It is not only professional blackjack players who mention card counting in their conversations. This theme is covered by journalists, writers, directors, creators of television shows, and online scribblers writing articles on topics that can only come to their heads.
Since they can not count cards themselves and, as a rule, do not know much about these techniques, they write things having little to do with reality.
For example, a famous director shoots an expensive blockbuster featuring some stars. The protagonist, having brilliant mathematical abilities, enters a casino and "breaks" the blackjack table, assessing all the moves in advance. Admiring spectators applaud and then thoughtfully scratch their heads, regretting that they had not learned this.
This attitude creates the illusion that card counting is available only to the chosen. People started thinking that players with special abilities could beat the casino at any day and hour, and mere mortals could not. Many do not even think of visiting specialized websites or buying a book on blackjack to learn how this technique works.
Basics of Card Counting in Blackjack
We will explain the principle of card counting in blackjack and make you understand that it is not as difficult as you thought.
- Let's start with the fact that blackjack has a small percentage of the house edge, which allows the casino to remain in the positive territory in the long run.
- To reduce it to a minimum, you should find the optimal strategy for the different blackjack varieties you chose.
- Then, you have to follow its recommendations strictly without a single step away (unless there are additional conditions, but that's another story).
However, in most versions of the blackjack strategy, it is not enough to play to gain an advantage over the casino. There are different ways of counting cards that come out of the game and end up in the bump to achieve it.
Just note that in online casinos, all cards from the deck are involved in every single hand. In other words, cards out of the game go right back into the virtual shoe. Therefore, it makes no sense to count them. That's why, in online casinos, card counters can do nothing (except for rare exceptions).
Next, you must estimate the percentage of high cards in the shoe. It increases or decreases your chances of winning.
In particular, the more high cards are in the shoe, the higher is the probability of winning.
Accordingly, the more low cards are in the shoe, the higher your odds of losing. Please read about it in the themed article on Casinoz. Be sure to read it to understand blackjack better.
The basis of the described methods is counting large and small cards coming out of the game. Without going into details of various systems, it looks like this:
- a large card is out; you count +1,
- a small one; you count -1,
- a medium card; you do nothing.
The higher the current score is, the bigger your bet should be.
In Which Games Is Card Counting Possible?
Card counters most often play blackjack in offline casinos. They choose the game varieties with the most favorable rules and prefer crowded clubs where they can get lost in the crowd.
There, they can play for results without attracting the attention of pit bosses, managers, and security. Also, with large crowds and multiple active tables, the counter can pause the game if the true count gets very low.
However, blackjack is not the only option for card-counting professionals. Many apply this technique to baccarat, bridge, and other gambling card games.
Of course, each requires a special system, and some other nuances must be considered.
Techniques Related to Card Counting
If you find a blackjack game with a theoretical payback that is high enough, the simplest card counting system and basic blackjack strategy will help you beat the casino. However, the best players don't limit themselves to these two techniques.
They adopt additional methods:
- True Count - To get more reliable results, you should not just count the cards that came out but also consider the number of decks used.
- Wonging - This idea was invented by the legendary Stanford Wong. It consists of counting cards while watching someone else's table and plunging into the game when the count gets very high.
- Group Counting - Working as a team, counters are more efficient. For example, this approach provides an opportunity to blow smoke in the eyes of security. In particular, when the score is high, a player comes to the table and starts making big bets.
- Shuffle Tracking - This sophisticated technique allows you to track the location of certain cards in the deck after a shuffle with varying degrees of accuracy.
- Sequencing - This technique is similar to shuffle tracking.
In addition, many advantage blackjack players have their own techniques that they will not share with others. We will not talk about peeping dealer cards and other fraudulent techniques. This is a topic for a separate article because card counters are not cheaters.
Psychological Aspects of Card Counting
Being able to do arithmetic counting quickly in your mind is only one part of the craft. A good card counter must possess other important qualities:
- Stress tolerance - If a player counts cards in blackjack, he will always be under pressure. He knows that he could be kicked out at any moment. In addition, doing calculations is not an ideal environment. Chatterers, drunken customers, loud music, intrusive waitresses - all this disrupts and prevents you from doing business.
- Acting skills - A counter should be able to pretend to be an ordinary player, dissolve into the crowd, feign ineptitude, and so on. This helps to hide his extraordinary abilities.
- Influence on people - In land-based casinos, the customer plays against live dealers. They are often wrong, which can be used to their advantage. Many counters are skilled at provoking the croupier into making a mistake, but this is a dangerous practice.
- Sedentary - When gambling becomes a profession, it is no longer as enjoyable. Card counting is a monotonous and protracted process. You need to be prepared for it.
Read interviews and books by real counters to get an insight into this occupation.
How Can You Master Card Counting in Blackjack?
To begin with, it is important to understand the following:
Theoretically, every blackjack enthusiast should learn how to count cards to play efficiently. In practice, there is no point in learning how to count cards if you don't have the opportunity to play in real casinos.
Moreover, card counting is possible in large gambling clubs where you won't attract attention. About why you can not count cards in online casinos, already mentioned above and in other articles on Casinoz.
If you decide to master card counting in blackjack, experts advise you to follow this sequence of actions:
- Thoroughly understand the rules of blackjack.
- Study the math of this gambling game.
- Learn to determine the most profitable varieties with a minimum advantage of the institution.
- Comprehensively learn the basic strategy.
- Find out what changes must be made in the strategy in different game situations.
- Then, take the simplest system of counting and practice your skills.
- Later, learn how to keep a true score.
- Then, practice in free mode.
- Only after that can you try to play for money by counting cards in blackjack.
Card Counting for Beginners
When learning card counting, take advantage of helpful resources, such as:
- Blackjack topic articles on Casinoz,
- Books by blackjack experts,
- Interviews and publications by professional players,
- Computer training programs.
All of these will help you learn how to count cards faster.
Here are free online blackjack games for you to practice card counting.
| Name | Soft | Return to player | ||
| | 99.78% | |||
| | 99.69% | |||
| | 99.65% | |||
| | 99.6% | |||
| | 99.59% | |||
| | 99.59% | |||
| | 99.54% | |||
| | 99.54% | |||
| | 99.54% | |||
| | 99.33% |
Should You Master BJ Card Counting?
Conclusion Believe me, anyone can learn to count cards in blackjack, even if they are not very good at school with math. The main thing is to be attentive and diligent.
Finally, let us add that no counter can win every time you go to the casino. Their skill gives you an advantage over the casino in the long run. Such a practice requires a significant time investment and solid financial reserves in case of a prolonged bad luck streak. And acting skills do not hurt, because you will have to mislead the pit bosses who do not like counters.
All this should also be considered if you decide to test yourself in this field.
Do you know how to count cards in blackjack? Share your experience with Casinoz readers. Tell us interesting stories that happened to you while counting cards in the casino.