Protection: Dealing From a Shoe

The shoe is a plastic container that holds one or more decks of cards in a way where they can be dispensed out of a crack. Cards are slid out of the shoe onto the table to be dealt. They are compulsory in casino card games.

A shoe is one protection against sleight of hand dealing, but is extremely cumbersome and unorthodox in home games. Most observers had never seen a shoe used in a home game, which certainly offers protection, but immediately suggests lack of trust in a "friendly" game. Further disadvantage is that it requires that the shoe be passed around the table along with the deck for every deal, and contravenes with tables that always have two decks ready for quicker deals.