Apr 14 2026
Dealing in an iDEAL World
I'm back from Las Vegas. I planned on leaving one afternoon open to walk through as many casinos as I could with camera in hand. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Still, I managed to find three more examples of iDEAL shufflers with discard trays positioned strategically in front of them. I spotted a hole-card at each of these games.
Conspicuously Absent: Pai Gow Poker
For years I have looked at the popular game of Pai Gow Poker (PGP) and scratched my head. How can it be beat? For example, hole-cards are often exposed by sloppy dealers, but seeing one (or even a couple) of dealer hole-cards does little to help the advantage player. Card counting is not possible (the deck is shuffled between rounds).
Video: An Introduction to Edge Sorting
Edge sorting is a technique that is not well explained by blog articles or pictures. There is tremendous visual impact in seeing how easy it is to do in practice. For that reason, I decided to create a video demonstration.
Edward Thorp - The Man Who Beat The Casino
Next time you find yourself at a live blackjack table, adding and subtracting ones as you count your way through a shoe of cards, and, hopefully make a bit of money in the process, take a moment between hands to thank Edward O. Thorp.
