How to Count Cards
Counting cards can be incredibly difficult or incredibly simple, we like to keep it incredibly simple because the hard part of counting cards is pulling it off in the casino without getting caught. Card counting is based on the fact that when a group of cards has more high cards (10's and Ace's) compared to low cards (7 and below) the game of blackjack becomes favorable to the player. It is more favorable for obvious reasons, there is a higher chance of the dealer busting, and a higher chance of the player getting a favorable hand, including blackjacks and much more favorable double down hands.
Counting System
To keep track of when the deck or shoe is favorable to the player we simply need to know when there are more tens and aces in the deck than little cards. To do this a point system is assigned to each card, with positive values assigned to the low cards and negative values assigned to the high cards. There are many different types of counting systems that all work, but for this web site we will be using the Hi-Lo count invented by Harvey Dubner in 1963. The beauty of the Hi-Lo count is that it is incredibly easy to learn and perform, and at the same time it retains all the benefits of accurate betting because it has a betting correlation of 97%. You will not likely notice a difference in your money winning percentage over the course of your blackjack career if you choose to use a more complicated system such as the Revere RAPC counting strategy which has a 100% betting correlation. In fact you will probably end up with less money because of all the mistakes you would make trying to use such a complicated system. For more examples and information on all the different counting systems check out qfit.com.
Running Count
The running count is the running total of each card's assigned value. The best way to start learning to count is to get a single deck of cards and flip them over one at a time adding each cards count value to your running count, by the time you flip through the entire deck you will be back at zero since the HI-LO count is a balanced counting system meaning that there are equal number of negative cards to positive cards. Once you can quickly go through a deck of cards without making any mistakes move on to two decks at a time. Once that becomes easy you need to practice counting two cards at a time because this will simulate real time casino play the best. I find that it is much easier to wait until the dealer starts to deal out the second round of cards so that you can easily cancel cards out(ex. a 6 and a 10). Mentally you can ignore two cards that cancel out much faster than first adding +1 to your count and then subtracting 1 from your count. Also, this gives you more time in which you don't have to stare at the blackjack table because you can be looking off in the distance while the first round of cards are dealt, which makes it less obvious that you are counting cards.
True Count
To make the running count useful you need to convert it to the true count, which means dividing the running count by the number of remaining decks to be played in the shoe. Personally this is the most challenging part because you need to be able to accurately measure how many decks are left in the shoe. To do this, do not look at the shoe for how many decks are left, look at the discard tray and see how many decks have been played. Take the difference between the total number of decks being played in the shoe and the amount of decks that have been played to get the value of how many decks are left. This true count is what you will use to make your playing decisions and will decide how you bet, the higher the count the more money you bet.
Practice
At first, this will take many hours of practice and it will seem difficult to go through six decks of cards without making a single counting mistake, much less with the pressures of the live casino. After a couple of weeks to a month of solid practice it begins to become second nature. What I did to help me practice in a real casino environment is to go to any blackjack tournaments I could find. The tournaments here in Oklahoma only cost me $10 to $25 and they usually paid for themselves through either match play, meal comps, or the occasional times I made it to the final table. But remember, card counting doesn't help you that much if at all in tournament play, it is all about how you bet; you are playing against the other players not the dealer. But, if you can find some cheap tournaments to play in I highly recommend it, they are fun and it will really help you hone your skills.
