Card Counting in Blackjack - Part 1 of 3

What is card counting?

Card counting is a strategy used when playing blackjack. It is not usable in any other casino game, although it can also be used in games like bridge. Contrary to popular perception, it is not an arcane mathematical system that can only be mastered by gifted individuals. While it is certainly based on mathematics, the average person can learn to count cards quite quickly. Card counting is exactly what the term implies - you are counting the cards, not memorizing them, as most uninitiated people believe.

How does card counting work?

In its simplest and most common form, the Hi-Lo system, card counting requires assigning either 1, -1 or zero to the cards, depending on their value - not their specific value, but rather whether they fall into one of 3 different categories. Cards from 2 to 6 are given a value of 1, and from 10 to Ace a value of -1. The 7, 8 and 9 cards are counted as zero. All that this form of card counting requires is the ability to quickly assign these values to the cards as they appear, and to keep a running total by adding the values together. For example, let?s say the cards appear in this order: A, 4, J, 8, 9, 2, 5. The corresponding values given to them will be: -1, 1, -1, 0, 0, 1, 1. This will yield a final count of 1. You keep track as the cards are dealt by using a running count - in this case the running count is: -1, 0, -1, -1, -1, 0, 1. If you followed that, then you have grasped the basic fundamentals of card counting already.

Why does card counting work?

Most casinos use multiple decks in their shoes, up to as many as 8. Card counting allows the player to keep track of how many high cards or low cards have already been dealt, and thus how many are still to come. When high cards are expected, the player has an advantage, and the time is right to increase the bet size. When predominantly low cards are expected, bets are reduced to the minimum size. As soon as the deck is reshuffled, the card counting must start again from the beginning.

Card counting is a strategy that is used to subtly alter the statistical probability in favor of the player. It is based on the premise that a player has a better chance of winning when dealt high cards, and that the dealer benefits from getting low cards. This is because the dealer is forced to hit on any hand under 17. At this point a high card will bust the dealer. In addition to this, being dealt high cards increases the player?s chance of getting a blackjack, which has the highest payout ratio of all the hands in blackjack - usually 3-2. Furthermore, high cards are desirable after you have split pairs or doubled down.

This advantage to the player is not large. But blackjack is a game where the house edge is smaller than most other casino games. Under the most favorable rules with perfect play employed, the house edge is less than 1%. Card counting can swing this percentage towards the player by a mere 1%, but this is enough to give the player the advantage.

It is crucial to understand that card counting only works when perfect play strategy is applied. This is because perfect play strategy gets the house edge down to a level where card counting can make the vital difference to the odds. Before learning and practicing card counting, a player needs to first learn perfect blackjack strategy. Card counting will not help at all if the basic playing strategy is incorrect.

Card counting countermeasures

Card counting is not illegal, as long as no mechanical or computerized aids are used to keep track of the card count. The reason is simple and inescapable: it is not illegal to use one?s natural intelligence to learn and apply a strategy in a casino game. Making it illegal would be tantamount to outlawing the learning and application of poker odds, and would also make perfect play illegal in blackjack. This is obviously not possible.

Casinos have therefore had to come up with countermeasures within the house rules themselves to neutralize card counters. The latest method is to employ automatic shuffling machines to shuffle the shoe continuously. This renders card counting useless, which is why some commentators believe that the age of card counting is essentially over.

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