If you want to be a card counter and outsmart the blackjack table you need to understand how basic card counting works and you’d better be prepared to study and play a lot before it starts paying off!
How to count Cards
In blackjack you don’t want to bust out of the game by getting more than 21. An important blackjack strategy is to know what types of cards that are left in the deck. Card counting is a way to memorize what has been dealt and by this information figure out what is left. The most simple card counting assigns 0, 1 or -1 to different card values. By keeping the count of the sum of all cards dealt you can guess what kinds of cards are left, high or low.
Who can be a Card Counter?
It doesn’t take much mathematical knowledge to count cards. Anyone can add or subtract with ones and zeros. The difficulty of card counting lies in memorizing the count and cards at the same time as you are playing. If you are sitting in a land-based casino you can’t take out a pad of paper and make notes since this will let everyone know what you are up to and it will also distract you too much from the game. The most important in becoming a good card counter is patience. Find a system of counting that you understand and like and stick to it till it pays off.
Card Counting Online
Some people think that card counting is exclusively for the land based casinos but this is not so. You can certainly apply this blackjack strategy for online play. The deck being dealt is no different from the one in a Las Vegas casino but there is a catch. It will be hard for you to find a casino that will let you play blackjack with less than 2 card decks. Most games include several decks and this makes it very hard even for the seasoned card counter to keep up the count.
Where to learn Card Counting
If you are still set on learning the beautiful art of card counting you have many options for where to learn in. Many of the professional blackjack players share their systems for free or by fee. You can study books, use CD’s or read free articles online. Before you decide which teacher to learn from you need to verify that he is a serious player with good results. You should also get a general understanding of the card count system so that you know if you feel attracted to it.
The basics of card counting are not hard to understand but to be a master of this blackjack strategy you need to put in a lot of time and effort and never give up!