Card Counting Strategy in the
Game of Blackjack

The basic principle behind Card Counting as a Blackjack Strategy for Winning, is that a deck of cards rich is Tens (Ten's, Jack's, Queen's or King's) and Aces is favorable to the player, while on the other hand, a deck rich in small cards is favorable to the Blackjack Dealer. The logic behind this assumption is that a deck of cards rich in Tens and Aces is proportionately more likely to bust the dealer, and bust the dealer more often.

Blackjack and Card Counting Basics

In order to gauge the richness of a Deck of Blackjack Card Game Cards, the Blackjack Player must be able to keep track of the cards that are already played, and assign a point value to each of them. The actual Counting of Cards is quite complex, but the basic premise of Card Counting is simply a matter of assigning a plus point each time the Blackjack Card Game deck of cards becomes more favorable to the Blackjack Player, and a minus point each time it becomes less favorable.

One of the most important things to know is that there are sixteen 10's and thirty-six non-10's in a deck of cards.

Hi-Low System of Card Counting in Blackjack

Tens and Aces (High Cards) get a -1
7, 8, and 9's get a 0
2, 3, 4, 5, and 6's get a +1

The Black Card Counter simply adds and subtracts points according to the cards played and keeps a running total of the count called "running count". He or she then divides the running count by the "proportion of the size" of the deck of cards left in the Blackjack Game to get the "true count". Now they know the relative richness of high cards in the remaining Blackjack Deck.

Blackjack Strategy and the Card Game Count

A positive count in a Blackjack Card Game is good and a high positive count is best. The Card Counter assess their hand, the dealer's up card, then weighs the options and intensifies the betting accordingly.

Card Counting requires a powerful memory, acute attention and fast reaction time, because you have to amass information as you play. Is it all worth the effort?

Well, if everything works out as planned, Counting Cards will give you a slow and tedious 1% average profit when compared to Good Basic Blackjack Strategy without the specific counting of cards. And, if you wager large sums of money to make that 1% worthwhile, you are likely to be noticed by the pit boss and prompt frequent shuffling of the cards. Card Counting is hard, not liked by the casinos and is not as rewarding as some claim it to be.

Blackjack Card Game and Basic Strategy

Understand that a Blackjack Player's decision to hit, stand, or double down, is still based on good Basic Blackjack Strategy. You have to master the Basic Strategy to Winning Blackjack before you can be successful at Card Counting, regardless of the style of Card Counting you choose to persue.

There are situations where alterations in Basic Blackjack Game Play Strategy is recommended based on the current running card count for the game..

If you have a hard 16 against a dealers up card of ten, and the running count is +2 or greater... stand!

This is against basic blackjack strategy, but when you consider that the deck or shoe is rich in face cards you are more likely to bust, thus you ignore basic strategy and stand.

Always take insurance when the count is +3 or greater.

Exceptions aside, you should always stick to Basic Srategy during Blackjack Game Play, even when Counting Cards!

Blackjack Card Counting Myths

When you Play Blackjack, you need to know that Card Counters do not memorize every card dealt. Card Counting also doesn't give a Blackjack Player any supernatural knowledge of what card will be dealt next. If you see some guy do something that appears to be bad basic strategy and he wins, it doesn't mean he's counting cards. On the contrary, it usually means he is either a drunk, a fool, a drunken fool, or he managed to see the dealers hole card. The fact of the matter is that a card counter would never make a play outside the rules of good basic Blackjack Strategy, full stop!

Perhaps if the cards were dealt down to the very last few in the deck, a good card counter would probably know what card is likely to come next. But in the real world of casino blackjack you will never be involved in a game where the cards are dealt down to the last remaining cards. It simply doesn't happen in the real world of Casino or Online Blackjack Play. It would give a huge advantage to the card counter and the Casino's and Online Blackjack Sites take measures to insure that this type of situation won't occur.

But that doesn't mean that card counting can't be done, or that it can't be very useful or profitable to a blackjack player.

Card Counting Techniques

If you are still interested in learning more about Card Counting in the Game of Blackjack then simply follow the links below...

Learn more about the Hi-Low method of Blackjack Card Game Card Counting.

Learn about Casual Blackjack Card Game Card Counting and why it is something you should always do as basic Blackjack Strategy.

Learn about Cluster Counting in the Game of Blackjack.

Learn Card Counting Lingo used in Blackjack Card Games.