Either 4, 5 or 6 cards are used during a coup. Thus the number n of cards, which as yet have not been used just before the play of some coup begins in a shoe, if one of the numbers 416, 412 to 410, 408 to (iW+4) and all these values can generally be attained. It is n which is significant for our purposes. We define N = (N'+4), the least value which n can attain during the play of the shoe. Of course N generally varies from one run through the eight decks (also termed a shoe) to another.