Blackjack league. They really WIN in online casinos

This chapter outlines the High-Low system, undoubtedly the most popular professional-level point count in the world today. Harvey Dubner first introduced it in the early 1960s, and over the years, blackjack luminaries like Edward Thorp, Lawrence Revere, Julian Braun, and Stanford Wong have refined it into a powerful method that combines a high playing and betting efficiency with a good deal of user friendliness. It’s a level one that isn’t too difficult to master, yet brings to the table an edge that meets or exceeds many other card-counting methods. But as with any point count system, the foundation for successful use of the High-Low comes only after the student has mastered Basic Strategy.

The beginning sections of this chapter delve into the basics, including card values, combinations, and how to keep a running count as the care are being dealt. The latter sections focus on speed, and then the all-important process of converting the running count to a true count for both playing and betting purposes, which is covered in subsequent chapters.

As far as an approach to learning the material goes, you may find it most beneficial to first read through the entire chapter—to gain perspective—then return to each section individually to master the соn cepts presented therein. Covering the material in this way might better illustrate how each part contributes to form a comprehensive overall strategy.

In the casino world, more hands dealt means more money for the house, For that reason most dealers, especially those working from a shoe, tend to deal at a fairly rapid pace, requiring a counter to keep up with the cards or risk losing the count and thus losing any chance of knowing when an advantage over the house exists.

As far as speed is concerned, the benchmark we’ll shoot for is to be able to count down a standard fifty-two-card deck in about twenty-frve seconds. This is the time most proficient counters aim to either meet or exceed in order to simulate real-world conditions. By the way, counting down a deck in twenty-five seconds or less should be achieved not once or twice every so many tries, but consistently and with relative ease.

To further work on speed and accuracy, I would suggest securing as many decks of cards as possible. Make sure all are complete, and then just as you did with a single deck, begin counting down four, six, and even eight decks at a time. The reason for this is that you should become familiar with counts characteristic of multiple-deck games. You should start to see much higher positive and negative cumulative totals, along with a running count that often rises and falls with surprising volatility This takes a little more getting used to than the relatively smaller hills and valleys characteristic of the single-deck game. You’ll see what I mean as soon as you begin practicing.

Keep in mind, though, that accuracy is still more important than speed, and that the latter will come with enough repetition.

The next step is to begin keeping a cumulative total. This means that blackjack trainer instead of reciting the actual point count value of each card as shown above, you’ll add or subtract as necessary to keep an overall total. In other words, if a 2, 5, king, 8, and 3 are dealt in succession, instead of reciting “+1, +1, -1,0, and +1,” you’ll now recite “+1, +2, +1, +1, +2.” Keep in mind that you’re always adding with each new card that is dealt, so that, for instance, -1 added to a -3 equals -4, and a -1 added to a +7 equals a +6. Right from the start you should notice how your count will rise and fall depending on what cards are dealt—sometimes going positive, sometimes remaining negative, and often fluctuating between.

As you did when committing Basic Strategy to memory, spend as much time as you need practicing the running count. Repetition is key. As with so many other endeavors, the more you practice the better you’ll become Blackjack tournaments. Adding or subtracting only 1 (or zero) from the previous total based on the last card dealt should become almost natural after only a few hours of practice. At this stage of the game, accuracy is much more important than speed, which will develop in time.

Take a deck of cards with you wherever you go, in your shirt pocket or purse. Whenever a spare moment allows, count down a deck. Make it a game by stopping just prior to the last card and then guessing its value. If you’re accurate, ending with a +1 will mean the last card is a 10 or ace. If your running count is o, you know you’re holding a 7,8, or 9. If your count is negative, then it’s definitely a low card. If you’re wrong, recount the same deck without shuffling so you can isolate and correct any kind of unusual sequence that may present a particular stumbling block.

Any shortcut that increases speed or cuts down on the amount of processing necessary is a benefit casinos for blackjack. For that reason, grouping combinations of cards can be beneficial, even when using a method in which card values can only increase or decrease the running count by one.

Learn those combinations that sum to zero and can thus be blackjack odds table ignored—like any high card or low card followed by the opposite. In effect, you can just skip a queen followed by a 2, or a 6 followed by an ace, or a king followed by a 5, because a +1 and a -1 cancel each other out.

As you continue to practice counting down decks, try to spot these two-card combinations when they arise—by simply gliding over them as they occur in blackjack game. In other words, see and recognize them for what they are, but don’t waste time or energy by actually adding them together. After a few times through, you should notice an increase in speed, simply because you’re no longer reciting to yourself a cumulative total after every single card.

Spend some time counting down decks in this fashion, getting more and more used to keeping a running count total by combining cards whenever practical.

What city is home to more casinos per square mile than anywhere in the world, and also happens to be mecca for the modern-day card counter? If your answer was “Las Vegas,” you’re right. Sin City has turned up the volume yet again dealt a blackjack. And that was a good business decision, because with the popularity of casino gambling exploding across the United States, some place had to emerge as the creme de la creme of gambling towns. And that somewhere remains, indisputably, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Okay, enough about Vegas. Where else can I find casinos to throw my 1V2 percent at?

In the United States, try Atlantic City, Northern Connecticut, Gulfport/Biloxi, Reno/Lake Tahoe, Chicagoland, Minnesota, Michigan, St. Louis, New Orleans, Niagara Falls—the list goes on and on, and includes hundreds of casinos for blackjack riverboats and Indian casinos all over the United States. By the way, unless you’re from the Upper Midwest, I’ll bet you didn’t know that the state of Minnesota alone has about nineteen operating casinos.

On the international front, casinos can be found in many countries all over the world. They’re just a little more low-key than those in America. Don’t expect mega-structures with 6,000-room hotels over-looking a volcano. In fact, in some European countries it’s very possible to pass a casino on the street and not even know of its existence behind the glass doors of what could easily be mistaken as a private club or office. Serious players find out where the games are and what rules apply—without the aid of blinking lights or garish advertisement. It’s a whole different kind of interface—you’ll know what I mean if you ever play in other countries.

Some better-known international destinations offering casino gambling include the Caribbean, Canada, London, Amsterdam, Monte Carlo, and all over the Pacific Rim, including the major cities in Australia.