Overview of Card Counting
For several decades now, card counting in blackjack has held an almost mythical status among casual gamblers. It all began in 1979 when the first MIT blackjack teams attacked the Las Vegas casinos. Armed with a deep knowledge of the math behind blackjack, these first card counters changed the game forever.
The MIT blackjack teams weren’t the only card counters and they might not have even been the first, but they eventually became the most well known. In 1993, the book Bringing Down the House was published and it gave an inside account of one of the most successful MIT card counting teams. From that point on, card counting has maintained its aura of big money lurking just around the corner.
The funny thing about card counting is that the actual technique is extremely simple. Now that the secrets of card counting have been published hundreds of times, there’s no need to delve into complicated math. All it requires is the ability to add and subtract small numbers and maintain concentration, which is certainly easier said than done
How Card Counting Works
Card counting gains an advantage over the casino by tracking the numbers of high and low cards in the deck. By keeping a running count of the cards you see, you can tell when the deck is rich in high cards and when it is rich in low cards.
When the deck is rich in high cards, you increase the size of your bets to take advantage of the profitable situation. When the deck is rich in low cards, you place the smallest bets allowed and wait until the deck becomes rich in high cards again.
Easy in Theory
Learning how to count cards is super easy. There are two major card counting systems out there and both are quite similar. In both systems, each card is assigned a numerical value of either 1, 0 or -1. You start out with a count of 0 and then add or subtract to the running total as cards are revealed at the table.
Low cards get a value of +1, middle cards get a value of 0 and high cards get a value of -1. The higher the count gets, the better it is for you. A high count is good because it means lots of low cards have been revealed and therefore the remaining deck is rich in high cards.
The two most popular card counting systems are:
Difficult in Practice
Card counting becomes difficult in practice for several reasons. First of all, it assumes you already have perfect blackjack strategy memorized. All the card counting in the world won’t help if you can’t play a perfect game of blackjack.
Counting also becomes more difficult due to the noise and commotion of a casino. Casinos are noisy, crowded places and are full of people. Trying to keep your concentration in such an environment is not easy.
On top of that, casinos now have many countermeasures in place to prevent card counters from being successful. Some casinos just ban suspected card counters while others will go to great lengths to distract them. Some casinos have even been known to send plain-clothed employees down to talk to card counters and interrupt their concentration.
Card Counting Tips
1. The most important first step is to memorize perfect blackjack strategy. Get it down so well that you can almost play in your sleep. That way you’ll be able to concentrate on counting the cards.
2. Practice card counting at home or with friends first. Counting cards in a live casino is not easy so the more practice you can get at home, the better off you’ll be. You can also practice online, even though card counting doesn’t benefit you online (because the deck is continuously shuffled).
3. Try your hand at small casinos first. Big casinos have sophisticated security systems in place and will probably catch on to what you’re doing rather quickly. Small casinos don’t have nearly the same resources available to combat card counters.