Card counting is a popular blackjack strategy that lets a player infer the remaining cards in the deck after each hand. Thanks to this, a counter may boost their bets and win more or surrender at the right moment to save money until better opportunities arise. The strategy is quite effective in land-based casinos. Now, let’s explore what happens when you try to apply it to blackjack over the Internet. Let us delve deeper into counting principles to see if it makes sense for online casino gamblers.
Is it Illegal to Count Cards in Blackjack?
Card counting is not illegal and never leads to legal problems. However, casinos (both land-based and online) are strictly against this approach and carefully monitor players to prevent it. Even though it doesn’t break the rules, casinos consider it an unfair advantage.
In land-based casinos, players who count cards and are caught doing so are banned from the games. As for online play, gambling companies prevent card counting through the use of random number generators and continuous shuffling.
How Casinos Counteract Card Counting
Land-based casinos counteract card counting by decreasing penetration, using differential shuffling, changing rules for certain blackjack strategies, employing shuffling machines, etc. The same applies to online casinos. Here are some measures online blackjack game developers implement:
- Random Number Generators (RNGs): RNGs provide hands that are completely random. Moreover, the deck resets after each hand, and a new shoe is used for the next round. This principle makes card distribution totally unpredictable, making counting ineffective.
- Continuous Shuffling: In many online blackjack versions, exposed cards return to the deck after each hand and are reshuffled. As a result, there is nothing to count since each hand starts fresh. Another option is multi-decking, where hands are dealt from 6-8 decks.
- Deck Penetration Limits: Some versions allow dealt cards to be set aside, but only a portion of the deck is reshuffled for the next hand. This makes counting difficult, even for an experienced player, preventing accurate predictions of upcoming combinations.
Popular Blackjack Card Counting Strategies
Card counting in blackjack is far from mere guesswork, where players try to remember which cards are still in the deck. Actually, it is a proven mathematical method that includes several schemes and strategies. Let us take a closer look to see how these counting systems work and if they can be helpful when playing online blackjack.
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Hi-Lo
This is a basic and the simplest strategy, which is rather easy to understand. Here, the cards are assigned a certain value depending on their position in the deck. Thus, 10, all face cards, and Ace are counted as -1; the lowest cards from 2 to 6 are counted as +1; finally, cards between 7 and 9 have a value of zero (0). After you remember the specific value of all cards, you start counting this way:
Hi-Lo is the clearest strategy for newcomers. Start with it if you’re interested in learning how blackjack basic strategy and charts work.
Knock-Out
Knock-Out is a simpler version of Hi-Lo. Here, high cards count as -1, and low cards count as +1, while 8 and 9 have a value of zero. In this case, counting is easier, while the principles of evaluation and further betting remain the same.
Omega II
This strategy was invented by Bryce Carlson, who released a book about it in 1992. The famous counter developed a level-two system, which means cards are assigned more complex values than in Hi-Lo. Here is how the card values are assigned:
Here, you keep counting all the time, just as with basic methods. If the count is negative, more high cards remain in the deck, while a positive outcome shows a prevalence of low cards among those that have not been dealt.
Wong Halves System
The author of this strategy, Stanford Wong, introduced a more complex but more accurate counting system that uses fractions. Here is how it works:
Wong Halves is more precise than Hi-Lo because of its fractional values, but it is much harder to use in practice. This makes it unsuitable for beginners.
Zen Count
Zen Count provides another specific approach to counting by assigning cards the following values:
Zen Count is often compared to Omega II in terms of effectiveness and works better for single- and double-deck games in land-based casinos. In online blackjack casinos in the Philippines, Zen Count has little to no impact due to continuous shuffling. However, in live dealer blackjack with limited deck penetration, it may offer some advantages, though not as much as in physical casinos.
Card Counting in Other Online Casino Games
While card counting is most commonly associated with blackjack, some players attempt to apply techniques similar to those used in other casino games. For example, our readers frequently ask about poker and baccarat card counting. Our answer is always the same – it all depends on the game type and the casino’s countermeasures.
Card Counting in Live Dealer Games
Indeed, live dealer games, such as baccarat and online poker, offer a setting similar to land-based casinos. To some extent, it makes card tracking possible. In baccarat, for example, players may try to track high and low cards to predict the likelihood of the Player or Banker winning the next hand. However, casinos frequently shuffle the shoe and use multiple decks. As a result, this strategy is much less reliable than in blackjack.
The same is true for live dealer poker. Here, players might track cards to estimate the probability of certain hands appearing. However, since opponents can influence the game through betting strategies and bluffing, card counting is not as effective as it is in blackjack.
Card Counting in RNG-Based Table Games
Random Number Generators (RNGs) used in online games of chance completely eliminate the possibility of effective card counting.
Unlike in land-based or live dealer games, where cards are dealt from a physical or virtual shoe, RNG-based games ensure that every round is entirely independent of previous ones. As a result, card counting offers no advantage, and winning is purely based on luck.
Final Thoughts: Is Blackjack Card Counting Worth It in Online Casinos?
It would be too pessimistic to say that card counting is completely useless for online casino players. Indeed, online casinos always have a long-term advantage due to the house edge, but that does not mean you cannot experiment with various approaches to win big. We are always searching for the most effective winning strategies and constantly improving our methods. Therefore, you can try different blackjack card counting strategies to enhance your chances of winning and sharpen your analytical thinking for more complex games.
FAQs
Different card counting strategies vary in complexity, as do the timeframes required to master them. For example, beginners typically need a couple of weeks to learn Hi-Lo or Knock-Out, while Wong Halves may require at least a month.
Yes, of course. In fact, blackjack is a game of chance, so your winnings depend partly on luck and partly on strategy rather than solely on mathematics. Try different versions of blackjack and play responsibly to improve your overall win-loss ratio.
Card counting is most effective in live dealer blackjack. In this game, cards are dealt similarly to land-based casinos. This allows you to analyze and predict based on exposed cards. However, multi-deck games and frequent reshuffling impact how well card counting works. In RNG-based blackjack, card counting does not work, as the deck resets after every hand.
Yes, there are several ways to practice. Start with our explanations to understand the basics, then use specialized apps (for example, Blackjack All-In-One Trainer or Blackjack 101 – Play Perfect) to master various counting techniques and improve your speed and accuracy.
Many players say that an experienced card counter can gain a 1-2% edge over the casino in land-based blackjack. Yet, we can’t confirm whether this is correct or not. Besides, in online casinos, where decks are frequently reshuffled or randomized, there is no reliable data proving a consistent advantage.
