Casino Blackjack card counting

One of the most famous games which are based on skill is blackjack. If you play blackjack using card counting the rate of success can be raised considerably. The father of card counting is considered to be, Edward R.Thorp, who in his first book named Beat the Dealer, published his card counting method. This was the starting point of Blackjack revolution. Today card counting isn’t illegal, but if casinos detect somebody who counts cards, they can ban him or her from playing blackjack. When you play blackjack, you must know that this game differs from the other casino games, because in this case there isn’t fixed the house edge. Those cards which were already been dealt, and those ones which are in the deck are determining the odds to have a natural blackjack. For example let’s take a case, when in the first round you have been dealt an ace. In this situation there is lower odds to draw an other one in the next round. Your winning possibilities are dependent on the mixing of those cards which remained in the deck. From the players point of view it is favorable if in the deck are high value cards, because in this case there is an increased chance to draw a pat hand or to get a natural blackjack. There is also an increased chance that the dealer will bust. For a natural blackjack the player is getting 3 to 2 paid, even though the dealer can draw a good hand, from a positive deck. So in case of positive deck the size of their bets are risen by the card counters. On the count depends also the possibility to deviate from basic strategy. The dealer is favorized when the cards from the deck have low value. In this case card counters bets are lowered.

There are simple methods of card counting. Each rank of card has a point value. This is added or subtracted by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Card_counter">card counter</a> in order to get a running count. On this way he or she can determine that the deck is negative or positive. But there exists a lot of other counting systems. Some of them are more complex, but the common aim of them is to keep track of all of the cards from the deck. A counting system could be balanced or unbalanced and this can be determined by the values which are assigned to the cards. One of the most popular balanced counting systems is the famous Hi/Lo. A complete 52 card deck is valued as zero according to this method. Using a balanced counting system a running count is kept, but this running count has to be divided by the unplayed deck’s number in order to get the true count. The other type of card counting is the unbalanced method, where the complete 52 card deck is not valued as zero. Speed count and Knock out are a few examples of this unbalanced methods. As a starting point you may not use zero, instead of this you start with a number which is predetermined and this will tell you if the deck is negative or positive. Using an unbalanced method is easier, because you don’t have to convert to the true count the remaining decks, by estimating them. As you noticed, the purpose of card counting is to inform the player when there are high value cards in the deck, in other words when is positive valued. Betting more or even deviating from basic strategies makes the player to gain the edge over the house. Your advantage is increased with the increasing number of the positive counts. A successful card counter has to be able of more than keeping track of the cards. If you are a card counter sometimes you can face that strange situation that you can count the cards at home when you exercise in silence. But in a noisy casino you can face difficulty doing the same. Card counters also have to be careful, and to camouflage their play, not to be detected by the casino bosses. If you make big jumps from one hand to the other in your bets, you will not cause the sensation of card counting. You may take advantage on the casino if you are capable to play with the casino a cat and mouse game. An important think to keep in your mind is to be realistic about your card counting results. This will give you over the house a one or two percent edge. Advantage is usually given to you on long term, and during a session advantages can vary. Dealer has the similar chance to have high cards as you, when the deck contains high valued cards.

It is useful if you know some casino tactics too:

1. They identify card counting pros, which is an easy method. After this the counter is asked to leave the casino.
2. They could prohibit the player from changing the bet amount during a shoe.
3. They change the stakes of the table. Casino could change the rules, for example by concerning multiple hands, splitting and doubling down.
4. Casino can shuffle down more often. This is done when the player increases his bet. Certainly other players are receiving also less hands per an hour, and in this way the casino will loose some money on the long run.
5. Harassment can be a harmless attitude such as talking with player in order to disturbe in concentration, but it can take the form of strange attitudes too.
6. Increasing the deck numbers will make more difficult to employ blackjack counting.
7. Surveillance is usually made with cameras.
8. Cards can be scanned with special scanners and softwares.

If you are decided to try out a card counting method it is good to take into account these tactics too. Knowing them will help you to be attentive and to try to avoid the negative consequences of being recognized as a card counter. It is good to know that your profit isn’t too much, and this is why it is better to enjoy the game instead of dealing with risky techniques. But if you decide to enjoy the risks also and to learn counting and use it on a professional way, you will have to be extremly patient, persistent and you need skill to enjoy the fruits of your efforts.