Sometimes when playing blackjack you will have to split a hand. This is fairly common, especially on the first hand or two. Even if you know the dealer is weak you should split, because the hand you are holding is fairly strong. You don’t always get the option to split, but if you do you will probably win better if you take the chance.
The dealers favorite action is to pick up a 16 and bust (17 is better). When they have 16 they are more likely to bust, (you beat them to it, by the way) so they will split more often. This is yet another card counting system fact you should understand. Cards in blackjack are worth their face value and face cards are worth 10.
The Hi Lo Card Counting System
The card counting method relies on a number of things to provide you with a running count. It wins and loses streaks. You need to know when to increase your bets and when to decrease them. Cards are worth their face value and the low cards are worth a value of 10 and the high cards – all face numbers are worth 20. When you receive a high card, you need to increase your bet. The opposite when you’re low card. decrease your bets when you’re winning.
How Counting Works
The Hi Lo Card Counting system is based on keeping a running count. The cards are given, and you add a point whenever you have high cards, and subtract a point whenever you have low cards. The system is actually Japanese, and so the decks are shuffled after every hand, but you don’t really need to know that.
All you need to do is keep track of all the cards coming out of the shoe. You want to know when you have high cards, and when you have low cards. You will also want to know if the deck is rich in high cards or low cards. If it is rich in high cards you have an advantage, so you will want to stay away from the low cards. This also includes cards of all other suits.
The Ace is low. This card is counted as 11 in the deck. When you have high cards, you have a better chance at busting the dealer, so you want to try and get as many levels of cards as possible. When you have low cards, you don’t want to stay in, but there may be opportunities to get a high card.
The reason you want to stay away from the Ace is that if you get an Ace as a fourth card, you will have two over cards, and that can hurt. If you have an Ace, you have a good chance at busting the dealer, so you want to make sure that you don’t hit the Ace, as it can send you busting.
The movie “Vegas88” has a great quote about the gambler who can’t bet on a game because he won’t win anything: “No, I shall wait for better odds at a hundred per cent, provided that the greater fortunes should favor me.” The higher your chances of winning, the better you can bet, the opposite of losing.
A Different Form Of Card Counting
While card counting is great, and is the basis for most of the other counting systems, for simplicity, there is a different method that is often more accurate. You don’t need to remember the cards. You just need to keep track of the running count. You also need to pay attention to the running count, and make a note of it the provided card count every time you see the cards.
When you’re new to card counting, starting your card counting off with your 0, 1, 2, and 3 cards, and then adding a 4th card, you’ll still need to do this the conventional way. However, eventually, you’ll be able to add a computerized card counter, and the computer will keep a running count of the cards, and tell you the running count. This way, you’ll be able to know how many cards are still to come, and you can decide how to bet.
While running card counting is great, and when you can keep a running count while playing, you want to bet only a small amount. One reason is that casinos advertise the advantages of blackjack, and will attract you to the game. It’s easier to stay away from the big bets when counting. Another reason is that the more you bet, the more you’ll end up losing. Therefore, if you can’t afford to lose too much, and don’t want to waste a lot of money on a count of cards, use a stop loss to tell yourself, “I’m ready to win now, if I lose now, I’ll only lose that amount until I get my act together.”
Practice Counting
Another card counting method is the Hi Lo Card Counting method.
