How to Gain an Edge Playing Blackjack

The world of betting is expanding as time goes on with things like casinos and betting becoming more prevalent to everyday society. However, there is one rule you learn from a young age: the house always wins. This is because they have an edge where the odds are slightly favoring them, meaning they have a better chance of winning than the player. However, today we are going to discuss how you can gain an edge over the casinos by counting cards. Even taking a look at some of the best online casino

Isn’t Counting Cards Illegal?

Casinos would love to have you believe that counting cards is illegal. However, as long as there is no outside force than the individual player(s) doing so, there is no legal document at the local, state, or federal level saying it is illegal. The casinos would like to make the players believe it is illegal because at that point, the players are getting the competitive advantage back. The process is not as complex as you would think and now that we cleared up the common misconception about counting cards, we can discuss it further. 

How Do You Count Cards?

Counting cards in nature is pretty easy. Let’s examine a deck of cards to help understand it’s nature. In blackjack, there are 13 different cards that can be used (2-10, jack, queen, king, ace) and we are trying to determine a pattern. The idea is to start at zero and for every two, three, four, five, and six card that pops up, you would add one point. If a 10, jack, queen, king, or ace card is shown, then you would subtract one point. And that’s it, it is that simple of a trick!

When the number is high, that means there are a lot of cards with 10+ point values still in the shoot (the playing deck) and the player has a better chance of winning with those higher cards available. The thing is though, you need to be playing very well at blackjack for the edge as well as keeping track of the number in your head.

There is a lot going on while you are playing as the dealer is going to try to have conversations with you in person, you need to keep track of all cards that are played throughout the deck, and everything else that will try to distract you from counting cards. Once the casino gets on to you doing this, they can make sure you do not do this trick because you have the advantage and they are at risk to lose a lot of money. 

How Does This Work in Action?

The easiest way to do this is to bet a certain amount per hand and play two hands per round in order to see the most amount of cards without getting too distracted about what is going on and losing track of your count. The thing to do here is simply wait until the dealer is shuffling the cards in order to know that every card is still available. Another misconception is that you can tell what card is coming where, which is not true. You are just knowledgable enough to know that a high card or a low card is more likely to appear than the other. If you are playing at your count gets to around 2 or higher, typically this is a sign to bet a little more as the probability of a higher card is there and makes it easier to predict what can come. Remember that you are also wagering on blackjack so being able to multitask is important.

If playing with multiple people, typically a person will play to keep a count and signal discreetly when the player would have the advantage and the higher roller will join then and play with the odds in their favor over the dealer. There is nothing illegal about this and it is the better way to win money in the long haul. Since casinos like winning and not paying out money, this is why they make it believed that this strategy is illegal when in actuality, it is not.

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