How to Count Cards

Have you ever found yourself constantly pacing around a casino because most of the table games you are interested are full, and you refuse to sit at the blackjack table because one might think the game is confusing or complicated? I’m here to tell you that it’s okay. No one is born ready nor an expert; we all struggle at the beginning, even myself, but over the past 8 years, I have gained the experience and knowledge needed at the table. I am going to show you a rather fast-paced way to overcome that fear and inspire one to get in the game.

Blackjack is a very fun game and should be enjoyed and without the feeling of intimidation of maybe embarrassing yourself in front of other players. I am first going to inform you on some terminology, what areas of the table are called, and finally I am going to teach you on a tactic that is frowned upon by the casinos themselves, but it will teach you how to clean house and make a killing and come home with some money! I am indeed talking about counting cards.

Supplies

6-8 decks of cards no jokers.

Step 1:

1.    Assign a value to every card.

Each card in this system has a value to it, the card values are as follow:

2 through 6 = +1

7 through 9= 0

10 through Ace= -1

Remember you are not just counting your cards; you’re counting the other players cards as well as the dealer’s card that is show. This first step is known as basic strategy.

Step 2:

Keep a “running count based off the values of the card dealt.

Normally the player would add 1, subtract 1, or do nothing based on each cards value, but I find it much easier to wait till the second card for each player is dealt out and add up the total value from there.

A card counter will do this round after round, adjusting the running count as each round passes. What do I mean by round after round? It can also be described as each time all the players get a new set of cards until the dealer shuffles the cards. While the count is fluctuating round after round going more positive or more negative, that is going to give us the information we’re going to need to know when we have the advantage and how to play accordingly. As the count goes more negative, the advantage goes further to the casino, and we are going to use that information to our advantage as well. But what does this even mean when the count is changing for us card counters? As more low cards are coming out, it means there are more higher value cards left in the shoe yet to come, which helps the player. When all those low cards have come out of the shoe those are not going to be in play again until the dealer shuffles. This is also applied vice versa if a bunch of high cards have come out that means the favor is shifting in the casinos favor

This is what makes blackjack so much different than any other game in a casino, every other game is based on independent events such as a spin of the roulette wheel or a roll of the dice.

Step 3:

Use this information to calculate the count per deck or also “known as true count”.

At this point we are keeping our running count, but that is not going to be enough for the player, as this is only telling us how the shoe composition or makeup it. However, there is a big difference in let’s say if we have a running positive 8 with 5 decks remaining versus a running positive 8 with let’s save 1 or 2 decks remaining. Typically, casinos use 6 to 8 decks, so it is important that you know what the size of a single deck of cards looks like.

 

Knowing our running count, we now have to convert to our true count. You may be asking yourself what else do I have to do, maybe a little overwhelmed but really it’s simple 4th grade math we are simply going to take the information from above and divide our running count by the number of decks remaining. Now obviously you are not going to know when exactly you are 52 cards in, 104 cards in, 156 cards in, and so on. But that is exactly why you need to have a good idea of what the size of a deck of cards looks like.

Step 4:

Based on everything we have taken from here based on the true count you will now adjust your bets accordingly.

 

You now have the tools needed to become a successful card counter. This is going to take several weeks of practice for one to get down perfectly. Your next big step is how are you going to keep track of the count with all the distractions that go on in a casino, but you must be very solid at knowing all the steps before doing that. Otherwise, if you are not sound in all areas you will lose track after a couple of rounds. You are going to have to find out your own personal ways on how to keep track with the distractions, all I can say is do not use your chips otherwise the eyes in the sky and the pit bosses are going to find that really strange that you are constantly moving your chips. The final question is, are you ready to win?!