Counting cards is a strategy in blackjack that helps the players to win a game against the house. Many seasoned blackjack players are said to have employed the technique to win the game. However, most online casino players and gambling enthusiasts reiterate that counting the cards is impossible and might not help anyone win the card game. A certain amount of card counting is involved in every strategy used to win the house. Blackjack is one of the few casino games that do not simply rely on sheer luck. The experience and skill of the player also play an important role.
Card counting is not illegal and online casinos do not bar the players from doing it. So, how can you use card counting to win against the house? Can practice make you a better blackjack player and help you win huge payouts? This article aims to answer this very question. So, let’s not waste another minute and dive deep into how the card-counting strategy works.
What Is Card Counting?
Card counting is a blackjack strategy that is used by the players to determine whether the player or the dealer has the advantage on the next hand. Blackjack is a card game played against the house. Anyone having the value of the cards near 21 is declared the winner in each hand and is paid according to the bet wagered.
Therefore, blackjack is also called “twenty-one’s”. Technically, card counting in a blackjack is not cheating. The casino will not throw you out or ban you from playing there. Blackjack is designed in such a way that online casinos always have the edge over the player.
Most online casinos use a single deck of 52 cards, it is most unlikely that an online casino will use an infinite set of cards. Therefore, card counting can help players level the playing field. Card counting is essentially assigning a value to each card and keeping a tab of the cards as the dealer burns through the deck.
Eventually, you will have an upper hand in blackjack if you carefully monitor the cards that are handed out. You don’t have to be a genius to be good at card counting. Practice and employing certain strategies can help you count the cards that are left in the dealer’s deck.
How To Count Cards In An Online Blackjack
There are several strategies to count cards in a game of blackjack. By keeping track of the cards handed out by the dealer, you can correctly guess the cards left on the deck, and help you make decisions based on that. However, there is a certain amount of luck involved as you cannot exactly track which card is going to be dealt up next. But, players can certainly anticipate the next move and make decisions accordingly. So, here is a card-counting strategy that can help you win blackjack:
- First, assign values to the cards and memorize these values.
| Cards | Values |
| High Cards (10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace) | -1 |
| Cards 7 to 9 | 0 |
| Low Cards (2 to 6) | +1 |
- Keep count of the cards being dealt out by the dealer in each hand. Use the assigned values to keep track of the cards.
- You will be able to guess the remaining value of the cards left in the dealer’s deck by using this technique.
- After each round, if the value of the remaining cards is negative, increase your bet size. As there will be only low-value cards remaining in the dealer’s deck.
- If the value of the deck is positive, the dealer will have high-value cards, therefore, you need to lower your bets to prevent losing the game.
Can card counting help you win the game? The blackjack is designed in such a way that the house edge is more. By assigning value to the cards and keeping a count of the cards, you can drastically improve your odds with a 1% advantage. This can help you win against the house and get a huge payout.
Card Counting In Live Dealer Blackjack
Online blackjack games use RNGs and Automatic Shuffling Machines (ASMs) to shuffle the deck. A few online casinos shuffle the entire deck after each hand. So, it is possible to use card counting to know the value of the cards left with the dealer and make necessary changes to your bets. However, live dealer blackjack uses multi-deck shoes instead of a single deck. This makes it difficult to count cards.
You need to expand the card counting technique to include more cards and theoretically, it is possible to guess the value of the cards in the multi-deck. However, it is very difficult to execute for even the seasoned players. Online casinos use the multi-deck to reduce the chances of players counting their cards. But, live dealer games usually take a long time to manually shuffle the cards. This gives the player an advantage to use certain strategies for card counting.
Conclusion
Blackjack is the most preferred online casino game in the world. It is the bread and butter of several online and brick-and-mortar casinos. Players are easily reeled into the world of blackjack due to the high payout and rewards it offers. However, blackjacks are designed specifically to have high odds for the house.
But, by employing certain strategies, players can increase their chances of winning. Blackjack is not completely dependent on chance and also depends on the skill of the player. The “counting cards” strategy is a proven method by which players can increase their chances of huge payouts.
