Can any one tell me if card counting at black jack really works,,?

Question

Can anyone do it and are there any better ways to increase my odds at black jack.

Answer 1

Yes, it puts the odds in your favor (if only slightly).

The number of decks does not impact whether it works or not - just your ability to keep track.

It is not illegal, but the casinos will blackball you and you'll never be welcome again.

Play craps! Its a bigger rush and less like work.

Answer 2

Card counting at blackjack does work, but it's easy to get caught doing it. If you suddenly increase your bet to the maximum when "the count" is running high, the floor will get suspicious and may ask you to leave.

The best way to count cards in blackjack is to play as a team. A group of MIT students formed a team where every member had a different role to play. They made millions of dollars. Here's a summary of the roles, taken from Wired:

The Back-Spotter
The Back-Spotter can count cards without even being seated at the blackjack table. When the count gets hot — meaning the house is at a statistical disadvantage — this player will signal for the team’s bettors to swoop in.

The Spotter
The Spotter counts cards while playing at the table. Casinos screen for counters by watching for dramatic rises or drops in bets — a sure sign that a deck has gone hot or cold. A Spotter avoids detection by resolutely sticking to the minimum bet on each hand. When it’s time to start betting big to take advantage of a favorable deck, he tips off his teammates.

The Gorilla
The Gorilla doesn’t count at all: He just bets big, all the time. Typically, he adopts the pose of a drunken millionaire who has green to burn. The Spotters ensure the Gorilla’s “luck” by steering him to tables where he’s got greater than even odds of winning against the house.

The Big Player
The Big Player appears to be a type well known to the casinos: the high-rolling recreational gambler who’s content to slowly bleed his money away through hours of competent play. In reality, he’s a Spotter with a Gorilla’s bankroll. He’s not only counting cards, he’s tracking the shuffle for the high cards that rob the house of its advantage. A BP always plays a good deck, so he never has to lower his bets by much.

Ben Mezrich wrote a book called "Bringing Down the House" and an article in Wired called "Hacking Las Vegas" that tells the story of these guys.

Andy Bloch, a professional poker player, was also on the MIT blackjack team at one point.

Answer 3

You practically need to be a mathematical genius to be able to count cards in regards to casino play, they use several decks and they are never shuffled in the same spot as a randomly selected player prior to each first hand places a plastic card in the deck any where they want and that is the point of the next shuffle. Dealers also shuffle differently, sometimes cards get mismatched, askewed, dropped and reshuffled etc... it's an imperfect science.

You can use a "strategy card" but you need find out the house rules first and the exact amount of decks...Does the dealer hit or stand on a soft 17?

The bottom line is unless you just plan to cheat on your friends, it's not worth it!

Answer 4

Yeah, if you can do it! You still don't 'know' the order of the cards that are going to come out, but you pretty much count to see when the deck gets 'rich' (alot of 10's left).

That guy going on about the MIT students, I heard about that. Really cool.

Counting cards yourself is not illegal, but using any kind of object or computer to do so is.

Answer 5

It used to. But the casinos are finding ways to defend against it, such as no longer dealing to the bottom of the deck.

Extreme example: you're the only one on the table, and you know the last 5 cards are 6,7,8,10,10 but don't know the order. What are your odds of winning?

Answer 6

depends on how many decks in the shoe and how many cards the casino cuts off the decks when their shuffled, there are also continuously shuffling shoes which counting wont help at all

Answer 7

A good idea is not to play blackjack. Even with a well thought out strategy the house has a 49:51 adv. and you will end up behind.

Answer 8

Yes, it does only if you know how many card decks are involved. If you don't know, then counting does not help at all.

Answer 9

Yes it really works and can give you a slight advantage over the casino! For more info on card counting please visit the link below.

Answer 10

it increases your odds, so in the long run, you'll come out ahead