Card Counting Methods
Most newcomers to card counting for blackjack crave an easy to learn method. The KO or Knockout System was developed to be both simple and effective. It is actually based on an earlier British system but was adapted by Olaf Vancura and Ken Fuchs in their blackjack book Knock-Out Blackjack: The Easiest Card Counting System Ever Devised.There are also some unique strategy modifications which.
Card counting systems for Blackjack are compared here, along with theirCard Values, Betting Correlation, Playing Efficiency, Insurance Correlation,Ease of Use and Type. These terms are defined at the bottom of the pageand are used to estimate the effectiveness of a Blackjack card countingstrategy. Ease of use is rated from 1 (hardest) to 10 (easiest) and is basedstrictly on my own opinions (and a few phone calls from authors since Ifirst published this pageJTherefore some people have invented simplifications. One of those simplifications is named the 'High-Low' counting method. Here the players assigns +1 to the low valued cards (2 to 6), -1 to the high valued cards (X and A) and 0 to the rest (7, 8 and 9). A player can easily sum up and remember this count value. The other cards you ignore. Each system has different tags and true count resolution methods (or lack thereof). Betting Correlation (BC): The betting correlation is how effective the card counting system is at predicting valuable betting situations as compared to what a computer could do. The higher the better. The card counting system is recognised via categorising cards in two systems. One as high cards and one as low. The counting system will see that card’s numbered 2 to 6 are considered low, whereas.
). Brief descriptionsof Blackjack software can be found at BlackjackSoftware Roadmap. Click on the Blackjack button on the left formore info on counting cards.CardCounting Strategy Summary
Click on a card counting strategy name in the table for more information.
Strategy | A | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | T | BC | PE | IC | Ease |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -1 | .87 | .63 | .76 | 6 | B1 |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -2 | .92 | .67 | .85 | 4 | B2 |
-1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | .97 | .51 | .76 | 6 | B1 |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | .88 | .61 | .85 | 6.5 | B1 |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -2 | .91 | .67 | .91 | 4 | B2 |
0 | 0/1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | .90 | .62 | .87 | 7 | US1 |
-1 | 0/1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | .98 | .56 | .78 | 7 | US1 |
-1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | .98 | .55 | .78 | 7.5 | UC1 |
-1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -2 | .97 | .62 | .80 | 4 | B2 |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -2 | .92 | .67 | .85 | 4 | B2 |
-1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0/1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | .98 | .54 | .78 | 7 | USC1 |
-1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | .98 | .55 | .78 | 8 | UC1 |
0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | -1 | .89 | .59 | .76 | 6 | B1 |
-2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -2 | .99 | .55 | .78 | 4 | B2 |
-4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | -1 | -3 | 1.0 | .53 | .71 | 1 | B4 |
0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | -2 | -3 | .92 | .65 | .82 | 1 | B4 |
-1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -1 | .96 | .53 | .69 | 6 | B1 |
-1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -2 | .97 | .62 | .84 | 6.5 | U2 |
-1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | .95 | .55 | .76 | 6.5 | B1 |
0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | -1 | -3 | .91 | .69 | .90 | 2.5 | B3 |
-2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -2 | .99 | .54 | .73 | 4.5 | U3 |
-1 | .5 | 1 | 1 | 1.5 | 1 | .5 | 0 | -.5 | -1 | .99 | .56 | .72 | 2.5 | B3 |
-1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -2 | .96 | .63 | .85 | 4 | B2 |
Strategy | BC | PE | IC | Ease | Type |
.87 | .63 | .76 | 6 | B1 | |
.92 | .67 | .85 | 4 | B2 | |
.97 | .51 | .76 | 6 | B1 | |
.88 | .61 | .85 | 6.5 | B1 | |
.91 | .67 | .91 | 4 | B2 | |
.90 | .62 | .87 | 7 | US1 | |
.98 | .56 | .78 | 7 | US1 | |
.98 | .55 | .78 | 7.5 | UC1 | |
.97 | .62 | .80 | 4 | B2 | |
.92 | .67 | .85 | 4 | B2 | |
.98 | .54 | .78 | 7 | USC1 | |
.98 | .55 | .78 | 8 | UC1 | |
.89 | .59 | .76 | 6 | B1 | |
.99 | .55 | .78 | 4 | B2 | |
1.0 | .53 | .71 | 1 | B4 | |
.92 | .65 | .82 | 1 | B4 | |
.96 | .53 | .69 | 6 | B1 | |
.97 | .62 | .84 | 6.5 | U2 | |
.95 | .55 | .76 | 6.5 | B1 | |
.91 | .69 | .90 | 2.5 | B3 | |
.99 | .54 | .73 | 4.5 | U3 | |
.99 | .56 | .72 | 2.5 | B3 | |
.96 | .63 | .85 | 4 | B2 |
For a detailed description of the aspects of strategies for counting cards,see How to Create a Card Counting Strategy
BlackjackCard Counting System Sources
The sources for system comparison above can be found at CardCounting Strategy Sources. Full counting tables for most strategiescan be found in free downloads of CV softwareproducts by permission of the various authors. They are not included heredue to copyright concerns.
Card CountingDefinitions
Card counting techniques include the following measurements:- Playing Efficiency– PE indicateshow well a counting system handles changes in playing strategy. Playingefficiency is particularly important in hand-held games (one or twodecks.)
- Betting Correlation– BCis defined as the correlation between card point values and the effectof removal of cards. It is used to predict how well a counting systempredicts good betting situations and can approach 1.00 (100% correlation.)BC is particularly important in shoe games (six or eight decks.)
- Insurance Correlation– IC isdefined as the correlation between card point values and the value ofcards in Insurance situation. A point value of -9 for tens and +4 forall other cards would be perfect for predicting if an Insurance betshould be placed.
- Level– The level of a strategyrefers to the number of different values assigned to cards. Level 2and 3 counting strategies are more efficient, but quite a bit more difficultfor most people. Level 4 & 5 counting strategies also exist. Butthis is overkill.
- Side Counts– There are severalmethods of side counting used to increase strategy efficiency. For anoutline of five side counting techniques, see SideCounting Techniques.
Type– The TYPE column keyfollows:
- B – Balanced count requiring the calculation of aTrue Count
- U – Unbalanced count with no True Count
- S – Suit Aware count requiring different counts forred and black cards
- C – Compromise indexes used for greater ease
- 1, 2, 3, 4 – Level. That is the highest tag value
Note: Playing Efficiency (as defined by Griffin) is not relevant to unbalancedcounting systems and is only an estimate. PE & BC stated here do notinclude side counts.
Card Counting Techniques
A list of the card counting index tables that can be found in CV productscan be found at CV Blackjack IndexTables.
For Blackjack training see Blackjackcard counting software.
Card counting has been in use since decades, but it got much publicity recently when the movie '21' was released. MIT blackjack team's play had been based on card counting techniques, so we can talk here about MIT card counting.
Card counting is a strategy used to determine when the player has advantage at the game. Card counting is used mainly in blackjack and its other forms like Spanish 21.
How It All Began
With the card counting theory, players can determine their probability ratios of their advantages and disadvantages during the game. Using this they can then determine whether to play or not and how much to bid which increases their levels of earning.
When players use only basic strategy in blackjack, even if it is perfect, they only have an edge of around 0.5%. A player who uses card counting techniques and uses it to his advantage will have an advantage of 1% approximately against the casinos. It is even possible to have an advantage of around 2.5% in certain games like Spanish 21.
However, this would depend on the skill levels of the player as well as various other factors like the penetration level, number of hands played per hour and several others. Blackjack has a high level of variance so even those who are skilled card counters would generally have to put in hours of play for making a sizeable amount of profit.
Also, the amount of profit generated by a card counter would also depend on the average bets he makes. If a player having a 1% advantage makes an average $50 bet then he would win around $0.5 per hand. This would mean that if he plays 50 hands every hour he would win $25. If he bets more he would win more.
A player who uses card counting techniques would generally try to increase the levels of profits by betting more. This would mean that a card counter would need a sizeable bankroll to make most of it. By calculating the odds of winning the player can then make the most of it by betting large amounts on hands where he/she has a higher probability of winning and not betting on hands where there is low probability of winning.
In the earlier days, card counting used to be done with the mind solely. Individuals good at math and those with a knack of quick calculations in the mind used to have an edge over the other. In the recent years, with the advancement in technology, there are plenty of devices available, which are used for card counting.
However, using devices for card counting is illegal in all casinos. Devices like applications for iPhones and other hand held devices were declared to be illegal for card counting by the Nevada Gaming Control Board in 2009. However, counting with your mind is still legal and according to many serious card counters it is even more effective.
MIT Books
Bringing Down the House
by Ben Mezrich
Price on Amazon: $11.21
Busting Vegas
by Ben Mezrich
Price on Amazon: $11.21
Million Dollar Blackjack
Blackjack Card Counting Methods
by Ken Uston
Plate Counting Method
Price on Amazon: $11.21