Why do we shuffle the cards before playing?

We shuffle before playing so that the order of the cards is unpredictable and nobody has an advantage. At the end of a hand, cards are grouped into tricks, three-of-a-kind sets or runs. Shuffling breaks up those groups and stops them carrying over into the next hand and making the game less fair.

The order left behind by a hand

When tricks are gathered up, the cards stay together as they were played: the as (ace) with the tres (three), or court cards of the same suit. In Chinchón (Spanish rummy), collecting the combinations leaves runs almost intact. Without shuffling, they would turn up again.

A fair game for everyone

Shuffling ensures that nobody, not even the dealer, knows which card will come next. That’s also why someone cuts the pack.

How much shuffling is enough?

More than you might think. We explain it in how many times you really need to shuffle, and cover the techniques in how to shuffle properly.

Playing online

In a digital game, an algorithm shuffles the cards, generating a completely random order for every hand. This means the pack is always shuffled just as thoroughly.