Card Counting

Card counting will give you an upper hand in blackjack game which is a combination of skill and strategy. Card counting was the brain child of Edward R Thorpe who published the book "Beat the Dealer" which spoke about the principles of the game. This book took the world of blackjack by a storm and instigated casinos to place a ban on card counting. While it is not illegal to count cards, casinos ban players who resort to this.

Why card counting works

The main aspect differentiating blackjack from the other card games is that the "house advantage" is not set. The cards that are dealt and the ones remaining in the pack determine the chances of getting the blackjack.

The game will prove to be in the favor of the player if the cards in there are cards with high value pending in the shoe. The chances of the dealer going bust and the player winning are high is the pending deck has a greater amount of aces and tens. Thanks to the father of the card counting, there are a lot of happy people around. Though there are chances of the dealer getting good cards too, the chances are 3:2 in the favor of the player. Depending on the remaining cards, the players who indulge in card counting, may deviate from the fundamental strategy and even increase the bet significantly. When there are low value cards in the pending deck, the card counters lower the bet amount.

Methods of counting cards

There are various card counting methods that are used by players worldwide. While some of them involve simple calculations, there are many others that use complex calculations to determine the cards remaining in the deck.

There is a simple underlying concept that comes to play. Every card is assigned a value based on the rank. These values are either added or subtracted by a card counter to obtain a "running count".

Whether the system of counting is unbalanced or balanced depends on the values given. The Hi/Lo values is an example of a balanced counting system and Knock Out and Speed Count are examples of an unbalanced system.

Gaining an upper hand

The objective of any counting system is to let the player know the presence of high value card in the pending deck. The player gains an upper hand against the house advantage is there are high value cards pending. His chances of winning, despite deviating from the fundamental strategy, are high in such a case.

Beyond counting

Counting cards is not as easy as it seems to be. In addition to keeping track of the pending cards, the card counter has to overcome the external noises and distractions in the casino. They should also be discreet enough to escape the prying eyes of the pit bosses. Increasing bets in leaps and bounds with each hand can get you caught. The best example of card counting is the MIT blackjack team.