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Have you ever been sitting around Blackjack table at the local casino and wished you could somehow tip the odds in your favor? Maybe you have heard of the technique known as “card counting,” a seemingly mysterious, math intensive method of knowing how likely it is that the cards will come up in your favor. Despite popular myth, card counting in blackjack is actually much less complicated than most people believe. Using the beginners guide below, you will learn to utilize a few simple tricks to drastically tip the scales of gambling in your favor!

Card counting with blackjack rests on the principle that the more high cards still left in the dealers deck, the better your odds of getting a 21 are. Most people think that card counting involves keeping track of every card and knowing the exact number that is going to come up next. In blackjack, this is neither true nor necessary. Since all cards over 10 in blackjack are worth 10, it doesn’t really matter if you know that the next card is a jack or a queen, just that its not under 10. Therefore, to count cards in blackjack, a player simply needs a system to mark all cards under 10 and all cards over 10.

There are many different systems that have been used by various players to achieve the knowledge of how many high rank cards are left in the deck. A simple yet very effective system is known as the “Hi-Lo” system, involves giving three groups of cards a number. Cards from 2 to 6 are assigned the number 1. Cards from 7 to 9 are assigned a 0. Cards 10 to ace are assigned a -1. To make it easier to remember, print this article out and cut out the chart below to help you remember.

Card Value
2:     1
3:     1
4:     1
5:     1
6:     1
7:     0
8:     0
9:     0
10:  -1
J:     -1
Q:    -1
K:    -1
A:    -1

Using this method, a count of a standard, 52 card deck should add up to a total of 0. Herein lies your power! As each card is dealt from the deck, assign it its value based on the chart above. As each low-value card is dealt out, the number in your head will grow bigger, just as it will grow smaller with each high-rank card dealt. As this number grows larger, you know that there are many more high rank cards left than low-rank ones. This is when you as a player should begin upping your bets. If the number falls far enough into the negatives, you should begin lowering your bets, keeping in mind that this means there aren’t very many high-rank cards left.

That’s really all there is to it. Basic blackjack card counting can be mastered by anyone and can measurably improve your odds, helping you make more intelligent bets. Give it a shot next time you play, you should be pleasantly surprised with how much more of an educated player you will become.