How to count cards like a professional blackjack player

The basics of card counting are something that anyone can learn. All you need is the ability to concentrate when there are distractions around you in the casino, and a good basic mathematical ability.

I will briefly teach you the Hi-Lo card counting system. In this system a point is added to what is called the low cards which are the numbers 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.They have a 1 point value each. Low card counts are considered bad for the player as low value cards can easily be turned into 21 by the dealer.

Cards that number 7, 8 and 9 are called no count cards as they have little or no value to the card counting system. They are considered neutral. The no count cards hold no advantage to either the dealer or the player.

The third set of cards is the 10s, face cards and aces. These are considered as high count cards and receive a negative or minus from your total card count. High cards are of great benefit to the player but not to the dealer. They aid you in achieving 21and also they help you to bust the dealer as they have to achieve a higher score than you and in trying to achieve this the dealer can go bust.

To recap when you see a low value card you add a point.
You can ignore every 7, 8 and 9 since they do not affect your total.
Subtract a point for every high value card you have.

Now you should practice by going through a pack of cards and assign the correct value to them. You need to be able to give a running total of where the pack stands at any one time. Practise doing this while there are distractions occurring. Turn the TV set on or have music playing to help create the kind of distractions that occur in the casino. When the time comes for using the system in the casino it will be easy for you to keep a running count.

In the casino there can be anything from 1 to 6 decks of cards in the shoe. Learn how to estimate how many cards remain in the shoe. For example, you might estimate that there are three packs of cards that have been used during the game and three packs remaining.

You then convert your running count number. For example lets say it’s 15 and you divide this by the estimated remaining number of packs which would be 3 and you get what is called the true count number of 5. The way you play your advantage in the game is by finding the true count number. The higher the true count number is the more the advantage is of you winning. Bet more when the true count is high and bet less when the true count number is low. This is known as the spread.

Practice the method of counting until you have perfected it and have fun.