Card counting 101
From Stanford Wong
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Posted by Porkbeli on 3 Feb 1998, at 1:27 p.m.
CARD COUNTING 101
First of all, this article is intended to answer some basic questions
that a lot of want-to-be and beginning counters have; it is not
rather a starting point for learning how to count cards in the game of
blackjack. The purpose here is not to recommend one system or product
over another - this is just what worked for me in learning the game.
-Pork-
What is Card Counting?
Card counting is a means of tracking the relationship between the
high-value cards (good for the player) and the low-value cards, which
are good for the dealer. When people ask me what I "do" (except at the
Why are the low-value cards good for the dealer? Well, the dealer has
to follow rigid rules regarding hitting. She must hit if she has less
than 17. The most important card in the deck for the dealer is the
lowly-appearing five, as this will make at least 17 out of any stiff
hand. Card counting allows us to know when there are more high cards
than low left in the deck(s), and we raise our bet accordingly,
because we now have an advantage over the house.
How large is this advantage? On certain individual hands this can be
as high as three or four percent, but overall we hold about a one
percent advantage, depending upon the game and rules. Counting does
not give us an automatic winning edge on every hand - far from that.
about 44% of all hands played. When the count is high the dealer has
just as good a chance to get good hands as we do. However, the dealer
constitutes our basic edge. Many times in high counts our 20 will lose
win with that ~1% edge.
The long run is defined as beginning after about 400 or 500 hours of
play. This will give us some 50,000 hands, a number large enough that
it can have some statistical meaning. An analogy: if we flip a coin
ten times it would not be too unusual for tails to come up, say seven
likely that tails will come up very close to its expectation of 50% -
maybe the number would be .4997. So it is with blackjack - the more
hands we play the closer to the statistical curve we get, the closer
to our mathematical expectation.
Becoming a Counter
STEP ONE: Basic Strategy
First and foremost we must learn Basic Strategy. In this age of the
computer there is very little argument on what constitutes valid Basic
Strategy - virtually every book on the market explains this
foundation. Basic Strategy (BS) must be so firmly ingrained that we
never have to think about it. Every possible decision must be
automatic, reflexive. How do we accomplish this? We read and study BS,
then we run hands at the kitchen table with the book open for
reference until we no longer need the reference material. Then we
practice some more. This cannot be stressed enough - unless we have a
solid foundation with perfect BS we will never succeed in counting. We
practice until BS is firmly embedded in our subconscious. After
totally mastering Basic we will then have to be aware of not seeming
to be automatic in play. The typical player at the tables hems and
haws over decisions - we should appear to do the same at times. The
average person should accomplish learning Basic in about 20 dedicated
hours.
STEP TWO: Learning to Count
Now we begin counting. There are many systems available and they fall
into two general categories: balanced and unbalanced. Unbalanced
counts, like the KO (Knock Out) system were designed to eliminate true
count conversion (see Step Three). Generally speaking, the easier a
system is to use the less effective it is; sometimes the difference
amounts to splitting hairs, but there is a difference. We are going to
use High-Low for this example as it is a simple balanced count, and is
perhaps the most widely used system. High-Low falls somewhere in the
middle of the pack for playing efficiency. We would suggest using this
as your counting method at first - switching to a more complicated
system should not be hard once High-Low is mastered, and stepping
down, as it were, to a simpler count will be very easy.
In High-Low the 2-6 are valued at +1, and the 10s and Aces are counted
as -1. Note that there are the same amount in each group: 2,3,4,5,6
and 10,J,Q,K,A. The 7,8,9 are neutral in this count and our eye should
be trained to not even see these for counting purposes, for they have
no bearing on the count. If the low cards are good for the dealer why
are they counted as plus value? Because when we see that low card come
out the ratio of high to low cards remaining has changed slightly in
our favor.
We start with a deck of cards, flipping them over one at a time and
keeping the running count. If they come out 8,K,3,3,6,2,7,A we would
count 0,-1, 0, +1, +2, +3, +3, +2. At the end of the deck we should
until you do come out even at the end, every time, and gradually build
speed. Eventually we will want to approach 25 seconds running the deck
down one card at a time while maintaining accuracy. This speed will
guarantee that no dealer alive can spread cards faster than we can
count.
When proficient at this try pulling a card out of the deck, face down.
Set it aside. After running the deck "guess" what the remaining card
is. Your validation will come when you say, "It has to be a ten or an
ace," and then flipping it over to find yourself correct.
games, that is, hand-held single and double deck games. On a bust the
to disregard "matching pairs" like Q, 5, as they cancel each other
out. The less we have to deal with the better, and by not allowing our
eye to register these "matched pairs" we will streamline our counting.
In actual play there are many individual styles of counting the cards.
In a face-up shoe game some people advocate waiting until the second
card is dealt to each hand and counting the hands as whole units, as
often a hand will cancel itself out, i.e., 10-6, or two consecutive
cards as each one comes out. Try both methods and find what works best
and subsequent hits. As the dealer exposes the remaining hole cards
one hand at a time a quick glance should suffice to carry the count
the other - your favored game might not be playable because of crowds,
bad rules, etc.
only game in your area is a six-deck with two+ decks cut off - save up
and go to where the games are better. Normally this would
automatically mean Las Vegas, but over Super Bowl weekend there I
observed a double deck game where a deck-and-a-quarter was cut off - a
horrible stunt by the management. At another place that normally had a
good single deck game they were dealing three hands in heads-up play,
when five and sometimes six is the norm. I overheard some dealer-talk
about juicing the games for the Super Bowl crowd. The point is to shop
key element in winning. For a good picture of this read Chapter Six of
Blackjack Attack.
We should be able to master the above two drills in about 20 hours of
dedicated practice; as always, your mileage may vary.
STEP THREE: Converting to True Count
This "running" count must be converted to a "true" count to be
effective for betting and playing decisions. To do this we divide the
running count by the amount of decks left unseen. For instance, in a
double deck game after the first hand we have a running count of +4.
Since there are virtually two full decks remaining we divide the count
by 2, yielding a true of +2.
to accurately estimate how many decks are remaining. So with two decks
decks gives us a true of +1. One trick here: practice glancing at the
discard tray just before the completion of the hand, and see what your
divisor is going to be for the next hand. This will give you extra
time to compute the true while the dealer is making payoffs and
picking up cards.
In single deck with a quarter-deck dealt we have three-fourths left.
To divide with fractions we invert and multiply, so we would multiply
the running count by the inverse 4/3. That same +4 count would now be
multiplied by the 4 (=16), then divided by the 3 (=5.33). One thing
about single deck: the true is always more than the running count,
both positive and negative, as we always have less than a full deck
remaining. While we can get lazy for betting purposes and use the
running count as the true count here in single deck, when it comes to
Basic Strategy deviations (playing decisions) we need to have an
accurate true count. This is fully covered in the recommended reading.
Now we start dealing hands. Deal one hand to yourself, one for the
dealer. Go as slow as you need to keep the count accurately. Keep
score with poker chips or the like. Although you will never see this
in casino play, deal down to the last six or eight cards. After the
last hand run the remaining cards out to check your count. When you
can deal, play all hands correctly, count, convert to true count, pay
off hands, and check the remaining deck for the count (and are correct
on the count) in under two minutes with this single deck you are well
on the way. Once speed has been gained consider switching from the
kitchen table to a good software package, like Casino Verite by Norm
Wattenberg. Programs like this will automatically track your play from
session to session, providing valuable input on your progress. This
will perhaps be the longest stretch in building our game, taking maybe
60 more hours of practice.
STEP FOUR: Overcoming Casino Distractions
Our next step is to start dealing two, then three hands, playing all
of them as above and keeping an accurate count. Take your time and
Casinos offer much in the way of distraction, so we must account for
that, too. Cocktail waitresses will be interrupting every 2.875
minutes, dealers get chatty, players get obnoxious, slot bells are
ringing, the craps table goes berserk, etc.
Begin with a radio playing nearby and continue dealing out multiple
hands, playing and paying, until you are exactly on the count every
time. Then add a television along with the radio. If you happen to
have a couple of small children nearby this is even better. Each
individual will differ in the ability to overcome these distractions,
but 20 hours of practice should do it. When none of the above disrupts
talking.
You will invariably need to talk and interact with other people at the
locked deeply in concentration with furrowed brow, staring at the
cards. So, with the radio and TV going have a friend or (hopefully
supportive) spouse deal to you. Carry on normal small talk. Look
practice it: "So, where you from?" and "Are you in town on business?"
and so on. You will need to be able to think and respond while keeping
People develop very individualistic methods for "holding" the count
while carrying on an in-depth conversation - others are fortunate
enough to be able to put the count in an area of the brain where they
can retrieve it instantly. Some folks place x number of fingertips on
their thigh under the table, some employ knuckle joints on top of the
table, some use chips to indicate the count. However you accomplish
it, you must remember the count! Perhaps another 20 hours will gain
this goal with the friend dealing multiple hands to you in the above
scenario. In building our game we cannot practice too much; the
STEP FIVE: The Act
want to use everything we can to distract the house from seeing our
bets going up and down with the count. We want to look like the
"gamblers" at our table. Study them, emulate their language, their
superstitions, their body language. Develop your act and make it real.
nut-and-bolt salesman from Topeka in town on business and wanting to
get a little action at the tables; you happen to be a tourist from LA
there to blow off some stream, take in a few shows. The point is you
to the size of our wagering unit: the higher the unit the more cover
needed.
Never reveal that you know anything about blackjack other than
something like, "I used to do pretty good at the VFW Casino Night. Of
course, my friend Bob was dealing..." (if something like this fits
your act).
Dress to fit your act. Would a tourist be in a three-piece suit? An
attorney at a convention might, but not a guy from Encino who dragged
the wife and kids out for a few days of gambling and sight-seeing.
about so far while speaking to a pit boss about good restaurants.
STEP SIX: Bet Spreads
Watch your bet range, or spread. While everything mathematical tells
us to jump our bet from, oh, $5 to $100 this is the surest way to get
unwanted attention in the least and outright barring at the extreme.
To survive we must unfortunately limit our spreads; the pits are not
stupid - they basically know how counting works.
In pitch games this usually means spreading about 1-5 units; in shoe
games we will get away with much larger spreads, say 1-8 or even two
hands at 6 each. Generally counters step their bets up with the count:
1 unit at negative or 0, then incrementally up with the count. Read
read everything you can find from these two authors as well as Snyder,
Uston, and other accepted experts. Read, then read some more.
At this point it would be prudent to take it slow, and play at the
lowest tables you can find. Fine-tune your game and act. There are
still one-dollar tables in Nevada. Read the suggested authors -
bankroll is very important. Even spreading 1 to 5 in silver a counter
self-defeating. Wild swings happen all the time in this game, and we
SUMMARY
Following the above practice recommendations we have something in the
neighborhood of 140 learning hours called for; your mileage may vary
evening, several hours each on weekend days - we should be ready for
blackjack devil might just decide to bite you in the butt, and believe
me his teeth are sharp. A note: once learned, counting stays with you.
Most people do not have the time, desire, or energy to do what it
takes to become an expert card counter. Card counting is not rocket
science, but it does takes work. A lot of work. If you follow through
you will be part of a very small fraternity/sorority, more
knowledgeable than perhaps 98% of the people sitting on either side of
those tables. Is it worth all the effort? In a word, yes.
http://www.bjmath.com/bjmath/novice/counting.htm
--
Card Counting Gig Nets Students Millions
By Jenny Zhang
STAFF REPORTER
Ben Mezrich, the author of Bringing Down the House:The Inside Story of
Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, discussed his newest
book and held a book signing at Coffeehouse last night. He described
his interaction with this covert team of gamblers.
Over a few years in the 1990s, MIT students earned several million
dollars by playing blackjack in Las Vegas casinos on weekends while
taking on the lives of normal college students during the week.
cash, and were always going to Vegas. Eventually, they took me along
The basic strategy for the students was to employ card counting
techniques, where they kept track of the proportion of high cards to
Teamwork pays off big
Card counters are normally caught because they work alone and appear
suspicious when they suddenly raise their bets once they predict a
win.
The MIT team was different in that it employed a method of
communication between seemingly unrelated players.
Mezrich described four basic roles for a team of the blackjack
players. The back-spotter counts cards without playing and signals
teammates when high cards are imminent. The spotter consistently
places small bets at the table while secretly counting cards as well
makes large bets, moves from table to table, guided by signals from
spotters indicating advantageous positions. Finally, the position
requiring the most skill is that of the Big Player, who counts cards,
plays at the same time, and is advanced enough to always place high
bets. Because of the division of labor, dealers could not easily spot
these card counting teams.
Getting caught
Eventually, members of the blackjack team were betrayed. Out of greed,
some team members sold names and faces to the Griffin Agency, which is
hired by some casinos to track players who win disproportionately. The
Griffin Agency compiles a face book of card counters and prohibits
them from betting.
couple hours before they pay any attention to you. You get out fast as
Card counting is entirely legal, but casinos can still get rid of
Former members talk
A member of the counting team who did not wish to be identified
the time and without a job. I started out just playing and learning
the rules, then later joined the MIT blackjack team. I pretended to be
a bimbo while spotting so that they would not suspect me and then
However, the game was not just about getting loads of cash and staying
in glitzy hotels.
could get caught. It is scary; they will take illegal measures such as
Another person, represented by the character Andrew Tay in the book,
cards and taught them basic strategy. I was first skeptical when they
When asked how people felt about their techniques being revealed, Tay
Kevin Spacey to produce movie
Mezrich has already sold the movie rights to MGM studios. Kevin Spacey
is planning to both produce and act in the movie, which could come out
as soon as 2004. It will be unique in that many of the MIT students
will be portrayed by minority actors, as was the actual case.
Actually, Kevin Spacey came to me about making a movie. He read the
The funny thing is filming may take in casinos such as the The Mirage
Several MIT students approached Mezrich after the book signing and
expressed interest in acting or being extras in the movie.
This story was published on Friday, October 25, 2002.
Volume 122, Number 50
====
"I don't care (if I get booed). I don't know any of those people. As long as my kids tell me that they love me, I'm fine. My motto is, when people talk about me, I say, 'Who are they? They're not God.' If God was out there booing me, I'd be upset."
-- Bonzi Wells, Sacramento Kings
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