Variations of Ace to Five Card Counting System. Variations of the ace five count have been around for a long time. According to Shackleford's site, a variation of the ace five count is suggested in Beat the Dealer, by Edward Thorp and also in Playing Blackjack as a Business, by Lawrence Revere.
How Counting Systems Work
Let me give you just a bit of the thinking behind counting systems so you'll understand how, and why, they work.
All the systems, in one way or another, recognize the importance of the different cards to the player. For example, the most important card to a player is the Ace, because it's part of a ‘blackjack‘ or ‘natural‘, as we prefer to call it.
The bonus that a natural pays is of paramount importance; it's worth about 2.3% to the player.
Card counting is the technique you use when you keep track of the number of high and low cards left in the dealers' deck. Count cards successfully. In the Knockout Card Counting (KO Count) system, as explained in the book Knock Out Blackjack, all card values are the same as in the Hi Low system, except for the value of the 7. In this system, the seven is considered a low card and thus a positive value—unlike the Hi Low system where it is a neutral card. All modern card counting systems that I am aware of assign a negative value to the high cards and a positive value to low cards. The main difference between the systems is the value assigned to the different cards. The Zen Count card counting system is one of the many card counting techniques devised by professional gambler and blackjack master Arnold Snyder. First mention of this strategy can be found in Snyder's 1983 classic Blackbelt in Blackjack.
In other words, if a game pays only even-money for a natural, the casino gains an additional edge of 2.3% on the player, over and above the edge they may already have because of the other rules (dealer hits A-6, six decks, etc.)
Therefore, the removal of an Ace from a deck or decks of cards has a measurable impact on a player's edge.
As an extreme example, if all 4 Aces are removed from a single-deck game, the casino will have a huge edge which is virtually impossible to overcome. So, the 'effect of removal' for Aces is significant and can be quantified.
Betnet ag casinos login. The same is true for the 5; it's the most important card for the dealer, since it makes all those 12-16 hands which the dealer MUST hit into 17-21.
Card Counting Systems For Blackjack
Remove all the 5s from a single-deck game and the player has a nice 2+% edge over the casino. So, the 'effect of removal' for 5s is also significant and can be measured.
Thus, the first thing a counting system does is give us a way to calculate our advantage or disadvantage over the casino as cards are played or ‘removed'.
Another role of a good counting system is to give us some idea on how to play the hand. Or, more correctly, when to deviate from the proper playing strategy.
To use the example above, if we were in a single-deck game and all the 5s had been played, would you hit a 16 against a dealer's 10?
Well, you might, but the play of that hand has been affected by the removal of the 5s. So, obviously, we have an 'effect of removal' when it comes to playing the hand, as well as figuring our advantage. But this is, as you can imagine, less precise because the values are constantly changing.
The value of a 5 when we have a 16 to hit is very high, but the value of the 5 when we have a 9 to double is very low. All we can do is basically average the impact of a 5 when playing a hand and hope for the best.
You can see where this leads: if a counting system is good for betting purposes, it's not as good for playing purpose and vice-versa.
Before we leave the theory part, we need to address one more area and that's the insurance bet.This is really simple and all our analysis is based upon one question: Is the dealer's hole card a 10? The odds on that are easily figured and, if we keep track of the proportion of 10s to other cards, we can make ‘perfect' insurance decisions. (I say ‘perfect‘, because we won't be right all the time, but in the long run we'll show a profit from the bet if we use a 'ten-count').
The ability to make accurate insurance bets is very important to a counter, in fact, it's the single-most important basic strategy variation, since it accounts for a full third of all the gains we'll make by varying basic strategy. (Depending upon the basic game, our bet spread and other variables, we can expect to add about 0.2 to 0.4% to our average edge by varying from basic strategy according to the count.)
How well a counting system ‘predicts' the 10 in the hole is an important consideration. A system which is very accurate for the insurance bet is, surprisingly, pretty good at making playing decisions, but it's downright poor at indicating our edge over the casino.
The Three Ratings
All counting systems or methods can be rated in three ways for how they treat the factors mentioned above.
The first rating is a system's 'betting efficiency', which indicates how accurately the count measures your edge over the casino. For example, if the rules of a casino indicates that they have a 0.5% edge over the player who uses proper Basic Strategy, a counting method with 100% betting efficiency would precisely measure the edge (or lack thereof) for the player, IF the player was keeping the count accurately and figuring the true count correctly. Of course, some sort of money management program would still be necessary, because even though a player may have an edge, it doesn't necessarily follow that s/he is going to win the hand.
The second rating is the 'playing efficiency' which measures how well the system guides us in making basic strategy variations except the insurance decision, which is treated separately; and that's the third rating; 'insurance efficiency'. All of these ratings are shown as averages, since there are times when a system can be very accurate and, at other times, it can be very inaccurate.
The Hi/Lo system, for example, is very accurate when it's indicating you should double 11 versus an Ace, (82%), but quite inaccurate when telling us to stand with 16 versus 9 (53%).
Blackjack Counting
The Best of the Best
The best count for the insurance bet is 100% accurate, as is the best count for betting. The best count for playing purposes is about 70% accurate, but unfortunately, no count currently exists which can offer all this in one package. So, you have to decide which will work best for you.
If you play a lot of single-deck with a 1-4 spread, then a system with a good playing efficiency will probably be best, if you have the opportunity to spread from 1-12 betting ‘units', then you'll want something with a strong betting efficiency and, if you often play with a friend or spouse at the same table, you should have him or her learn the best insurance count and work out a signaling system to share information.
My Personal Preference
I teach the Hi/Lo system of counting because it's easy to learn, easy to use and relatively effective at most games, particularly multi-deck games where a large bet spread can be attained.
But I recognize that Hi/Lo has its limitations and the games available to you may be better exploited by a different system.
In this series, I'll examine a lot of the different counting systems so that you can make up your own mind regarding which is the best to use.
I find, by using the training methods I've learned, that it's fairly easy to learn a new counting method; in fact, I use a different system when I play single-deck games and I have few problems in keeping my count straight after just an hour or two of ‘refresher' practice.
I will say, however, that on any particular trip, I stick to one or the other.
I never try to play some single-deck, then a bit of multi-deck and then move back to single-deck, unless I use the same ‘system'. But, to keep it simple, I just play one or the other, so when in the Reno/Tahoe area, I stick to single-deck; the same is true in Mississippi, whereas I play all multi-deck in Las Vegas.
Remember that double-deck games have a lot more in common with six decks than one deck, so I treat those as multi-deck games.
The Series
What I'll do here, over time, is try to examine the various counting systems out there in a rational order. Not only will I give you their 3 ratings, but will discuss their pros and cons as well as their strengths and weaknesses.
Numbers alone don't tell the story; if you play for many hours at a stretch, a difficult system isn't going to be very effective if you're making a lot of mistakes, for example. We generally classify counting systems on ‘levels'. The Hi/Lo is a ‘one-level' system, because all the point values are +1, 0 or -1. A ‘two-level' system uses +2, +1, 0 -1, -2 and a three-level system counts one or more cards as 3, etc. You get the idea.
I'll also address unbalanced systems which do not require a conversion to true count and we'll take a look at some ‘theoretical' systems as well. (How about one where the Ace is +51 and the 10 is -180; not practical for a human, perhaps, but not too difficult for a computer).
Just so you know, the Hi/Lo has a betting efficiency of 97%, a playing efficiency of 51% and an insurance efficiency of about 80%.
Counting cards in blackjack is a technique used to give the player an advantage over the casino. And unlike the card counters depicted in Hollywood movies, you do not need to be a math genius from MIT or the Rain Man to count cards. There are several systems of counting cards used by the pros, and they range from basic card counting to more advanced counting systems. Like any system, practice makes perfect.
Wait. Isn't Counting Cards Illegal?
Card counting is not technically illegal unless you are using a card-counting device of some kind. However, card counting in blackjack is frowned upon by casino owners for the simple reason that the strategy leaves the casino with a very slim edge to win against the player, unlike casino games that rely on luck only, like slot games. Gamblers who play blackjack using card counting systems are known to win consistently at casinos and their success is attributed to this strategy. You can also practice counting cards by playing blackjack online.
The important thing to remember is that casinos have to the right to ask any player to leave the casino at any time, for any reason. They don't have to tell you that they suspect you of counting cards, they will just ask you to leave. But don't worry, you won't get roughed up like you see in the movies. But don't be obvious when counting cards if you do choose to do so, and politely leave the premises if the casino staff asks you to.
Also, it is not advised to engage in card counting in casinos where you do not have the same legal rights you normally would, like a tribal casino. Since a tribal casino is located on tribal land, it is not subject to the same laws as the state where it is located. Simply stated: you can't sue them if, while being escorted out of the casino for suspected card counting, you 'accidentally trip and fall into a hard object.'
So Why Doesn't Everyone Count Cards While Playing Blackjack?
Even if people aren't afraid of being bounced from the casino by muscular thugs, there are several reasons why blackjack card counting is not widespread. The reasons range from the obvious to the sublime:
- The casino has methods of detecting card counters, including video surveillance.
- Blackjack dealers often use multiple decks, making it more difficult to count cards.
- A casino pit boss can order a change of dealers and a re-shuffling of the cards.
- Most people don't know enough about blackjack betting to grasp card counting.
Thanks. Show Me How to Count Cards, Please.
Before you begin learning how to count cards in blackjack, it's best to review a good blackjack game guide to make sure you fully understand the game. Once you are confident in your blackjack skills, you can try some basic blackjack card counting.
Blackjack card counting systems range from the simple to the complex, and follow a system of ascribing a positive, negative or a null value to each card.
Players maintain a running count of the cards, adding or subtracting as they appear. The count keeps track of the cards that have been played. The running count also reflects the value of the cards that have not been played. A higher count denotes the presence of aces and the high value cards in the pack, and gives the player an advantage.
Conversely, a negative count reflects the presence of low value of cards yet to be played. This would be to the casino's advantage.
The Hi-Lo Card Counting System
A number of blackjack card counting systems are in use, but the Hi-Lo system is most commonly adopted by players. It assigns all cards between 2 and 6 a value of +1, and face cards and 10 a value of -1. Cards 7, 8 and 9 are null, valued at 0. The idea of the Hi-Lo system is to keep track of each and every card dealt during a blackjack round and assign them a value.
You do not need to remember the value of each card; just add and subtract the values continuously to get the ‘running count.' The idea behind this method of counting cards is to get the running value of the cards that remain in the deck. When you determine whether or not the dealer is holding high cards or low cards, this is when you bet high or low.
Advanced Card Counting Systems
More advanced blackjack card counting systems like the Zen Count are fine-tuned to give players a higher level of accuracy and you can try them here at CoolCat Casino. Values of +2, -2 are given instead, with a separate side count of the aces being maintained by seasoned players.
Blackjack card counting needs plenty of practice and an understanding of the technique. Devised by Dr. Edward O. Thorp in 1962, an American mathematician, blackjack card counting has ensured that blackjack players always have the upper hand!