[jonplackett]

The link in this to another article about the number of different combinations of cards is mind blowing.

I mean, I know I should probably have realised that really, but I didn't think it would be such a beyond-astronomical number of potential orders.

[zxcvbn4038]

And then you consider a game like blackjack where you often have six decks in play, 312! combinations instead of 52!.

Interesting question just popped into my head, if the orientation of the card matters, how do people randomize that?

[thedufer]

312! is way too high - there are 6 indistinguishable copies of each of 52 cards, not 312 unique cards.

[Chinjut]

(6 * 52)! / (6! ^ 52)

[ninju]

This page has a "workflow" you can go through to get a sense of how big 52! really is

http://czep.net/weblog/52cards.html