Month: May 2019

Card Counting Practice

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As with anything you want to be proficient at, it requires practice.  Card counting is no exception.  While it is definitely not illegal, casinos don’t like it to be used because it absolutely allows the player to win more and lose less.

To use it effectively, you have to make sure your usage is not detectable!  Card counters have to be cool, calm and collected, so the pit bosses don’t start keying on your activities.  You want to practice until the process becomes second nature to you.

How To Practice

Fortunately, it’s as simple as grabbing a deck of cards and counting through the entire deck, one card at a time.  Using the simple Hi-Lo method, as you count through the 52 cards (jokers removed), your final count should be 0. 

Your goal should be to get faster each time through.  The expert card counters are able to get through a deck in less than 30 seconds.

Speed Counting

The difference between professional card counters and beginners, is the expert’s ability to count cards in groups, as opposed to counting each card individually. 

Because cards are generally grouped in pairs as you look at a blackjack table, it should be your goal to look at a pair and immediately know that value.  For instance, if you see a Jack and a 3, you should automatically think “0” instead of “-1” and “+1”, = “0.”  Learn to recognize low cards (2’s-6’s) and 10-value cards cancel each other to 0.  In the same vein, with 2 low cards, immediately think “+2,” and with 2 10-value cards, think “-2.”  Being able to look at 2 cards at once and have a count, will dramatically increase your counting speed.

Distractions

You want to practice your card counting with as many distractions as you can possibly create, because casinos will have many distractions.  Just the noise alone in a casino can make card counting difficult. 

The casino atmosphere can work a little in your favor as well, because if you can maintain your cool and keep a running count of the cards on the table, without a pit boss becoming suspicious, more power to you!  You want to be focused, but not “look” focused on the cards dropping on the table. 

You want to be able to take only a second to look at cards and a get a count in your head.  If you can only count by intently staring and doing the math in your head, you will be caught by a pit boss and kindly asked to leave the table.  Learn to count with just a peek at the cards and do the math in your head while looking away from the table.

Online Practice

Finally, there are many online simulators that will help you increase your card counting speed and accuracy.  These are effective ways to truly test how fast you are at counting.  You may have gotten very good at challenging yourself with hand dealing to yourself, but rest assured, it’s more difficult with the online simulators and therefore great practice.

I like cardcountingtrainer.com and the free counter at casino.org just to name a couple of trainers.  All you need to do is a google search for card counting simulators to find one that you’ll like. 

Many people don’t try card counting because they feel it’s too difficult.  That’s not true!  All it takes is practice, practice, practice. 

It takes a lot of practice because the hardest part of card counting for blackjack, is doing it calmly enough so that you’re not caught doing it.  Remember, it’s not illegal, so you won’t get arrested, you’ll just be asked to not come back.

The best way to stay calm about it is to know it so well, that it’s like second nature to you and you can count without batting an eye.  That just takes practice!

European Blackjack, Rules & Strategy

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With Europe being the place where Blackjack was said to be born, the European version does vary slightly from the classic American standard and therefore more and more players look to challenge themselves with the European version.  It is mostly played online and in some rare instances, can be found in land-based casinos.  Rules can vary slightly depending on the casino you play at, so always be sure to look at their complete set of rules before sitting down at the table.

Oddly enough, you can find the European version played with anywhere from 2-8 decks of cards, so verify how many decks are being used at the casino you choose to play at.  Playing with 6 decks is most common.

Standard rules with any version:

  • – No Peek – dealer doesn’t look at hole-card, player loses total bet on dealer blackjack
  • – Dealer must draw to 16
  • – Insurance is allowed
  • – Cards are shuffled after each round

 

Rules that can vary depending on the version:

  • – Splitting allowed only once and only with identical cards (cannot split King/Queen, for instance)
  • – No splitting of 4s, 5s, or 10-valued cards
  • – If Aces split, player can only receive 1 additional card on each ace
  • – Blackjack pays 3:2
  • – Dealer always stands or always hits a soft 17
  • – Player can double on any two cards
  • – Double after split may or may not be allowed
  • – Surrender may or may not be allowed, though not if dealer is showing an Ace

As you can see, there can be several differences involved depending on where you play the game.  Make sure you understand all the rules to the version you opt to play, so you can strategize accordingly.

European Blackjack Strategy

The fact that the cards are shuffled after every round, makes it difficult to count cards, so don’t expect to practice your card counting skills playing European blackjack!

The first notable variant is that splitting of 4’s, 5’s and 10’s is not allowed.  This can vary depending on the casino you’re playing at.  While classic strategy tells you not to split those pairs anyway, the rule was set to make sure it’s not done.  By splitting, you’re giving yourself the opportunity to increase your bet and win more, something the casino doesn’t want to happen.

The variant considered most significant is that the dealer is not allowed to take a look at his face down card until all players decide what they want to do.  In most versions, the dealer is dealt only one card first anyway. Remember, with classic blackjack, the dealer will check for a blackjack if he has an Ace showing.

That changes strategy slightly because if the dealer eventually has blackjack, a player may have double downed or split cards, losing the additional bets.  With classic blackjack, the dealer immediately checks for a blackjack, “saving” the player from making additional bets on a “losing hand”.

Compared to classic American blackjack, in European blackjack, your play should be more conservative.  You’ll be doubling down and splitting less often.  For instance, when the dealer has a ten or an Ace, you don’t want to be doubling down so quickly, because he still may have 21 and you would lose even if you do make 21 yourself.

Conclusion

This is a great choice if you want to try a different version not too far off the classic blackjack. The differences are minor and easily figured out, so it makes it an easy game to fight the boredom of classic blackjack.

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