All players in blackjack know about counting cards. It is considered a violation of rules in most casinos. But can we blame players if they only use their intellectual abilities without the aid of any technologies or devices? However, this is a rhetorical question, and the security team of every large casino does not agree with it.
Card counting in blackjack started in the sixties of the last century. Casinos do not like to lose money, so they immediately took measures to prevent counting. Not all efforts were practical; many were too strict, and all blackjack players ignored them. Still, some of them took root and even became the classic rules.
The War Starts...
The first measures against counting cards were too harsh.
For example, some casinos limited the use of such rules as Split or Double. Naturally, this caused a furor among players who simply stopped playing blackjack in those casinos.
As a result, those rules were left unchanged, but casinos got more subtle tricks to make blackjack even more interesting for casual players but less profitable for counters.
The reason is that the original blackjack was played with one deck of fifty-two cards. Of course, it was easy to count cards and beat the casino. In other words, all those who mastered card counting systems rarely lost. Even frequent card shuffles and limiting the number of hands did not help.
A Shoe and Multiple Decks in Blackjack
Casino owners could not tolerate it and introduced blackjack with multiple decks. The dealer distributed cards using a device called a "shoe." The game became more dynamic because players did not have to wait until the dealer shuffled the cards after every round.
But several decks in BJ made counting cards much more challenging.
Counting cards became useless and did not provide an advantage over the house. Counters did not give up, and systems for counting with several decks were developed. They were not as effective, but still, they worked.
Casinos made another move. Dealers began to "cut" a part of the cards in the shoe by inserting a special plastic card. The cards behind that plastic piece did not participate in the game. Croupiers might cut from one-fifth to one-third of all cards in the shoe.
You can imagine what a blow it was to card counters!
Other Methods
But casinos did not stop there. Dealers could "burn" a few cards in many clubs by placing them in the discard holder. It was often done if the security service suspected the player counted cards. The grounds for such suspicions were usually a sharp change in bets or a successful game.
But if the player continued to win despite everything, the guards tried to drive him out of control.
Every self-respecting casino has a "blocklist" of players. Various places cooperate in this regard, even if they compete in other spheres.
Card Counters Strike Back...
Nevertheless, counting in blackjack continues its successful existence. New systems are invented, although their use requires skills and ruthless cold-mind calculation. This is evidenced by reports that, in one way or another, casinos disclose such cases of cheating, as they say. Although we must admit that counters are increasingly relying on electronics lately, it's not entirely legal.
To calm the security service, counters make the team.
- A person making low bets or sitting at the bar can count cards from a distance.
- His partner does not play but waits in the hall going from table to table.
- When he receives a signal, he starts playing at a particular table.
This is an effective way in large crowded casinos. The professionalism and artistry of these groups are striking. They behaved so naturally that I even sympathized with casino employees.
Believe me, the author of this article has experience in the gaming industry and knows how difficult it is sometimes to detect card counters.
Such a player can drink a lot and be completely drunk because he does not need to count cards. Companions do it for him. In this case, all is written off as a "drunken suit." Administration consul themselves with the thought that now he will start to lose. In an extreme case, he will return tomorrow. But no such luck! Such actors do not appear in one casino more than once, which does not happen often.
We want to warn readers that these companies usually have a terrible end. As we mentioned above, casinos share the information that will come up after thoroughly considering the game. The situation is usually carefully analyzed, and the actions of unfamiliar players are considered almost under the microscope. All the data is compared with the general representation, shading light on the actual situation. So in the next casino, even if it is a few hundred kilometers away, they are already met with a head-on.
Therefore, we recommend you play alone and count cards if you want to avoid typical mistakes of this process we will discuss in detail in another article.
