Card Counting Edge
Although the odds are in your favour, it will require about six hours of play to guarantee the odds will come to fruition (even a coin flipped 10 times could land on heads for 7 of those). Remember that you can ALWAYS lose money. The card-counting system helps you get an edge in blackjack. It doesn't play it for you. Advanced blackjack strategy – card counting. I’m sure if you’ve had any experience in the casino, you have heard of what is known as card counting – a system that allows you to gain a positive expectation while playing blackjack putting the house edge in your favor. Guide to Blackjack Card Counting (updated 2021) - Learn how to count cards with our FREE & Easy Card Counting Training Game. Start practicing here today! The house edge is around 0.5%.
- Card Counting Player Edge
- Card Counting Edge
- How Much Of An Edge Does Card Counting Give
- Blackjack Card Counting Edge
Card Counting Player Edge
Learn how to count cards
You have found the Card Counting Trainer! The purpose of this site is to help you practice your Blackjack skills and teach you how to count cards so you can beat the casinos. This site is broken down into five (5) pieces of training material. First, there is a brief explanation on how to play Blackjack. Second, there is an article on how to play Blackjack according to Basic Blackjack Strategy, which lowers the Casino’s edge to just .5%! Third, there is a Blackjack Simulator to test your skills playing and applying Basic Blackjack Strategy. Fourth, there is an article on how to apply the Hi-Lo Card Counting Strategy to your game. Simple card counting is a legal way to increase your edge against the house. Last, we have provided a unique Card Counting Trainer to help you improve and hone-in your skills on applying the Hi-Lo Counting method keeping track of the shoe’s count. The site is broken down into the steps below to help you improve your game and make money at the casinos whether online or in person!
Step 1: How to Play Blackjack
Step 2: How to use Basic Blackjack Strategy
Step 3: Blackjack Simulator
Step 4: How to Count Cards using the Hi-Lo Method
Step 5: The Card Counting Trainer
Knowing how to count cards is a skill that can be applied to many different casino games. Counting cards in Blackjack follows a similar process to counting cards in Baccarat, and understanding which cards have been drawn — and which remain in the deck — can give you an advantage in Carribean Stud Poker and Casino Hold’em.
Learning to count cards is straight forward but takes time and practice. With the large number of Blackjack sites available now, our site will help you become an expert in no time! Now read on to learn how to use our card counting guide.
As with all casino games, we strongly recommend you test your card counting skills in play money modes before playing for real money. Depending on your current skills with the rules of Blackjack and Basic Blackjack Strategy, you may start at any step you would like. We hope that you find our site provides you great training and tools for you to beat the casinos. Please feel free to apply your skills at some of our recommended online casinos. While card counting is not applicable to online casinos because there is no set shoe of cards, the Basic Blackjack Strategy will help reduce the Casino’s edge. Best of luck at the tables!
please enter your email for news, updates and more!
- Appendices
- Miscellaneous
- External Links
On This Page
Introduction
/croupiers-hone-their-skills-at-casino-school-56870573-58979da55f9b5874ee60eed2.jpg "Blackjack card counting house edge")
Card Counting Edge
The Hi-Lo Count is the most widely written about, and in my judgment, the most commonly used card counting strategy. The High-Low was first introduced in 1963 by Harvey Dubner1. It has since been discussed by just about all the major blackjack writers. In my opinion, the best introductory treatment is in Professional Blackjack by Stanford Wong, and the most detailed coverage is in Blackjack Attack by Don Schlesinger.
How it Works
Following is a brief explanation of how to use the Hi-Lo.
Step 1: Assign a point value to each rank, as follows.
High-Low Point Values
Step 2: Start with a 'Running Count' of zero at the start of the deck/shoe. As cards are revealed, keep adding or subtracting from the Running Count, according to the point system in step 1. For example, if the first ten cards to come out of the shoe were 3, 5, K, 7, Q, A, 8, 5, 4, 2, then the running count would be 1 +1 -1 +0 -1 -1 +0 +1 +1 +1 = +2.
Step 3: Divide the running count by the number of decks remaining, to get what is known as the 'True Count.' This is the part that beginning counters hate. You don?t need to be exact. A rough estimate will do, in my opinion. Let's look at example. The running count is +7 and there are about 4 decks left. The true count would be 7/4 = 1.75. Round that up to 2, to keep it simple. The more you play the more you will be comfortable eyeballing this adjustment, without doing any real division in your head. Usually the right play is obvious. In borderline cases only will you need to do this True Count conversion.
Step 4: The greater the true count, the more you should bet. This is where card counting becomes more art than science. Some blackjack books give rigid rules on how this should be done. However, the casino managers have read these books too, and the patterns recommended in earlier books now set off red flags. How you do this should depend on your own style, and how much heat you are getting. It helps avoid heat to keep the ratio of maximum bet to minimum bet to a limit, known as the ?Bet Spread.? Only increasing bets after a win, only decreasing after a loss, and staying the same after a push, makes play look more natural, but at a cost to profitability.
Step 5: For some hands, you will play according to the True Count and a table of 'Index Numbers,' rather than basic strategy. The greater the count, the more inclined you will be to stand, double, split, take insurance, and surrender. For example, the Index Number for a player 15 against a dealer 10 is +4. This means the player should stand if the True Count is +4 or higher, otherwise hit.
The following tables are known as the 'Illustrious 18' and 'Fab 4' respectively.2 They appear in Blackjack Attack by Don Schlesinger, and are republished here with permission. These are the most important index numbers to remember. Knowing only these will give the counter 80% to 85% of the value of knowing every index number, based on a six-deck game. The difference is more in single and double-deck games. The lists are given in order of value. If you can?t memorize all of them, start at the top, and work your way down.
Illustrious 18
| Order | Play | Index |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Insurance | +3 |
| 2 | 16 Vs. 10 | +0 |
| 3 | 15 Vs. 10 | +4 |
| 4 | 10,10 Vs. 5 | +5 |
| 5 | 10,10 Vs. 6 | +4 |
| 6 | 10 Vs. 10 | +4 |
| 7 | 12 Vs. 3 | +2 |
| 8 | 12 Vs. 2 | +3 |
| 9 | 11 Vs. A | +1 |
| 10 | 9 Vs. 2 | +1 |
| 11 | 10 Vs. A | +4 |
| 12 | 9 Vs. 7 | +3 |
| 13 | 16 Vs. 9 | +5 |
| 14 | 13 Vs. 2 | -1 |
| 15 | 12 Vs. 4 | 0 |
| 16 | 12 Vs. 5 | -2 |
| 17 | 12 Vs. 6 | -1 |
| 18 | 13 Vs. 3 | -2 |
The player should stand/double/split if the True Count equals or exceeds the Index Number, otherwise hit. The player should take insurance if the True Count is +3 or greater.
Fab 4 Surrenders
| Order | Play | Index |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 Vs. 10 | +3 |
| 2 | 15 Vs. 10 | +0 |
| 3 | 15 Vs. 9 | +2 |
| 4 | 15 Vs. A | +1 |
The player should surrender if the True Count equals or exceeds the Index Number.
A full table of all index numbers can be found in Chapter 3, and Appendix A, of Professional Blackjack by Stanford Wong.
The next table shows some statistics using the High-Low. The blackjack rules this table is based are liberal Vegas shoe, as follows:
Six decks
Dealer stands on soft 17
Surrender allowed
Double after split allowed
Player may resplit to four hands, including aces
To avoid setting off red flags, the simulation increased the bet after a win only, decreased after a loss only, and always stayed the same after a push, except resetting to a minimum bet after a shuffle. The simulation rounded the remaining decks to the nearest half deck, otherwise playing perfectly.
High-Low Statistics
| Spread | Penetration | Index Numbers | Player Adv. | Std. Dev. | Avg.Bet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 5 | 4 | I18+F4 | 0.157% | 1.50 | 1.35 |
| 1 to 10 | 4 | I18+F4 | 0.368% | 2.04 | 1.57 |
| 1 to 15 | 4 | I18+F4 | 0.578% | 2.67 | 1.73 |
| 1 to 5 | 4.5 | I18+F4 | 0.300% | 1.60 | 1.41 |
| 1 to 10 | 4.5 | I18+F4 | 0.587% | 2.27 | 1.68 |
| 1 to 15 | 4.5 | I18+F4 | 0.834% | 3.06 | 1.90 |
| 1 to 5 | 5 | I18+F4 | 0.469% | 1.70 | 1.47 |
| 1 to 10 | 5 | I18+F4 | 0.837% | 2.52 | 1.80 |
| 1 to 15 | 5 | I18+F4 | 1.147% | 3.49 | 2.10 |
| 1 to 5 | 4.5 | All | 0.313% | 1.61 | 1.41 |
| 1 to 10 | 4.5 | All | 0.608% | 2.29 | 1.68 |
| 1 to 15 | 4.5 | All | 0.862% | 3.10 | 1.91 |
| 1 to 5 | 5 | All | 0.494% | 1.71 | 1.47 |
| 1 to 10 | 5 | All | 0.857% | 2.55 | 1.81 |
| 1 to 15 | 5 | All | 1.182% | 3.54 | 2.11 |
Explantion of columns
Spread: This is the ratio of the player?s minimum bet to maximum bet. The bigger the range, the greater the player?s advantage, and bankroll volatility. A wide bet spread also sets off a red flag. In a six-deck game, I think a 1 to 15 spread is about the most aggressive the player should get. The simulation played one betting spot only.
Penetration: How many decks played before reaching the cut card. In a six-deck shoe, 4.5 is the norm.
Index Numbers: I already explained index numbers above. Simulations were run using both the Illustrious 18 and Fab 4 (I18+F4) above, and with the full table. The difference is not much, which shows that knowing the top 22 gets you most of the benefit of knowing all of them.
Player Advantage: This is the ratio of net player win to total initial bets. For example, in the last row, the player could expect to win 1.182% of his total initial bets.
Standard Deviation: This is a term for the volatility per initial bet.
Average Bet: The average final bet per hand, compared to the lowest bet For example, in the last row, if the player?s minimum bet were $100, his average bet would be $211. This includes additional money bet due to doubles and splits.
This table was created using CVCX Blackjack Analyzer by Casino Vérité. This software produces hundreds of different statistics for just about any set of rules, betting strategies, and playing strategies. For the player who wants to run these tests, this software is the best there is, in my opinion.
Footnotes
- Professional Blackjack by Stanford Wong, page 31, 1994 ed.
- Blackjack Attack by Don Schlesinger, page 62, 2004 ed.
Acknowledgments
Don Schlesinger: For his permission to reprint the Illustrious 18 and Fab 4 tables from his book, Blackjack Attack.
Norman Wattenberger: For his complimentary use of CVCX Blackjack Analyzer by Casino Vérité.
Practice
Practice your card counting skills with our trainer.
Further Reading
- Card Counting Introduction.
- Wizard Ace-Five Count: Very easy and simple card counting strategy.
- '21' Movie Review: Truth and fiction about the movie about the MIT card counting team.
- Blackjack book reviews.
- Main blackjack page.