percentage of reversed cards issue

[PinkKitty]

Is it my imagination, or does the percentage of reversed cards (currently set at 1%) increase each time I shuffle the deck? After doing several readings, the number of reversed cards is WAY too high to be 1%, which is why I have it set so low. But I thought I'd ask if there is something that can be re-wonked so I don't have to close the program after each reading. I like to click shuffle as I contemplate the issue I want to look at, and sometimes that can be up to 10 shuffles. Is there a way to fix that? Thanks

[Programmer]

There are a few aspects to this but the short answer is that the number of cards will tend to increase. The reason is that the percentage is applied with each shuffle. Suppose the percentage is set at 5%, that means on a 78 card deck about four cards might get reversed the first time. The second time you shuffle there will most likely be another four or so cards reversed, unless one of the cards is one that has already been reversed, so the reversal makes it upright again. The more reversed cards there are the more likely this is to happen. You can think of like a diffusion gradient. Over time and with repeated shuffling it will tend towards 50% reversed cards, the percentage of reversals on each shuffle just controls the rate at which this happens.

Unfortunately you can't set the percentage to a fraction, so 1% is the lowest it will go unless you set it to zero and stop having reversals at all. You shouldn't ever have to close the program though, if you sort the cards either ascending or descending that will also get rid of all the reversed cards. If the number of reversals looks way too high even after this explanation you could double check the settings for the deck you are using, because the percentage of reversals is something that can be set on a deck by deck basis so there might be something there which is overriding your default preference.

[PinkKitty]

That's pretty much what I thought; actually, it was obvious. I just wanted an outside opinion. The sort trick is useful info; I thought I had tried that an it didn't change the reversals. I'll try it again. Thanks.