Pop culture and the media have given us a pretty distorted view of how card counting works. Let’s explore what it is, isn’t, and how you can do it!

Tldr: Card counting isn’t all that difficult. It does not allow the counter to know which card is coming next, it just gives them the knowledge of which range of cards are slightly more likely to come out.

There are a few different systems for counting but I’ll go over the more basic and common one.

Each card in the deck is assigned a value.

Next: As you see each card come out, you keep a running total in your head. The math is simple, the tricky part is the speed and focus to keep track while also playing the game accurately.

For example: Let’s say you see the following cards come out of the deck: Ace, 2, 4, 8.
The count would run as follows: -1 → 0 → 1 → 1. Because the Ace makes us move -1, the 2 and the 4 each add +1, and the 8 is worth 0. That’s it! That’s card counting.

The media portrays it like you know what card is coming next, that is never the case.

By keeping a running total, we get a good idea of what cards have been played, thereby giving us a good idea of what cards are left in the deck!

Let’s demonstrate with a simple example, let’s say you have one deck and the count is - 4, and there are 4 cards left in the deck. You know what cards they are because you know that more face cards have come out due to the negative count. So the remaining 4 cards have to be any combination of 2 thru 6.

Similarly, in Blackjack, if the count is really high, like +10 or higher, that means there are a greater amount of face cards left in the deck. This gives the player the advantage. That’s why card counters are able to win money by card counting. They can bet more money when the count favors them, and less money when it doesn’t. Over time, they (should) come out ahead.
*Not official gambling or financial advice, do so at your own risk, the house almost always wins.

When Can I Count Cards?

After some practice, you can count in Blackjack or some friendly card games at home. Any game where knowledge of what’s left is beneficial, card counting can help.

Also, Card Counting is not illegal, as long as you don’t use any device to help you do it at a casino. However, casinos can generally do what they want, so they can kick you out and ban you if they want to.

Let me know what other topics you want to read about!