Black Jack Card Counting

One possibility to influence your luck at Black Jack is the use of a strategy called “card counting”. This sounds much easier than it actually is. Back in the day, the used cards were set-aside after each round. Once three quarters of the deck were used the remaining cards were mixed with a new deck. If in the first round there were few cards of high value, the card counter was able to determine how many high value cards were in the new deck. A mathematician named Edward O.Thorp developed a system, which gave the player a big house edge; he published a book detailing his strategy.

Obviously the casinos did not like this and took countermeasures. Black Jack was played with one 52-card deck, and the casinos added another 5 decks. Additionally the practice of cutting the deck (either a third or a fourth), and thus removing a part of the cards, was put in place.

Contrary to old the practice, the used cards were not mixed with the new ones. Another few rules were added limiting player choices. Still a card counter could increase his chances against the house, even if only marginally.
Contrary to the card shoes used in the US, European Casinos utilize shuffle stars, which also shuffle the cards, and make card counting impossible.

Card counting is not punishable; this would be like panelizing someone because they can memorize a lot of phone numbers. Above all, it is almost impossible to prove.

In the US, casinos have to deal with strategic players and card counters; they employ specialists, who deal with this phenomenon. They look at the eye movement of players, tables with unusually high payouts, etc. Players caught at card counting are banned from the casino, and might be asked to surrender their winnings (deepening on the house rules). As there are not many professional card counters and they are known within the industry. Casinos often exchange information on those people and there have been cases where players have been banned from the whole state of Nevada. Please note that card counting is not punishable, unless you utilize a device, such as a cell phone with an application designed for card counting.

If you are interested in this topic, check out the movie “21” with Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacy, Kate Bosworth and Laurence Fishburne (Matrix). This movie is based upon the concept of card counting.