Counting cards in Black Jack

There are very few professional Black Jack players who can count the cards, they became Las Vegas legends. Nowadays, casinos make it difficult by putting more packs of cards, machines for shuffling the cards, or simply for ever getting rid of those players who can count the cards. That`s why, players who can count the cards never admit it. It is worth noticing that, counting the cards is not illegal in the U.S.A. It is legal if the player does it without a help of a calculator or other people. However, a casino being a private business has the right to get rid of anybody really.

In 1956 a group of statisticians: Baldwin, Cantey, Maisel and McDermont published recommendations for a game of "21"- the first version of basic strategy, in Journal of the American Statistical Association.

In 1962 dr Edward O. Thorp, a professor in Mathematics in New Mexico State University, published a book entitled Beat the Dealer- The Winning Strategy of Twenty- One. Thorp noticed that, if there are more tens, figures and aces left in the pack to be dealt, the player has a bigger chance of winning. But, lower cards especially fives and sixes are very helpful for the casino. Dr Thorp used IBM 704 computer in MIT when he was writing this book. With the help of that computer he calculated the details of a basic strategy and the affects of counting the cards. In 1963 Beat the Dealer was No1 on New York Times bestsellers list. Its popularity made Black Jack the most famous game in Las Vegas.

If you are not casino habitual guest, use only the basic strategy. If you play Black Jack almost every day, learn to count the cards. Naturally, it is not possible to count the cards in online casinos because the cards are "shuffled" after each deal. Most of Black Jack players use the basic strategy, but all of them say that they sat at a table with a "professional" whose only job was playing the cards… Counting the cards gives the player about 1% prevalence over the casino. A method of counting the cards in Black Jack shown below is the easiest one.