Apparatus for modified poker

A card handling apparatus for preparing playing cards for a card game comprising:

• a housing able to stand upon a surface of a casino table or an adjacent stand;
• a control panel positioned on an exterior of the housing for programming game parameters and indicating apparatus status;
• an input portal consisting of a card receiving cavity for receiving an unshuffled card deck;
• a discharge portal consisting of a first output tray and a second output tray, each tray for receiving a play-ready substack;
• the two output trays viewable by each of the game players;
• each output tray having a sensor for detecting card presence;
• a card receiver having a plurality of card storage nests;
• a card transport having a card transport path that moves individual cards from the input portal to any one of a randomly chosen card storage nest;
• each nest configured to hold one play-ready substack;
• the two output trays each configured to hold one play-ready substack simultaneously;
• wherein a number of cards discharged to each output tray is programmable;
• the card receiver being moved incrementally and bidirectionally to align each randomly chosen nest with the card transport path;
• at least one microcontroller responsive to the control panel for directing movement of the cards;
• the at least one microcontroller configured to choose either the first output tray or the second output tray for receiving the play-ready substacks from any of the plurality of card storage nests;
• the at least one microcontroller configured to discharge a play-ready substack to a vacant output tray;
• and
• wherein the at least one microcontroller is configured to maintain play-ready substacks simultaneously in both the first output tray and the second output tray.