Lesson description
Learn how to count cards in minutes. Mr Blackjack runs through the Hi-Lo system, the easiest and most popular card counting strategy.
Hollywood films always show card counting as this super complicated mathematical equation. In reality, there are multiple card counting systems to choose from, and they vary in complexity and accuracy.
The most popular card counting system is called the Hi-Lo count. You assign a value of - 1 to each card that is good for you when it comes out, and + 1 for the cards that are bad for you when they are played.
Cards that are 'good' for the player are: 10, J, Q, K, A.
These cards are good for you, so you want them to stay in the deck.
And cards that are bad for the player are: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
These cards are bad for you, so you want them to come out.
Some cards do not affect the player's advantage. These get a value of 0 and are: 7, 8, 9
So based on these values, every time we see a card being played that would have been good for the player, we count -1. That's because it's no longer in the deck. So, if we see 10, J, Q, K, A we count -1.
Every time we see a 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 played, we remember these are bad cards for the player, so we want them to be played. Therefore we add +1 to our count.
Should any 7, 8, 9 cards come out, you don’t count them as they have a value of 0.
A shoe rich in 10s and Aces is a good deck for the player. This is when you will increase your bet based on the number of 10s remaining.
To accurately assess your betting size you need to look at the running count and then divide that number with the number of decks remaining. This will give you the true count and you should vary your bet based on the true count.
Should the true count remain at +8, it's time to raise your bet. The true count will fluctuate immensely the closer you get to the end of the shoe, given that fewer decks are remaining and the closer your running count will be to the true count. We cover betting in the next season.
There are other systems, like the Omega II and Wong Halves, but these systems are for advanced players only. Master Hi-Lo first, and then you can progress to these systems later.
