Shuffle tracking

Shuffle tracking

Shuffle tracking is an advanced technique used with card counting. Jerry Patterson published information about the technique in the 1970s and 1980s. Generally, a player tracks the count (high cards versus low cards) of one or more subsections of the deck as the cards are played. The selected sections may or may not be predetermined by observing and mapping the shuffle. These sections are referred to as tracking zones. The player may try to follow slugs of cards through the shuffle or have a good idea of the final location by previously analyzing the shuffle. After the shuffle, play zones exist which contain most of the cards in the tracking zone as well as other cards. The player can then cut zones with high cards into play, or with low cards out of play, thus changing the normal composition of the shoe. Betting can then be altered to reflect the altered composition.