Card Counting Countinued

On the other hand, if three more 10 value cards came out of the deck than small cards, the count would be a -3. This is unfavorable to the player because now when the dealer hits his bust hands, he has a better chance of not busting. In addition, in minus counts there are fewer probable blackjacks. You will have to develop your own procedure for counting cards. Some counters count as soon as they see the card appear in a face-up game, others wait until the first two cards are dealt to each player.

I prefer this latter way because you can cancel out conflicting pairs. For example, if the player at first base (first position at the table) is dealt a 10,5 then the count is at O. The 10 and 5 cancelled each other out. Say he asks for a hit and receives a 6. The count is now at + 1. In a single deck game, the cards are dealt face down. Thus, you’ll have to wait for the players to bust or be paid off by the dealer before you can count their cards. You’ll have to find the counting procedure that is most comfortable for you.

Do this at home. Play endless rounds and count. My estimate is that within a two week span of daily practice sessions at home, you should be proficient enough to venture ino a casino. Then your real education will begin. It will take you time to learn how to do in a casino what you were doing so effortlessly at home. It’s the difference between batting practice and facing a real pitcher. But you can do it. Like anything it just takes time. Here’s a quick quiz. The dealer is dealing a face up game. He deals the following cards to the players:

Player One: Ace,4
Player Two: 5,6
Player Three: 9,7
Player Four: 3, 2
Player Five: 10, 8
Player Six: 7,2
Player Seven: 10,4
Now, what is the count? +4

How did we arrive at it? Player one’s ace and 4 cancel each other out ( the ace is -1, the 4 is +1 =0). Player two’s 5 and 6 are both worth a +1; thus
you have +2. Player three’s hand is equal to 0 because neither 9 nor 7 has a point value in the Hi-Lo count. Player four has two +1 cards (a 3 and a 2) for +2. Now, you add this + 2 to the previous balance +2 and the count is now + 4. Player five’s hand is worth -1 (a 10 =-1; an 8 = 0). Now, the count stands at +3. Player six has a 7 which equals 0 and a 2 which
equals +1. Thus, the count is at +4. Player seven has a hand that cancels itself out (10 =-1; 4 = +1). The count remains at +4. Now, the players will take their hits.

As they hit their hands, the count will invariably go up and down. However, let us say that at the end of this particular round of play the count is still at +4. Let us also assume that we’re playing a single deck (I’ll explain why later). Although a single deck game would not have been dealt face up, at the end of a round you would have an exact count. At a +4, what would you do? The deck favors you by four more high cards.

This is a good advantage. You would bet more. If the casinos would allow it, you’d make the biggest bet you could afford to make without getting heart palpitations. However, in the real casino world, you’d try to increase your bet at least triple what it was before (if not five or six times as much). The criteria for increasing your bets would be threefold:

1. How much money you can afford to lose.
2. How much of an advantage you have as determined by your plus count.
3. How much the casino will let you get away with before they start noticing you.

This third is very important because you can’t win if they don’t let you play. If you’re a $5.00 bettor and you suddenly increase your bet to $500.00, you’ll likely confront one of two scenarios: either the dealer will shuffle up the cards or you’ll be asked to leave.

However, if you double your bet or triple it, chances are the casino won’t even notice you. Unfortunately, merely doubling or tripling your bet in high count situations is not enough to make you much of a winner. The casinos realize this, too. Once you’ve learned to count there are different betting and playing strategies depending on whether you’re playing single or multiple decks.