”—a group of four Army engineers—became the first blackjack players to surmise that blackjack could be beaten. They developed a rudimentary card counting method to improve their chances of winning.
As smart as the Four Horsemen were, though, their system didn’t have enough refinement to overcome the house edge. It wasn’t until a few years later that another gambler took their work to another level.
A mathematician named Ed Thorp developed the Ten Count method in the early 1960s. Although still rudimentary by today’s standards, Ten Count can beat single-deck blackjack when properly employed. Thorp used this method to win profits for himself. He then popularized card counting through his book, Beat the Dealer.
This 1962 publication blew the doors open on card counting. Soon after its release, many gamblers showed up to casinos in hopes of winning profits.
Unfortunately, casinos also had access to Beat the Dealer. They reverse-engineered the advice to think of ways to thwart card counters.
They added more decks and created “shoe” games in an effort to make counting much more difficult. However, gamblers eventually figured out how to beat shoe games as well.
Using the Hi-Lo system, for example, one simply needs to convert their running count into a true count. The latter accounts for the multiple decks involved.
Gamblers also need to find games that allow enough deck penetration. The latter refers to how far a dealer goes into the shoe before shuffling. If they deal six out of eight decks, for example, they’re allowing 75%.
This is the kind of penetration that one needs to beat blackjack on a consistent basis. They’ll have more confidence in their counts towards the end of a shoe and make more money.
What Does a Continuous Shuffling Machine Do?
A CSM shuffles the cards so that a dealer doesn’t have to stop a game to do so. It includes an opening at the top that allows the dealer to insert a number of cards from the discard tray.
CSMs put cards into little slots inside of it. This random method of placing cards into slots ensures that the piles get well-shuffled.
This machine pushes its shuffled card clumps to the top. The dealer, meanwhile, can continue dealing the game with no time wasted.
The main reason why casinos love continuous shuffling machines is because they stand to earn more profits.
A CSM increases the play rate by 20% and allows casinos to better capitalize on their edge over recreational players. As I’ll cover next, casinos also appreciate the fact that these machines hamper card counters.
Why Is a Continuous Shuffling Machine Bad for Card Counters?
Again, card counters need games that offer adequate deck penetration. They can’t reasonably expect to make profits when only a quarter of the shoe is dealt.
In this situation, three-fourths of the shoe would remain. Even with a +4 true count at this point, one couldn’t have much confidence in this figure when considering how many cards are remaining.
A CSM never gives advantage players the kind of deck penetration they need to win money. Instead, dealers can simply keep inserting cards into the machine and not have to worry about shuffling.
You may wonder, though, why dealers don’t just shuffle earlier in the shoe. They could just shuffle at the halfway point, for instance, and make card-counting profits very difficult.
However, dealers would also have to stop the game many more times throughout the day. In turn, this process would cost the casino more money than card counters do on average.
Continuous shuffling machines solve this problem by performing the shuffling. Meanwhile, a dealer can just focus on dealing the cards.
Is There Any Way to Beat CSM Blackjack?
Years ago, I saw a CSI-type show where a group of blackjack players figured out the innerworkings of a continuous shuffling machine.
However, this was just a fictional show. Nobody in real life has figured out how to beat a blackjack game that uses a CSM.
Again, you need enough deck penetration to maintain faith in your count. You can’t simply increase your bet 10x because you have a positive count after one out of six decks are dealt.
With so many cards remaining, your positive count isn’t as reliable. You need a game that allows at least 75% deck penetration so you can increase your bets shortly before the dealer shuffles.
Of course, you could theoretically beat a blackjack game with a CSM. This scenario would require a dealer forgetting to put discards into the machine.
They’d then need to continue dealing through the whole shoe without recognizing their mistake. However, most dealers have gone through extensive training and know better than to make such a blunder.
Knowing what you do now, you would probably avoid any table with a continuous shuffling machine anyways. So, you wouldn’t be around for this rare occurrence.
Will Continuous Shuffling Machines Destroy Card Counting?
CSMs definitely aren’t anything new. They’ve been around in the blackjack world for years.
People still continue making money through card counting. Therefore, continuous shuffling machines definitely haven’t destroyed this type of advantage gambling.
Great for Casinos, Bad for PlayersCasinos would love to use these machines on every table possible. They’d increase their profits through faster games and also ruin any chance of card counting. However, some players don’t like gambling on tables with a CSM. Part of their hatred towards continuous shuffling machines comes from misconceptions. The quicker game speed causes them to lose more money on average. Therefore, they mistakenly believe that a CSM increases the house advantage (it actually lowers the house edge).
Gamblers just don’t like the idea of playing blackjack with a machine involved. They may like this game for its traditional atmosphere or feel that casinos could rig the action with a CSM.
This feeling is yet another misconception surrounding these machines. But it serves as one more reason why some casinos don’t want to rile up their customers by introducing CSMs.
Where Can You Go to Avoid CSMs?
Unfortunately, certain gambling destinations have filled their tables with continuous shuffling machines. They enjoy the previously discussed benefits of stamping out card counting and boosting their profits.
Macau is the biggest casino hotspot to roll out CSMs all over the place. Monte Carlo is yet another famous gambling spot that heavily uses these machines.
If you’ve been planning to count cards in either Monte Carlo or Macau, you should definitely take these places off your travel list. Luckily, though, you can still count on a number of other casino havens.
Atlantic City, Las Vegas, Laughlin, Reno, and several European countries (especially Poland) offer many hand-shuffled games. You can look forward to these games whenever playing at casinos in these areas.
Of course, you shouldn’t just blindly go to Las Vegas, for example, and expect every table to be hand-shuffled. Some casinos do use CSMs, especially at the lower stakes.
However, you still have enough options when looking for beatable blackjack games. You just need to do some research on the matter ahead of time.
Conclusion
Casinos initially started adding more decks in their mission to stop card counting. But players eventually figured out how to beat shoe games.
Gambling has come up with a more-final solution by introducing continuous shuffling machines. A CSM renders card counting impossible as long as the dealer remembers to keep putting discards into it (which is nearly 100% the case).
You simply can’t win long-term profits at tables that use a continuous shuffling machine. The good news, though, is that you can still find a number of tables that are hand-shuffled.
Casinos realize that a portion of their customers hate CSMs. So, they still offer hand-shuffled tables that you can beat with card counting.
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BLACKJACK IN EUROPE REPORT: CASINO BAD WEISS (Munich, Germany)
Csm Blackjack European
by Radek Vegas
Bored with poker, a German gambler discovered blackjack on a Vegas trip. He called himself 'Radek Vegas,' and he set a goal to beat the game. He started the biggest German Website in 2011 (http://www.blackjack-vegas.de), and since then, he has improved his skills and knowledge so that he reached his goal and is able to beat the casino at blackjack.
I started playing blackjack back in 2011 when I made a trip to Las Vegas. Before that I played table poker and was annoyed of sitting around boring while folding the hell out of myself. So I was searching for information about other casino games and came to blackjack because I liked the idea of beating the casino using my skills. Unfortunately, there weren't any useful websites about blackjack in German; therefore, I bought a lot of English books about the game and founded a website. Within the last five years, it became the one and only source of information about blackjack in German. I made contacts to famous blackjack player like Ken Smith, for whom I translated his website into German, or Michael Shackleford, the Wizard of Odds.
Beside my trips to Las Vegas I took almost every chance to visit casinos all around the world from A (like Argentina) to Z (like Zypern, or as we call the island, Cyprus, in Germany). My home base casino 'Spielbank Bad Wiessee' is on a beautiful lake called Tegernsee that is close to Munich. 'Spielbank' is the uncool German word for 'casino'. I really don't like to gamble there since the German Casinos (all run by the government) introduced continuous shuffle machines (CSM) in 2012; however, I have a special relationship to this casino. And perhaps one day in the future you may want want to visit this casino if you are in this area (especially in October during the Beerfest).
You can't compare Casino Bad Wiessee to Las Vegas-based casinos at all. It's small, but classy. A few years ago gentlemen were required to wear suits in the casino. More recently, German casinos are suffering because of fewer customers; therefore, nowadays and they let you in with a jacket and traditional shoes. Before you can enter the table games, you must register at the front desk. If you are already registered, you have to pay an entry fee of €2.50 ($3 US). Smoking is prohibited inside the casino but you can take a break on the balcony, and have a smoke while admiring the beautiful lake. (However, don't expect to see much in the evening when it is dark.)
Csm Blackjack
When you enter the casino floor you can overlook the whole area easily. On the right side you find a nice bar where you can order local beer called Tegernseer. For two reasons you shouldn't drink too much. First, because German beers are stronger than American beers and you might end up with a BIG headache the next day. Secondly, your playing decisions might suffer.
There are few options to gamble in Casino Bad Wiessee. There are about ten roulette tables in the pit – five on the left side, five on the right side. You can find two blackjack tables in the back of the casino by the roulette area. One has betting limits from 5 to 500 Euro, the other one 10 to 1000 Euro. The shuffle machines in Casino Bad Wiessee are filled with six decks of cards. According to European rules, the dealer takes his second (down) card only after all the players have finished their hands. (Also, all secondary bets made by players by either pair splitting or doubling down lose along with the initial wager if the dealer subsequently turns over a blackjack hand on the same round.) The dealer must stand on any 17, which is a player-friendly rule. You are also allowed to double down on any two cards, and doubling down after pair splitting is allowed (you only get one draw card). You can split aces, and surrender is not allowed.
On weekend the tables are crowded and you have to wait several minutes before a seat opens. Nevertheless, if you spot good players, who know the basic playing strategy, you are allowed to place a bet in his betting box. However, the amount of all of the chips in any one box must not exceed the table maximum. I mention this in the event you might meet a rich Asian gambler who is betting the table maximum all the time. In this case even trying to wager a 5-Euro minimum bet on the same box will be denied.
In the days before the continuous shuffling machines took over the game in this casino, I loved to play here using 'wonging,' named after blackjack legend Stanford Wong. With shuffling after each hand, it's useless to card count but if you find another casino where the table is crowded and you are allowed to bet with a player it's worth a try.
'Wonging' is to bet only if the true count is positive. So stand behind a player who knows how to play basic strategy and follow the count. My experience says that this it is not easy to a spot perfect basic strategy player in Europe because blackjack is not that popular as it is in the United States. In the worst case, chose the best player. Follow the game till the true count is positive enough to risk a big bet and cross your fingers. Good luck!
Note: Other casinos in Germany are in Garmish and Bad Reichenhall. Both casinos are about 100 miles from Munich; however, I have not played at either casino.