Blackjack Crash Course: How to Count Cards

 Blackjack Crash Course - How to Count Card Cards

Blackjack is a well-known card game. Over the years, it has been a favorite of gamblers around the world who have tried to win big. It doesn't matter if you see it in movies like Ocean's Eleven and Rainman or 21: The sophisticated and wealthy come to the casinos to try and stake their claims and win the cash.

As with any card game, there is always risk. You never know what cards might come up. But there are ways that you can minimize the risk.

It's not necessary to be a math genius. You don't have to be a math genius. It's about knowing patterns and rules that will help you understand the game and give your advantage. While it might seem like the house has an advantage, in reality, it is the numbers that have the edge.

Blackjack is played against the dealer. That's the first difference.

Each player receives two cards from the dealer at the start.

All the cards are turned face up, with the exception of one dealer's. Each card is worth its number value. For example, 2 is worth 2, 3 or 4, 4 is worth 3, and so forth. The face cards (Jack/Queen/King) are worth 10.

An Ace can be worth one or eleven dollars. The dealer will announce whether Aces have a high value - worth 11, or low value - only worth 1.

Each player has two options: 'Hit' which is to go for another card or'standing' which is to stick with what they have.

The goal is for the sums of the cards to equal 21. If they are not, you will go 'bust'.

The winner is someone closest to 21. A 10 and a 9, for example, would win against a Jack 6 and a 6.

Blackjack is unique because players do not have to deal with a fixed house edge. Blackjack differs from roulette in that the casino's advantage is constant, regardless of which bet you place. However, Blackjack has a variable house edge.

However, the average advantage that casinos have over players playing Blackjack is 2%. This means that the house has an average of 2% chance to win all money that a player wagers. That can add up if bets go high.

How math can be helpful

Blackjack games are played using a finite number of cards, one deck or more. You can remember which cards you have dealt so that you can calculate what cards will be dealt next.

You can also predict what the dealer will do. They will always hit anything lower than 17. It is possible to design a system to assign a value to cards by either 'good' and 'bad'.

There are certain cards that you should be dealing (high cards such as Aces, face cards and face cards), and there are also certain cards that you shouldn't (lower cards such as 6s). This is how a strategy is built using conditional probability.

You need to be aware of two things:

The player should wager more if there are less bad cards - this means that there are still more good cards.

You should bet lower if you have already played more of the good cards. This means that there are more bad cards.

Bad cards - bet high. Good cards - bet low. This is the foundation of card counting. blackjack card counting