Who shuffles

[tracysdfw]

In home games, we play multiple tables and use 2 decks at each table. Which player should be shuffling the "new" deck as the dealer is dealing?

[pbrannon]

In home games, we play multiple tables and use 2 decks at each table. Which player should be shuffling the "new" deck as the dealer is dealing?

We have the guy who just dealt the last hand shuffle the cards he just dealt; then he passes them two spots to the left.

[chet]

From "The Game Day^tm Poker Almanac^tm, Official Rules of Poker, by Kelli Mix

Chapter 1: Elements of Poker
Shuffling without a House Dealer
The duty of shuffling the cards is shared by other players at the table when a house dealer is not provided, such as in a home game.  The following explains an expedient process commonly used for shuffling cards in a game without a house dealer:

1.  Player A offers the player to his left the option to cut the first deck of cards.  He then deals each player a hand.  He gathers the cards when the hand is complete and begins shuffling

2.  Player B offers the player to her left the option to cut a second deck cards.  She then deals each player a hand with the second deck of cards while player A finished shuffling the first deck

3.  Player A passes the first deck of shuffled cards to Player C seated two places to his left

4.  Player B gathers the cards when the second hand is complete and the process continues around the table"

This seems to be the same process as described by pbrannon. 

Hope this helps!

[Stuart Murray]

I did in the early years of private games use 'dual decking' to speed up the game, but there are inherent problems with the use of two decks.

We had oval tables so the 4 seats on the straight would deal and the seats on the bend would shuffle.  In round tables the button would deal with the last dealer shuffling the inactive hand.

The biggest problem was obviously decks getting mixed or on a few occasions the red deck being dealt for hole cards and the blue deck being used for the board!  There were also many concerns for me regarding collusion and cheating as little attention was paid to the inactive deck that was being shuffled.

The end result was that the two decks became one and it just meant that players became faster at shuffling and everyone was paying attention to the deck being shuffled and cut so problems and concerns were eliminated.

Regards
Stuart