Card Counting Systems: Hi Lo vs Hi Opt. Everything we've explained here is for the Hi Lo card counting system. The Hi Opt card counting system is almost the same thing except that in Hi Opt the deuces and aces are not counted. In other words, in Hi Opt both A and 2 are 0 instead of -1 and +1 respectively. Online Practice. Variations of Ace to Five Card Counting System. Variations of the ace five count have been around for a long time. According to Shackleford's site, a variation of the ace five count is suggested in Beat the Dealer, by Edward Thorp and also in Playing Blackjack as a Business, by Lawrence Revere. Counting cards is a method used in a number of gambling games used to make an approximation about the nature of the cards left in the deck or shoe. While card counting is a technique most well known for being used in the game of blackjack (see how to count cards in Blackjack), there are three main ways that the technique can be used in Baccarat. The Interactive Card Counting Trainer is a software tool that will teach you how to count cards accurately. No experience is required to use the tool, just the desire to want to learn a mathematically proven technique that will give you the advantage over the casino when you play blackjack. There is the misconception that card counters memorize every card.
Counting cards in blackjack is a technique used to give the player an advantage over the casino. And unlike the card counters depicted in Hollywood movies, you do not need to be a math genius from MIT or the Rain Man to count cards. Online casino for us players. There are several systems of counting cards used by the pros, and they range from basic card counting to more advanced counting systems. Like any system, practice makes perfect.
Wait. Isn't Counting Cards Illegal?
Card counting is not technically illegal unless you are using a card-counting device of some kind. However, card counting in blackjack is frowned upon by casino owners for the simple reason that the strategy leaves the casino with a very slim edge to win against the player, unlike casino games that rely on luck only, like slot games. Gamblers who play blackjack using card counting systems are known to win consistently at casinos and their success is attributed to this strategy. You can also practice counting cards by playing blackjack online.
The important thing to remember is that casinos have to the right to ask any player to leave the casino at any time, for any reason. They don't have to tell you that they suspect you of counting cards, they will just ask you to leave. But don't worry, you won't get roughed up like you see in the movies. But don't be obvious when counting cards if you do choose to do so, and politely leave the premises if the casino staff asks you to.
Also, it is not advised to engage in card counting in casinos where you do not have the same legal rights you normally would, like a tribal casino. Since a tribal casino is located on tribal land, it is not subject to the same laws as the state where it is located. Simply stated: you can't sue them if, while being escorted out of the casino for suspected card counting, you 'accidentally trip and fall into a hard object.'
So Why Doesn't Everyone Count Cards While Playing Blackjack?
Even if people aren't afraid of being bounced from the casino by muscular thugs, there are several reasons why blackjack card counting is not widespread. The reasons range from the obvious to the sublime:
- The casino has methods of detecting card counters, including video surveillance.
- Blackjack dealers often use multiple decks, making it more difficult to count cards.
- A casino pit boss can order a change of dealers and a re-shuffling of the cards.
- Most people don't know enough about blackjack betting to grasp card counting.
Thanks. Show Me How to Count Cards, Please.
Before you begin learning how to count cards in blackjack, it's best to review a good blackjack game guide to make sure you fully understand the game. Once you are confident in your blackjack skills, you can try some basic blackjack card counting.
Blackjack card counting systems range from the simple to the complex, and follow a system of ascribing a positive, negative or a null value to each card.
Players maintain a running count of the cards, adding or subtracting as they appear. The count keeps track of the cards that have been played. The running count also reflects the value of the cards that have not been played. A higher count denotes the presence of aces and the high value cards in the pack, and gives the player an advantage.
Conversely, a negative count reflects the presence of low value of cards yet to be played. This would be to the casino's advantage.
The Hi-Lo Card Counting System
A number of blackjack card counting systems are in use, but the Hi-Lo system is most commonly adopted by players. It assigns all cards between 2 and 6 a value of +1, and face cards and 10 a value of -1. Cards 7, 8 and 9 are null, valued at 0. The idea of the Hi-Lo system is to keep track of each and every card dealt during a blackjack round and assign them a value.
You do not need to remember the value of each card; just add and subtract the values continuously to get the ‘running count.' The idea behind this method of counting cards is to get the running value of the cards that remain in the deck. When you determine whether or not the dealer is holding high cards or low cards, this is when you bet high or low.
Card Counting System
Advanced Card Counting Systems
More advanced blackjack card counting systems like the Zen Count are fine-tuned to give players a higher level of accuracy and you can try them here at CoolCat Casino. Values of +2, -2 are given instead, with a separate side count of the aces being maintained by seasoned players.
Blackjack card counting needs plenty of practice and an understanding of the technique. Devised by Dr. Edward O. Thorp in 1962, an American mathematician, blackjack card counting has ensured that blackjack players always have the upper hand!
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Former mathematics professor Edward Oakley Thorp brought card counting to modern Blackjack in 1962, when he published his book, 'Beat the Dealer.' Thorp's book included what was then considered a revolutionary innovation, the Ten Count system.
Although it has been succeeded by other methods since it was introduced, Thorp's Ten Count System is regarded as the first mathematically proven system for card counting made available to the general public. Thorp wasn't the first to employ card counting for blackjack, nor was he the first to attempt to apply mathematics to the probabilities of blackjack. However, his Ten Count System undeniably blazed the trail for those who followed him in developing other card counting methods.
Some gambling experts consider Thorp's Ten Count not to be strictly a card-counting method. Instead, Thorp's system succeeds in mathematically shifting the winning probability from 6 percent in favor of the house to about 1 percent in favor of the player – a monumental accomplishment in the history of U.S. casino gambling. Most modern card counting techniques are typically some variation of Thorp's method.
Learning how to beat the dealer
Ed Thorp's path to the Ten Count system came by way of MIT, gambling forays in Las Vegas and connections with colorful gamblers. Posh casino bonus codes. Bovada casino review.
Thorp earned a master's degree in physics and a doctorate in mathematics from UCLA. He taught mathematics at several top-rank universities including UCLA and MIT. He also has taught courses in 'quantitative finance,' the basis of his later business ventures.
While a professor at MIT, Thorp met Claude Shannon, with whom he went on to develop what's believed to have been the first wearable gambling computer in 1961-62. Thorp also used the IBM 704, an early mainframe computer, to calculate winning probabilities while developing his mathematical theories on Blackjack.
Card Counting System For Blackjack
The professor's theory underlying Beat the Dealer, which led to his invention of the Thorp Ten Count, was based on a 1956 paper written by J. L. Kelly Jr. Kelly wrote a formula to determine the optimal amount in a series of gambling wagers. This formula, subsequently known as the Kelly criterion or Kelly strategy, eventually proved to be one of the most accurate over the long run for predicting probabilities in gambling and in some investments as well. Thorp presented the practical application of the Kelly strategy in a 1961 speech to the American Mathematical Society, and then in his 1962 gambling book Beat the Dealer and his 1967 investment book Beat the Market.
How Edward Thorp's Ten Count System Works
The key to Thorp's Ten Count is the way it determines the ratio of high cards to low cards in the deck by designating a value for each card in a Blackjack game using a single deck. The following table explains the original ratios of Thorp's Ten Count:
| Values for Thorp's Ten Count System |
| A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 |
| +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 -9 |
The mathematics of Thorp's system have consistently proven sound. However, what the Ten Count doesn't do – as with all blackjack card counting methods -- is predict the sequence in which cards are likely to be played. Thorp's method provides a slight advantage for a single deck game, but has little application in the multi-deck blackjack games now common in most casinos.
Deciding to test his theory at casinos in Reno, Lake Tahoe and Las Vegas, Thorp was bankrolled in his experiments by professional gambler Manny Kimmel, a former bookie. Kimmel put up $10,000 – an enormous sum in the early 1960s – so that Thorp could play blackjack in Reno and Lake Tahoe using his method. Thorp's mathematical formula was verified by his winnings, which totaled $11,000 for one weekend of play.
Venturing into Vegas
Thorp then moved on to the big time, playing blackjack at casinos in Las Vegas. His initial efforts in Vegas could have been more lucrative had not his winning ways attracted the attention of casino security. He was expelled from several establishments after he tested his method, won large sums, and became a marked man. In order to continue testing his Ten Count system, Thorp began donning disguises, such as false beards and wraparound eyeglasses.
News of Thorp's accomplishments spread like a lucky streak throughout the gambling world, resulting in his writing Beat the Dealer. The book sold 700,000 copies, becoming a New York Times best-seller and turning Thorp into a celebrity among blackjack players. Beat the Dealer also made history in the world of academic research, since it was one of the few publications in which theoretical research went directly to the public without the typical academic peer review. Beat the Dealer also documented the first time that a computer was used as an aid to gambling.
The publication and sales success of Beat the Dealer terrified casino owners so thoroughly that the Las Vegas Resort Hotel Association changed the standard rules of Blackjack in an effort to thwart card counters who used Thorp's Ten Count system. The new rules forbade players to re-split aces into separate hands, and imposed a new limit restricting the 'double-down' bet only to hands totaling 11. Players were so outraged by these rule changes that they left the blackjack tables in droves. Within three weeks, the casinos were forced to revert to the original rules, lest their blackjack profits disappear entirely. However, casinos also switched from one-deck games dealt by hand to blackjack using four decks dealt from a device called a 'shoe.'
Trumping the Ten Count System
Finally, in 1966, Edward Thorp managed to trump his own Ten Count system with the help of a young computer whiz named Julian Braun. Together they applied Thorp's theory to a new card counting technique called the Hi-Lo Count, unveiled in a revised edition of Beat the Dealer. Today Hi-Lo is considered one of the best single-level methods for beginners to learn blackjack card-counting strategy
Over the years, the former professor has amassed a considerable fortune applying his mathematical theory to both gambling and investments. For many years he wrote columns for The Gambling News that were collected into a book, The Mathematics of Gambling, in 1984. Today he is founder and CEO of Edward O. Thorp Investment Strategies based in Newport Beach, California.
What's more, Thorp's original Ten Count system earned the former professor a secure place in the annuals of gambling. In 2002, Edward O. Thorp was among the first seven inductees into the Blackjack Hall of Fame housed at the Barona Casino in San Diego, California, which has awarded him lifetime free room and meals – provided he never plays in the casino.
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