Blackjack - Counting cards

Card counting

When playing blackjack, you, other players and the dealer are dealt cards from a limited number of decks. Let`s say there is only one deck. There are 52 cards, 16 of them are valued ten (4 jacks, 4 queens, 4 kings and 4 tens), 4 of them are valued either 1 or 11 (the four aces) and 4 for each number from 2 to 9. When more decks are used, you must multiply accordingly. So if you are being dealt a single card, the chance that the card has value ten is 16/52, or 30,7%. 

The interesting thing about Blackjack is that you can see the other players' cards. These cards affect the odds of the next card that is dealt. For example, let`s say you are playing with 4 other players and that everyone has been dealt non-face cards, e.g. cards of value 2 to 9, including the dealers up card. This means 11 cards have been dealt, but all the 10 valued cards are still in the deck. Therefore, the chance that the next card has value 10 is 16/41, or 39%! This is a lot higher than the 30.7% for a complete deck!

So, if you keep track of every card shown, you will be able to estimate the true odds that the next card to come has a specific value. This is commonly referred to as 'counting cards'. 

Counting cards in blackjack will give you a decent advantage. Therefore, it`s not allowed in casinos and if they catch you counting cards you may be kicked out. But in online casinos, its different, you are at home, in front of your computer, and there are no cameras or dealers, so you can literally take notes of each card that has been dealt, using a deck checking chart.
But first, you have to start by learning the basic strategy (see the article on article section). Just by using this basic strategy you will reduce the house’s advantage to less than 1% and even to less than 0,5% depending on the type of table. And this is the first step to learn all about counting cards.

History
Yes, first we will give you some counting cards history, but we’ll try to be brief, don’t worry.  The first basic strategy and card counting system was developed in the 1950´s. But it wasn’t until the 60´s that it got some attention. This was when a mathematics professor by the name of Edward O. Thorpe publishes his famous book: “beat the dealer”. This book showed the public that it was not hard to a smart player to turn the casino’s advantage in their favour. It included the basic strategy and a simple card counting system that allowed keeping track of high and low cards. This is the mother of all card counting systems and it is still used nowadays, some times with some modifications.

Hi-Lo system

This is a pretty easy system that allows you to easily keep track of the cards remaining. Each card you see will have a value of -1, 0 or 1. Aces and ten point cards are valued -1, 7´s, 8´s and 9´s count as 0 and 2´s, 3´s, 4´s, 5´s and 6´s each count +1. Let´s see an example:

Here, the running count is -1. You add +1 (the three) 0 (the nine) +1 (the five) -1 (the ten) and -1 (the dealer´s Ace). So, all you have to do is add and substract by 1 and you must keep track of the decks remaining, this is not so hard either. 
The running count tells you how loaded the remaining deck is with high cards. The fewer decks that remain, the bigger the effect of this count on the odds of the remaining cards. So you need to estimate how many decks are left. 
To figure out the remaining decks you must know how many rounds have been played so far, if there are 3 players and each round uses up about 3 cards a player, each round will “consume” 12 cards, which is about 40% of a deck. This is how you can estimate how many decks are left to play.

Now what should you do with this info? You should divide your running count between the decks remaining, so if you have a +8 with two decks left it means you have a real +4 count. You will use it to know how much to bet.

Let´s say your base betting amount is $3, then you should bet according to your count as follows:

+1 or less bet $3
+2 or +3 bet $6
+4 or +5 bet $9

+6 or +7 bet $12

+8 or more bet $15

The reason that you want to bet more as you`re count gets higher, is that you have a better chance of winning if there are a lot of ten`s left in the deck.

As in evertything, you should practice a lot to master this system, and, of course, use it together with the basic strategy!

Good luck!!

CASINOINFO team