What is Card Washing?
October 18, 2021
Everybody knows about the famous Vegas shows, restaurants, and amazing nightlife experiences. Vegas casinos are well-known for their unique way of doing things including shuffling cards. The most famous thing most casinos do before shuffling the cards is performing a Vegas Wash Shuffle. Some people might have seen it happen but might not know there is an actual name for it.
Card washing is a card shuffling technique that dealers mostly use. The process involves laying the cards down on the table face down and then mixing them up using both hands. For some, the approach is similar to face washing while others think of how a washing machine works. With time, gamers related the system to a washing machine hence its name.
The aim of performing a card wash is to get rid of any inconsistencies that might have occurred in the previous round. After all, a fair game is based on how random the cards are. In poker, dealers prefer to start with a card wash before using other conventional techniques. This happens after every round. In other games like blackjack and baccarat, cards are washed when an old deck is taken out of play and a fresh deck of cards is then introduced.
How to Perform Card Washing
Card washing might seem like an amateurish way of randomizing a deck of cards. However, the cards mix up more quickly compared to the traditional riffles and shuffles. The steps performed in the technique are what players refer to as washing or scrambling. As stated earlier, the process starts by placing the cards face down on the table in two rows. After that, move your left and right hand in circles for up to 5 seconds to ensure the cards mix up as much as possible.
For a good wash, the process should be repeated at least 3 or 4 times taking about a minute or two. Once the washing process is complete, gather the cards and prepare to shuffle the deck using riffle-strip-riffle-cut multiple times. After this, you are ready to deal the cards.
