Card Counting Online Live Blackjack
- Counting Cards Blackjack Best Method
- Card Counting Blackjack Game
- Card Counting Online Live Casino
- Blackjack Card Counting Practice
How Card Counting Works. Typically, casino blackjack is dealt from a shoe of somewhere between six and eight decks. The cards are dealt until a certain amount of the shoe has been dealt – often.
What is Counting Cards?
- Some Live Dealer Casinos Allow More Deck Penetration. All these methods take advantage of faults relating to the dealer or the equipment used in the game, mainly the cards. In Blackjack Card Counter v2.1, we’ve added an additional card counting system based on Ken Uston’s SS Count, which is a little more complicated, but provides better odds.
- Many online casinos employ continuous shuffle machines. Those make card counting ineffective. But for online live dealer blackjack games that don’t use a “CSM,” they will have the dealer shuffle in the middle of the shoe. The best I have seen is a dealer shuffling after 4 of 8 decks.
Blackjack is one of the few casino games which, when played optimally using a sound counting method, can offer players a mathematical edge over the house.
This is precisely why casinos reserve the right to refuse service to players identified as being proficient at counting cards (sometimes referred to as ‘advantage players’).
So how do you count cards? Blackjack card counting methods are surprisingly simple. You don’t need to be a genius savant. You don’t need to remember every card dealt. If you can add and subtract the number 1 you’re part way there.
The aim of any blackjack counting strategy is to give the player an idea of the composition of the remaining cards in the shoe. Not exactly what those cards are, but rather the broad composition (majority high cards, or majority low cards). Knowing whether the shoe is high card or low card rich, puts the player at an advantage over the house (hence the term advantage player).
The following discussion looks first at how to count cards using the Hi-Lo method, and second whether this skill can be effectively applied to live dealer blackjack.
How to count cards
There are a number of methods employed to count cards, and contrary to popular belief, none of them involve memorizing every card that has been dealt from a deck/shoe and computing each and every card still left.
One of the most commonly discussed and employed counting methods is the Hi-Lo method. You will not need a photographic memory or rain-man like savant abilities to pull it off…just the ability to add and subtract and pay attention.
Here’s how it works.
All cards in the deck are assigned a value as follows:
- +1 for all 2’s, 3’s, 4’s, 5’s, 6’s
- 0 for all 7’s, 8’s, 9’s
- -1 for all A’s, K’s, Q’s, J’s, 10’s
As each card is dealt (not just to you…to all positions including the dealer), add the assigned value to a running count. An example deal and corresponding running count would be as follows:
| Card dealt | Assigned value | Running count |
| 10 | -1 | -1 |
| A | -1 | -2 |
| 8 | 0 | -2 |
| 4 | +1 | -1 |
| 5 | +1 | 0 |
| 3 | +1 | 1 |
| J | -1 | 0 |
| 2 | +1 | 1 |
| 6 | +1 | 2 |
That’s how you count cards! The next piece of the puzzle is betting to the count (see below). But before we discuss that, here’s a cool way to practice card counting.
Card counting practice
Keeping an accurate running count isn’t as simple as it sounds. Remember, when you play a game of blackjack in a traditional casino or online the deal happens fast. There are also numerous distractions, especially in a traditional casino (player chat, dealer chat, cute cocktail waitresses taking your order etc); and you don’t really want to appear as though you’re counting. Concentration faces aren’t ideal.
It helps if your ability to keep a tight running count is pretty much automatic. For this practice is key.
A great way to practice counting cards is to deal a deck to yourself and keep a running count. If at the completion of the deal you have a count of zero, you were spot on. Increase the deal speed until the count is pretty much second nature and then you’re ready to hit the casinos.
The significance of the running count
Underlying any counting method is the fact that a high card rich deck/shoe, combined with optimal play, increases the mathematical returns of blackjack. This is because a high card rich deck results in more pat hands for the player (ie hands where you will stand, eg 20) and increases the likelihood of dealer busts with forced hits on stiffs (stiff’s being 12’s to 16’s).
A high card rich deck also increases the chances of Blackjacks being dealt – both to the dealer and players, however for players Blackjack pays 3:2 swinging returns in their favour.
So in a nutshell, a high card rich shoe improves players’ chances of winning, and the running count tells you whether the remaining shoe is high card rich or not.
The running count gets high as more low cards have been dealt than high cards, meaning on balance there are more high cards remaining in the shoe. This is referred to as a positive count. The greater the positive the count closer to the end of the shoe, the better the odds for players.
Conversely, if the running count is less than zero (a negative count) then the remaining shoe is low card rich and not a good shoe for players.
Card counting is simply a means of calculating just how high-card-rich the remaining shoe/deck is so that you can bet accordingly.
Playing and betting to the count
Ok, you now know how to keep a tight running count. What do you then do with this count?
First and foremost you must play basic strategy at all times during your session. That is, choosing the optimal Hit, Stand, Split or Double Down decision given your cards and the dealer’s.
Playing Blackjack Basic Strategy is simple, because fortunately the experts have put together simple basic strategy charts (or Hit or Stand charts) that tell you exactly what you should do for every deal circumstance.
These charts will differ depending on the blackjack house rules applying, which do differ from casino to casino. Here’s a typical chart that applies to all live tables offered by Playtech and Evolution Gaming.
Second, you simply:
- Increase your bets when you have a high (positive) count towards the end of a shoe; and
- Decrease (or stop) your bets when you have a low (negative) count towards the end of a shoe.
The extent to which you increase or decrease your bets will be determined by how high the positive count is, or how low the negative count is.
Nice video explanation of card counting
Does card counting work at live dealer online casinos?
Traditional casinos don’t let players count cards. If they suspect a player is counting cards – and they are pretty good at detecting bet patterns consistent with card counting – they will ask that player to leave and not return. But what about online casinos?
RNG (random number generator) blackjack games preclude the possibility of an effective count because all online RNG games are dealt from a full shuffled deck/shoe. Online blackjack card counting is therefore totally useless as you are playing to a full deck/shoe with every deal.
The situation with live dealer games is very different though. This is not a computer generated deck that can be automatically replenished and shuffled every game.
So is a count effective here?
The answer to this question lies in the blackjack game rules stipulated at live dealer casinos – which are typically something like what you will find at BetFred (Playtech powered):
“We offer eight deck Live Blackjack with a live dealer and a real Blackjack table, with multiple players. The cards are shuffled when there are approximately four decks left in the shoe.”
Or at Victor Chandler (Evolution Gaming powered) …
“…shoe is shuffled at regular intervals”
In practice you will find this translates to an approximate mid shoe shuffle also.
In both cases players aren’t able to penetrate deep into the shoe with their count. Playing live dealer blackjack you aren’t given an opportunity to effectively gauge how high card rich the shoe is because the deal never runs to the (near) end of the shoe.
So playing live online, any counting strategy, while good counting practice, will not enable you to gain an edge over the house.
If you’re an avid live blackjack casino player, at some point or another, have wondered about the concept of card-counting. You will find that many casino guides online, promote card counting as the all-elusive salvation to all your live blackjack woes.
Card counting has been hyped up so much in Hollywood movies, that plenty of blackjack players are looking to learn the art of card counting.
In essence, card counting is the tracking of cards that are dealt out in Live Blackjack, in a bid to determine the odds or predict cards that have not yet been dealt out. Sounds complicated? Well, it is, but does it work?
Read on to learn more about card-counting in Blackjack.
What is card-counting in live Blackjack?
Card counting is a unique technique that lets blackjack players know when there is an advantage shift in their favour. When they know that this is occurring, they increase their bets substantially. On the other hand, when there’s a shift in the dealer’s favour, the player will make a bet on a smaller scale or no bets at all.
Players who are known to card-count lower the house edge by varying the bets they place. In general, it has been proven that high-value cards such as Aces and face cards are more beneficial to the player than to the dealer, while the low-value cards are more advantageous to the dealer.
Now that you understand how it works, we need to explain why card counting is not recommended. For starters, if you are trying to card-count at a brick-and-mortar casino and they notice, you are going to get banned. Your picture will be paraded around at other casinos as well. Casinos, in general, have 0 tolerance towards card counting in Blackjack.
Secondly, card counting when playing at the best Canadian online casino sites doesn’t work for several reasons. If you are playing the generic table game version of Blackjack without the live dealer, then a hand is automatically generated by the software. Since it is generated after each round, the software picks cards from fresh decks of cards each time. Since casinos use Random Number Generators, there is no way to card-count when playing a table game version of Blackjack.
You can try to card-count, but it’s not even worth trying as it will prove fruitless. If anything, we recommend using your bankroll wisely and adopting a Blackjack strategy to help you make the right decisions, especially if you are starting out at the game of Blackjack.
Why live casinos are protected against card counting
How does card counting apply when you throw it in a live casino setting. The best live casino sites are transparent when it comes to card-shuffling. You will see shufflers ambling at the table shuffling openly on the camera.
You know when cards are being reshuffled. However, because reshuffling is done before all the cards in the shoe have been dealt out, it’s impossible to card count. Additionally, live casinos don’t reveal how many decks of cards they have in the shoe, so card counting in this case will be not only mind-numbingly boring and mentally exhausting, but also a pointless exercise.
You need to be aware the card counting takes a lot of training and it’s so mentally exhausting, that it is easy to make a mistake, making you lose focus on your blackjack strategy.
Even if you had to take up card counting as a side hobby, it requires stealth and patience for a minuscule profit and the risks that come with it are supremely high. If anything, we suggest you put your energy into a great blackjack betting strategy and to learn the rules of Blackjack properly to make the best possible decisions. You can further look at our Blackjack Strategy Chart here.
To sum it up, here are the reasons why card counting doesn’t work:
Live Blackjack is resistant to card counting
Many live blackjack games are played with eight decks of cards, and the shoe is changed with circa four decks of cards having been dealt. With many blackjack tables, there is auto shuffling to ensure that a new shoe is available for every had dealt.
Software keeps count
The live casino software is so sophisticated these days that it monitors and keeps count as the game is played out. Additionally, players who attempt to card-count are easily spotted and stopped if they appear to be taking advantage of the casino.
Players playing badly
Since there will be different types of blackjack players sitting at the table, you can expect a mixed blend of both experienced and inexperienced players at the table. The experienced players will be applying advanced techniques, while beginners will be fumbling throughout their gaming session. Since you will not be able to know who the good and bad players at the table are, this will have an impact on any potential card counting that you might aspire to the executive.
Dealers have no way of knowing
Don’t assume that the croupier knows something that you don’t. Croupiers see the cards at the same time you do, so there is no way for them to know when a winning hand is coming up. Croupiers won’t even get to see the card facing down until once the players have revealed their hand.
Counting Cards Blackjack Best Method
In conclusion
Having a basic blackjack strategy and managing your bankrollshould be your main priority when playing at a live casino. Even if you somehow succeed in card counting, the wins are so small that it’s simply not worth it. The risks, on the other hand, are humongous.
Once you get caught, you will likely be banned. If you are playing online and the casino notices your card counting, you will be disconnected from the table with very little fuss. We can reassure you that the players who are indeed winning at Blackjack aren’t doing this by card counting, but rather by making the right decisions and knowing when to hit or stand.
If your main goal is to play with an advantage, there are more positive and legal ways to do so, without blackjack card counting.
Card Counting Blackjack Game
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