Blackjack Card Counting Infographic

Nov 2016

Ken Tucker | POSTED IN Blackjack | NO COMMENTS

Want a quick primer on blackjack card counting? We have created the card counting infographic below to help visualize the process. It includes an introduction to the Hi-Lo Count, one of the easiest to learn and most popular counting systems for beginners. It also shows the advantages of a positive deck, famous counters, and the differences in popular blackjack card counting systems.

Click the infographic to view at full resolution:

Next steps in mastering card counting

As you can now tell after reading our infographic, card counting is not quite the “arcane skill that only a genius can master” that most people seem to think that it is. It does not involve memorising each specific card that has been dealt and it is certainly something that anyone with a bit of patience can master.

Learning how to count cards is in fact a very simple process. The best way to start is to get a standard deck of 52 cards and deal them to yourself on a table in front of you. Using the Hi-Lo Count as a starting point, the count always starts at zero and if you have counted correctly, should always end at zero after you have dealt the last card in the deck. Counting systems that start and end at zero like the Hi-Lo are called balanced counts.

Now practice this over and over until you can do it very quickly, and start dealing cards in sets of two like a dealer at a casino. As you get better at counting you will begin to recognise combinations of cards that make the task easier. For example, if you are dealt a King and a 6, then you don’t even have to bother modifying your count because the -1 for the King cancels out the +1 for the 6, resulting in a net 0.

Would you like to know more? We have detailed information about several of the card counting systems mentioned in the infographic right here on our site.