Last week you said that many cards (Lass, etc.) don't require shuffling their deck if they don't have any cards in their hand (Nov 30, 2000, Q4 & Q15). But, a previous ruling for Gambler said that you DO have to shuffle (May 11, 2000, Q131). Please clarify & confirm. Thanks.
Read every card...on Gambler it specifically states 'shuffle your hand into your deck'. Since your 'hand' can be a 'hand' of zero cards you could shuffle if you had no cards in your hand in this case. However, cards that say trade a card in your hand for one in your deck, and you don't have one to trade; you can't shuffle in that case. Lass says 'shuffle all Trainer cards in your hand back into your deck. If you have no trainers, you can't shuffle your deck.
Source: WotC Chat (2000-12-07)