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Strategy – What is Card Counting?
Blackjack
Strategy – What is Card Counting?
Even
the most casual of blackjack players has probably heard of card counting and
many players are still not sure exactly what it is. Some think that card counters have
photographic memories, and that they instantly memorize each card as it is
dealt. While a photographic memory no
doubt can help, there are many simpler ways to get the job done.
Some
variations on card counting are as simple as adding or subtracting one from the
running count as each card is dealt. The
player subtracts one when a high card is dealt and adds one when a low card is
dealt. The higher the running count, the
more high value cards remain in the deck or the shoe, and the greater the
amount of high value cards the better the odds are to the player.
Knowing
the number of decks remaining in the shoe will also help the player keep track
of the true count, providing an even better look at where the deck stands.
It
is important to understand just what card counters do to tip the odds in their
favor, but it is just as important to know what they do not do. First of all, the card counter does not
memorize every card in the shoe.
Secondly, card counters do not make insane plays like hitting on a 19 if
they think the next card is a 2. No card
counter can know exactly which card will be dealt next; all card counting can
do is provide an edge to the player.
The
history of card counting is an interesting one, dating back to the 1950s, when
the first strategy system and card counting plan was originated. Those systems remained largely unused until
the 1960s, when Dr. Edward O. Thorp, a mathematician by training, published a
book called Beat the Dealer. This book
showed the gambling public that a smart player was actually able to enjoy an
edge over the house when playing the game of blackjack. Thorp’s book included a simple and easy to
learn method for keeping track of the high cards and low cards as they were
dealt.
The
so-called hi-lo card counting strategy is still one of the most popular, and
one of the easiest for the beginner to learn.
This system allows the player to keep a running count of the deck to
determine how many high value cards remain, and to change betting strategies
accordingly.
Blackjack
is quite a different game from many others in the casino. Unlike the slot machines, in which every spin
of the wheels is a totally random event, related neither to the previous spin
nor the next, with blackjack the future play of the game is very much affected
by the past play. Thus, if lots of low
value cards have already been dealt, there is a higher probability that the
next cards dealt will be those high value cards that favor the player.
Smart
players can use that system to adjust their betting strategy. Since the dealer must continue to hit until
they have a hand of 17 or higher, lots of high value cards in the deck
increases the likelihood that the dealer will go bust, and if the dealer goes
bust, the player wins.
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