A Newbie’s Reference to Card Counting

by Silas on November 24th, 2010

What makes black jack far more interesting than several other similar games is the truth that it offers a mix of chance with elements of skill and decision-making. Plus, the aura of "card counting" that lets a gambler turn the odds of a game in his favor, makes the casino game much more alluring.

What is card counting?: When a gambler says he is counting cards, does that mean he is really keeping track of every card wagered? And do you have to be numerically suave to be a successful card counter? The answer to both questions is "No".

Truly, you aren’t counting and memorizing particular cards. Rather, you are retaining track of certain cards, or all cards as the case may be, as they leave the black-jack deck (dealt) to formulate one particular ratio number that signifies the makeup of the remaining deck. You might be assigning a heuristic level score to every card in the deck and then tracking the value score, which is referred to as the "count".

Card counting is dependent on the premiss that superior cards are good for the player although low cards are beneficial for the dealer. There may be no one process for card counting – diverse systems assign distinct point values to various cards.

The High-Low Rely: This is one of the most common systems. According to the Hi-Low system, the cards numbered 2 through 6 are counted as plusone and all 10s (which consist of tens, jacks, Q’s and kings) and aces are counted as -1. The cards 7, 8, and nine are assigned a depend of zero.

The previous explanation of the High-Lo method exemplifies a "level one" counting system. There are other counting methods, referred to as "level two" methods, that assign plustwo and minustwo counts to specific cards. On the face of it, this method appears to offer extra accuracy. Nevertheless, specialists agree that this additional accuracy is countered by the greater problems of maintaining depend and the increased likelihood of producing a mistake.

The "K-O" Technique: The "K-O" Technique follows an unbalanced counting system. The points are the exact same as the High-Low process, with the addition of seven’s also being counted as plusone. A regular unbalanced counting process is designed to eliminate the need to take into account the effect that multiple decks have around the level count. This many deck issue, by the way, requires a method of division – something that most gamblers have problems with. The "K-O" depend was made popular by the book "Knock-Out Blackjack" by Ken Fuchs and Olaf Vancura.

Though it may possibly seem to be a humungous task to learn how to track cards, the returns, in terms of time put in, are well worth the work. It is really a known fact that effective card counting gives an "unfair benefit," so to say, to the chemin de fer player. There may be practically no acknowledged defense against card counting.

Caution: But do remember, that although card counting is not against the law in any state or country, gambling establishments have the appropriate to prohibit card counters from their place of business. So don’t be an obvious card counter!

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