Blackjack Card Counting – Will It Work For You? It’s not easy, here’s why
The purpose of Blackjack card counting is to know when the shoe decks on the table contain cards that are favorable to you, the player, thus knowing when to place a bigger bet.
Many casinos now use continuous shuffling machines (CSM), where the cards are automatically shuffled after each hand. It is impossible to count when these gadgets are used.
The movie twenty-one, Starring Kevin Spacey, it is a dramatization of a true story about a group of six MIT students who beat Las Vegas casinos by the millions by mastering card counting techniques while playing blackjack. Give a good description of how the system works. The movie is based on the book, Tearing down the house, by Ben Mezrich.
The goal of card counting
Based on the above, the goal is to know when the decks contain cards that are favorable to you, the player, thus knowing when to place a higher bet.
You would do this by mentally assigning a point value to the cards that are dealt and keeping track. Even if you have math skills and can keep a running count in your head, there is still no guarantee. If the shoe is favorable, it may be the other players at the table, or even the dealer, who receive the best cards.
Contrary to what most people think, card counting is not illegal. However, if you are caught, you will be asked to leave the casino. Your staff, benefited by the Eye in the sky View, pit managers, floor personnel, and dealers are trained to detect meters.
Counting strategy
A simple strategy works like this: Assign the following point value for the range card dealt: any 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are (+1). 7, 8, 9, are considered neutral, so don’t count them. 10, J, Q, K, A, are (-1). Do the mental tabulation. If the count is +4 or more, it means that lower value cards (unfavorable) have been dealt and higher value cards (favorable) remain in the shoe. The reverse is true when the count is below +4 or in the minus field. Mentally continue the running count accumulated after each hand until the next shuffle. Many sound easy, but the fast pace can be confusing. One mistake could bankrupt the account in the wrong direction. If you still think you’d like to try your hand at counting, here are some helpful tips:
Learn a simple basic strategy first. Without that, counting is meaningless.
Practice. Practice. Practice. Try it at home with multiple decks first. Try to count in groups of 3 or 4 cards each to represent individual players. Tabulate up to 20-30 cards to simulate a full table of seven players per round. Speed is important.
When you’re ready, choose the right table. Look for the slowest dealer, a table with favorable rules, and a shoe game with the fewest number of decks. Sit down to shop in a cool shoe immediately after random play. Note that some casinos do not allow entry to a game with half the shoe.
The favorable rules for the player are: Blackjack pays 3/2, splits any pair, doubles into two cards, doubles are allowed after splitting, and the dealer places on seventeen.
Don’t be greedy. Keep your betting margins low, within 5 times the table minimum. For example, at a $ 10 table, never bet more than $ 50 on a favorable count. If you keep jumping from $ 10 to $ 100, they will catch you.
Don’t be obvious. If you try to act like the dumbest blackjack player in the world while playing perfect basic strategy, you will get caught. Remember, practice, explore, select, play and have fun.
Good luck!