Posts tagged Counting
Is Blackjack Card Counting Illegal in Casinos?
May 5th
In a word, no. Card counting is not illegal.
You cannot use any devices to assist you in card counting. Pocket sized computers and other electronic devices that can be used as card counting aides are illegal. If you are caught using such a device you will be arrested in Las Vegas. A card counter can only use his own intellect to card cards.
A casino will be on guard for card counters. They watch for players who play in a business like manner. They look for players who don’t interact with the dealer or other patrons. They look for players using basic strategy. Casinos will count along with a suspect card counter. A player will be labeled as a counter when the casino sees the player raise his bet when the count is in his favor.
Team play was big in the 1990s. A team would consist of one or more players at a table betting only the table minimum and counting cards. Since these players never increased their wager, the casinos could not spot them as counters. These players then signal another, “big money” player. The “big money” player wanders from table only stopping where the count is in his favor and only betting large amounts. Without the typical wager increases of a single card counter, teams of players were difficult for the casino to spot.
A casino may escort you off premises, read you the riot act, and threaten you with trespassing should you return. They may share your picture and profile with other casinos. However, this is not likely unless you are wagering large sums of money.
A card counter who is counting poorly or who is losing is likely to be allowed to play. A casino is happy to have anyone lose at any of their games. A card counter who is winning will often provoke some action by the casino. The easiest thing for the casino to do is instruct the dealer to shuffle more frequently, perhaps every third or fifth hand. This makes the counter constant reset his count and he will never see the positive count he needs.
In order to prevent being identified as a card counter, a player can do several things. First, the player should act in a relaxed manner. Second, it may be prudent to break basic strategy. For example, you could split tens every once in a while. A casino is likely to label you a recreational player if you break basic strategy now and then. Finally, a player can be careful with his wager. A five to ten times increase in the wager is likely to be ignored. Beyond ten times increase will draw scrutiny. Also, some players recommend changing your wager in proportion to the running count. Thus the wager is always changing and it’s hard to notice increases.
Card counting is a legal and legitimate way to gain an advantage over the casino in blackjack. Visit card-counting-blackjack.com right now to learn how count cards for free. The free blackjack game teaches you how to count cards. It also shows you how to play multi-deck blackjack strategy. There is nothing to download or install. Play BlackJack for free right now.
For more information on card counting, please visit hi lo card counting
Basic Strategy to Card Counting
Jan 7th
Blackjack card counting is the only way in the whole casino in which you can turn the odds in to your favor. When played correctly, the odds of blackjack holds less than a 1% advantage for the casino. And once you have figured out the card counting techniques, the odds then go in your favor.
The way card counting works is really very simple. The more high cards there are in the deck, then the bigger you should bet, whereas if theres loads of low card left, you should lower your bet. The reason high cards are good, is because the dealer has to draw a card on anything up to 16, meaning there will be more chance that it is a high card. When there are more high cards left, the dealer will be busting on a lot more hands. High cards are also good for the player because they increase the chances of getting a blackjack or high values such as 19 and 20.
Keeping track of how many cards are left in the shoe is irrelevant. You just have to keep track of how many low cards come out and how many high cards. A low card is counted as -1 and a high card is counted as +1. Low cards are 2-6, high cards are 9,10 and aces, and 7s and 8s are counted as 0. So if the card count is high, this means there are a lot more high cards to come out, and if the count is low, then there are lots of low card to come out. You bet accordingly to this.
This is just the basic introduction to card counting. There are many strategies used, some being easier than others.
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Hi Lo Card Counting
Oct 16th
You saw the movie 21 which was about the MIT students who played team black in Vegas and won a fortune. They used the Hi Lo Card Counting system. The movie got you interested in card counting didn’t it?
The good news is that card counting is possible with practice. You can determine when the statistical advantage in a game of blackjack shifts from the casino to the player. The hi lo card counting system is one of the oldest, easiest balanced counting methods. Balanced means if you count through an entire deck starting a zero, you end at zero. Hi Lo is a good system to learn because is the basis for many other more complex methods. However, if a balanced system seems to difficult, and unbalanced system may be better for you.
You begin the hi lo method with a count of zero when the game begins or the decks are shuffled. Zero is the initial running count (called IRC). For each card played, you add the cards value to the count. The card values are as follows
The 2 through 6 cards have a value of +1.
Ten, Jack, Queen, King and Ace cards have a value of -1
The 7 through 9 cards have a value of zero.
For example, if you start at zero, you get a pair of jacks and the dealer gets an eight and seven. You have zero minus one for each jack, and the seven and eight have no value. Thus the count is minus two.
Correctly keeping the running count while playing blackjack is the heart of any counting system.
The hi lo card counting system is a balanced system. Balanced systems must convert the running count into a true count. This is done by dividing the count by the number of decks left to be dealt. You estimate this number by estimating the number of decks discarded, and then subtracting that number from the total number of decks in play.
Estimating the number of decks in a pile of discards is skill that comes with a little practice. Eventually you’ll find you can come to a good approximation of the number of decks in a pile of cards.
The real trick is doing the estimation and the mathematical division in your head. For many people this on top of keeping the count becomes overwhelming. If you find yourself struggling with the division piece, try an unbalanced system like the Red Seven method. Unbalanced systems only require that you keep the count, and you don’t have to do any division.
Again, the hi lo card counting system is based on knowing when the statistical advantage changes to the player. When the count reaches certain values, the advantage changes. These points are different depending on the number of deck used. Here are the points.
count is zero or less; wager one unit for 2 decks; one unit for 6 decks
count is +1; wager 2 units for 2 decks; 2 units for 6 decks
count is +2; wager 3 units for 2 decks; 4 units for 6 decks
count is +3; wager 4 units for 2 decks; 8 units for 6 decks
count is +4; wager 5 units for 2 decks; 10 units for 6 decks
count is +% or more; wager 6 units for 2 decks; 12 units for 6 decks
A unit is the table minimum bet. You play the minimum while the casino has the advantage. The wager increases as the count goes higher. You are betting more when you have a larger edge.
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Vincent Clark
Learn more about hi lo card counting.
How to Beat the House Advantage – Blackjack Basic Strategy & Card Counting (How To)
Oct 8th
Winning at the game of blackjack is not so difficult or impossible. All it really takes is an understanding of basic blackjack strategy to know the best calculated times to stand, hit or surrender as well as an ability to keep track of the card count and knowing how to bet. Above all, good money management skills and patience are golden.
You must treat blackjack as a job and not so much as a game if you want to win money. Don’t be foolish and don’t be greedy. Many players lose all their money because they get greedy with their bets or they are in too much a hurry to win everything back. This happens especially at casinos where people become intoxicated and exhausted from hours of play and drink. Remember to bet small and be patient. Unless you have a huge bank, it’s not a wise idea to keep doubling your bets after a loss.
Before going to another casino it is imperative to know the basic strategy for blackjack. Knowing this alone will drop the house’s advantage to .44% above the player’s. The basic strategy for blackjack tells you the best choice for hitting, standing, doubling and surrendering against whatever cards the house has.
Just playing with the basic strategy will make the game much more fair for you. However to actually win money and know when to set down big bets you need to learn to count cards. Card counting in blackjack has the potential of increasing the player’s advantage well above that of the dealer. Player’s benefit from high cards and dealer’s benefit from low cards because they have to worry about busting. So knowing the probability of getting a low or high card is very important.
In counting cards simply remember that you start at zero and are always counting by one. Cards 2-6 have the value +1 and cards 10-Ace have the value -1. Cards 7-9 are neutral and have the value zero. As the hands are dealt, you start counting. You want to make higher bets when the count is very high (meaning a lot of low cards have been dealt, making the likelihood of dealing high cards on the next round increases).
You can find a copy of the basic blackjack strategy chart at LetsWinCasinoBlackjack.blogspot.com [http://letswincasinoblackjack.blogspot.com]. I suggest printing it out to keep with you when gambling online or at the casino.
The Easiest Blackjack Card Counting System
Sep 18th
I personally recommend using the Red Seven or KO Count card counting systems. They are basic systems that perhaps are the second easiest to learn. By using an easy system you sacrifice some potential advantage. However, a simple system counted correctly is better than an advanced system played incorrectly. Plus, with a simply system you can play a fast paced game, playing more hands per hour. All statistical advantages require time to bear fruit, so the more hands you play the better.
So what is the easiest system? That is the Wizard Ace/Five count system. Be warned, it is easy but not for the faint of heart. It attempts to counter the accuracy loss by using large bet spread. Any card counter must increase his bet when the odds are in his favor in order to beat the house. The difference between the minimum wager (played when at a disadvantage) and the maximum wager (played when at the maximum statistical advantage) is the bet spread. The Wizard Ace/Five count has a maximum bet potentially as high as 38 times the minimum. That means if you a $10 minimum, you must be prepared to wager up to $380 on a single hand. You must also have the bankroll to support that high of a spread.
Card counters are normally identified by their bet spread. With such a large bet spread, you may think the Wizard Ace/Five count may quickly get you spotted as a counter. On the contrary, the Wizard Ace/Five system is so basic; you are unlikely to get identified as a counter.
In addition, the Wizard Ace/Five offers little advantage. The system can be used recreationally just to gain comps from sustained playing time, but will offer little value beyond that.
So what is the Wizard Ace/Five? The system uses only 2 point values. Any five card played is +1. Any ace played is minus one. That’s it. You keep a running count starting at 0 and looking for fives and aces only. In addition, there is no “true” count, so you do not need to divide the running count by the number of decks remaining. With a 75% penetration, stand on soft 17, late surrender and re-splitting aces you can get a 0.22% advantage using the recommended bet spread.
The five card is an important card because it will not bust the dealer hitting a 16 and makes a 17 out of 12. Therefore the five is important. The ace on the other is beneficial to the player. Ace and Shuffle tracking exist just to track aces.
Now the painful bet spread. You bet the minimum wager on any zero or negative running count. For a positive count, you bet 2 times the minimum times the running count. This can potentially lead to a spread of 38 times the minimum assuming a six deck shoe. If you were to assume that all fives were played (4 cards per deck and 6 decks per shoe) and no aces played, the highest bet could be 48 times the minimum (24 x 2). I have heard that in simulations of a billion hands, the spread never actually got higher than 38 times. You must bet the proper spread in order to take advantage of the positive signal. Reducing the bet spread reduces your edge. The average bet in simulation is 2 to 3 times the minimum wager.
The Wizard Ace Five is the easiest card counting system. Learn more about Wizard Ace Easy Card Counting.
Card counting is a legal and legitimate way to gain an advantage over the casino in blackjack. Visit card-counting-blackjack.com right now to learn how count cards for free. The free blackjack game teaches you how to count cards. It also shows you how to play multi-deck blackjack strategy. There is nothing to download or install. Play BlackJack for free right now.