How many decks can there be for card counting to still work?
When it comes that those who have the most success with blackjack, it’s usually down to one of two things. They’ve either taken the time to master basic strategy, or they’ve excelled when it comes to card counting. Now, we’re big fans of both of these techniques and, if you explore some of our other articles, you’ll find that some of the all-time biggest blackjack winners have card counting to thank. Read more as we tell you about the importance of decks in card counting. How many decks can there be for card counting to work?
If you’re not familiar with the technique, card counting is something that players use to lower the house edge and give themselves the upper hand. The technique allows them an insight into which cards are likely to appear in later games. With this knowledge, they know the likelihood of the card that they could be dealt next, as well as the down card that the dealer is likely to have.
if you read on, we’re going to explore card counting in a little more detail. We’re going to look at how you can make it work for you when playing blackjack, and also explore how many decks are too many to pull this technique off.
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A look at blackjack card counting basics
Blackjack is well known as a casino game that is player friendly. With a low house edge, players feel that this is the game where they’re more likely to win than any other. The thing is though, the players who really enjoy that low house edge are the ones that learn basic blackjack strategy. This is something that gives a real boost to the chances of a win. Those looking for yet a further boost go on and master card counting.
While the basic process is simple, card counting is something that takes a great deal of time, and skill, to learn. At the start of this process, cards are put into 3 groups:
- Small cards – 2-6
- Medium cards – 7-9
- Big cards – 10, J, Q, K, and Ace
For card counting to work, these groups of cards need to be given values. The small cards are given a value of +1, the medium cards are worth 0, while the big cards have a value of -1. As the game plays out, the player’s count can either increase by 1, stay the same, or go down by one. This all depends on the cards in hand.
A running count is kept before a true count is arrived at. The true count comes about by dividing the running count by the number of decks that are still to be played with.
How to practice card counting
Now, card counting isn’t something that you can just wander into a casino and do. Before you try it out in the real world, you’re going to need to take some time to practice. Some great ways of doing this are by tapping into a mobile app or using desktop software. You can even go as far as playing blackjack against yourself while you take the time to learn.
The count will vary throughout a game and, generally speaking, the higher the count the better it is for the player. That’s because it means that the next cards to be dealt are likely to be higher ones. When a player has this information, they are able to tweak their bets. This means that they have the chance to really maximize their winnings as well as minimize any potential losses.
So, how many decks are ideal for card counting?
Blackjack is well known for being a fast-paced game. While this is something that keeps the game fun, it is this feature that can also make card counting a little tricky. Certainly, as a beginner, you want to be trying to use card counting with just a single deck. While single-deck games of blackjack may be hard to come across, the general rule is that the fewer the number of decks the better. Having just one or two decks make this technique so much easier.
The problem is that online casinos know all of this information too. While card counting isn’t illegal, casinos are not fans of the technique. Why? Well because it clearly works and leads to the house losing more than it would want to. For that reason, you’ll find that casinos will be using 6 or even 8 decks of cards at most blackjack tables. With this number of decks, it becomes difficult to keep track of a running count and a true count.
That being said, it is by no means impossible to count cards when faced with 8 decks. Rather than merely facing 52 cards, players now need to contend with 416. Players still manage to master card counting with this number of cards and, with practice, there’s no reason why you can’t too.
The Hi-Lo counting system
If you’re facing a game of blackjack where multiple decks are being used, the Hi-Lo counting system is your best bet when it comes to counting cards. This is when the cards 2-6 are worth +1, 7-9 are worth 0, and 10, J, Q, K, and Ace are -1. As we have seen, in this scenario a true count is arrived at by dividing your running total by the number of decks that are left.
Let’s say that your running count has reached +7. If there were still 4 decks of cards to come into play, the true count would be 1.75, although you’d round this up to 2. The higher the true count is, the more that a player should be prepared to wager.
Final thoughts
Card counting is far from easy, but that shouldn’t be a reason not to take the time to learn. As you’ve seen, the basic principle is simple enough, it just takes time to implement these. While casinos are doing all that they can to discourage card counting, just remember that no matter how many decks of cards, this technique will still work.
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| $25 FREE on Signup 100% up to $1.000 on First Deposit Hotspot Leaderboard | Visit Casino |
