Blackjack (since 21 is coming out tomorrow)?

Question

is is illegal to count cards. What do casinos do to people who do count cards.

Answer 1

Card counting is not illegal.  Card counting relies on knowing if there are more ten value cards in the shoe than low value cards.  When there are more ten value cards in the shoe, the advantage shifts to the player.  A card counter must increase his bet when the odds are in his favor.  Casino pit bosses will count along with suspected card counters.  If they see a player changing his bet with the count, they will identify the player as a counter.  The casino can react in several ways. Most likely they will simply instruct the dealer to shuffle more often, thus reseting the count and putting the odds back in their favor.  They can also refuse to allow the counter to play.

To combat this, a card counter must wager carefully.

You can read more about card counting and practice card counting for free at...

http://www.card-counting-blackjack.com

There is nothing to install and no java applets. Simply visit the website and start playing.

It assists with the multiple card counting systems. It keeps the count for you, which you can show or hide. That way you show the computers count only when you want to double check your own count. Plus, it tracks each card played as well.

It assists you with basic multi-deck strategy, instructing you how to play against the dealers upcard. The strategy matrix can be shown or hidden.

Answer 2

As it says in the trailer for the movie, it is not illegal to count cards.

As enthusiastic as we seem to be as a nation for locking up our citizens, it would be a pretty tough law to put on the books that the use of skill to play a casino game is illegal.

In any normal, reasonable casino in America if the casino suspects that you are a good card counter and appear to be taking their money at blackjack they will simply ask you to stop.  They will tell you that they no longer wish for you to play blackjack, and ultimately if you refuse to cooperate, they will ask that you leave the premises, which is after all their private property.

If you keep showing up in a variety of disguises, insistent on taking their money they will ultimately ban and blacklist you.

But at the end of the day, it take a lot of skill and a lot of hard work to learn to neutralize the house edge at blackjack.  For every successful card counter who has taken the casino's money, they are probably 100 people who have tried and failed.

If you are really looking to learn a valuable skill, learn to play poker.  The casino doesn't care who wins at poker.  So if you are better than the other players at the table, you will always win in the long run.

In blackjack, you will only take so much money before the casino decides, they'd rather not have you play any more.

Answer 3

I support points made by Vegas Matt. He is on the button! Keep it simple and counting is dead easy.

I have used high-level counts but on an occasion when I played on a team I changed to HiLo (to be the same as the others) and have used it ever since and I recommend it. It is reasonable efficient and so easy to do that I am simultaneously able to Ace-track or converse with the pit-critters to deflect them.

Ace-tracking is useful in that it might cause one to make a substantial bet when the count is negative. Lovely to think the casino might be monitoring the count at that time!

Other desirable variations occasionally pop up around the world: Surrender, Bust-box, Over/under, Rider-bets.

Answer 4

No, it's not illegal. I will give you the exact opposite advice as ZCT though. Counting cards is NOT that difficult. There are strategies that you could learn well enough to take to the casino in literally a couple of weeks. There's even a strategy (the A-5 count) where all you count is the aces and 5's. You can learn it well enough to take it to the casino in a day, and it will provide you with a small edge.

Anyone who plays blackjack more than a few times a year might as well learn to count cards. You're not going to make a million bucks like the guys in "21", but you can easily learn a decent strategy that will make you a better player than 99% of the people who sit at the tables. Even if it's as simple as deciding when to hit and stand, you're still better off doing it. And you're not going to kick you out unless you're super obvious, or use huge bet spreads (like jumping from $5 to $100).

Anyone who tells you counting is too difficult to bother trying obviously has never put in any amount of effort to try and learn.