We have ASM / card clumping discussions going in numerous threads now? Really is that necessary?
My own view as I have expressed and is in conflict to what many here believe is that ASM cheating is possible. For me, it is not a question because I took possession of a machine and saw the possibility for myself. The capability is there. The technology is there.
With all the amazing things that can be done today technology-wise, like Alexa running all my home electronics and so on and so forth, why would anyone think something as simple as sorting the cards into specific sequences not possible? It is very possible, I can assure you.
Now where I differ with nightshifter and BJgenious is just how wide spread this action is. I mean it is illegal, or would be found to be illegal if such a case were brought. I have definitively found 2 cases were this took place, and they were both fairly small, independent, single casinos, not part of any chain. And probably the decision didn't come from the top. I don't think it is widespread. I don't think any chain casinos would get involved with this and I don't think any big independents would. The likely scenario is a smaller independent casino (as both my cases were), with some middle management guy making a bad (illegal) decision, probably to insure good numbers on his shift or tables.
Anyway, I know most people don't agree with my findings, so I don't want to argue about it. Instead, I just want to say, experienced players should rely on their experience and gut feelings. If something feels wrong to you, don't play that game / casino until you figure out what is wrong, if anything. And if you can't satisfy yourself, stay away from that game/location permanently. There are too many fish in the sea.
This is unrelated to the ASM sorting discussion, but earlier this year, I was convinced a specific casino was cheating me, due to extraordinary bad results. It was a hand shuffle, so ASM didn't play into it. The results which were obviously a small sample size were just atrocious. Part of the problem was that I had raised my stakes at just the wrong time, so these results seemed even worse. So I wanted to investigate for myself, so I went out of my way to be present when new tables were opened and new cards introduced. There was a procedure that I was a little uncomfortable with in that the floor person, takes the cards out of view after they have been spread for all to see. He takes the cards out of view, walking around the pit, sometimes with his back to the table while he flips through the 2 decks checking the cards. He should do this before the cards are spread on the table. It makes no sense to take the cards out of view after they have been spread. That is just a bad procedure.
So anyway, I still visited this casinos because I was winning at their shoe games, and occasionally, still played the double deck, where the results were so extraordinarily bad. A couple winning sessions here and there and the results didn't look quite so extraordinary. Still bad, significantly in the red for that DD game.
At the current time, I am willing to say that my initial reaction of cheating was wrong and chalk it up to an extraordinary bad run, just at the wrong time, when I increased stakes, which made it look and feel even worse to me. But despite that, nothing wrong with being very vigilant and using your experience and gut feelings. If you are uncomfortable with a game / casino / dealer for any reason, find one that you are more comfortable with.