Blackjack Card Counting For Beginners

Counting cards might be frowned upon by many land-based or live-streamed casinos, but that doesn’t stop blackjack players from trying. After all, who better than our gangster familia would know what they can get away with?

Blackjack casinos don’t like players who use card counting because it can cut the house edge down to 1-2% in combination with a cheat sheet. That’s why they’ll use countermeasures to thwart card counters:

• Backoff/banning of known professional players
• Modified blackjack rules on splitting, holding multiple hands and doubling down
• Reducing the number of cards dealt before shuffling
• Using multiple card decks
• Confiscate the chips or player balance of perpetrators

Generally, counting cards in online casino blackjack (using a random number generator) is less effective since the software shuffles the cards after each hand. Therefore, blackjack card counting is generally more effective on live blackjack game streams or land-based casino tables.

Blackjack Card Counting 101 for newbies

So, what is card counting anyways? In short, some players use card counting to predict whether their hand or the dealer’s has a better statistical probability of winning. Ultimately, the aim is to reduce the house edge. Combined with a blackjack cheat sheet, card counting can effectively cut the house edge down to as little as 0.5%.

Blackjack card counting involves keeping a running count of the cards dealt based on value, depending on whether that value is high or low. Players who identify an advantage will increase their wager and, conversely, reduce their stake (or abandon the game) when at a disadvantage.

Why do you need card counting in blackjack?

The whole blackjack counting card process is based on statistical probability. It eliminates subjectivity and emotion, giving players the best chance to profit. Couple it with a blackjack cheat sheet to dramatically increase your odds (RTP).

Card counting in blackjack assumes that high cards, including 9s, 10s, face cards and aces in the deck are the best from players’ perspective. In fact, the assumption is statistically proven to provide them with several advantages:

• It improves the odds of hitting a blackjack with a 3:2 payout
• Can provide an opportunity to split a hand
• Allows players to double down, increasing the expected value
• Increases the chance of a dealer bust
• The dealer blackjack potential can make taking out insurance profitable

In contrast, lower-value cards 2-7 in the deck statistically favour the dealer as they are less likely to bust than high cards.

How does blackjack card counting work?

Some of our blog visitors think that card counting blackjack involves memorising or tracking specific cards. But ‘fuhgeddaboudit’ as that’s a misconception!

While it can take a few hours to remember the strategy charts, there’s no need to memorise any cards. However, You will probably need to invest many hours in practice to get good at it. For new players learning the ropes, counting in their heads can slow them down, which can mean lost opportunity.

The strategy uses a running count point system of assigning a positive, negative or zero value, depending on the card value dealt. A dealt low-value card will increase the running total since the percentage of remaining high-value cards increases. 

Conversely, a dealt high-value card decreases the running total since the percentage of low-value cards left increases. A point system assigns points based on a card’s effect of removal (EOR). In other words, the impact of removing a card from the remaining cards on the house edge.

How to count cards in blackjack

Each card counting online blackjack system has a level I, II or III classification depending on the ratio of card points assigned. Larger ratios more closely approximate the correlation to EOR and are considered more efficient. You might be surprised to learn that there are several card-counting strategies based on levels. 

• Level I (1, 0 or -1 values): Hi-Lo, Hi-Opt I, KO, Red 7
• Level II (More complex & accurate): 10 Count, Hi-Opt II, Omega II, Zen Count
• Level III (Highest complexity & accuracy): Halves

Some strategies are better for a single or double card deck but may be less effective in multiple card decks. Therefore, different systems will solve specific problems. Remember to wait for a new card shoe before using a card counting system. Otherwise, your tally will be missing cards. We don’t want to scare you away with complicated techniques, so we’ll ease you in with a smooth card counting method.

Using the Hi-Lo card counting blackjack strategy

Hi-Lo combines ease and effectiveness and takes little time to master, which is why it is arguably the most popular online blackjack card counting system. At least, this is true for beginners!

Because of its simplicity, it requires less focus. It takes about a month to master the technique, and it’s compatible with single and multi-deck (2,4,6,8) table games.

It’s easy to use the Hi-Lo counting system on a live dealer blackjack game, and plenty of YouTube videos explain how it works. Luckily, our blog is another great place to get the 411 on card counting.

• Add 1 to ‘low cards’ (2-6) of all faceup cards (players and dealer)
• Add 0 to middle ‘neutral’ cards (7-9) to all faceup cards (players and dealer)
• Subtract 1 on ‘high cards’ (A-K-Q-J-10) cards of all faceup cards (players and dealer)

The combination of all values is called your running count. Dividing the running counts by the number of decks remaining, and bada-bing, you get the ‘true count.’ Players get the advantage over a online casino when the true count is 2 or more. It can take a few rounds before a player can build an advantage.

Remember to combine a basic blackjack strategy with card counting for the most effective result. This chart tells a player what action to take based on their hand versus the dealer.

Increasing or Decreasing your Bet Size

Consider leaving the table when you’ve reached your profit goal, or the true count is -2 or lower. The latter reason is that the odds skew considerably in the dealer’s favour.

Smart card counters increase their bet spread when the true count is favourable and reduce it when it is not. There are different bet spread strategies, such as the 1-8 bet spread. For example, players with a unit bet of $5 would make the following bet:

• $5 on a true count of <=+1 true count
• $10 ($5 x2 units) on a true count of +2
• $20 ($5 x4 units) on a true count of +3
• $40 ($5 x8 units) on a true count of +4 or higher

Effectively, players increase their bet sizes as the house edge narrows while reducing it as the house edge widens.

Blackjack card counting tips for beginners

As the saying goes, ‘Never bring a knife to a gunfight.’ To that end, we’ve got plenty of card counting tips to make sure you’re ready for battle!

• Start with an easier strategy like Hi-Lo
• Use a blackjack cheat sheet
• Practice makes perfect
• Use smaller bet sizes
• Manage your bankroll and set limits
• Never make it evident that you’re using a card counting strategy
• Repeat the running count in your head not to forget it
• A suspicious increase in bet size may cause a live dealer to shuffle the deck
• Don’t let backoffs discourage you from playing live blackjack
• Have fun and recognize that no system can eliminate the house edge

No new member of a gangster Syndicate starts as a ‘Godfather.’ Therefore, don’t expect to begin by using an advanced blackjack card counting strategy. Start small and learn the ropes, working your way up the ladder until you’ve paid your dues. That’s the Syndicate Casino way and the best approach to counting cards in blackjack.