Lotus Card Shuffler V2

Affiliate link: https://play-lotus.com/?ref=OpinionatedGamers 

Review device provided by publisher

If you’re familiar with our blog, you’ll know that we play A LOT of card games around here.  Further, we play plenty of games that have cards as a component.  Though none of us are able to do cool card tricks while shuffling cards, we’re all pretty adept at it.  That being said, the common shuffle techniques, especially the riffle shuffle and bridge, can take their toll on cards.

Click here to see their video on how it works

When I was approached to try out a new mechanical shuffler, I figured it was worth a try.  Admittedly, I’ve been skeptical of these devices in the past – they were noisy, and a few previous machines actually damaged the edges of my cards!  As a result, they were quickly put back on the shelf – well, actually, probably put into the trash bin.

The Lotus card shuffler is a new generation of equipment.  The device itself is quite small – it folds out to provide two trays to catch the cards, so it is literally the width of two decks of cards.  There are little wheels at the bottom of the main tray that help separate the cards into the two sides, thus replicating a riffle shuffle.  Thus far, we have seen no damage to cards – and I’ve run at least 100 test shuffles with their provided playing cards, a deck of standard Bicycle playing cards, some Dominion cards and even a bunch of M:tG commons.

How does it work?  It’s honestly as simple as it gets.  Drop a deck into the main chamber – actually you can put a double deck in (or even an UNO deck).  There is a single button to touch, and then it does its thing – the deck is split into two halves, mostly alternating between the sides. This is different than most other mechanical shuffles which do the opposite; you start with two halves of the deck and they jam them together in the center (with a much higher chance to damage the edges of the cards if they hit each other).   Once the deck is split in two, you recombine them, drop them in the well, hit the button again, etc

Here you can see a new deck, pre-shuffle

When I first read about it, I was actually a bit worried that it would perfectly split the cards, so that the output would be A-B-A-B-A-B-A-B-…  In reality, it’s not.  I don’t know whether this is programmed into the system or if its due to the stickiness/texture of the cards, but there is definitely some variation in the output.  A-B-A-B-A-A-A-B-A-B-B-A-B for example.  This slight variance from a perfect shuffle is, for me, a feature and not a bug.  It ensures that you get a different shuffle after a few passes than any other.  If it were perfect, you’d possibly end up with the same deck arrangement.   Once the deck is split in two, you recombine them, drop them in the well, hit the button again, etc.  After three to five passes, you’re looking at a well randomized deck.

here is the result of the first pass – you can see that it’s not a “perfect” shuffle

The machine is remarkably quiet for a shuffler, and that has been a boon for us for how we usually use it.  Our best use for it is while learning a new game.  In the past, as we were reading the rules and learning the game, someone would volunteer to shuffle the new deck(s) of cards.  This would create some noise, but it would also distract the shuffler from the rules.  The Lotus has made it super easy to shuffle a new deck; just drop the cards in and hit the button.  It takes a lot less concentration to do this, and it is quiet so it does not interrupt our teach.  As this can happen passively during natural breaks in the teach, the deck(s) of cards are fully ready to go by the time we’re done reading.  Is it truly necessary – no, it isn’t.  We can obviously shuffle cards on our own.  But the Lotus does make the process easier and allows us to concentrate on more important things.

here’s where the deck stands after three passes

I loaned the device out to a friend, and they found a wonderful use case for it.  Their young children (ages 6 and 8) love to play UNO.  For them, this was perfect.  Small kids can’t shuffle a deck of 100+ cards.  The Lotus allowed the kids to play all day without the parents having to come help shuffle.  

Is it perfect?  Well, no.  The trays are hard plastic and therefore can only accommodate certain card sizes.  The Lotus maxes out with traditional Poker sized cards (3.5 inch x 2.5 in or 57mm x 89mm).  We have had no issues with narrower cards such as UNO cards or a Bridge deck.   Cards that are narrower than that do pose a problem as the cards in the well start to move around and then they don’t always catch the wheels correctly, sometimes leading to a shuffle that looks like  A-B-A-B-A-B-B-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A…..    Interestingly, we’ve found that it actually can work for some super small cards – you can sometimes take a tiny deck, turn them sideways and they might work well in the Lotus.

The Lotus doesn’t do sleeved cards too well (if at all) – interestingly, not due to the thickness but rather the width.  Once you sleeve a Magic: the Gathering card, the resulting sleeved card doesn’t fit into the Lotus well anymore.  Man, if it did that, it would be perfect.  Because, let’s face it, no one likes shuffling sleeved cards… 

If you want to try one out, they are shipping soon.  An affiliate pre-order link:  https://play-lotus.com/?ref=OpinionatedGamers .

Full disclosure – the OG will get a kickback if you buy one through the link.

Thus far, I have definitely liked having the Lotus around, and it has become a fixture on the gaming table.  Sure, it doesn’t work in all cases; but when it does, it’s a breeze to use.  I can definitely see how this would be super beneficial for either children who cannot shuffle on their own or for older arthritic hands.   I’ll admit that it was something that I didn’t think that I needed, but given the opportunity to try it out, it’s definitely something that we’ll use every week.

Ratings from the Opinionated Gamers

• I love it!  Dale Y
• I like it. John P
• Neutral.
• Not for me…

Affiliate link: https://play-lotus.com/?ref=OpinionatedGamers