How To Count Cards

Note: I am Harrison from the original forum this guide is posted on. This is copied/pasted/edited from the original forum. I can prove that Harrison is me.

How To Count Cards:

The long awaited guide on how to count cards is finally here. This guide will teach you exactly how to count cards.

* Note - Counting cards is NOT illegal. If caught, legal action can not be taken against you. It might be frowned upon by others, but not illegal. *

Before Reading The Guide, Read THIS:

Counting cards does not work 100% of the time. It merely increases your chances. Like people always say, this is not fool proof. When counting cards, you can not expect to win every single game of black jack. I will say this once again, seeing as it is so important... Counting cards merely increases your chances of winning in black jack.

What Will Be Covered In This Guide:

- What Counting Cards Is
- Counting Numbers 2-6
- The "Null" Numbers
- Counting Numbers 10 through Ace


What Is Counting Cards:

The proper definition of counting cards is counting the ratio of high cards in the deck to the ratio of low cards still left in the deck. However, many people just define counting cards as cheating. It would be considered cheating in some ways, but in other ways, cheating is not the proper way to define it.

The reason why some people call counting cards cheating is because you are technically beating the system of black jack. It doesn't always work, but you can have great success at black jack and earn a great deal of money while doing it.

Counting cards is in no way illegal. If caught at the casino, they can kick you out at the most. Or in some tougher casinos, you will be brought into the basement and will be hit a few times. Why exactly do casinos hate card counters you ask? Well, the main reason is that you will cost them thousands upon thousands of dollars. Casinos can NOT take any legal actions/lawsuits against you if they catch you counting cards in their casino.

If you don't believe me on the fact that counting cards is 100% legal, you can read some books and visit a few websites regarding the debate on whether counting cards is legal or illegal.

Some great sites to read about the topic i stated in the last paragraph are Wikipedia and mainly any search engine. (Google, Bing, Yahoo etc.)

Counting Numbers 2-6:

When counting cards, you should always start with the easier numbers. Cards 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are the easiest cards to count. Cards 2 through 6 are given a value of positive 1, or +1. Ever time you see a card between 2 and 6 dealt on the table, you will add one to the "card count". I'll explain more about what the card count is a bit later on in the guide.

Why do you think I said that the positive numbers are the best ones to start with? Because they are the easiest. Everyone knows that it's very easy to add together positive numbers. Even a 5 year old can do it.

Here's a little test on the cards 2 through 6.

You see these cards dealt on the table:

2, 5, 4, 4, 4, 6

This is what you should be adding in your head...

1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 6.

That means the current card count is 6.

The "Null" Numbers:

You might be thinking to yourself, damn what the hell could null numbers mean?

Well, null numbers are the cards that are given a value of 0. When you see a null card come up on the table, you do nothing. You don't add anything to the count, and you don't remove anything from the count.

Null cards are actually quite good when they come up on the table. Why you ask? Well, because the count stays the same and you do nothing when you see a null card, it gives you a second or two to take a breath and maybe check the count to make sure you counted it correctly.

Did you think i'd forget to tell you what the null cards are? I don't think so.

The cards given a value of 0, or better known as the null cards, are 7, 8, and 9.

Time for a little quiz on the null cards, and the cards 2 through 6.

You see these cards dealt on the table...

7, 9, 4, 2, 6, 8, 3, 3

This is what you should be adding in your head...

0 + 0 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 0 + 1 + 1 = 5.

The card count is 5.

Counting Numbers 10 Through Ace:

These are the last numbers you have to count. Cards 10, Jack, Queen, King, And Ace are the hardest cards to count.

Why you ask? Because everyone knows it's quite a bitch to add negative numbers together, along with positive numbers.

Once again, the cards worth -1, or negative one are 10, jack, queen, king, and ace.

When you see these cards dealt on to the table, you subtract 1 from the card count. This can get very hard when you also see the cards worth a positive 1 on the table.

A little test on everything...

You see these cards dealt on the table....

2, 6, 10, jack, ace, 8, 9, 3, queen

You should be adding this in your head...

1 + 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 + 0 + 0 + 1 -1 = 1

The card count is one.

That's about all there is to counting cards.

My next guide on counting cards will teach you all the betting techniques of counting cards.




^^ A black jack betting table. This table can help you whether you are or aren't counting cards.Thanks For Reading!

 

Wow this is a great guide. Very nice. I watched the movie "21" before and had NO idea what they were talking about.

 

Yeah they don't go in-depth about it.

Watching that movie actually encouraged me to go out and learn more about it.

 

Is this allowed? Good guide though

 

@womb: It's not illegal, but casino's don't allow it lol. They'll beat you up, I heard.

 

Interesting guide; I've always wondered how this worked. Just curious - how do casinos tell if you are counting cards or not?

 

Casinos have people who monitor tables via the Cameras and if they find someone looking suspicious they will have people on the floor go and check it out.

 

Very nice guide. I look forward to seeing the second portion of it. My only question, could you thoroughly explain the chart given at the end of the guide? Outside of that, guide looks pretty clean. Nice job

 

Good Guide!

They do this but also use multiple decks (usually 5-10 decks at a time) so counting cards is A LOT HARDER.

But, this works perfect if you're just playing with friends.

Rs Emperor

 

Sweet guide, i watched the film 21 aswell, it's pretty good.
I always wondered how to do this.