Card Counting
Card Counting has been around since before the 1950′s and is the only widely used and completely legal system which can be used in a game of Blackjack to swing the odds in favour of the player. This controversial tactic has been used by thousands of players over the years and was recently glorified in the Hollywood movie 21. Although the basic premise of learning to count cards is relatively easy, mastering the count and disguises needed to pull it off these days can prove much more difficult. On this page we will explore some different methods used for card counting as well as teach you a simple way to count cards in a casino for the game of Blackjack. Remember that all it takes to become an expert card counter is tons of practice as well as knack for operating undetected.
In a nutshell, card counting is simply a tracking system which assigns positive, negative and neutral values to all cards in a 52 card deck. Using these point values the player keeps what is known as the count for that particular deck of cards and using this information they can determine how to optimally bet during the game. The reason that this strategy works so well in Blackjack is because Blackjack is a unique casino game in that it is dealt from a shoe, cards are discarded during play and the player makes a lot of decisions. Because of these variables which simply do not exist in other games, players can use card counting to gain a statistical advantage over the house by tracking the deck.
So how do you count cards? Well the first thing you would need to do is learn a card counting system from one of the many that are used by players. One of the most popular and easy to learn counting systems is known as the Hi-Lo Count and this is probably the best system for beginner counters to learn as a foundation for their game. The Hi-Lo Count assigns each card in the deck with a -1, 0, or +1 value which is used during play to determine the count.
- 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 carry a count of +1 when dealt
- 7, 8 and 9 carry a count of 0 when dealt
- 10, J, Q, K and Ace carry a count of -1 when dealt
Now that we know the values in the Hi Lo Card Counting system, how would we apply them to a game of Blackjack? The way this works is when the game starts and the cards are being dealt, the player must track every card that comes out of the shoe to keep what is known as the normal count going. For example if the cards dealt were 4, 9, J, K, A, 2 the count would be -1 at that particular point in the shoe. Once we have this information, we need to then calculate what is known as the running count to determine our optimal bet sizes during play.
The running count is calculated by taking the normal count and dividing it by the number of decks remaining in the shoe. In most Blackjack games the dealer uses anywhere between 2 and 8 decks which are dealt from a plastic holder known as the shoe. After the shuffle before the game begins, the player cuts the deck and usually takes around 2 decks out of the game (known as the penetration). As the cards are being dealt, the player should be estimating how many decks are left in that shoe and using this information to determine the running count.
The reason that we use the running count is to get a more realistic picture of how the deck is stacked so that we can determine how to place our wagers. Usually a card counter will start out with a standard bet of 1 unit before they have any information on the shoe and then will vary their bet size according to a highly positive, negative or neutral count. The general rule of thumb is to bet between 1-16 units depending on how good the count is in your favour, obviously betting the minimum 1 unit when the count is negative or neutral and slowly progressing to higher betting multiples as the count becomes positive.
Once you have done a ton of practice in properly tracking and calculating the count in Blackjack, you may be ready to test out your counting skills in a live casino. Overall, card counting is a fun and profitable way to enjoy the game of Blackjack, just remember that although card counting is not illegal the casinos do not like it and may bar or ban you if they discover you counting. The best way to avoid this is to use smaller bet spreads when counting rather than jumping from 1 unit to 10 units since this is the biggest red flag that someone is counting.
Additionally, for those of you wondering if you can use Blackjack card counting at online casinos, unfortunately this method won’t work because the hands are shuffled after each game and use a random number generator to determine the cards dealt to the player each hand. Online Casinos are however a great place to practice maintaining the count since almost all of them offer free casino games.
