Card counting From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search

Card counting is a card game strategy used to determine when a player has a probability advantage. The term is used almost exclusively to refer to the tracking of the ratio of high cards to low cards in blackjack, although it is sometimes used to refer to obtaining a count of the distribution or remaining high cards in trick-taking games, such as contract bridge or spades. This article deals only with card counting as it applies to blackjack. Contents [hide]

1 Card counting in blackjack o 1.1 Plus-minus o 1.2 More advanced counting systems 2 Running counts versus true counts in balanced counting systems 3 Unbalanced card-counting systems 4 Back-counting o 4.1 Advantages o 4.2 Disadvantages 5 Ranging bet sizes and the Kelly Criterion 6 Expected profit from card counting 7 Countermeasures against blackjack card-counters 8 Detecting card counters 9 Technology for detecting card counters 10 History of blackjack card counting 11 References 12 External links

Card counting in blackjack The principle behind counting cards in blackjack is that a deck of cards with a high proportion of high cards (tens and aces) to low cards is good for the player, while the reverse (a deck with a high proportion of low cards to high cards) is good for the dealer. A deck rich in tens and aces improves the player's odds because blackjacks (which offer a higher payout than other winning hands) become more common, the dealer is more likely to bust a stiff hand, and doubledowns are more successful. [1] Card counters raise their bets when the ratio of high cards to low cards in the deck is skewed in their favor. Some card counters also watch a game and only enter when the count becomes favorable. This tactic is called back-counting or "wonging". Card counters also make strategy adjustments, called indices, based on the ratio of high cards to low cards. These two adjustments to their betting and playing strategy can give players a mathematical advantage over the house. Contrary to the popular myth, card counters do not need savant qualities in order to count cards, because they are not tracking and memorizing specific cards. Instead, card counters assign a heuristic point score to each card they see and then track only the total score. (This score is called the count.) [2] This myth was portrayed in the movie Rain Man, where the savant character Raymond Babbit counts through six decks with ease and a casino employee comments that it is impossible to count six decks. Plus-minus Basic card counting assigns a positive, negative, or null value to each card (2 through ace). As each card is dealt, the running count is adjusted by each card's assigned value. There are multiple card-counting systems in use, but a plusminus countsuch as the Hi-Lo system proposed by Harvey Dubner in 1963[3] and later refined by Julian Braun and Stanford Wong [4]is one of the more basic and illustrative systems. In the Hi-Lo system, the cards 2 through 6 are assigned a value of +1. Tens (and face cards) through aces are assigned a value of 1. Cards 7, 8, and 9 have a value of zero, or are called neutral (so they can be ignored). The Hi-Lo system is an example of a balanced card-counting system, in that there are an equal number of +1 and -1 cards in the deck, so a count of all 52 cards would result in an end count of 0. [5]

More advanced counting systems The Hi-Lo system is considered a single-level or level-one count, because the count never increases or decreases by more than one. A multilevel count, such as Zen Count or Wong Halves, makes finer distinctions between card values to gain greater play accuracy. Rather than all cards having a value of +1, 0, or 1, an advanced count might also include card ranks that are counted as +2 or 2. Advanced players might additionally maintain a side count of specific cards, such as a side count of aces, to deal with situations where the best count for betting accuracy differs from the best count for playing accuracy. Many side count techniques exist including special-purpose counts used when attacking games with nonstandard profitable-play options such as an over/under side bet. [6] The disadvantage of higher-level counts is that keeping track of more information can detract from the ability to play quickly and accurately. A card-counter might earn more money by playing a simple count quicklymore hands per hour playedthan by playing a complex count slowly.

The following table illustrates various ranking systems for card counting. Card Strategy Wizard Ace/Five KO Hi-Lo Hi-Opt I Hi-Opt II Zen Count Omega II 2345678 9 00010000 11111100 11111000 01111000 11221100 11222100 1 1 2 2 2 1 0 1 10 J 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 Q 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 K 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 A 1 1 1 0 0 1 0

Running counts versus true counts in balanced counting systems The running count is the running total of each card's assigned value. When using a balanced count (like the Hi-Lo system), the running count is converted into a "true count," which takes into consideration the number of decks used. With Hi-Lo, the true count is essentially the running count divided by the number of decks that haven't yet been dealt. However, many variations of true count calculation exist. [8]. Unbalanced card-counting systems In an unbalanced card-counting system, conversion to a true count is made unnecessary by the unbalanced nature of the counting system, but the starting number or indices are based on the number of decks being used. Popular unbalanced card counting systems include the K-O system and the Red 7 system. [9] [10] Back-counting Back-counting, also known as "wonging", consists of standing behind a blackjack table that other players are playing on, and counting the cards as they are dealt. Stanford Wong first proposed the idea of back-counting, and the term "wong" comes from his name.[11] The player will enter or "wong in" to the game when the count reaches a point at which the player has an advantage. The player may then raise their bets as their advantage increases, or lower their bets as their advantage goes down. Some back-counters prefer to flat-bet, and only bet the same amount once they have entered the game. Some players will stay at the table until the game is shuffled, or they may "wong out" or leave when the count reaches a level at which they no longer have an advantage. Back-counting is generally done on shoe games, of 4, 6, or 8 decks, although it can be done on pitch games of 1 or 2 decks. The reason for this is that the count is more stable in a shoe game, so a player will be less likely to sit down for one or two hands and then have to get up. Another reason is that many casinos exhibit more effort to thwart card counters on their pitch games than on their shoe games, as a counter has a smaller advantage on an average shoe game than in a pitch game[12]. Advantages Back-counting is different than traditional card-counting, in that the player does not play every hand he sees. This offers several advantages. For one, the player does not play hands at which he does not have a statistical advantage. This in turn reduces variance and fluctuations, and increases the total advantage of the player. Another advantage is that the player does not have to change their bet size as much, or at all if they choose. Large changes in bet size are one way that casinos detect card-counters, and this is eliminated with back-counting.

Disadvantages There are several disadvantages to back-counting. One is that the player frequently does not stay at the table long enough to earn comps from the casino. Another disadvantage is that some players may become irritated with players who enter in the middle of a game, and superstitiously believe that this interrupts the "flow" of the cards. Lastly, a player who hops in and out of games may attract unwanted attention from casino personnel, and may be detected as a card-counter. Ranging bet sizes and the Kelly Criterion Between 70% and 90% of the player edge when counting cards comes from placing larger bets when the count is favorable to the player. (The rest of the edge comes from changes to basic strategy based on the count.) [13] A mathematical principle called the Kelly criterion indicates that bet increases should be proportional to the player advantage. In practice, this means that the higher the count, the more a player should bet on each hand in order to take advantage of the player edge. Taken to its ultimate conclusion, the Kelly criterion would demand that a player not bet anything at all when the deck doesn't offer a positive expectation. "Wonging", as shown above, takes advantage of this.

Expected profit from card counting Blackjack played with a perfect basic strategy typically offers a house edge of less than 0.5%, but a typical card counter who ranges his bets appropriately in a game with six decks will have an advantage of approximately 1% over the casino. This amount varies based on the counter's skill level and the playing conditions, and the variance in blackjack is high, so generating a sizeable profit can take hundreds of hours of play. The deck will only have a positive enough count for the player to raise his bets 10%-30% of the time depending on rules, penetration and strategy. [14] At a table where a player makes a $100 average bet, a 1% advantage means a player will win on average $1 per hand. This translates into an average hourly winning of $50 if the player is dealt 50 hands per hour. With typical bet ranging and typical Las Vegas six-deck rules, a player whose strategy yields an average profit of $50 per hour will likely face a standard deviation in the neighborhood of $1,400 per hour. Therefore, it is highly advisable for counters to set aside a large dedicated bankroll; one popular rule of thumb dictates a bankroll of 100 times the maximum bet per hand. [15][16] Another aspect of the probability of card counting is that, at higher counts, the player's probability of winning a hand is only slightly changed and still below 50%. [17] The player's edge over the house on such hands does not come from the player's probability of winning the hands. Instead it comes from the increased probability of a blackjack and from the ability to perform certain actions (like doubling down, insuring, and splitting) that are not available to the house. Countermeasures against blackjack card-counters A myth casinos propagate is that card counting is illegal. Card counting without outside device is completely legal. There are no provisions in the rules of blackjack or United States law that prohibit card counting. Despite this, casinos still offer blackjack as a game knowing that a skilled player will have an advantage over the house. Casinos avoid losing money by preventing card counters from playing. In Las Vegas, casinos are allowed to do this because the casino is private property, and the owner can decide who is allowed to enter. Casinos have made a great amount of effort and spent a great deal of money trying to thwart card counters. Among the countermeasures used to prevent card counters from profiting at blackjack:

Harassment of suspected card counters by casino staff. This may be as simple as engaging a suspected card counter in a conversation to break their concentration. Card-counter identification, using books of photos and new facial-recognition technologies. Computerized scanners in blackjack tables, which can identify counting systems when in use.

Computer systems used in surveillance rooms that surveillance staff use to target suspect players to quantify their threat to the house. Shuffling more often or shuffling when a player increases his wager size. Changing rules for splitting, doubling down, or playing multiple hands. This also includes changing a table's stakes.

Some jurisdictions (like Nevada) have no legal restrictions placed on these countermeasures. Other jurisdictions, like New Jersey, limit the countermeasures a casino can take against "skilled players". [18] Some of these countermeasures have a downside for the casino as well. Frequent shuffling, for example, reduces the amount of time that the noncounting players are playing and consequently reduces the house's winnings. Some casinos now use automatic shuffling machines to compensate for this. Some models of shuffling machines shuffle one set of cards while another is in play. Others, known as Continuous Shuffle Machines (CSMs), allow the dealer to simply return used cards to a single shoe to allow playing with no interruption. Because CSMs essentially force minimal penetration, they remove almost all possible advantage of traditional counting techniques. In most online casinos, the deck is shuffled at the start of each new round, ensuring the house always has the advantage. A pitboss who determines that a player is a card-counter might either "back off" the player by inviting him/her to play any game other than blackjack, or will ban him/her from the casino itself. In jurisdictions where this is not legal, such as Atlantic City, a pitboss can require the player to flat-bet and disallow players from entering in the middle of a shoe. Such countermeasures effectively remove any chance of gaining an advantage from card counting in multi-deck games. The player's name and photo (from surveillance cameras) may also be shared with other casinos and added to a database of card-counters and cheaters (Note: card counting is not cheating, but casinos still associate the two groups together) run for the benefit of casino operators. One such blacklist was known as the Griffin Book, and was maintained by a company called Griffin Investigations. However, Griffin Investigations was forced into bankruptcy in 2005 after losing a libel lawsuit filed by professional gamblers. Detecting card counters Monitoring player behavior to assist in this identification falls to on-floor casino personnel ("pit bosses") and casinosurveillance personnel, who may use video surveillance ("the eye in the sky") as well as computer analysis, to try to spot playing behavior indicative of card counting; early counter-strategies featured the dealers' learning to count the cards themselves to recognize the patterns in the players. In addition, many casinos employ the services of various agencies, such as Griffin Investigations, who claim to have a catalog of advantage players. If a player is found to be in such a database, he will almost certainly be stopped from play and asked to leave regardless of his table play. For successful card counters, therefore, skill at "cover" behavior, to hide counting and avoid "drawing heat" and possibly being barred, may be just as important as playing skill. There have been some high-profile lawsuits involving whether the casino is allowed to bar card-counters [19]. Essentially, card-counting, if done in one's head and with no outside assistance from devices such as blackjack computers, is not illegal. Making calculations within one's own mind is not an arrestable offence. Using an outside device or aid, however, was found illegal in a court case in Nevada. In this case, two individuals were convicted of cheating for using a video device to gain knowledge of a blackjack dealer's hole card [20]. While this case is clearly distinct from pure card-counting, the precedent could possibly be applied to electronic devices used by players to assist in counting cards. At the time of the trial, however, there was no anti-device law in Nevada, and the law that was written after this case is considered by many attorneys to be unconstitutionally vague. Still, the law has been adopted by most other states with casinos, and no player has yet tried the constitutionality of the law. Casinos don't tolerate card counters or practitioners of other legal professional gambling techniques willingly and, if permitted by their jurisdiction, may ban counters from their casinos. In Nevada, where the casinos are ruled to be private places, the only prerequisite to a ban is the full reading of the Trespass Act to ban a player for a year. Some skilled counters try to disguise their identities and playing habits; however, some casinos have claimed that facial recognition software can often match a camouflaged face with a banned one. In the experience of most professional gamblers, this is untrue, and a 2004 book by a Las Vegas casino surveillance director, The Card Counter's Guide to Casino Surveillance, also declares this assertion to be an overstatement. Approximately 100 casinos in the United States used the Griffin Investigations consulting firm to help them track down and monitor card counters, before the firm's bankruptcy as a result of a lawsuit for libel filed by professional gamblers. [

Technology for detecting card counters Several automated systems have been designed to aid detection of card counters. The MindPlay system scans card values for the entire deck after shuffling just prior to play. The ShuffleMaster Intelligent Shoe system [21] scans card values individually as cards exit the shoe. Software called Bloodhound [22] and Protec 21[23] allows voice input of card and bet values, which is used to determine the player edge. A more recent innovation is the use of RFID signatures embedded within the casino chips so that the table can automatically track bet amounts [24]. Automated card-reading technology has known abuse potential in that it can be used to simplify the practice of preferential shufflinghaving the dealer reshuffle the cards whenever the odds favor the players. To avoid liability concerns, some blackjack protection systems have been designed to refrain from sending data over the network until the shoe has ended.[25]. Other vendors are less scrupulous in this regard and consider real-time notification to surveillance that a shoe is "hot" an important product feature. [26]. Having made the card values, play decisions, and bet decisions conveniently accessible, what can the casino do with this information to spot counters? The casino looks at bet variation, play accuracy, and play variation. Bet variation. The simplest way a card-counter makes money is to bet more when he has an edge. While playing back the tapes of a recent session of play, software can generate a scatter plot of the amount bet versus the count at the time the bet was made and find the trendline that best fits the scattered points. If the player is not counting cards, there will be no trend; his bet variation and the count variation will not consistently correlate. If the player is counting and varying bets according to the count, there will be a trend whose slope reflects the player's average edge from this technique.[27] Play accuracy. Normal players tend to make basic-strategy errors. Card-counters must accurately know exactly when to hit, stand, split, or double down. Software can verify the rate at which the player makes errors and calculate the resulting house edge. Play variation. When card-counters vary from basic strategy, they do so in response to the count, to gain an additional edge. Software can verify whether there is a pattern to play variation. Of particular interest is whether the player sometimes (when the count is positive) takes insurance and stands on 16 versus a dealer 10, but plays differently when the count is negative. History of blackjack card counting American mathematician Dr. Edward O. Thorp is considered the father of card counting. His 1962 book Beat the Dealer (ISBN 0-394-70310-3) outlined various betting and playing strategies for optimal blackjack play. [28] Although mathematically sound, some of the techniques described no longer apply, as casinos took counter-measures (such as no longer dealing to the last card). Also, the counting system described (10-count) is harder to use and less profitable than the point-count systems that have been developed since. A history of how counting developed can be seen in David Layton's documentary film, The Hot Shoe. Even before the publication of Beat the Dealer, however, a small number of professional card counters were beating blackjack games in Las Vegas and casinos elsewhere. One of these early card counters was Jess Marcum, who is described in documents and interviews with professional gamblers of the time as having developed the first full-fledged point-count system. Another documented pre-Thorp card counter was a professional gambler named Joe Bernstein, who is described in the 1961 book I Want To Quit Winners, by Reno casino owner Harold Smith, as an ace counter feared throughout the casinos of Nevada. And in the 1957 book Playing Blackjack to Win, Roger Baldwin, Wilbert Cantey, Herbert Maisel, and James McDermott (known among card counters as "The Four Horsemen") published the first accurate blackjack basic strategy and a rudimentary card-counting system, devised solely with the aid of crude mechanical calculatorswhat used to be called adding machines". From the early days of card-counting, some players have been hugely successful, including Al Francesco, the inventor of blackjack team play and the man who taught Ken Uston how to count cards, and Tommy Hyland, manager of the longest-running blackjack team in history. Ken Uston, though perhaps the most famous card-counter through his 60

Minutes television appearance and his books, tended to overstate his winnings, as documented by players who worked with him, including Al Francesco and team member Darryl Purpose. In the 1970s and 1980s, as computing power grew, more advanced (and more difficult) card-counting systems came into favor. Many card-counters agree, however, that a simpler and less advantageous system that can be played flawlessly for hours earns an overall higher return than a more complex system prone to user error. In the 1970s Ken Uston was the first to write about a tactic of card counting he called the Big Player Team. The book was based on his experiences working as a "big player" (BP) on Al Francesco's teams. In big-player blackjack teams a number of card counters, called "spotters", are dispatched to tables around a casino, where their responsibility is to keep track of the count and signal to the big player when the count indicates a player advantage. The big player then joins the game at that table, placing maximum bets at a player advantage. When the spotter indicates that the count has dropped, he again signals the BP to leave the table. By jumping from table to table as called in by spotters, the BP avoids all play at a disadvantage. In addition, since the BP's play appears random and irrational, he avoids detection by the casinos. The spotters, who are doing the actual counting, are not themselves changing their bet size or strategy, so they are relatively inconspicuous. The only way such a team can be detected is by their signals. With this style of play, a number of blackjack teams have cleared millions of dollars through the years. Well-known blackjack teams with documented earnings in the millions include those run by Al Francesco, Ken Uston, Tommy Hyland, various groups from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and, most recently, a team called "The Greeks". Ken Uston wrote about blackjack team play in Million Dollar Blackjack (ISBN 0-89746-068-5), although many of the experiences he represents as his own in his books actually happened to other players, especially Bill Erb, a BP Uston worked with on Al Francesco's team. Ben Mezrich also covers team play in his book Bringing Down The House (ISBN 0-7432-4999-2), which describes how MIT students used it with great success. See also the Canadian movie The Last Casino and more recently the movie 21 (film). The publication of Ken Uston's books both stimulated the growth of blackjack teams (Hyland's team and the first MIT team were formed in Atlantic City shortly after the publication of Million Dollar Blackjack) and increased casino awareness of the methods of blackjack teams, making it more difficult for such teams to operate. Hyland and Francesco soon switched to a form of shuffle tracking called "ace sequencing." Also referred to as "cutting to the ace," this technique involves various methods designed to spot the bottom card during a shuffle (ideally an ace) and expertly cut the deck and play future hands to force the player to receive the ace. This made it more difficult for casinos to detect when team members were playing with an advantage. In 1994, members of the Hyland team were arrested for ace sequencing and blackjack team play at Casino Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It was documented in court that Nevada casinos with ownership stakes in the Windsor casino were instrumental in the decision to prosecute team members on cheating charges. However, the judge ruled that the players' conduct was not cheating, but merely the use of intelligent strategy. [29]

Count Cards
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Statistically speaking, you are doomed to lose at every game on the casino floor unless, that is, you can count cards. At the blackjack table, speedy math skills can flip the advantage from the house to you. Granted, it's a small edge 2 percent at best, which is nowhere near as good as dragging Rain Man to Vegas. But what have you got to lose? (Oh, yeah, all that money.) Bring mucho moola. Your edge will come from betting more when the dealer's shoe a device for holding multiple decks of cards is rich with big cards, which tend to help you and hurt the house. Success takes time and a bankroll of at least 400 times your standard bet. Count and cancel. Using the classic Hi-Lo method, you start with zero at the shuffle. For every 10, face card, or ace that hits the table, subtract a point. For every 2 through 6 card, add a point (the 7, 8, and 9 cards = zero points). When possible, let cards cancel each other out to save time. Divide and bet. Before each hand, divide your count by the estimated number of decks left in the shoe (tip: guess how many decks are in the discard stack and subtract that amount from the total number used in the game usually six). When the result hits +2, bet like a big dog.

Be inconspicuous. Don't move your lips as you calculate. Or bet too many chips. Counting cards isn't against the law, but a suspicious pit boss will show you the door or just signal the dealer to shuffle, which wipes out your boosted odds and sets the count back to zero. D'oh! Learn basic strategy. Basic strategy is a mathematically calculated optimum way to play your hand in every situation. There are variations in strategy according to the number of decks used and the different blackjack rules. A perfect basic strategy player plays at almost no disadvantage to the house. Learn deviations. A deviation is a change from basic strategy by playing the hand differently according to the true count. There are many deviations, but start by learning the "illustrious 18", that should get you started. Originally submitted by Lucas Graves. This article is a STUB. You can help us make it better by editing or expanding it. Log in at the top of the page to get started.

Card counting 101

From Stanford Wong

Posted by Porkbeli on 3 Feb 1998, at 1:27 p.m.

CARD COUNTING 101 First of all, this article is intended to answer some basic questions that a lot of want-to-be and beginning counters have; it is not purported to be the end-all answer to a beginners questions, but rather a starting point for learning how to count cards in the game of blackjack. The purpose here is not to recommend one system or product over another this is just what worked for me in learning the game. -PorkWhat is Card Counting? Lets start out with what counting is and, more importantly, isnt. Card counting is a means of tracking the relationship between the high-value cards (good for the player) and the low-value cards, which are good for the dealer. When people ask me what I "do" (except at the tables) I tell them Im a "Statistical Probability Analyst." Why are the low-value cards good for the dealer? Well, the dealer has to follow rigid rules regarding hitting. She must hit if she has less than 17. The most important card in the deck for the dealer is the lowly-appearing five, as this will make at least 17 out of any stiff hand. Card counting allows us to know when there are more high cards than low left in the deck(s), and we raise our bet accordingly, because we now have an advantage over the house. How large is this advantage? On certain individual hands this can be as high as three or four percent, but overall we hold about a one percent advantage, depending upon the game and rules. Counting does not give us an automatic winning edge on every hand - far from that. This isnt the movies, and we arent Rainman. We will win, on average, about 44% of all hands played. When the count is high the dealer has just as good a chance to get good hands as we do. However, the dealer cant split or double, and only gets even money on blackjack - this constitutes our basic edge. Many times in high counts our 20 will lose to the dealers blackjack (or push her 20) but over the long run well win with that ~1% edge. The long run is defined as beginning after about 400 or 500 hours of play. This will give us some 50,000 hands, a number large enough that it can have some statistical meaning. An analogy: if we flip a coin ten times it would not be too unusual for tails to come up, say seven times. However, if we flip that same coin 50,000 times its much more likely that tails will come up very close to its expectation of 50% - maybe the number would be .4997. So it is with blackjack - the more hands we play the closer to the statistical curve we get, the closer to our mathematical expectation. Becoming a Counter STEP ONE: Basic Strategy First and foremost we must learn Basic Strategy. In this age of the computer there is very little argument on what constitutes valid Basic Strategy - virtually every book on the market explains this foundation. Basic Strategy (BS) must be so firmly ingrained that we never have to think about it. Every possible decision must be automatic, reflexive. How do we accomplish this? We read and study BS, then we run hands at the kitchen table with the book open for reference until we no longer need the reference material. Then we practice some more. This cannot be stressed enough - unless we have a solid foundation with perfect BS we will never succeed in counting. We practice until BS is firmly embedded in our subconscious. After totally mastering Basic we will then have to be aware of not seeming to be

automatic in play. The typical player at the tables hems and haws over decisions - we should appear to do the same at times. The average person should accomplish learning Basic in about 20 dedicated hours.

STEP TWO: Learning to Count Now we begin counting. There are many systems available and they fall into two general categories: balanced and unbalanced. Unbalanced counts, like the KO (Knock Out) system were designed to eliminate true count conversion (see Step Three). Generally speaking, the easier a system is to use the less effective it is; sometimes the difference amounts to splitting hairs, but there is a difference. We are going to use High-Low for this example as it is a simple balanced count, and is perhaps the most widely used system. High-Low falls somewhere in the middle of the pack for playing efficiency. We would suggest using this as your counting method at first - switching to a more complicated system should not be hard once High-Low is mastered, and stepping down, as it were, to a simpler count will be very easy. In High-Low the 2-6 are valued at +1, and the 10s and Aces are counted as -1. Note that there are the same amount in each group: 2,3,4,5,6 and 10,J,Q,K,A. The 7,8,9 are neutral in this count and our eye should be trained to not even see these for counting purposes, for they have no bearing on the count. If the low cards are good for the dealer why are they counted as plus value? Because when we see that low card come out the ratio of high to low cards remaining has changed slightly in our favor. We start with a deck of cards, flipping them over one at a time and keeping the running count. If they come out 8,K,3,3,6,2,7,A we would count 0,-1, 0, +1, +2, +3, +3, +2. At the end of the deck we should come out at "0". We wont, at least in the beginning. Keep practicing until you do come out even at the end, every time, and gradually build speed. Eventually we will want to approach 25 seconds running the deck down one card at a time while maintaining accuracy. This speed will guarantee that no dealer alive can spread cards faster than we can count. When proficient at this try pulling a card out of the deck, face down. Set it aside. After running the deck "guess" what the remaining card is. Your validation will come when you say, "It has to be a ten or an ace," and then flipping it over to find yourself correct. Next well flip the cards two at a time. We often see this in "pitch" games, that is, hand-held single and double deck games. On a bust the dealer flips up the players two hole cards. Its a good idea to learn to disregard "matching pairs" like Q, 5, as they cancel each other out. The less we have to deal with the better, and by not allowing our eye to register these "matched pairs" we will streamline our counting. In actual play there are many individual styles of counting the cards. In a face-up shoe game some people advocate waiting until the second card is dealt to each hand and counting the hands as whole units, as often a hand will cancel itself out, i.e., 10-6, or two consecutive hands will: K,10 - 3,5. Other folks insist its easier to count the cards as each one comes out. Try both methods and find what works best for you. In a pitch game its a bit different. Count your cards and the dealers up card first, then all exposed cards from hits, splits, doubles, and busts as they happen. Next count the dealers hole card and subsequent hits. As the dealer exposes the remaining hole cards one hand at a time a quick glance should suffice to carry the count forward. Practice for the game you intend to play but dont neglect the other - your favored game might not be playable because of crowds, bad rules, etc. Speaking of rules in general, dont play under bad conditions. If the only game in your area is a six-deck with two+ decks cut off - save up and go to where the games are better. Normally this would automatically mean Las Vegas, but over Super Bowl weekend there I observed a double deck game where a deck-and-a-quarter was cut off - a horrible stunt by the management. At another place that normally had a good single deck game they were dealing three hands in heads-up play, when five and sometimes six is the norm. I overheard some dealer-talk about juicing the games for the Super Bowl crowd. The point is to shop for good penetration and to walk when its not there. Penetration is a key element in winning. For a good picture of this read Chapter Six of Blackjack Attack. We should be able to master the above two drills in about 20 hours of dedicated practice; as always, your mileage may vary.

STEP THREE: Converting to True Count This "running" count must be converted to a "true" count to be effective for betting and playing decisions. To do this we divide the running count by the amount of decks left unseen. For instance, in a double deck game after the first hand we have a running count of +4. Since there are virtually two full decks remaining we divide the count by 2, yielding a true of +2. In multiple-deck games well have to keep an eye on the discard tray to accurately estimate how many decks are remaining. So with two decks gone wed have four left (in a 6D game); dividing the above +4 by four decks gives us a true of +1. One trick here: practice glancing at the discard tray just before the completion of the hand, and see what your divisor is going to be for the next hand. This will give you extra time to compute the true while the dealer is making payoffs and picking up cards. In single deck with a quarter-deck dealt we have three-fourths left. To divide with fractions we invert and multiply, so we would multiply the running count by the inverse 4/3. That same +4 count would now be multiplied by the 4 (=16), then divided by the 3 (=5.33). One thing about single deck: the true is always more than the running count, both positive and negative, as we always have less than a full deck remaining. While we can get lazy for betting purposes and use the running count as the true count here in single deck, when it comes to Basic Strategy deviations (playing decisions) we need to have an accurate true count. This is fully covered in the recommended reading. Now we start dealing hands. Deal one hand to yourself, one for the dealer. Go as slow as you need to keep the count accurately. Keep score with poker chips or the like. Although you will never see this in casino play, deal down to the last six or eight cards. After the last hand run the remaining cards out to check your count. When you can deal, play all hands correctly, count, convert to true count, pay off hands, and check the remaining deck for the count (and are correct on the count) in under two minutes with this single deck you are well on the way. Once speed has been gained consider switching from the kitchen table to a good software package, like Casino Verite by Norm Wattenberg. Programs like this will automatically track your play from session to session, providing valuable input on your progress. This will perhaps be the longest stretch in building our game, taking maybe 60 more hours of practice. STEP FOUR: Overcoming Casino Distractions Our next step is to start dealing two, then three hands, playing all of them as above and keeping an accurate count. Take your time and build to this point. Now weve arrived! Well, no... we havent. Casinos offer much in the way of distraction, so we must account for that, too. Cocktail waitresses will be interrupting every 2.875 minutes, dealers get chatty, players get obnoxious, slot bells are ringing, the craps table goes berserk, etc. Begin with a radio playing nearby and continue dealing out multiple hands, playing and paying, until you are exactly on the count every time. Then add a television along with the radio. If you happen to have a couple of small children nearby this is even better. Each individual will differ in the ability to overcome these distractions, but 20 hours of practice should do it. When none of the above disrupts your counting ability and accuracy were ready for the next step: talking. You will invariably need to talk and interact with other people at the table in the casino. You dont want to appear to be an individual locked deeply in concentration with furrowed brow, staring at the cards. So, with the radio and TV going have a friend or (hopefully supportive) spouse deal to you. Carry on normal small talk. Look around. Be loose at the table. Youll get this in real life, so practice it: "So, where you from?" and "Are you in town on business?" and so on. You will need to be able to think and respond while keeping the count without looking like youre doing so. People develop very individualistic methods for "holding" the count while carrying on an in-depth conversation - others are fortunate enough to be able to put the count in an area of the brain where they can retrieve it instantly. Some folks place x number of fingertips on their thigh under the table, some employ knuckle joints on top of the table, some use chips to indicate the count. However you accomplish it, you must remember the count! Perhaps another 20 hours will

gain this goal with the friend dealing multiple hands to you in the above scenario. In building our game we cannot practice too much; the results will be readily apparent at the tables if we dont.

STEP FIVE: The Act Now were set! Well, close anyway. Now we need an act. Why? Well, we want to use everything we can to distract the house from seeing our bets going up and down with the count. We want to look like the "gamblers" at our table. Study them, emulate their language, their superstitions, their body language. Develop your act and make it real. Assume your persona when leaving your room, not at the table. Youre a nut-and-bolt salesman from Topeka in town on business and wanting to get a little action at the tables; you happen to be a tourist from LA there to blow off some stream, take in a few shows. The point is you dont want to be caught flat-footed when someone asks you a question: "I, uh, well, duh...Im here, ah, Im here... on... business - Yeah! Thats it!" The importance of our cover act is directly proportional to the size of our wagering unit: the higher the unit the more cover needed. Never reveal that you know anything about blackjack other than something like, "I used to do pretty good at the VFW Casino Night. Of course, my friend Bob was dealing..." (if something like this fits your act). Dress to fit your act. Would a tourist be in a three-piece suit? An attorney at a convention might, but not a guy from Encino who dragged the wife and kids out for a few days of gambling and sight-seeing. Youll know youre on course when you can do everything weve talked about so far while speaking to a pit boss about good restaurants. STEP SIX: Bet Spreads Watch your bet range, or spread. While everything mathematical tells us to jump our bet from, oh, $5 to $100 this is the surest way to get unwanted attention in the least and outright barring at the extreme. To survive we must unfortunately limit our spreads; the pits are not stupid - they basically know how counting works. In pitch games this usually means spreading about 1-5 units; in shoe games we will get away with much larger spreads, say 1-8 or even two hands at 6 each. Generally counters step their bets up with the count: 1 unit at negative or 0, then incrementally up with the count. Read books like Stanford Wongs Professional Blackjack and Don Schlesingers Blackjack Attack for more input in this area. In fact read everything you can find from these two authors as well as Snyder, Uston, and other accepted experts. Read, then read some more. At this point it would be prudent to take it slow, and play at the lowest tables you can find. Fine-tune your game and act. There are still one-dollar tables in Nevada. Read the suggested authors - bankroll is very important. Even spreading 1 to 5 in silver a counter needs a bankroll in the hundreds. Never play under-financed - its self-defeating. Wild swings happen all the time in this game, and we dont win consistently - the proficient counter wins in the long run. SUMMARY Following the above practice recommendations we have something in the neighborhood of 140 learning hours called for; your mileage may vary dramatically from this number. If thats spread out - an hour an evening, several hours each on weekend days - we should be ready for the tables in a few months. Do yourself a favor - dont rush the process and play before youre ready. You could get lucky, but that blackjack devil might just decide to bite you in the butt, and believe me his teeth are sharp. A note: once learned, counting stays with you. At most youll need brush-up practice if its been a while. Most people do not have the time, desire, or energy to do what it takes to become an expert card counter. Card counting is not rocket science, but it does takes work. A lot of work. If you follow through you will be part of a very small fraternity/sorority, more knowledgeable than perhaps 98% of the people sitting on either side of those tables. Is it worth all the effort? In a word, yes.

How to Count Cards

Counting cards is the method by which players can beat the game of blackjack. Of the many excellent counting systems available, you will be learning the commonly used high-low system. Here are a few steps to help you with card counting. Instructions Difficulty: Challenging Things Youll Need:

Studying

Deck Of Playing Cards Stopwatches

Step 1: Learn the rules of blackjack. (See Related eHow.) Step 2: Learn basic strategy for a six-deck blackjack game with standard Las Vegas rules. Step 3: Acquire and shuffle a normal deck of 52 playing cards. Step 4: Deal out the cards as you would see them in a normal blackjack game in which players try to get as close as possible to 21 without going over. Step 5: Notice the combinations formed and that cards often cancel each other out or make pairs. Step 6: Learn the values of the cards: Aces and 10-value cards (kings, queens, jacks and tens) are worth -1; twos, threes, fours, fives and sixes are worth +1; and sevens, eights and nines are worth 0. Counting and Betting Step 1: Make a chart (or flash cards) of the rules of basic strategy and memorize it so that it becomes second nature. Step 2: Count down the deck until you can do it in 25 seconds or less. Pairing cards, so that they cancel each other out, will make this easier.

Step 3: In the casino, bet when the true count is +2 or higher. Divide the count by the number of decks left in play to get the true count.

Tips & Warnings

Card counting is the addition and subtraction of negative and positive numbers. A card combination of a 10 and six equals a count of zero and can be eliminated from the count. It is not illegal to count cards. However, casino management does have the right to throw you out if it suspects you are a card counter, because casinos are private property. This rarely happens. Instead, it is more likely that a player will get a tap on the shoulder and hear that, henceforth, he can play any game in the casino except blackjack. Gambling can be addictive. If you have a gambling problem, get help immediately.

I usually walk the floor and watch a game for 3-4 hands for an oportunity to jump in and play one hand when the count is +3 or higher.. This could take up to 20 minutes, but when multiple games are going on durring a busy night, the oportunity will present itself quite frequently... One hand and one bet, with a good count, and your chances are the best. The idea is to get out of there ASAP, the longer you play, the higher your chances are of attracting unwanted attention and loosing.. I Never give them my player comp card either, I use it to get freebies at the rewards desk during promotions and thats it!! The less they know about me the better. :)