Is Counting Cards Illegal?
Card counting is not illegal. However, if a casino suspects or catches you card counting they will ask you to leave (in a brick-or-mortar casino) or ban you from playing at their premises. However, that is different when playing card games online as you are not physically there at the casino – so, no suspicious behaviour is detectable. The card counting practice online requires proper resources which we provide here to help and guide you to instant wins.
How to Count Cards in Blackjack
Your first step to learning how card counting in blackjack works is to familiarize yourself with its core principles. We all know that after shuffling cards, there will be an equal number of small and large cards. But, the composition of the deck changes once the game begins.
So, once you count how many small or large cards are being dealt or removed, you will have an idea of which cards dominate the deck and then make an informed decision. For instance, players who use card counting will have the most edge if the deck is filled with large cards – this then means you can bet more. But, vice versa if the deck has more small cards.
Example Hand:
Let’s say the following cards are dealt in the first round:
- Player 1: 5 (Count: +1) and King (Count: +1 – 1 = 0)
- Dealer: 3 (Count: 0 + 1 = 1) and 7 (Count: 1 + 0 = 1)
- Player 2: 9 (Count: 1 + 0 = 1) and 2 (Count: 1 + 1 = 2)
After this initial deal, the running count is +2.
Best Card Counting Systems
There are many card counting systems involved when using this strategy. The most popular one is the High-Low system which is considered a level-one count. In the Hi-Lo system. A tag of a value of +1 is assigned to every ranked small cards from 2 until 6.
Whilst, large cards such as Aces and 10s are given a value of -1. This is done because the former will have a positive influence on the player and the latter opposite. The value assigned to 7s and 9s is 0 since they have lesser effect compared to the other cards.
More so, card counters at a casino do not necessarily have to memorize the cards that are being dealt. How this works is simply adding the values to come up with a sum in the circles as the running count. For instance, if you get a positive number on the first round of the running count, it means that low-value cards have been played more than the high-value cards. So, the remaining deck will largely consist of high-value cards.
Other card counting systems include; High-Opt, KO, Omega II, Red 7, Halves and Zen Count.
Overview of the Card Counting Practice
Card counting is a very good strategy to use when playing blackjack. We prefer using Hi-Lo card counting as it’s the easiest to understand. The explanations to the system are straightforward; a player is at an advantage if the running count is positive as it means that large cards are still dominating the deck, and vice versa if not.
If the count is 0 then there is an equal number of small and large cards. So, players can increase their bet when they are at advantage, and decrease of the running count for the next hand is negative.