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Blackjack Card Counting Guide
Card counting is perhaps one of the oldest 'tactics' that master
card players have used to try and beat the house. With card counting
techniques, players like those from the M.I.T. team have won
fortunes as well as many others who have not been given recognition. eBooks
are written and information products sold; all claiming to make the
reader rich by showing them the secrets of card counting.
In fact, the first actual card counting system was developed in 1962 by a Professor named Edward Thorp. His system was the first of many and those systems differ in complexity and ideas. Depending upon how complex the system is, your chances of actually winning were higher or lower.
Different Card Counting Systems
There are many different types of Blackjack card counting systems. The one mentioned above, invented by Professor Edward Thorp involved counting the fives in a deck. It was determined that the five was a key card when it comes to the odds being tilted for or against the player.
If the deck was low in fives, the player had a better chance of winning the hand and if it was high in fives, the player was taking more of a risk than perhaps he wanted to. After a while, this method evolved to counting tens rather than fives and from there, the high/low method was introduced as well as many other systems who helped their developers make money.
High/Low System
The most popular of the Blackjack card counting systems is called the High/Low system. This is probably most popular because it is very easy to apply when you are in a game and you don't have to concentrate too much in order to use it. So, if you're playing a game with friends you can still have a great time while you're counting the cards. For every card that is dealt, there is a value attached to it.
You will count based on these values. For instance, if a 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 is dealt, you will count +1. If a 7, 8 or 9 is dealt, you will count 0 and if a 10, J, Q, K or A is dealt, you will count -1. You do this for every single card.
In an example, if a 2 was dealt, followed by a J and then a 4, your count would be 1. Or, if a K was dealt, a J and then a 3, your count would be -1. Counting through the whole game is not difficult if you become accustomed to doing it. Many people watch the game and then jump into the game when the odds are in their favor. The higher your count is, the better your odds are. You can see that this is a very easy to master, balanced system, hence it's popularity.
Card Counting in the Present
While there are many different and very clever card counting systems, the truth is that they are not very effective in present times. Casinos have become smarter and have begun thinking ahead of card counters. With security and counter-measures, it has become very difficult to successfully count cards.
Their very first attempt at stopping card counting was to introduce multiple decks rather than playing with one deck. Typically, casinos will no longer play with one deck of cards and play with up to six decks.This has thrown the average card counter for a loop. This makes it significantly harder to count the cards and drops the player's odds of winning from 3.476% to 1.563%.
Another measure taken by casinos was the burning of one of the cards in the deck. This would throw the player's count off by 1, significantly lowering the odds of a successful count and an advantage for the player. With the many different methods that casinos use to stop card counting, it is nearly impossible to keep counting the cards and the odds against the player increase with every single counter method used.
While card counting made millions of dollars for players for quite some time, those who are just learning will not be as successful. With the odds so far against the player trying to count cards, the truth is that it's just plain easier to use a pair of lucky socks or a quick kiss from a lucky lady.
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