I'm going 2 Vegas soon. Can anyone briefly describe the theory of card counting N black jack & how it works??

Answer 1

Very basically:

The casino is using multiple decks, and you need to know how many they are using. You start playing with a relatively small bet to start, and you count which cards have already been exposed (particularly the cards with a value of 10). As the number of cards in the shoe decreases, you have considerable information about which cards are remaining. Because of this, you increase your bet size.

The original theory was described in Edward O. Thorp's book Beat the Dealer.
http://www.amazon.com/Beat-Dealer-Winning-Strategy-Twenty-One/dp/0394703103/sr=8-1/qid=1169089069/

However, don't count on this working in Vegas casinos. The pit bosses and security cameras try to identify people doing this. They will ask you to leave and not return to the blackjack pit. If you try to return, it can get uglier.

Answer 2

Card counting is not illegal, but if the casino feels you are doing it, they will either back you off the game or ask you to leave. The fact is, most people do not know how to play blackjack correctly; you ARE supposed to hit a 12 vs a dealer 2 or 3 because those cards are not as weak as they seem. You are NEVER supposed to split 10's (any face or 10 card), although I have done it a few times vs a dealer 6 (the weakest card) when I felt the time was right. I got another 10 (which I did not resplit) and an ace, so I had 2 very strong hands, a 20 and a 21. The dealer busted and that was that. The dealer called it out to the pit boss when I split them because it is not standard game play. If you do too many of these kinds of odd moves, they will scrutinize you more.

Answer 3

Card counting is basically calculating percentages in your head.

Say the house uses 2 decks a table. That means 8 of each number, 8 aces, and 32 face cards (10, jack, queen, king)

a card counter would want to pick a table that just received new decks, and they would keep a count of how many of a certain card has been played from those two decks. This could mean the difference between busting on a 12 or not. if you count out that 30 faces have been used, chances are slim you'll get one.

I've never used care counting and this is just a brief summary of what little I know.

Answer 4

Be aware that casinos consider card counting to be a form of cheating. You must be discreet, and then, if you get very good at it, they will watch you closely if & when towards the end of the deck you boldly hit your 12's and up and don't bust on any kind of regular basis. You not only need to be good at counting & memorizing, but have a good "poker face" (pun intended) when it comes to playing. I think you're much better off bringing no more than you can afford to loose, bet cautiously, and don't hit your 12's and up when the dealer is showing a 2-6 card. Odds are in the house favor - there's no sure-fire way to win. If you break even after a few hours of playing, you're doing fine! Enjoy.

Answer 5

Concentration

Answer 6

if there are more tens and aces in the deck advantage player. fewer and advantage dealer. when this happens more blackjacks happen. even in a 6 deck game you reduce the casino advantage.