Card Counting - Strategy - Part 2 of 3

This is Part 2 in our serious of articles about card counting. Part 1 gave a basic introduction to card counting.

Once you have the basics of card counting under your belt, you need to start apply this strategy in the real world, having first practiced in private to ensure that your card counting skills have become virtually automatic. The basics include learning the rules and guidelines for perfect blackjack play, learning the card counting system (usually the Hi-Low method), and knowing how to bet as the card count dictates. However, actually applying card counting in a "live" environment requires that you develop certain strategies (note that by "live" we are referring to both land and online casinos).

The first thing to realize is that it is one thing to practice card counting at home when you there is nothing to distract you focus, but it is quite another to actually do it for real in a live casino environment.

The first obvious difference is the level of noise and visual distraction. A casino is a very vibrant and noisy place. There are flashing lights, machine noises, noises from excited or disappointed players, other players talking to you and waitresses offering you beverages. You have to be able to deal with all of these distractions while not losing track of your card counting.

At the same time you will need to disguise the fact that you are card counting, both from other players and from the casino itself (something which is obviously a lot easier if you are playing online blackjack). Other players will naturally want to swap casual banter while playing. An innocent question that you cannot answer because you are concentrating on your card counting may be the thing that alerts the dealer to what you are up to. Casino staff is trained to spot any signs of card counting behavior and, while it is not illegal, the casino will certainly react to neutralize your strategy. One of the main the things they will do are to start shuffling the shoe randomly. This will change the effectiveness of card counting, as the cards will be reset far more often.

Your betting strategy also needs to be designed to mask the fact that you are counting the cards. As you will know by now, when the count reveals that the shoe is now in your favor " in other words that more high cards are likely to start falling " you need to increase the size of your bets to take advantage of the favorable situation. When there are lower cards expected, you will want to bet at the absolute minimum. This betting pattern, known as a betting spread, is one of the telltale signs of an inexperienced card counter. The dealer and pit boss will be watching for these patterns. You therefore need to be able to raise and lower your bets when necessary, without making it appear too obvious. Keep your betting spread relatively small. Experts recommend that you not go outside and 8-point spread. Make your betting increases in small increments. For example, if you have been playing betting at a 50c minimum, don?t all of a sudden raise the bet to $5 when the card count turns in your favor. Simply take one step up, to $1, and then return to 50c when the run is over. The next time you can go to $1,50 and so on. It might also be a good idea to pretend to be drinking quite a lot of alcohol, so as to give the impression that the drinks are loosening you up, and this causing you to make progressively larger bets.

You also need to manage your bankroll properly. There will be times when you will take a hit on a bigger bet, and your bankroll needs to be able to withstand this, so that you can come out firing again on the next good run. You will need a good few hundred dollars to effectively implement a card counting strategy at a $1 minimum table. The reason can be found in another aspect of card counting as a strategy " one that you need to accept and be able to handle. This is that it can take a long time. Remember that any statistical variation is least evident in a short space of time, becoming more noticeable in the so-called "long run". In order to reap rewards from your card counting strategy, you need to put in many hours of play. This requires lots of concentration and self-discipline. At the lower levels you won?t be earning a lot of money per hour " it is in the accumulation of many hours of play that you will make money. This is because your edge over the house is mostly in the order of only 1%, so you can appreciate that at that sort of percentage it will take a while to make decent money.

Send To A Friend

Add This Gambling Article To:
Del.icio.us	Digg	Google	Spurl
Furl	Simpy	Y! MyWeb	OnlyWire
Redit	StumbleUpon	Technocrati