Blackjack deck estimate – when should you start learning it?

Finally, with time and effort, you know the basic blackjack strategy chart like the back of your hand. But do you know about the Blackjack deck estimate?

And now you’re ready to deepen your knowledge in the hope of becoming even more profitable at a blackjack table online or offline.

Admittedly you can control many aspects of the game, such as when to hit, split or stand. Plus, at this stage, the chances are you’re considering studying advanced strategies like card counting. A big part of being a successful card counter is correctly estimating how many decks were dealt. This way, you can better gauge if you should vary your bets or not.

Deck estimation is a vital part of card counting at a blackjack table. And in the paragraph that follows, we’ll touch upon a few aspects, like the importance of correctly estimating decks. And we’ll even give you some drills to practice this critical aspect of blackjack.

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Blackjack Deck Estimation

Blackjack deck estimate – What is deck estimation?

Just to make sure we’re all on the same page. First, let’s recap what deck estimation is and why you should be familiar with it.

To sum up, deck estimation should mostly be looked into after understanding the running count. This is because deck estimation is key to calculating a true count.

So what’s a true count, and how do you calculate it? In essence, the true count of a game is the running count divided by the number of decks left in the shoe. Thus, you’ll only get an accurate, true count if you are not playing at a CSM live casino table.

Let’s give you an example of the Blackjack deck estimate

Suppose the running count is 10. And when looking at the discarded pile, you can see that the dealer used around 1 deck. Consequently, this means that if you’re sitting at a 6 deck blackjack table, 5 decks are still in play. So, to get to the true count, you’d have to divide the running count (10) by the number of decks left (5) to get a 2 as a true count.

How accurate do you need to be?

Ideally, it would be best to become skilled at estimating complete decks before doing half deck count for the first part of this exercise. So until you’re fast at calculating the true count with full decks, you shouldn’t attempt half-decks increments. Naturally, you’ll become more accurate at estimating how many decks are left. The more accurate count you’ll get.

Yet, even with full decks estimation, you’ll quickly see the benefits to your game. The truth is, the half-deck increment will only become an essential part of your game as the shoe decreases.

Tips and tricks to become excellent at blackjack deck estimation and getting started

Most prolific card counters would tell you that the best way to master deck estimation in blackjack is to start at a 6 deck table. Essentially, fewer decks in play mean fewer errors. To help you estimate decks accurately, you could also make yourself a ruler marking each deck increment. You can then glue the ruler on the discard pile holder. This way, as you practice holding the count. You can gradually absorb deck estimation knowledge. Mastering deck evaluation is all about visualizing. This simple step will help you achieve both. You should also train your eye to identify the halfway mark quickly. But also train yourself to estimate the number of decks left by looking at the gap in the cardholder.

Then when you’re ready to calculate the true count with half decks increment. It would be best to play a 2 decks game to keep the math simple.

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