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Standard blackjack strategy operates on the basic assumption that all cards have the same probability or equal chance of being drawn. However, this is not really the case. As soon as cards are used in a particular play, the same are immediately discarded and will no longer be dealt to the card players.
In simple terms, you will be able to keep track of the cards that remain in the shoe and assess the probabilities that such cards will be dealt. Once you are able to apply a system that can help you chart the card flow, you will be able to make the necessary adjustments to increase your chances of winning. This process is generally referred to as card counting.
Electronic Card Counting
The practice of card counting initially started with the use of an electronic device. Coded buttons are used on the dealt cards while these are being fed to the electronic device. The usual practice is that this device is concealed by the player inside a shoe and is manipulated by the toes.
The device is used to transmit information to a processor which is operated by a person from a remote location. This remote processor immediately digests the information and pinpoints the optimal moves. The information is then relayed to the player in the casino through a minute earphone. Casino operators immediately instituted measures to counteract card counting as there have been instances where players win abnormally large sums of money. After a series of court cases, casino operators got the upper hand and card counting with the use of electronic devices was eventually declared illegal.
Mental Card Counting
With the continuing surveillance and crackdown against players who are engaged in card counting, blackjack players devised a new system by which they can surreptitiously perform card counting. While this may not be as precise and as fast as the electronic card counting, mental card counting is not easily detected. This variant of card counting does not keep track of individual cards. Instead, the cards are classified into low cards and high cards, and the number of low cards and high cards are tracked by the player as each of these cards is transferred into the discard tray.
Some of the techniques used for mental card counting are extremely difficult to implement. There are techniques where the cards that are in play are classified into several groups. These techniques may provide better results, but there may be issues in terms of execution.
The Hi-Lo system is considered to be the simplest form of card counting. Through this system, the cards are assigned the value equivalent to +1 or -1 as these are transferred and placed in the discard tray. When you obtain high positive scores, these indicate that the remaining cards in the deck have more high cards. This information can be used by blackjack players as their basis to go for larger bets and to double down as there is a strong likelihood that they are going to win.
Measures to Neutralize Card Counting
Casino operators have instituted measures to counteract and neutralize all forms of card counting on the floor. Among the most effective preventive measure by casinos is early card shuffling. Card counting becomes useful only when there are already a few cards that remain in the deck. Today, most leading casinos would normally shuffle the deck and start from scratch in cases where half of the cards in the deck are already dealt. Thus, blackjack players are not given the opportunity to do card counting on the remaining cards in the deck.
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