How to Count Cards in Blackjack
While complicated, card counting isn’t rocket science. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to be a mathematical prodigy to run the count. With a bit of practice, anyone can learn it. However, it also requires ample knowledge of blackjack rules.
Counting cards begins with a running tally you keep in your mind. Your goal is to precisely know how many high cards are left in the shoe. The easiest way to count cards is to assign a positive (+1), negative (-1) or neutral (0) count.
You will count every card that is dealt and will continue doing the same until a shuffle. If the running count is positive, you’re the one with an advantage. If it’s negative, the house holds the advantage.
Once again, all of this sounds complicated until you try it at home. You can practice with free blackjack variants and see if it suits you.
Win real money counting cards
Card counting is a class of advantage strategy that works by keeping tally of the high and low-value cards seen by the player. By keeping a running count in their heads, players can bet more when the count gives an advantage and less when the count is not favourable. Thanks to this, they can minimize their losses significantly.
Winning real money by counting cards is very possible if you believe you’re fit to keep the count running in your head. It becomes pretty much impossible on online blackjack variants thanks to the systems online casinos use to prevent such strategies.
Is counting cards legal?
For all intents and purposes, card counting is Illegal. However, since it can’t be detected from a technical point of view, the technique is very hard to spot. Physical casinos usually have systems developed to spot card counters by reading their faces. Those who win too much are also ‘scanned’.
However, if you could keep your game face on, you could use it to win. It’s pretty much impossible in online casinos, since the cards are reshuffled by a sophisticated system that prevents any kind of cheating.
Don’t Forget to Have Fun
While fun and possibly lucrative, we wouldn’t recommend card counting to any player. The goal of gambling isn’t to make it a source of income – it’s to have fun. Sadly, many players forget about the fun, so don’t be one of them.
Never gamble with money you can’t afford to lose, especially if you’re practicing card counting. Set your limits and don’t wait too long to cash out if you are at a profit. We’d stick to legal strategies that you can use on any variant if you want to raise your chances to win. But, remember – it’s impossible to win every round.