How to use the card generator
- Set how many cards to draw at a time, from 1 up to the whole deck.
- Press Draw or hit the space bar. Cards come off the top of the shuffled deck and aren’t dealt again until you shuffle a new deck.
- Turn on Return cards to the deck after each draw if every draw should come from a full deck, like picking a card for a magic trick.
Dealt like a real deck
By default, the deck works like a physical one. It’s shuffled once, and each draw deals from the top until the deck runs out. The counter shows how many cards remain, and the list below it shows every card dealt so far. Press New shuffled deck at any time to start over.
A thorough shuffle matters. A 52-card deck can be arranged in about 8 × 10⁶⁷ different orders, and quick hand shuffles often leave cards in clumps. A computer shuffle with a secure random number generator makes every order equally likely.
Ideas for using random cards
- Play solitaire-style games or card drills when there’s no deck handy.
- Use a card as a writing prompt or a workout: the number is the reps and the suit picks the exercise.
- Teach probability: what are the chances the next card is a heart?
Frequently asked questions
How many cards are in the deck?
52 standard cards: 13 ranks, ace through king, in each of four suits. Turn on jokers to add two more, for 54.
Can the same card come up twice?
Not from the same deck. Each card is dealt once until you shuffle a new deck. If Return cards to the deck is on, every draw starts from a full deck, so a card can come up again in a later draw.
Is the shuffle fair?
Yes. It uses the Fisher–Yates algorithm with your browser’s cryptographically secure random number generator, so every order of the deck is equally likely.