Blackjack Card Counting

While most novice players don't take into consideration the cards that the dealer and other players at the table are holding, most other players will. In Blackjack, players do not play against other players like they do in Poker, instead they must only beat the dealer without busting in  order to win. However, knowing what cards other players have is the first step to learning how to count cards when playing Blackjack. Counting cards in Blackjack can get a bit tricky when you get into the multiple decks, so when you start out, you should always start at the single deck Blackjack table.

Card counting when playing Blackjack has been around for a very long time, but it wasn't a real talked about topic as it was quite shunned in the casino world. However, when the motion picture '21' came out, people realized that there might be more people counting cards than they ever imagined. The movie 21 is about a college professor who teaches some of his smartest students how to count cards successfully when playing Blackjack and use that to make some real money. He took his team of college students to Las Vegas to see what they could do. They went on quite the winning streak before finally getting caught. When it comes to card counting, there are a bunch of different card counting systems to choose from, however the simplest is the Hi-Lo card counting system. Below we will give you a little insight into using the Hi-Lo card counting system when playing single deck Blackjack.

For all of the low cards (2-6), they will always have a value of positive one. High cards (10-A), will always have a value of negative one. Sevens, Eights and Nines have a value of 0, so you do not need to keep track of them when playing Blackjack. Out of a standard 52 card deck of playing cards, there are 20 low cards, 20 high cards and 12 no value cards. When you start with a new deck, you will always start at zero, adding and subtracting as high and low cards are dealt. When deciding whether or not to hit on a mid teen hand, think about whether you have a positive or negative amount. If you have a positive amount, it means that a lot of low cards have been played, so the chances of getting another low card are low. However, if you have a seven and an eight in your hand which totals 15 and the number from counting cards is a negative amount, that means a lot of high cards have already been played and you have a better chance of hitting and getting a low card.