Card Games
6 deck card shoe
A 6 deck card shoe is a dealing device that holds six shuffled decks of playing cards, used in casino table games to reduce shuffle frequency and speed up play.
Key points
- The shoe holds six standard 52-card decks shuffled together, so 312 cards in total.1
- It makes hole-carding harder and reduces how often the dealer must shuffle.14
- An 8 deck card shoe is also common, especially in baccarat and blackjack.3
Where this term is used
Not the same as
- Deck of cards terminology — a single standard pack of 52 cards, whereas a 6 deck shoe contains six such packs together
Related terms
Card games
Blackjack chart 6 deck
A strategy chart for blackjack played with a six-deck shoe.
Card games
Hearts card game
A trick-taking game played with a single deck, not a shoe.
Card games
Euchre deck
A reduced deck for the game Euchre, unrelated to shoe dealing.
Card games
Gin rules 7 cards
Rules for a variant of gin rummy, not dealt from a shoe.
Card games
13 card rummy rules
Rules for a 13-card rummy game, not played with a shoe.
Card games
7 card gin rummy rules
Rules for a seven-card gin rummy variant, unrelated to shoe games.
Sources
- Shoe (cards) en.wikipedia.org Provides the definition of a shoe and common deck counts.
- Glossary of blackjack terms en.wikipedia.org Confirms 6-deck shoes are standard in blackjack.
- Baccarat en.wikipedia.org States baccarat uses 6 or 8 deck shoes.
- Blackjack - Card Game Rules pagat.com Explains how the shoe reduces shuffle frequency and hole-carding.
Sources are drawn from regulators, universities and published research, and each one is labelled with what it actually is — a preprint is not called a paper. Bookmaker and affiliate pages are never cited here, because a page that sells betting is not a neutral authority on it.