How to win at blackjack — Card Counting
During high school, my mathematics teacher once said that in the casino, there is only one game, in which the gambler can win the dealer, which is blackjack. It was a class teaching probabilities. I remembered he said that some books in foreign countries teaches money winning strategy with blackjack . In the early 1990s, there was no Amazon. I was a high school student who had curiosity but didn’t pursue.
Being an adult, I went to Macau’s casinos and Star Cruises several times, playing blackjack, baccarat etc. It was just purely entertainment and entertainment and I love the excitement. I did not study the probability of winning. Of course, the losses had little effect on me. Anyway, I played it once in a blue moon and thus losses were negligible.
Later on, I made mobile games on iPhone and Android. Games like Chinese Poker, Caribbean Poker, Baccarat and Blackjack were created. One day, I suddenly remembered what my mathematics teacher said. Suddenly curiosity took over. There were no Amazon, Google and YouTube in the past. Now, an individual could simply search for “Blackjack Training” online and there are lots of resources. The following video is very interesting, in which the gambler uses card counting method in casino and was arrested by the casino manager.
After some studying, I finally understood the principle. The focus is to wait for opportunity to increase the bet:
1. Basic Strategy
The figure below is a table for Basic Strategy. It was invented by the four Mathematicians, Roger Baldwin, Wilbert Cantey, Herbert Maisel and James McDermott in the 1960s. They are collectively called the Four Horsemen of Aberdeen.
This table illustrates the strategy for each turn. For example, when the dealer had 10 points and the player had 16 points, the best strategy is to surrender. As long as you continue to practice, anyone can master the basic strategy within one week.
After familiarizing with basic strategy, does it mean that the gambler can win the dealer?
Not true. Applying the basic strategy only reduces the advantage of the dealer at in blackjack. If you gamble for a long period, the gambler will still lose money. However, if paired with betting control, when there is an advantage, buy a bigger bet. When disadvantaged, bet lesser, then advantage will be on the gambler side. Under this circumstance, in the long term , the gambler will win money.
When is there an advantage for winning?
To calculate the number of cards such as A, K, Q, J, 10 in the deck that was not in the hands of the dealer. If there are many big cards in the hands of the dealer, gamblers have higher chances of winning . The reason as follows:
● The chances of gambler getting Blackjack (A + K, Q, J, 10) are greater.
● The dealer has higher chances of exceeding 21 points, dealer bust.
The card counting method uses a scientific method to evaluate gamblers’ winning.
2. Card Counting
Running count
The card counting method was invented by American mathematician Edward Oakley Thorp to record a running count which was used to evaluate the winning probability of each round.
The following table shows the algorithms for different card counting methods. This article will use Hi-Lo as an example.
After the dealer shuffle the cards, the running count is zero. Every time a dealer issues a card, the gambler has to recalculate the running count. If the cards are 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, the running count will increased by 1. If the cards are 7, 8, 9, the number of streams does not change. If the card is 10, J, Q, K, A, the running count is reduced by 1.
Example: The running count is 0, the dealer has 10, the gambler has K, Q. After the round, the running count is -3.
Example: The running count is -3, the dealer 7 and the gambler 2, 3. After the round, the running count is -1.
Example: The running count is -1, the dealer 4, the gambler 5, 6. After the round, the running count is +2.
Example: The running count is +2, the dealer 2, the gambler 4, 6. After the round, the running count is +5.
When the running count is +5, the gambler has relatively high chance of winning.
3. Betting control
True count
Since blackjack is not playing with one deck of cards, more often 4 or 6 decks. After calculating the running count , we need to find out the true count. The calculation of the true count is as follows:
True Count = running count / deck left
Example: The running count is +8, and the deck left is 2. After the round, the true count is +4.
Example: The running count is -10, and the deck left is 2.5. After the round, the true count is -4.
Example: The running count is +20, the deck left is 1. After the round, the true count is +20.
When the true count is +20, the gambler has high chances of winning.
Bet unit
Once you have found the true count, you must determine the bet unit as follows.
Bet unit = bankroll / 1000
Full-time blackjack player recommends to keep ratio at 1/1000, which means if there are $10,000 in chips, the bet unit is $10. The link to the probability of failure using different ratios are at the end of article. Failure means losing all the chips. If you use the 1/200 ratio, you have $10,000, with $50 as the bet unit, chances of failure is about 40%
Bet amount
After finding the bet unit, the calculation is as follows.
If the true count is greater than 2, bet amount = bet unit x (true number — 1).
If the true count is less than or equal to 2, bet amount = bet unit.
Example: The true count is +0 and the bet unit is $10. After the round, the bet amount is $10.
Example: The true count is +2 and the bet unit is $50. After the round, the bet amount is $50.
Example: The true count is +5 and the bet unit is $20. After the round, the bet amount is $80.
Example: The true count is +10 and the bet unit is $50. After the round, the bet amount is $450.
Increase the bet amount when you have higher chances. If you gamble long enough, you can win money at the blackjack table.
4. Casino response
Casino generally knew about the basic strategy and card counting method mentioned above. But when the doors are opened, they generally won’t refuse the guests to play. Here are some ways to deal with casinos.
Continuous shuffle machine (CMS)
The casino will shuffle the cards with a continuous shuffle machine and shuffle cards once every game. In this way, you can’t use the card counting method, but only the basic strategy. As I said before, if you can only use the basic strategy, the dealer’s chances will be bigger, and if you gamble for a long period, you will lose money.
blacklist
The casino has the right to refuse anyone to enter for any reason. When the gambler is arrested by the casino manager, the manager takes a photo, put into the casino’s monitoring and identification system. From then on, gamblers can no longer enter the casino.
No increase or decrease of bet amount
As seen in the previous YouTube episode, the casino manager will tell the gambler not to increase or decrease the bet.
5. The response of the gambler
Gamblers can’t do much with the casinos response, you can always find a casino who don’t use the continuous shuffle machine (CMS), or enter the casinos that haven’t put you name in the blacklist.
The above is my experience after studying blackjack case studies, in fact, it was only concluded in theories but not in actual casinos.
Are you interested in becoming a full time blackjack player?
If you want to be a full-time player, learning basic strategies and card counting is a must. Or, if you intend to play professional blackjack for the next trip, you should learn the basic strategy.
I produced a blackjack training game that included basic strategy training, Hi-Lo card counting training, and bet calculation training. There are different levels of training, and players can go into different depths, challenge different difficulty levels, and get different medals. Through continuous training, players can accelerate to become a professional blackjack player. If you are interested, you can download and install it in the link below.
Blackjack training game (Card Counting — KK Blackjack)
Summary
Through this production, I consciously learned a lot about gambling, and solved the mystery of blackjack in high school. If this game is popular, the game production in future may steer towards developing gambling education.
Last but not least, I would like to thank my secondary school math teacher, Mr Situ for giving me this inspiration.
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