University Researchers Question Blackjack Randomness

A group of researchers from a UK university have questioned the meaning of randomness in gambling.   

In a three year experiment three mathematicians have been investigating how randomness affects both online and real life casino games including blackjack, roulette and slots. They have used both computer simulations and physical experiments in over a billion trials and they are beginning to arrive as some startling conclusions.

One of these conclusions is that the random number generators used by online casinos in such games as blackjack produce very different patterns from real life card deals, and that in the latter case there are predictable non-random hidden card patterns.

During the experiment, many professional dealers were asked to deal cards made up from various numbers of decks. The shuffled decks were used in simulated games just as in a real casino, and the cards were reshuffled. This was repeated many times and each time the sequence of cards in the shuffled decks was analysed. The researches used special computer algorithms to search for relationships between the cards, and to trace the way in which these relationships developed over time. They found patterns of behaviour which were far from random. Although there was significant variation depending on the number of times the decks were shuffled, they found that to a significant degree they could predict the evolution of these patterns.

Random number generators used in online casinos were also subjected to similar tests. In these cases the algorithms were able to demonstrate that the deals were very close to being perfectly random and that no hidden patterns of cards could be found.

The group believe that using their algorithms they would be able to simulate the shuffle and hence flow of cards in real life blackjack games. They point out that there are weaknesses in the ways that dealers shuffle cards that can be cracked with sufficient computing power.

Obviously this work is very sensitive, and the group wish to remain anonymous until it is published in a peer reviewed journal later this year. 

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