European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 27, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Decked by the computer it takes 7 shuffles to mix cards thoroughly by Gina Kolata new York times it takes just seven Ordinary imperfect shuffles to mix a deck of cards thoroughly researchers have found fewer Are not enough and More Donot significantly improve the mixing the mathematical proof discovered after studies of results from elaborate computer calculations and careful observation of card games confirms the intuition of Many gamblers Bridge enthusiasts and casual players that most shuffling is inadequate. The finding has implications Tor everyone who plays cards and everyone from Casino operators to magicians who has a stake in knowing whether a shuffle is random the mathematical problem was complicated because of the immense number of possible ways the cards in a deck can be arranged any of 52 could be first in the deck any of 51 could be second 50 could be third Anri so on multiplied out. The number of possible permutations is 10 with 62 zeros after it. No  expected that the shuffling problem would have a simple answer said Dave Bayer a mathematician and computer scientist at Columbia University who is a co author of the recent discovery. Other problems in statistics like analysing speech patterns to identify speakers might be amenable to similar approaches he said the new result definitely solves the problem said David Aldous a statistician at the University of California at Berkeley. All their calculations Are right. It s a fascinating  Persi Diaconis a mathematician and statistician at Harvard University who is the other author of the discovery said the methods used Are already helping mathematicians Analyse problems in abstract mathematics that have nothing to do with shuffling or with any known real world Phenomena. Diaconis who is also a magician has invented numerous card ticks and has been carefully watching Casino dealers and casual card players shuffle for the past 20 years. The usual shuffling produces a card order that is far from  Diaconis said most people shuffle cards three or four times. Five limes is considered  the realization that most shuffled decks Are not actually random allows gamblers to improve their Odds of winning there Are people who go to casinos and make Money on this Diaconis said. I know people who Are out there doing that  in Las vegas cards Are shuffled from Lour to seven times at the discretion of the Casino owners said Richard Ingram a Las vegas enforcement agent for the state gambling control Board. Diaconis said he almost never sees a dealer shuffle seven times. He said his research also shows that when dealers shuffle several decks at once they need to shuffle More two decks should be shuffled nine times he said and six decks should be shuffled 12 times which is unheard of in the casinos. At Trump Plaza in Atlantic City n Blackjack dealers shuffle eight decks twice at the beginning of each game said Howard Dreitzer who is senior vice president of Casino operations. We be tested these shuffles and feel that they Are random he said adding that no one has Ever  Bridge players usually shuffle about four times except in some tournaments when a computer even after deck of cards la Cut and shuffled fragments of the original Arranga Manl remain. In ins Asumpta. The hearts Ara Cut into two sequences Aca through is and seven through King then the sequences Ara shut Nad. Vasli Ltd Msj Lump to in it so Uulu i a the cards Ara re longer ordered bul tha a quench Cath Routi six in mails. With card from lha Othow trag Nwart Invar opened. Also in Lequan Cej the Larai tha number at card r a Raqu irm to Mai them Cut we Hnat show Tow Fochts thai the i card in a Dock Wili occupy any Othar poll  Ona to Haven shuffle Attar Ona Shulla. For a Amport tha it flt card is vary it Cah to Barona of tha Trutt Tow cards a tha pack and vary unix scaly to a Avan Liva or in cards Bach. After tour snut thai. It w so tar Mora Wiy to a at the beginning of the Dack than at tha and. Only Sitiar Savan shul Flat Doe the card Hava about Tea Uma Odds of a Trig any Givan Poynton. 10 is 20 25 30 card position in deck 35 cards of 52 shown Harvard mathematician Petal Diaconis Tod a computer to Analyse playing card shuffling pattern. Randomly mixes the cards said Edgar Kaplan who is editor and publisher of Bridge world Magazine. Asked whether he expected Bridge players to change their shuffling habits Kaplan replied there will be a few who will be affected and will doggedly. Shuffle seven times to the irritation of everyone  As for himself Kaplan said i probably will move up from four to five shuffles a decision which the research shows will not appreciably improve the randomness of the shuffled cards. Diaconis has found that Many Bridge players take advantage of the non randomness of seemingly shuffled cards. He said a Bridge club in new York state once consulted him As a magician to find out whether several players were cheating. After watching play and doing a Little thinking in Between Diaconis knew what was going on. These players he said had figured out that the cards were not being randomly shuffled and that they could predict the distributions of cards by knowing what the deck looked like at the end of the previous hand. The players admitted to it readily Diaconis said. But they did t think they were doing anything wrong. After All they were just  the club asked those players not to play together for a year. P Buna Bombeck super bowl xxiv there s almost a reverence about it As households today prepare for the ultimate rivalry of the year Money has been put into Swiss Banks in children s names in Exchange for their silence. Once again we Are about o witness the Battle Between the Cain and Abel of advertising coca cola and Pepsi this is the Day when both soft drinks introduce their teams to the Public will it be Michael jackson7 madonna9 Michael j Fox or an unknown Chimpanzee the Slakes Are High at $700.000 for 30 seconds of air time every satisfied belch counts. Every year i try to anticipate what stars will make the soft drink super bowl will Elvis appear live with a Pepsi in his hand will Mother Teresa hoist a Coke to her lips who will sell out if you Promise not to hyperventilate i la Tell you that coca cola is trotting out its Veteran lineup the group who in 1971 Sang a hymn of Harmony on a Hilltop in Rome. Only this time they la be joined by their children. As for Pepsi it s signed two youngsters to carry the Ball Kirk Cameron of growing pains and Fred Savage from the wonder years. It s anybody s game. It s funny How the focus of an event can change throughout the years. It used to be when you mentioned the super bowl All anyone talked about was the game. Then the halftime programs got bigger and More elaborate and interest shifted. It was no longer a High school band forming a Large pizza with the tubas disguised As Pepperoni on a playing Field of cheese. It was smoke and fire and girls with legs that went All the Way to their armpits during the olympics los Angeles elevated sports entertainment to the state of the Art. If you could t have a Man in a Silver spacesuit with a motor on his Back drop out of the sky onto the playing Field forget it. A few years ago along came the commercial Competition Between the soft drink companies they were playing to a super bowl audience bigger than the population of most countries. So where s the smart Money i m going with Kirk and Fred even though they Are Young and without commercial experience. My husband says hell go with the team on the Hilltop. Would someone turn that game Down is it my imagination or do to stations turn up the sound when the game is on and turn it Back Down when the commercials Are on c 1990 Erma Bombeck Page 16 the stars and stripes saturday january 27,1990