Intro to Card Counting – what is counting cards

Card counting in blackjack has been time tested and is a proven method by which to stack the deck in the player’s favor. There are many ways that card counters count the cards to beat the blackjack dealers and typically, the casinos cringe when the highly gifted card-counting players come anywhere near the casino.

There are many books that have been published on card counting tactics. Dr. Edward Thorp, a math professor, wrote the original book on card counting. In 1960, Dr. Thorp penned “Beat the Dealer” and the book proved that one could use the power of math to beat the dealer in blackjack games.

When one counts cards in blackjack, they are implementing a system of card counting that keeps score of whether high cards or low cards are abundantly present in the remaining shoe of cards. The counter simply keeps score based on the cards he sees dealt to the players and to the dealer. There are different card counting systems that are regarded as valid and profitable card counting techniques. Amongst the different ways to count cards in blackjack, the Hi-Lo card counting system is the most widely used. In this system, low cards (2 through 6) increase the count by one, while tens reduce the count by one. Sevens, eights, and nines do not impact the card count in the Hi-Lo methodology of card counting.