Card Counting in Real Money Blackjack
Card counting is the most famous and effective technique used by gamblers who want to have the advantage when playing blackjack for real money. While there are many card counting systems, they all revolve around keeping track of the cards that have left the shoe (the stack of cards being used at the blackjack table), then betting more when the remaining cards favor the player.
Generally speaking, high cards – particularly tens and aces – favor the player, while low cards like fours and fives favor the dealer. One basic card counting system only keeps tracks of the aces and fives that have left the deck. If there are significantly more aces remaining in the shoe, then the player raises their bet. If the shoe is instead heavy with fives, then the player will either bet the minimum or leave the table entirely.
While this may sound simple, keeping a count that gives you an advantage takes a lot of skill. At blackjack online casinos, the virtual shoe is shuffled after every single hand, making card counting all but impossible. Even in live casinos, players must be wary of tipping off security to their system. The use of continuous shufflers at many casinos has also reduced the effectiveness of card counting, as the “count” resets each time the shoe is reshuffled.