Counting Cards in Blackjack

Counting cards in blackjack is very simple. There are very basic yet reliable systems to effortlessly keep a running track of which cards have been dealt. To perform these card counting techniques all you need to be able to do is add and subtract. There are several different card counting strategies. They all require adding subtracting by the value of one, however they differ slightly on which values certain cards take, mainly the Ace, Seven, Eight and Nine value cards. To get you started into learning to count I am going to teach you the "Hi-Low" card counting strategy. I started with this strategy when I first began counting cards at blackjack. It is the most commonly used card counting strategy that I know of and was the counting strategy portrayed in the movie '21'.

When counting cards with the Hi-Low card counting strategy for blackjack, each card has a value of '-1', '0' or '1'. Card values worth '10', as well as Aces are assigned the value '-1'. Card values 2-6 are assigned the value '1' and card values 7-9 are assigned the value '0' and are considered neutral when counting. In a full deck of cards, when you counting using this method you should always have an end count result of ZERO after counting through all 52 cards.

The size of your bets must correspond with the count in order to make money playing blackjack. When the count is high, say for example, a positive count of '12', then you would want to place a very big bet. If the count is low, such as '-12' then you would want to bet very small, not bet, or leave the table depending on the situation. Large counts are advantageous for the player while low counts are advantageous for the dealer. The reason is that high cards, mainly '10' value cards like 10,J,Q and K are better for the player. If the count is very high, then this means that more low cards have been dealt and high cards are more likely to be dealt next. With high cards, the player is more likely to get a good hand but also the dealer, who is required to hit until they have atleast a '17', will be more likely to bust. Low counts are better for the dealer because they are less likely to bust and more likely to reach a hand of 17-21.

So, it's pretty easy. The only other small aspect of this card counting strategy is knowing how to compensate for the number of decks being used in the shoe. This strategy as described above is great for playing with one deck of cards, but this isn't how it's done in the casinos or online casinos. Casinos, both online and physical, typically use six decks of cards. Different casinos may differ, but in general they use between 4-8 decks. When more than one deck of cards is being used, you must perform a small mathematical formula to achieve what is called the 'true count'. To achieve a true count, all you have to do is divide the count by the number of decks. For example, if you have a count of '12', and the casino is using six decks, then you would divide 12 by 6 to get a true count of 2. Using a true count is more important when the shoe deck is fresh. However towards the end of the shoe, since there are less cards left, the original count holds more power. In either case, you must use your own discretion and practice to get a better feel for the nature of the numbers and how to use them.