Card Counting

So, just what is Card counting and how does it work?

One of the biggest tools in blackjack professionals arsenal is card counting, but before you can add card counting to your game you will need a complete understanding of how it all works.

The biggest mistake most people make about counting cards is they believe you have to be a rocket scientist or have a photographic memory. This is not true. You do not memorize every single card in the deck and cross them off as they are used. All you have to do is watch the cards as they come out of the deck and add or subtract their value from a running count. This will give you a pretty good idea of what cards are left in the deck, i.e. There are so many good cards in the deck and so many bad cards. If you "count" the good and bad cards that you see come out of the deck, you will have a pretty good idea of when the deck is full of good cards and when it's not. With this information, you will know how to play and how to bet. Counting in this manner is known as "Endplay" counting.

When the deck becomes loaded with tens and aces, (good cards), it is more favorable to the player. There will be more black Jacks dealt and the player has a much better chance of getting a strong hand in his first two cards, so, they will not have to hit again and take a chance of busting. What's more the dealer will bust more often and the player will have more success when doubling down or splitting pairs. At these times, the player wins more often, so, the player should bet more. But, you must not stop counting; because if the count becomes negative you will want to reduce the size of your bet.

There are many ways to count cards and right now you are probably asking yourself which system should I use? This is a common question and there is no specific answer. The only difference in the systems is the value of the cards. Which system you choose depends more on you as an individual. Your particular strengths and weaknesses must be identified; Your general knowledge of the game, skill level and how much time you have to devote to learning a system. 

With "End Play" card counting systems it can take months, if not years, to learn to count cards successfully, however the "Flow Method" can be learned in an afternoon. If you want to learn these out dated systems, the Hi-Lo count or the K-O count are fairly easy to learn and would make a good basis for moving on to more complex "End Play" systems. Some of the more popular counting systems are:

The "K-O" count,

The "Hi-Lo" count,

The "Hi-Opt I" count,

The "Hi-Opt II" count,

The "M I T Method"

However I would personally recommend "Flow Method" . It's a brand new way of counting cards. Not only is it very easy to learn, it is so far above all the rest it is truly amazing.