Live Online Blackjack Card Counting
The Interactive Card Counting Trainer is a software tool that will teach you how to count cards accurately. No experience is required to use the tool, just the desire to want to learn a mathematically proven technique that will give you the advantage over the casino when you play blackjack. There is the misconception that card counters memorize every card. By cutting back on the number of hands played before the reshuffle, live-dealer online blackjack keeps any edge in card counting limited by keeping the game in the early stages when the information isn’t as reliable. Most live-dealer online blackjack games won’t even go much further than halfway through a shoe before the reshuffle. 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.
- Blackjack Card Counting Practice
- Online Live Casino Blackjack Card Counting
- Practice Card Counting Online
You’ve likely seen movies where card counters make big profits. Although such film scenes are unrealistic, they at least show that skilled counters do win money.
But one thing you never see in these movies is somebody sitting at home and making thousands of dollars through online blackjack. In fact, it’s widely assumed that card counting doesn’t work at online casinos.
You may be surprised to find out, though, that card counting actually is possible at gaming sites. However, the real question is if it’s profitable.
I’m going to cover the stigma against online card counting and why it’s feasible in certain cases. I’ll finish by discussing if the profits make it worth your time to be an internet card counter.
What Are the Basics of Card Counting?
The very essence of card counting is to determine when you have a stronger chance of getting a natural blackjack. Assuming you’re playing at a table with favorite rules, then you’ll receive a 3:2 payout on your original bet (some tables only offer 6:5).
Your chances of getting a natural blackjack increase greatly when the shoe has a larger percentage of aces and 10s compared to other card values. You’ll theoretically gain more value by increasing your bet size at this point.
Of course, you won’t naturally know when these situations are present. But card counting gives you a tool for figuring out when the shoe is rich in aces and 10s.
The Hi-Lo offers a happy medium between accuracy and ease of use. But the jest of the Hi-Lo is that you assign values to each card that comes out. Here are the point values for each type of card:
- Aces, face cards, and 10s (high cards) = -1
- 7, 8, and 9 = 0 (neutral)
- 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 (low cards) = +1
You want fewer low cards in the shoe, which is why your positive count increases when they come out.
The Hi-Lo also calls on you to account for how many decks are left in a shoe with a “true count.” You do this by dividing your “running count” by the estimated amount of remaining decks.
Here’s an example:
- Your running count is +6.
- You estimate that two decks are left.
- 6 / 2 = +3 true count
You can increase your bet size as the positive true count grows. A simple way to do this is by:
- Flat betting with a count of 0 or +1.
- Increasing your minimum bet 5x with a count of +2.
- Increasing your minimum bet 10x with a count of +3 or higher.
Why Online Card Counting Usually Doesn’t Work
One more aspect to card counting in blackjack that I haven’t discussed is deck penetration. This term refers to how many decks a casino deals before reshuffling the shoe.
Here’s an example:
- You’re playing at a table with an eight-deck shoe.
- Five of the eight decks have been dealt.
- 5 / 8 = 62.5% deck penetration
You want higher deck penetration, because this allows you to place bigger bets with more confidence. A +2 or +3 true count is much more accurate when only one deck remains, versus five or six.
Of course, many casinos reshuffle before this point in order to thwart card counters.
Other casinos allow more deck penetration, because they don’t want to slow down games by constantly reshuffling. They figure that lost hands are most costly than simply giving a few counters a bigger advantage.
Online casinos don’t have to worry about lost hands when reshuffling decks. Their software-based (a.k.a. virtual) tables can automatically reshuffle a shoe with no time wasted.
Online gaming providers program their blackjack games to reshuffle with very little deck penetration. You have absolutely no chance to gain an advantage in these cases.
Of course, you could slightly improve your odds if a casino allowed, say, 25% penetration. But this amount isn’t enough to count with any confidence and swing the odds in your favor.
The low deck penetration in online blackjack games is why card counting doesn’t work at virtual tables.
Some Live Dealer Casinos Allow More Deck Penetration
Many online casinos offer live dealer blackjack, which features a human dealer and real cards. These tables operate just like a normal land-based casino would, with the exception that the action is being streamed through your internet device.
Assuming the conditions were perfect, live blackjack would be the best way to count cards. After all, you could sit at home and count without drawing as much suspicion from pit bosses and floor supervisors.
Of course, online casinos aren’t dumb. They know their live tables are susceptible to being beaten through card counting.
Dealers are instructed to shuffle shoes before too much deck penetration is allowed. They’re not going to deal through 75% of the shoe and give you an easy chance to count.
Some live dealer casino games allow up to 50% deck penetration before reshuffling. You can theoretically gain a tiny advantage in these situations.
I mentioned earlier that at least 75% penetration is ideal. But 50% is just enough to where you can earn a little money over time.
You can visit different live dealer casinos and watch their games to figure out the deck penetration. Take notes on the different percentages in order to find sites that are more susceptible to counting.
What Is the Profitability of Live Dealer Card Counting?
The problem with counting in the aforementioned live blackjack games is that it’s just not very profitable. At best, you’re looking at earning a small amount of profits over time.
You also need to be able to use a large “spread,” which is the distance from the minimum bet to your highest wager.
Here’s an example:
- You’re playing at a table with $5 minimum bets.
- You increase your wager to $75 with a true count of +3.
- 75 / 5 = 15
- Your bet spread is 1-15.
Pro counters generally use between a 1-10 and 1-15 bet spread. But they must be careful, because such large spreads are a telltale sign of a counter.
You need to thoroughly research which land-based casinos allow this type of action without immediately tossing you. Some Las Vegas casinos are more lenient than others.
Gaming sites with live blackjack are generally very lenient with bet spreads. After all, they’re not allowing enough penetration to where you’ll gain a big advantage.
But you need around a 1-30 spread to get an edge with just 50% penetration. If the table minimum bet were $5, for example, you’d be betting $150 with a +3 true count.
Some online casinos might allow this. Others may eventually ban you if they monitor your play and deem you to be a bad customer.
You can of course “wong in,” which involves counting while sitting out and entering games at favorable points. “Wonging” prevents you from having to play unprofitable hands until detecting a positive count.
Another problem is that you’ll have to dedicate a lot of time for such little payoff. Online card counting is nothing more than a low-paying hobby in the long run.
Conclusion
Counting cards at live dealer casinos can result in minimum profits with 50% deck penetration. But you’ll never make any serious money with this practice.
You might be lucky to earn a few dollars an hour, even with a 1-30 bet spread and wonging. These tiny profits hardly seem worth the effort.
Live dealer counting can be a fun hobby. It’s also a nice way to prepare for counting cards at a brick and mortar venue.
Just be aware that you won’t be able to use such large spreads at a land-based casino. You might even attract suspicion at some live dealer tables for doing so.
Also, wonging isn’t permitted at most brick and mortar establishments. Casinos have a “no mid-shoe entry” rule to prevent this from happening.
Nevertheless, land-based casinos are better for profitable card counting. Live dealer sites, meanwhile, are just fun places to hone your counting skills while potentially earning a little money.
If you’re an avid blackjack 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 online casinos 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 casinos 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 betting strategy and to learn the rules of Blackjack properly to make the best possible decisions.
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.
In conclusion
Blackjack Card Counting Practice
Having a basic blackjack strategy and managing your bankroll should 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.
Online Live Casino Blackjack Card Counting
If your main goal is to play with an advantage, there are more positive and legal ways to do so, without blackjack card counting.