Blackjack Card Counting

How to Count Cards in Blackjack

Card counting is one of the most intriguing prospects in all of gambling since players have used this process to wins thousands, or even millions of dollars. Several popular movies such as The Hangover, Rain Man, and 21 have depicted card counting as being very profitable. But just like anything else shown in the movies, card counting is a lot harder than it looks. With that being said, let’s take a look at the most popular blackjack card counting methods.

Hi Lo Count - The Hi Lo method assigns points to all of the cards in the deck. As they are dealt, cards 2-6 are assigned +1 point, while 7-9 are considered neutral cards and receive no points. Cards 10-A receive -1 point, and they are considered the best for players because they increase the chance of receiving a good starting hand. Once you start keeping track of cards dealt, you need to keep a running count of each card dealt to the players and dealer. At some point, you need to convert the running count to a true count by dividing the running number by the number of decks (running count of +10 / 2 decks = true count of +5). When the score is +1 or more, you want to make higher bets because there are more high cards in the deck.

KO Count - Also known as the Knockout card counting system, this is a simplified version of the Hi Lo system where 7’s are counted amongst the +1 cards. With the KO card counting system, you don’t need to convert the running count to a true count. This makes it much easier for amateurs to count cards; however, it’s also slightly less accurate too.

Shuffle Tracking - Extreme counters are willing to use shuffle tracking devices to aid in their card counting efforts. Some shuffle tracking devices not only count cards using the Hi Lo system, but they also give players a good indication as to exactly where certain cards are in the shoe. The main problem with shuffle tracking is that, unlike card counting, this could land you in jail if you’re caught. With regular card counting methods, you merely get kicked out or banned from the casino if you’re successful.

Card Counting History - Shuffle tracking is only the latest advance in a rich history of card counting that began back in 1949 with Jess Marcum. Marcum was a physicist who figured out how to count cards, and eventually quit his job to become a professional card counter. The card counting phenomenon started to grow in the 50’s when more players came to the table with crude counting methods.

However, it wasn’t until Edward Thorpe perfected card counting in the late 50’s and early 60’s, and wrote a book called Beat the Dealer that counting became really popular. Despite casinos implementing changes to discourage card counters, other people followed Thorpe’s lead; some experienced success, and others didn’t do so well. The MIT blackjack team, which included nearly 80 members, were certainly some of the more successful card counting disciples since they won millions from the late 1970’s to the early 2000’s. And there are plenty of people out there today trying to emulate the success of the MIT team and Thorpe.