- Card Counting In Blackjack
- Future Of Card Counting In Blackjack
- Card Counting In Blackjack Tournaments
The Revere Plus-Minus Count. This Blackjack card counting system was developed by Lawrence Revere in 1980. The Revere Plus-Minus Count is an easy to understand and implement card counting system for single deck Blackjack. It has been proven to be very effective over the past three decades. Advanced blackjack strategy – card counting. I'm sure if you've had any experience in the casino, you have heard of what is known as card counting – a system that allows you to gain a positive expectation while playing blackjack putting the house edge in your favor. While card counting is not explicitly illegal, most casinos will kick out card counters since they can seriously damage. If you're looking to learn card counting for the first time, it would be worthwhile to attempt to learn one of the more accurate systems like Blackjack Apprenticeship and if you find it too difficult, downgrade to one of the easier ones. If you already count cards and are looking to switch systems, the best advice is to stick with what you.
In order to be completely accurate, a system must be based on the effect that removing a card of any value will have on the player's advantage in the remaining deck. Mathematically, the effect of removing the first card from a deck is shown in the table below.
| 2 | +0.37% |
| 3 | +0.44% |
| 4 | +0.52% |
| 5 | +0.64% |
| 6 | +0.45% |
| 7 | +0.30% |
| 8 | 0.00 |
| 9 | -0.13% |
| 10 | -0.53% |
| Ace | -0.49% |
For the next card, the same values would be applied, but would need to be multiplied by 1.02 to be accurate, the third by 1.04, and so on, in order to remain accurate to the proportional values that are available in the remainder of the deck.
Without the assistance of a computer or other calculating device (which are patently disallowed in virtually all casinos), it would be impossible to perform all the calculations necessary to provide a perfect reflection of the player's advantage while a game is in progress.
Card Counting Systems Compared
Instead, there are a number of card counting systems that use whole numbers that remain constant throughout the counting process to provide an estimation of the advantage. The accuracy of their estimation often comes at the cost of increased complexity, hence difficulty to learn and implement. Here are some of the more popular card counting systems.
High Low Card Counting System
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | -1 |
The high-low system, used in the tutorial, values low cards (2-6) at +1 andhigh cards (tens and aces) at -1. To give credit where credit is due, this system was developed by Stanford Wong, a prolific author who has authored volumes on almost every casino game.
Red Sevens Card Counting
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | * | 0 | 0 | -1 | -1 |
Arnold Snyder's 'Red Sevens' system also seems to be derivative of the High-Low system. It is, in all ways, identical High-Low, except that red sevens count as +1 (black ones count as zero). In effect, this gives all sevens the value of +0.5, which is fairly accurate when considering the effect of a seven on the player's advantage.
Green Fountain Card Counting
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -1 | -1 |
Koko Ita's 'Green Fountain' systems is similar to High-Low—the difference being that sevens and nines are not treated as 'neutral' cards. Arguably, this is closer to the actual mathematical weight of the cards, as the seven and nine are not completely neutral—but at the same time, the effect of either is less than a third of a percent.
Uston Advanced Plus Minus
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A |
| 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | -1 |
Legendary blackjack professional Ken Uston pioneered this system, which is largely identical to the high-low count, except that deuces are treated as neutral and sevens as dealer-favourable. Weighed against the mathematical impact of the cards, both assumptions are mistakes, but they more or less cancel each other.
Griffin Card Counting
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A |
| 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 |
Peter Griffin's card counting system deviates from high-low by treating twos, threes, and aces as neutral and sevens as dealer-favorable. Although this system meets the criterion of being at least 90% accurate, it's one of the least reliable discussed here.
Unbalanced Tens Card Counting
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 1 |
This system counts all cards except tens as having a value of 1, and the tens as a -2,In effect, it system leads the player to count only the tens, which is worse even than Griffin's system. Arguably, it's effective only in estimating the soundness of the 'insurance' and 'even money' side bets.
High Opt 1 Card Counting
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A |
| 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 |
This system is the first of two deviations on the high-low system popularized by Lance Humble and Carl Cooper. The primary difference between this strategy and the original is that aces and deuces are treated as 'neutral' cards. Though this would seem to defy common sense, it works out to be a reliable system in computer simulations.
High Opt 2 Card Counting
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A |
| 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 |
Another of Humble and Cooper's adjustments on the high-low system is shown to the right.This system introduces varying 'weights' for cards. When compared with the absolute effects of removing a card, the four, five, and ten each change the casino odds more than 0.50%, and are valued at twice the normal weight.
Zen Card Counting
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A |
| 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -2 | -1 |
Arnold Snyder's 'Zen' system places extra value on the four, five, six, and ten. This is essentially correct, although the ace also falls within the same range and is given only a -1 weight.
Wong Halves Card Counting
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A |
| 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -2 | -2 |
Among the most accurate counting systems is Stanford Wong's 'halves', which uses a variety of values to better reflect the actual mathematical impact of cards of varying values. This is arguably the most reliable system available, and produces an accurate estimation in almost 99% of all situations.
Uston APC Card Counting
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A |
| 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | -1 | -3 | 0 |
Ken Uston's APC system also uses an array of values to assign different weights to each card. As with many systems, the impact of aces and deuces seems to be underestimated—and curiously, a value of +1 is assigned to the eights, which are the only card that is completely neutral. At yet, this system meets the criterion of being at least 90% accurate.
Best Card Counting System
Deciding which system is the 'best' is generally a matter of personal preference—balancing the reliability of a system against the feasibility of learning and using it.
All of the systems discussed above produce reliable results. They lead a player to correctly estimate his advantage in at least 90% of all situations. While none are perfect, the High Opt 2, Red Sevens, Uston APC, Wong Halves, and Zen systems all yield results that are closest to perfection (more than 95% accurate).
Ease of learning and implementation, however, is entirely subjective and depends on the mental dexterity of the individual player. Arguably, the 'easier' systems are those that do not require you to memorize different values for different cards (i.e., some are plus or minus one, others two, others three). In that case, the Unbalanced Ten, High-Low, High-Opt 1, and Uston plus/minus systems would be considered the easiest.
If you're looking to learn card counting for the first time, it would be worthwhile to attempt to learn one of the more accurate systems like Blackjack Apprenticeship and if you find it too difficult, downgrade to one of the easier ones. If you already count cards and are looking to switch systems, the best advice is to stick with what you're using (unless it's wildly inaccurate). Chances are the mistakes you'll make in the process of learning a new system will be costly—and the difference between one system and another tends to be a few percent, or a few tenths of a percent.
Card counters are quick to point out that there are no laws in America restricting the use of card counting as a strategy for winning at blackjack. Unfortunately for card counters, there doesn't have to be a specific law for casinos to keep people who count cards from walking through the front door. Since casinos are private property, the owners of the casinos and their management have the right to refuse business to anyone for any reason.
But this 'right' to keep card counters from gambling has long been challenged in the courts. Lawyers representing card counters make arguments that go a little something like this: as long as a person is using their brain and no other device to determine the best way to play a hand of blackjack, they aren't breaking any law and should be allowed to continue to play the way they want.
So what's the difference between kicking a card counter out and good old-fashioned discrimination? The answer is different from one gambling jurisdiction to the next. Challenges to the exclusion of card counters are most common in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, though occasional challenges to restrictions against card counters have come from other casinos as well.
Card Counting and Nevada Law
In Nevada, casinos have the right to exclude card counters because of common law precedent–basically, this is the old 'private property' argument. If you own a piece of property, you have the right to kick anyone out of it that you want.
The argument against this common law right has been that by barring gamblers who happen to have a great deal of skill (read: card counters) the casinos are discriminating against them, which is unconstitutional. Remember, though, that the Supreme Court has found that only discrimination against people based on their race, creed, gender, national origin, age, or disability is unconstitutional, essentially making discrimination against skilled gamblers legal. In Las Vegas, card counters don't have a leg to stand on when it comes to suing casinos for discrimination.
Card Counting and New Jersey Law
The situation for card counters in Atlantic City is vastly different. Ken Uston (one of the best-known blackjack writers and professional card counter) fought for and won the right for card counters to use their skills legally in New Jersey. Uston's fight in the New Jersey court system is the stuff of legend–he took his case all the way to the New Jersey Supreme Court, who left it up to the New Jersey Casino Control Commission to issue or not issue a rule restricting card counters.
Unfortunately for blackjack players and card counters, the NJCCC refused to make such a rule, deciding instead to make the standard game of blackjack in Atlantic City tougher to beat, changing rules to increase the casino's edge.
The argument against this common law right has been that by barring gamblers who happen to have a great deal of skill (read: card counters) the casinos are discriminating against them, which is unconstitutional. Remember, though, that the Supreme Court has found that only discrimination against people based on their race, creed, gender, national origin, age, or disability is unconstitutional, essentially making discrimination against skilled gamblers legal. In Las Vegas, card counters don't have a leg to stand on when it comes to suing casinos for discrimination.
Card Counting and New Jersey Law
The situation for card counters in Atlantic City is vastly different. Ken Uston (one of the best-known blackjack writers and professional card counter) fought for and won the right for card counters to use their skills legally in New Jersey. Uston's fight in the New Jersey court system is the stuff of legend–he took his case all the way to the New Jersey Supreme Court, who left it up to the New Jersey Casino Control Commission to issue or not issue a rule restricting card counters.
Unfortunately for blackjack players and card counters, the NJCCC refused to make such a rule, deciding instead to make the standard game of blackjack in Atlantic City tougher to beat, changing rules to increase the casino's edge.
What to Do If You're Caught
Most people don't know the law well enough to respond properly if they're being detained on suspicion of card counting. Casinos in areas where card counting isn't protected (outside of Atlantic City, basically) tend to try to 'bully' card counters, asking for their ID and taking a photo of them for their records.
By law, you do not have to speak to casino authorities and the casino has no right to detain you unless you have committed a crime. If a casino employee asks you to 'go with them,' or hand over your ID, or have your photo taken, you should refuse and attempt to exit the casino as quickly as you can. If you haven't committed a crime, the casino cannot legally detain you and cannot take a photo of you without your permission.
Never admit to the casino that you are a card counter. Never get into an argument with a casino employee. Never show your ID, and whatever you do, don't make physical contact with any casino employee. If you follow these basic rules, you're operating well within the law and can get out of the casino without having your picture taken or being identified as a counter.
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Card Counting In Blackjack
Future Of Card Counting In Blackjack
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