I can assure you the cards are dealt completely randomly and the difficulty level does not affect the shuffling of the deck.
With all that said I've enjoyed playing with My partner while he is abroad so I'm glad it exists!! I also don't like that there's no option to build with the cards on the table, which Is how I learned to play. In a difficult setting it seems weird that this happens. I've also noticed that the computer makes fairly novice mistakes, like putting down a card that lets me build to a number that any human would know I had. Initially I thought it was chance but after playing over and over again I'm fairly certain this is how the computer is dealt (maybe on the difficult setting). I thought I was going crazy or being a sore loser but after reading others complain maybe not.I love this game but the computer in this app almost always have the same exact cards that I have when I go first and sweeps every hand dealt. Fun with friends but not with the computer