Blackjack
advanced strategy...how to count cards playing black
jack
Blackjack
Rules
Blackjack Basic
Strategy
Its important to note from the outset, that
you can't count cards playing online. Why?
Because even if you know how to count cards,
each new deal in blackjack (or any card game for
that matter) at online casinos, is from a full
shuffled deck/shoe. Otherwise online casinos
would be basically giving money away to smart
players...and we know this would never happen.
Nevertheless, if you are also a keen terrestrial
gambler, or are just interested in how the pros
beat the casinos, then here's a brief summary of
how to count.
By counting cards, a player can ascertain
whether, at a given point during a game, he/she
has an edge over the house. The key to knowing
whether or not the player has an edge over the
house, is having an idea of whether the
remaining cards in the deck/shoe are
predominantly high, or predominantly low, as a
high card rich deck swings the odds of winning
in favor of the player.
Reasons for this are as follows:
-
An abundance of
high cards increases the likelihood of
blackjack being dealt to both the dealer...but
blackjack to the player pays 3 to 2.
-
The dealer has to
hit on a stiff hand (12 to 16), while the
player doesn't, and when the deck is high card
rich, a stiff hand hit is more likely to bust.
-
The probability or
winning from double down and split plays also
increases when the deck is high card rich..
So if you know the remaining deck is high card
rich, you know that you have an edge over the
house - and to do this you need to track the
cards already dealt. But don't worry, because
this doesn't necessitate memorizing every card
that has been dealt, but rather tracking the
cards by assigning a tag to the cards and
keeping a running count of the tags. Tags are
as follows:
-
low cards (2, 3,
4, 5, 6) have the tag +1;
-
high cards (10,s,
pictures and Aces) have a tag of -1;
-
the rest (7, 8, 9)
have a tag of 0
The count before the first deal is 0. As cards
are dealt, you simply add the tags of every card
dealt so that at any time during the game you
have a running count that may be positive,
negative or 0. Now, if during the game, your
count is positive, this means more low cards
have been dealt than high cards, and as a
result, the remaining shoe is high card rich.
At this point, your odds of winning are greater
than at when the game first started...and if the
count is significantly positive well into the
shoe, then you may even have a significant edge
over the house.
You can practice you counting at home by dealing
a deck to yourself and counting as you go. If
your count is 0 when when the whole pack has
been dealt, then you got it right. Your
counting really needs to be automatic before you
can actually count successfully in a real game
situation, because remember that you still have
to think about how to play your hand, well as
deal with general casino distractions.
Now you know how to count, you need to know how
to bet based on the count. In simple terms, you
play basic strategy, and up the ante when the
count is positive, and lower the ante or sit out
when the count is negative.
