How Do You Practice Counting Cards in Blackjack?

Card counting is a casino card game strategy used primarily in the blackjack family of casino games to determine whether the next hand is likely to give the player an advantage or disadvantage. The player keeps a mental tally of the number of high cards and low cards dealt.

When the ratio of high cards to low cards favors the player, the player bets more; when the ratio of high cards to low cards favors the house, the player bets less.

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The most common card counting system in blackjack is called the Hi-Lo system. In this system, all cards from 2-6 are worth +1; all cards from 7-9 are worth 0; and all 10s, jacks, queens and kings are worth -1.

PRO TIP:To practice counting cards in Blackjack, keep track of the cards that have been played and use a point system to assign value to each card. To start, assign high values (like +1) to low cards, and low values (-1) to high cards. As you get better, you can adjust the point system accordingly. Additionally, pay attention to when the deck is shuffled and reset your count at that point.

Aces can be counted as either 0 or -1, at the player’s discretion. The Hi-Lo system is a balanced system, meaning that the total number of plus and minus points always adds up to 0.

To practice counting cards, find a deck of playing cards and deal yourself some blackjack hands. As you play, keep track of the ratio of high cards to low cards.

When the ratio starts to favor the player, start betting more money; when it starts to favor the house, bet less.