Shuffle Tech Fully Automatic Shuffler and Flush Mount Kit

Shuffle Tech ST1000 Fully Automatic Shuffler
Product: Shuffle Tech ST1000 Fully Automatic Shuffler
Price As Tested: $479.95 + $99.95 FMK Flush Mount Kit
Manufacturer: Shuffle Tech International, LLC
Retailer: http://www.shuffletech.com



Pros
Finally, a high-quality affordable in-table shuffler for home poker games!
Choices of 3 or 7 riffles
Sturdy metal flush mount kit
Easy to reset if needed
Players not having to shuffle -- that's the best!

Cons
Noisy
Jams occasionally
Works best with Poker size cards, not Bridge size
Flush Mount Kit needs some improvements

Shuffle Tech has created the answer to a much needed, much asked-about question of how to get a professional quality in-table card shuffler that isn't one of those cheesy $9 gimmicks at the Mega-Mart and isn't going to cost you $8,000, $12,000, or $20,000 like the Shuffle Master units used by casinos. I don't even think you can buy one of those, I think they lease 'em! But thanks to Shuffle Tech, for under $500 you can have the same experience in your home poker game.

The Shuffle Tech ST1000 can be free standing or mounted in your poker table (the only way to do it, IMO). We're going to discuss the installation process of the ST1000 in my existing poker table which I built.



Shuffle Tech sends you everything you need, even a double-deck setup of Poker-size Copag cards! Here you can see all the items which arrived in one box. The parts are: the ST1000 automatic shuffler, the FMK flush mount kit, the AC adapter for the ST1000, a parts bag of brackets and screws for the FMK, and a double-deck setup of Poker-size Copag cards.



The ST1000 fully automatic shuffler and the FMK flush mount kit, upside down. Note the (4) nuts attached to the underside, we'll discuss those later.



On the bottom of the ST1000, you have a choice of the eject location of the cards, either the drawer on the side of the ST1000, or through the top when mounted with the FMK. When mounted in the table, you will want to choose the FMK option. Something to note: the AC plug channel is really difficult to remove the AC plug once plugged in. There's no place to get your fingers in there to detach it. A minor inconvenience, but once it's mounted in the FMK, there should be no reason to mess with the AC plug.



A trial fit of the FMK. Yep, that's pretty flush!



The side view of the FMK plate and the ST1000. Note the sloping angles of the ST1000, that will come into play when we cut the hole in our table.



This is the underside of my poker table which I built. I've removed the dealer drop-in chip tray. I've drawn out the location of the ST1000. I opted to install it to the LEFT of the dealer chip tray (the table is upside down, so everything is reversed), and in the VERTICAL position. One thing you should really try to do is sit in your dealer spot and notice how you would load and retrieve the cards from the ST1000. We found that the least twisting of the wrist and contorting the hand in awkward positions was to mount it to the right or left of the dealer chip tray in the VERTICAL position.



My friend Harold helped with the install. Here, we've cut an "X" in the felt and taped the flaps of the felt so they're not in the way. We decided to cut the foam along with the wood, a step not discussed in the instructions because the instructions don't consider the table to have any foam under the felt! We didn't want to cut the foam separately because we weren't completely sure if we'd be able to line up the cuts of the wood with the foam. Last thing we wanted is a pot-hole in the table where foam used to be because we overcut it.



Cut the long sides of the wood and foam. Drill a large enough hole for the jigsaw blade on the inside of your lines so you can get started on the cut. Do not cut all the way through the corners, just stop cutting about halfway through the corner.



This is the tricky part, and by far the area that needs most improvement in the design of the ST1000 and FMK. You have to set your jigsaw to a 45-degree angle and cut the short sides. Why? Because the angle accomodates the sloping edges of the top of the ST1000 (remember the sloping edges I mentioned earlier?). Getting the 45-degree cut started was trouble enough, not to mention how difficult it was to cut half of each rounded corner. It's a good thing the FMK has a pretty wide border to cover up any errors in the cuts. Make sure you trial fit the ST1000 and the FMK several times to make sure you removed enough wood. Note: we had to cut a bit MORE than what was specified, because we have a 3/8" foam padding, which adds to the overall thickness.



Pull the flaps of the felt through the hole and staple to the underside of the table. We folded the felt under itself before stapling, to add extra strength so the staples wouldn't rip through the felt. Next, unscrew the nuts on the underside of the FMK and attach the brackets. Bend the brackets as best you can so that you can screw them to the table (don't screw them down yet!)



Here is my own idea contribution. As I mentioned earlier, the instructions don't take into account that you're installing this in a foam-padded table. Since my table is padded, and I want the FMK plate recessed as much into the foam as possible, I needed to compress the foam BEFORE screwing the brackets. So, a couple of blocks of scrap wood along the topside of the FMK and C-clamps to compress the FMK plate into the foam, seems like a pretty good idea to me to ensure a recessed FMK installation.



Back to the underside of the table. With the C-clamps compressing the FMK plate into the foam, you can now screw the brackets to the underside of the table and tighten the nuts holding the bracket to the FMK plate. I used a hammer to bang the brackets as tight against the inside of the table, so there would be as little slop and flexing as possible after the C-clamps were removed. The instructions didn't mention which exact screws to use, so I used 2 on each bracket.



Uh-oh! Our first installation problem. We couldn't figure out why the ST1000 wouldn't fit completely into the FMK plate. It fit perfectly outside of the table, but after the FMK was installed, it just wouldn't fit into the recessed lip all the way. Turns out the brackets are 1/16"-1/8" too long on the end attached to the post and nuts of the FMK plate. So, my handy Dremel with a cutting disc comes to the rescue. Amid a shower of sparks, we cut-off the little bit of bracket on each of the 4 brackets which was getting in the way of the ST1000. Note the left bracket in the picture which already had a bit of it's end cut-off. DON'T CUT TOO DEEP AND CUT THE METAL PLATE!



Installed! The ST1000 is installed and supported by a hanger bracket from underneath, per the instructions. You can see the FMK plate is recessed pretty well into the foam along the long edges. The short edges of the plate didn't recess very well because they don't have any brackets along the short edges. In the future, it would be nice to have brackets along the short edges too, so that it's better recessed.



As you can see, the ST1000 and FMK are installed in the LEFT side VERTICAL position to the dealer chip tray. The top door of the ST1000 opens facing the dealer, so the dealer just slips the deck of cards in easily with the least amount of twisting.

Yes, I know my felt is dirty with sawdust!



When the ST1000 is busy, a bright green light blinks to let you know it's working. When it's done, the dealer just has to push the corner of the door to release the catch to open the door.

The instructions recommend that you use Poker-size cards, not Bridge-size, and we found this to be a good recommendation. We had frequent jams when we used Bridge-size, but after switching to Poker-size, we would get jams about only 1 per 1-2 hours. Jams have always been easy to clear. Most of them can be cleared by pushing BOTH the "3" and "7" riffle buttons at the same time to reset the unit, or pulling the power plug and then reconnecting it again.

The noise it makes is something to get used to, and after awhile it fades into the background along with the chip riffling and banter from the players. Still, it would be nice to muffle the sound. I have thoughts of an open-top box lined with acoustic soundproofing foam mounted to the underside of the table enclosing the ST1000 in a soundproof box. But I think a good part of the sound is coming through the top, through the plastic access door. I think rather than a see-thru access door, it would be better to have a metal door with the underside lined with acoustic foam to muffle out the sound.

Shuffle Tech has got something really great here. We've used the ST1000 for our last 3 home poker games, and it is getting RAVE reviews by the players. I know several of other home game operators who are asking me about ordering ST1000s and FMKs for their home games. I was worried that it would be a novelty that would wear off, but I can say with complete confidence now that my players and myself would not want to go back to hand-shuffling, ever.

Where to buy: Scott's Poker Table is an authorized dealer of Shuffle Tech products, and will soon be launching an on-line store. You can still order this item using your PayPal account (send me a Private Message for ordering instructions). Your purchase helps me keep this site up, so we can have a table builders forum and product reviews like this one. Thanks for supporting this website and our vendors!

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