Rules:

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Strategy:

Blackjack  ::  Blackjack Counting Cards  ::   Roulette  ::  Craps

PaiGow Poker  ::  Video Poker  ::  Caribbean Stud poker  ::  Slots

Card counting is not possible at online casinos; each new deal is from a completely shuffled deck.

If a player is interested in how to count, simply for personal information, a brief overview is listed below. Remember – players cannot count cards online. This information is included for interest sake only.

Card counting is used by players to determine whether they have an advantage over the house at any given stage of the game. Clever players count cards (by a process explained shortly) to determine whether the dealer has predominately high or low scoring cards left in the deck. This helps the player to determine the most advantageous move to make. In Blackjack for example, if the dealer has a deck with predominately low scoring cards left, the dealer has an advantage over the player. Similarly, if the deck comprises predominately low scoring cards, the player has a greater chance of winning.

The nature of Blackjack means that if the deck has mostly high scoring cards left, a dealer with a stiff hand is more likely to bust when they hit. The chances of a player winning from splits and double downs also increases. Also, while both the dealer and the player have a greater likelihood of being dealt Blackjack when the deck is rich in high scoring cards, Blackjack to the player pays 3 to 2.

To determine whether a player does in fact have an ‘advantage’ over the casino, the cards already dealt must be tagged and a mental note of them kept.  This is easy to do.

• Low scoring cards (2-6) are tagged +1.

• 7-9 are tagged 0.

• High scoring cards (10’s, pictures and Aces) are tagged –1.    

Before the first deal begins, the count is zero. By simply adding the tagged amounts together after each card is dealt, a player should have a running count of which cards have been dealt (indicating what kind of cards are left in the deck!). During the game, if the player has a negative count, more high scoring cards have been dealt. That means the remaining cards in the deck will be predominately low cards. The chances of a player winning at this stage are slightly lower than they were at the start of the game (when the count was 0). Similarly, if the count at a point during the game is significantly positive, there are more high scoring cards in the deck. At this point, the player has a slight advantage over the house (as discussed above). Using a basic strategy (as seen on the previous page) and counting skills, players can play a more clever (and hopefully more rewarding) game of Blackjack.

Remember, when the deck has been completely dealt, the overall count should again be zero. Card counting should be practiced at home. Casinos can be distracting and players still have to consider the hand they are playing. Practice makes perfect – work on counting at home to ensure an automatic response in the real environment. Players can then focus on the task at hand.