How to Count Cards in Blackjack

❖❖❖❖❖ CARD COUNTING IN BLACKJACK ❖❖❖❖❖

What is Card Counting in Blackjack?

  • Card counting is the technique you use when you keep track of the number of high and low cards left in the dealers’ deck
  • Count cards successfully, and you can raise your bet when you know the odds are stacked in your favor, making you much more likely to win big.
  • Card counting is not for learning how to consistently win at blackjack, or how to cheat in blackjack.
  • It’s simply a skill set in addition to your normal gameplay, to give you a better idea of what’s in the deck.

❖❖❖❖❖ CARD COUNTING IN BLACKJACK ❖❖❖❖❖

What is Card Counting in Blackjack?

  • Card counting is the technique you use when you keep track of the number of high and low cards left in the dealers’ deck
  • Count cards successfully, and you can raise your bet when you know the odds are stacked in your favor, making you much more likely to win big.
  • Card counting is not for learning how to consistently win at blackjack, or how to cheat in blackjack.
  • It’s simply a skill set in addition to your normal gameplay, to give you a better idea of what’s in the deck.

Counting cards is an easy skill to pick up, but difficult to master

Learn about blackjack card counting to take your game up a level

❖❖❖❖❖ COUNT AS CRIMINAL ACT ❖❖❖❖❖

Why should I not count the cards?

  • There are no federal or state laws that consider counting cards to be a criminal act.
  • Providing you’re doing it in your head and not using a card-counting device or mobile app, there is nothing illegal in this.
  • However, despite the law, it is regarded as cheating. If you are going to attempt to count cards in a casino, we strongly advise you to be cautious.
  • Casinos will come down heavy on suspected card counters. You may be asked to leave the table or even be banned.

❖❖❖❖❖ HELP YOU TO WIN ❖❖❖❖❖

Why should I count the cards?

  • In a word: winning. Do it right, and you can strike gold with one simple, strategic game.
  • Learning to count cards in blackjack can help you win big.
  • Blackjack is a casino game phenomenon worldwide because, as well as being fun, you have a decent chance at pocketing whatever you win.
  • When you know what you’re doing… It gets even better when you can flip the odds in your favor, giving you more chances of big wins!

❖❖❖❖❖ LEARN HOW TO COUNT CARDS ❖❖❖❖❖

How does Blackjack Card Counting Work?

To card count properly, whether in an online blackjack game or in a casino, all that you are doing is keeping a running tally based on the face value of any cards revealed. Learn how to count cards with these 4 simple steps:

  • Start by assigning cards a value of either +1 (cards 2-6), 0 (cards 7-9), or -1 (cards 10-Ace).
  • Keep a running count with each card the dealer pulls a card from the deck, using the values mentioned above.
  • Providing you keep an accurate count as the cards are dealt, you’ll be able to monitor the running value of the cards left remaining in the deck.
  • After each round, if the count is negative, increase the size of your bet. This is because there will be more low-value cards remaining in the deck. If the count is positive, lower your bet instead.

❖❖❖❖❖ CARD COUNTING STRATEGY ❖❖❖❖❖

Basic Card Counting Strategy

Hi-Lo strategy: The most basic strategy for beginners is called the Hi-Lo strategy. This strategy is simple and easy to follow for a beginner to get started with card counting while playing online or at a land-based casino. The value of the cards in this strategy are as follows:

➯ High cards (10 – Ace, including face cards) are assigned a specific value of -1.
➯ Low cards (2 – 6 in any suit) are assigned a +1 value.
➯ The remaining cards (7 – 9) count as 0.

☑ example: As the dealer deals a card, you make a note in your head of its assigned value. If the card is a ten, for example, you count it as -1. If the next card dealt is a three, its assigned value is +1. Now your cumulative total adds up to 0. The idea is that you do this continuously for every new card dealt, without breaking your sum, until the deck is shuffled again. The total is considered the ’running count’.

❖❖❖❖❖ CARD COUNTING FOR BEGINNERS❖❖❖❖❖

How to Count Cards for Beginners in 4 Steps

Assign a value to each card (+1, 0, or -1)

Keep track and remember the value of the card

Add the values of the cards to determine the value of the cards in the deck – the Running Count

Bet according to the card count (increase if the count is negative, lower if it’s positive)

❖❖❖❖❖ CARD COUNTING FOR PROFESSIONALS❖❖❖❖❖

Advanced Card Counting Strategies for professionals

Once you’ve mastered the art of basic Hi-Lo card counting, you are probably done with counting off cards on your fingers. When you want to progress to more complex techniques, you have several options to choose from.

  • Omega II
  • Wong Halves
  • Group Play
  • Multiple Decks

The Omega II technique is a ’balanced’ system, where you have 0 as a base. Bryce Carlson developed this and wrote a book about card counting back in 1992. It is more sophisticated than the classic +1,0 and -1 values. A positive count reflects that more low cards are present in the deck being dealt. A negative count means numerous high cards are still in the deck.

  • 2, 3, or 7 are valued as 1
  • 4, 5, and 6 are valued as 2
  • 9 is valued as -1
  • 10 and all face cards are -2
  • 8 and Ace cards are 0

The name of this system comes from its creator, Stanford Wong. It’s considered an advanced strategy on account of its assigned values, some of which are fractions. Wong Halves is a ’balanced’ system, meaning that when a deck is dealt completely, your count should be 0. You can simplify the strategy by doubling up all the values to avoid using fractions altogether.

  • 3, 4, and 6 are valued as 1
  • 2 and 7 are valued at 0.5
  • 5 is valued as 1.5
  • 8 is valued as 0
  • 9 is valued as -0.5
  • 10, Ace and face cards are -1

Some card counters make it a team effort. The benefit of this is that multiple decks, on multiple tables, can be counted simultaneously. The team uses signals to communicate with one another while avoiding detection. In this way, they can tell hovering players when to join in a hand, and whether to bet big or not.

This strategy was employed by a team of students and alumni at MIT to win millions of dollars from multiple casinos for years. Once uncovered, their escapades became the subject of a best-selling book. In 2008, their story became a Hollywood movie called 21.

Counting Multiple Decks

One of the ways casinos try to counteract card counting is by using multiple decks. This in theory makes it harder for card counters to keep track of the running total. If you come up against a dealer using multiple decks in blackjack, you can still use the Hi-Lo strategy. All you need to do is divide the running count by the number of decks remaining. This will give you what is called a ’true count’.

Your true count figure, rather than your running count, dictates your advantage when multiple decks are involved. You must keep an accurate running total to enable you to work out the true count value. For example, if your running total is 5 and there are 2 decks remaining, your true count will be 2.5 (because 5 divided by 2 is 2.5).

❖❖❖❖❖ LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS ❖❖❖❖❖

Is Counting Cards Illegal?

  • You will be arrested if you do card counting with electronic or mechanical aids such as smartphone apps
  • Using your head to count cards is still not welcomed at casinos
  • In casinos, the pit boss will get the dealer to force a shuffle once the hand being dealt is over. Online blackjack does not have the same problem, but some software forces random shuffles to counteract this practice.

Blackjack Card Counting FAQ

Blackjack Card Counting FAQ

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