Blackjack Card Counting

We recently talked about the most famous skill-based casino games and of course we mentioned blackjack. As we have said before, the dealer in blackjack always has an advantage, however, with certain knowledge and experience, your chances of winning increase. By “certain knowledge” we meant mastery of card counting techniques.

Card counting is a hot topic, and gamblers often wonder if this math strategy is even allowed. With the help of this article, you will learn how to count cards in blackjack and have an ace in the hole while playing!

What is card counting?

Card counting is a mathematical strategy that allows the player who gets it to help gain a likely advantage in the next hand to beat the dealer. Card counting players will keep count of the high and low value cards used in the game in order to gain an advantage over the casino.

Is it legal?

Let’s start with the question “Is it legal to count cards?”. Well, there is an answer to this question, but it is ambiguous. In fact, it is not something illegal if you refrain from using any software, so you can not be afraid of any sanctions, but keep in mind that the casino has the right to blacklist you without giving reasons and after that you can’t play anymore.

Card counting is not illegal if you refrain from using any software, but keep in mind that the casino has the right to blacklist you without giving any reason

How to count cards in blackjack?

Now let’s talk about how you can count cards in blackjack! This thing can be tricky; it is not a method that can be mastered in a few hours and requires a lot of practice and patience. You will need to study the strategy and now we will explain what it is and how it works. After you learn how to count blackjack cards, you can visit your favorite online casino to put your knowledge into practice.

Learning how to count cards will help you choose the best time to increase/decrease your bet. When the game starts, there is always an equal number of high and low value cards in the deck. In card counting, you assign a positive, negative, or zero value to each card. Cards 2-6, 7-9 and 10-Ace receive the values ​​+1, 0 and -1 respectively.

You should use these values ​​for card counting instead of using their face values ​​when dealt. Either add one, remove one, or do nothing for high value cards for each new card dealt. When you do this you are “keeping a running count” . This is an extremely important step in the strategic process and you will need patience to master it.

As your checking account increases, you will start to get an edge and you may want to consider raising your rates (if your budget allows of course). However, if the current account decreases, this means that the casino has an advantage, and it is not worth raising the bet.

With a single deck, this strategy works well and lets you know when it’s profitable to adjust bet sizes, but the problem is that online casinos have begun to figure out what players are up to. Online casinos can now use multiple decks to prevent you from counting cards.

But in fact, you can count cards even with multiple decks. With multiple decks, you need to get what’s called a “True Count”. To understand what True Count is, you can use the current count divided by the number of decks remaining. The higher the score and the more cards played, the greater your advantage!

Let’s face it, card counting takes a long time to master and it’s not for everyone. Please remember that no matter how you master card counting, there will always be a casino that will work twice as hard to discourage you from winning. Card counting and various card counting strategies can be fun and help you win but remember, in the end the house will always have the edge and you should only bet what you can afford to lose! Play responsibly.