4. The Shuffle and Cut

4.1 The dealer shall either use a multishuffler (which shall be positioned adjacent to the Blackjack table and to the left of the dealer) or manually shuffle the cards so that they are randomly intermixed:

4.1.1 immediately prior to the start of play;

4.1.2 when the cutting card is exposed or drawn as the first card of a new round of play; or

4.1.3 at the completion of the round of play in which the cutting card is drawn.

4.2 After the cards have been shuffled, the dealer shall offer the stack of cards, with backs facing away from him/her, to the players to be cut. The player to cut the cards shall be:

4.2.1 the first player to the table if the game is just commencing;

4.2.2 the player on whose playing area the cutting card appeared during the last round of play;

4.2.3 the player at the farthest point to the right of the dealer if the cutting card appeared on the dealer's hand during the last round of play;

4.2.4 the player at the farthest point to the right of the dealer if the cutting card is exposed or drawn as the first card of a new round of play; or

4.2.5 the player at the farthest point to the right of the dealer if the cards are replaced in accordance with these rules.

4.3 If the player designated in rule 4.2 refuses the cut, the cards shall be offered to each player moving clockwise around the table until a player accepts the cut. If no player accepts the cut, a game supervisor shall cut the cards.

4.4 The person designated in rule 4.2 or 4.3 shall cut the cards by placing the cutting card in the stack at least one deck in from either end of the stack.

4.5 Once the cutting card has been inserted by the person designated in these rules the dealer shall take all cards in front of the cutting card and place them to the back of the stack, after which the dealer shall insert the cutting card in the stack up to half way in from the back of the stack. The stack of cards shall then be inserted in the card shoe for commencement of play.

4.6 When a shuffling device is used, the operation of rules 4.1 to 4.5 inclusive are amended to the extent necessary for the following to have effect:

4.6.1 prior to the start of play or the introduction of new cards in accordance with rule 3.4, the new decks of cards shall be manually shuffled by the dealer before being placed in the shuffling device;

4.6.2 cards shall be placed in the shuffling device to be shuffled;

4.6.3 the cards shall not be cut; and

4.6.4 the shuffling device takes the place of the card shoe.

4.7 The first card from the card shoe or shuffling device shall be burned by placing it face down in the discard rack and shall not be exposed.


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