Chances are, you have seen movies like 21, which show players winning large amounts of money playing blackjack using something called card counting. You probably thought it was some complicated system that only geniuses could figure out and implement in their games. Because of this, you probably stuck to playing online roulette, slots and other casino games.
The truth is, card counting is a relatively simple blackjack strategy that can be used to increase your odds of winning every time you visit your favorite casino online. It may not make you a millionaire in a few hours, but if you continuously implement some kind of card counting strategy, you will have a long-term edge over other players, as well as the casino.
The basics of card counting are simple: The larger number of high cards in the deck means the dealer has a higher chance of busting and you making your hand. The opposite is true for larger numbers of low cards in the deck.
Card counting is just a way to systematically keep track of the ratio of big card to small cards in the deck. Now, obviously, this system is not perfect or 100% accurate, but it doesn’t have to be. Just a 2% edge over the house continuously played will make you a lot of money. You can put this system in play at land casinos such as Las Vegas Mirage or online casinos provided that the cards are dealt from a deck or shoe and not an automatic shuffling machine.
A basic card counting system works as follows: the count starts at zero. For every small card (8 or below) that is dealt out, a 1 is added to the count.
For every high card (10 or over) that is dealt, a 1 is taken away from the count. The higher the count is, the more profitable the deck is for the player.
Now, there are more complicated variations of this strategy, such as weighting the values of different cards and other like formulas. But, even the basic implementation of the strategy above should drastically increase the profitability of your blackjack game.
To win at blackjack, you need an edge. The odds are always tipped in the favor of the casinos if you don’t use a strategy. Try counting cards while playing blackjack and see if it increases your profitability. There is a good chance it will make you more money than you expected!