Card Counting in Blackjack ▷ Learn How to Count Cards (2024)

What is Card Counting in Blackjack?

Card counting is a well-known technique used in Blackjack, where you keep track of the number of high & low cards that are left in the dealer’s deck.

If you learn to count cards correctly, you can increase your bets (when you know that the odds are in your favour) to win big.

Card Counting Takes Skill

Card counting is an extra skillset apart from your usual gameplay, to give you a good idea as to what is in the deck.

And let me also make it very clear that “Card Counting” is hard and isn’t as rewarding as you see them in movies or television shows.

If it was this easy to make money, undoubtedly, every player would be doing it.

Before you start counting cards you will need to be a pro player and know all the top blackjack strategies.

How does the Card Counting Technique Work?

As mentioned, the basic idea of card counting is more like a tracking system where you use your memory power to track what cards have been dealt in the blackjack game.

Since there are only a few cards dealt in every round, it’s possible for you to have an idea of what could be remaining in the deck and manage your strategy according to it.

Most counting systems will use -1, 0 and +1, which gives every card a value (in the deck). Basically,

Cards from 2 to 6 are +1
Cards 7, 8, 9 are 0 (or neutral)
Aces and Face cards are -1

If you’ve been blessed with extremely high memory, you can mentally do these calculations:

Mark each card that you see
Note the cards after every hand
Deduct the number of cards that are remaining in the deck
Deduct the cards that have been already dealt

After this deduction, you can easily tell when is the right time to bet low or high.

For example, if only smaller cards are being exposed for a while, then there’s a high chance that bigger will be revealed in the next hand. This also tells you that it might be the perfect time to bet high.

Can you Apply the Card Counting Strategy in Online Blackjack?

No, sadly you can’t apply card counting to online blackjack since the cards are shuffled automatically every round making it impossible to count which cards have already passed.

There are other great blackjack strategies you can use though!

Keep your bankroll in mind: Yes, of course, you’ll have to watch the cards that are drawn, but it is equally crucial to keep an eye on how much cash you have to play with. Well, you definitely don’t want to make a sudden drastic move and run out of money.

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