Blackjack Card Counting
Blackjack card counting has been used for decades now to decrease the house edge and push the odds closer to the player’s favor. The success of Blackjack card counting has been documented by numerous professional Blackjack players, though not everyone used the same card counting system.
Blackjack card counting systems range from basic to highly advanced, but in this article, we’re going to introduce our readers to the most basic form of card counting. It does not take a mathematical genius to pull off a basic card counting strategy. In fact, you need only be able to add and subtract by 1 while keeping up with only 2 valued groups of cards.
The cards are actually grouped into three clusters, but only two of those groups have a value, so we don’t consider the other group as being important or count-worthy.
We’ll start by detailing the groups and their respective values:
By this key, we can assume that any time a 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 shows up, you will Add 1 Point. If a 7, 8 or 9 appears, you do nothing. If a 10, J, Q, K or Ace s seen, you Subtract 1 Point.
The 7-9 group is the unimportant group we mentioned earlier in this strategy. These cards have no value and therefore do not matter. Only the low and high groups need be kept up with.
Now that we know how to count cards in Blackjack, let’s discuss how these numbers can help you win more often at Blackjack.
Blackjack card counting is not going to bring you immediate results, but rather a profitable venture over the long term. The idea is place your bets in accordance with the count, like this:
- If the Count is High - Bet High
- If the Count is Low – Bet Low
- If the Count is Even – Bet Medium
Now when we refer to a high count, we’re talking about a count of at least +4 or better. The same goes for a low count, needing -4 or better to truly be low. Anything closer to 0 should be considered an even count.
A medium bet would be your standard bet amount. If you are planning to wager $10 per hand, this would be the medium bet. A low bet would be cut in half to a $5 bet. A high bet would be either a 50% increase ($15 bet) or a doubled bet up to $20. Whether you bet $15 or $20 on a high count is up to, but our advice would be if the count is +6 or more, double the bet. If the count is +4 or +5, only increase by 50%.
As you can see, this is an incredibly simple Blackjack card counting system. But don’t make the mistake of thinking it is a waste of time to use it, just because of its simplicity. Every basic Blackjack strategy decreases the house edge further and further. Once you master the basic system, only then should try to upgrade to a more advanced Blackjack card counting system.
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