Blackjack Card Counting

Blackjack is card game that is commonly played in casinos, but the problem is the house always will have the advantage when playing against you unless you do something about it. One of the best ways to lower or even eliminate the house edge is by counting cards while you’re playing blackjack. There are several different card counting strategies which have been developed over the years and they all work, but some will be easier for certain players to use. It’s important that you choose the best card counting strategy for your playing style and not just because it sounds like the best one.

Typically when the deck is full of low cards the house is going to have the advantage because you’re going to bust a lot more which means the dealer won’t even need to play their hand. If the deck is full of high valued cards then you’ll have a much better chance at hitting good hands, and even though the dealer will as well it’s still an advantage for you. Counting cards is very simple and although it may seem very difficult based on what you’ve seen or heard in the past it really isn’t. All you need to be able to do in order to count cards is some simple addition which anyone should be able to do.

There are different counts out there which you can experiment with, but if you’re new to counting cards I would recommend using a basic system. A basic system is going to value cards with a -1, +1 or 0 which makes it simple to count. More advanced strategies are going to have cards with the value of +2, -2, +1, -1 and 0 which makes it much more difficult to not only count, but also to remember which cards are assigned to which value.

Some systems are going to have a balanced count which simply means that at the end of a deck the count would be 0. Other counting systems use an unbalanced counting system which means if you went through the entire deck you would not end up with a 0 total at the end. When you’re counting cards you need to remain very focused while playing because if you lose track of any of the cards then your count is going to be way off and you will need to wait until a new shoe starts before starting to count again.

Counting cards is legal in the casino as long as you’re just using your memory, but if you use any sort of device to count cards then you will be charged. No casino likes players counting cards in their casino though, so if you get caught counting cards you will typically be asked to leave, but they will need to pay you the money they owe you so make sure they do or else they are breaking the law. Counting cards is going to limit the house edge over you and you need to do it if you want to be a good blackjack player.