• Added True Count
• Updated “Take Insurance” with more accurate method
• Added Balanced and Unbalanced differentiator
• Added card counting level to allow for a more accurate True Count
• Changed keypad to reflect keyboard keypad

Other notes:

• True Count = (Running Count/Card Counting Level) / Number of Decks left
• Insurance = (+1 for cards A to 9 and -2 for TJQK)
• Balanced card counting systems reset the Running Count to 0; Unbalanced reset to -2 * Number of Decks in the shoe

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We just released a new version of Blackjack Card Counter! As always, the program is free to use. It comes preloaded with two card counting strategies, Easy Red 7 and Uston SS. If you want to use additional strategies or add your own, then registration is required, along with $4.99 via Paypal.

Once you register your version of Blackjack Card Counter, it’s very simple to load other card counting strategies. In addition, these strategies come preloaded:

• Canfield Expert
• Canfield Master
• Hi-Lo
• Hi-Opt I
• KISS 2
• KISS 3
• K-O
• Mentor
• Omega II
• REKO
• Revere Adv. Plus-Minus
• Revere Point Count
• Revere RAPC
• Revere 14 Count
• Silver Fox
• Unbalanced Zen 2
• Uston Adv. Plus-Minus
• Uston APC
• Wong Halves
• Zen Count

Release notes – June 12, 2014:

• Add up to 50 blackjack card counting strategies with registration
• Smaller interface
• Uston SS and Easy Red 7 counts are free
• Keypad added to track every card
• Undo your last action
• Works on Windows only

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It’s the same great program, but written in Java.  Enjoy!

The post Blackjack Card Counter – No Download appeared first on Blackjack Card Counter.

Splitting pairs is the second way to increase a bet AFTER the cards are dealt. Correct use of splitting strategy can knock another 0.5% of the House’s edge. In this article, we’ll discuss the best way to handle any pair you are dealt.

2/2 and 3/3:

Both 4 and 6 are very weak hands so you only want to split these against a very weak dealer’s hand (4-6). If you can double down after the split you should also split against a dealer’s 2-3 as the possibility of getting to double on a made 9, 10 or 11 will tip the scales in favor of splitting.

4/4:

8 is a stronger hand than 4 and a pair of fours should be played as 8 and as such gets hit regardless of the dealer’s card. If you can double down after the split you should split against a dealer’s 5-6 as the possibility of getting to double on a made 9, 10 or 11 will tip the scales in favor of splitting.

5/5:

10 is a much stronger hand than 5 and a pair of fives should always be played as 10 and as such gets hit against a dealer’s 10-A and doubled on a 2-9.

6/6:

A nightmare deal. What’s worse: a single 12 or two 16s? The best action here is to treat as a 12 against a dealer’s 7-A because one losing hand is better than two losing hands. Against a weak dealer’s card of 3-6 splitting is your best option. You remove the risk of you busting for you but it is still there for the dealer. Against a 2 split if you can double after and just hit if you can’t.

7/7:

14 is tough play, but 7 isn’t much better. The best play here is to split against a weak dealer’s card of 2-6 and against 7 a you hope to get pushes (or wins) with two 17s. Just hit against 8-A as one loss is still better than two.

8/8:

8 is always better than 16, always. Split these EVERY time.

9/9:

Here is a real chance to make some money. Split against 2-6, stand against 7 (you hope the dealer makes 17 and you win), split against 8-9 (you want better than 18 against an 8) and stand against 10-A (don’t risk two losers from one good hand).

10/10:

A 20 is a winner most of the time and all splitting will do is screw things up more often than not. Note that in Blackjack any two face cards (10/10, J/K, 10/Q, etc) may be split and this may seem attractive against 4-6. Remember, Casinos only allow you to split these because it benefits them. Anytime you have a hard 20, stand pat and collect your winnings!

A/A:

One 12 or two 11s? Not a difficult choice, you split these EVERY time. Note that you only get one hit to a split Ace. This isn’t so much to prevent you from winning, as it is to speed up play at the tables.

By hitting/standing, doubling down and splitting correctly, you have now lowered the House’s advantage over you from 5.5% all the way down to around 0.5%. I’ve heard players say that following these systems methodically takes the fun out of the game but we all know winning is more fun than losing.

The post When to Split Pairs in Blackjack appeared first on Blackjack Card Counter.

To win at Blackjack, you must Double Down when the odds of winning are in your favor but only when the odds are in your favor. Some novice players are over-aggressive and double on 7s and 8s against a dealer’s 6. Others are too passive and only double on 11 against a dealer’s 9 or less. Neither strategy will make you profitable at Blackjack in the long run but using the following strategy can. Again, these suggestions are the result of simulations of millions of Blackjack hands and although they will not be right every time, they will help you lose less and win more.

When you have 11:

This is the best chance for a big win as you have a 4-in-13 chance of making 21. There is also a 4-in-13 chance of completing a strong hand (17-20) so in 8 of the 13 draws you greatly strengthen your play. The other 5/13 of the time (12-16) you can still win if the dealer busts. Since your 3-card 21 can only be beaten by a natural Blackjack you should double down against everything but a dealer’s Ace.

When you have 10:

Now its tough to get 21 but you are very likely to pull a strong hand, and especially a 20. You want to be sure the dealer cannot make a Blackjack and so you should double down only against a dealer’s 2-9.

When you have 9:

With 9 you are not looking for a strong hand but rather you want to take advantage of a dealer’s weak hand to increase your bet when it is likely he will bust. Many novice players like to Double on 9 against 7 or 8 but to win you need to avoid this aggressive play and you should double down only against a dealer’s 3-6.

These rules assume that you are not counting cards. If you are counting cards and come across situations where the deck is loaded with (or depleted of ) face cards there can be some other situations that warrant consideration but they require too much analysis to discuss here.

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The basic premise is that a player will track the ratio of high cards to low cards left in a deck to determine when the odds will turn in favor of the player. It is based on the fact that high cards (any card that counts as a 10 or aces) are better for the player and lower cards (2 though 6) are better for the dealer. The rational is that the higher cards give a player better odds of hitting blackjack which pays higher than simply winning the hand. So if you know that the ratio of cards remaining in a deck has a larger number of high cards compared to low cards, the odds tilt in your favor.

Sounds simple right? Card counting is in fact extremely time-consuming and difficult to master. You should know that over the years as card counting has become more sophisticated casinos have taken escalating measures to stop people. This includes using multiple decks and reshuffling them often. You can still find casinos that deal single deck blackjack. But check the rules though as they most likely have changed them to put the edge in the casinos favor.

Counting Cards in Online Blackjack

Counting the cards while playing blackjack in an online casino doesn’t work. Anyone trying to sell you a blackjack system for an online casino that says otherwise, just wants your money. Here’s why. First, most of the online casinos that I have every played at use multiple decks, anywhere from 4 to 8. Second, at every online version of blackjack I have seen, the cards are shuffled after every hand. Not literally, but the random number generator (RNG) used by casino software is set so that it uses every card from all decks each hand. So with the multiple decks and shuffling after every hand, the advantage that would be gained in counting is reduced to nothing when playing at the majority of online Blackjack tables.

The post So You Want To Count Cards? appeared first on Blackjack Card Counter.

However, the card counting system is a bit difficult at which a player has to keep note of different point values as well as keeping track of the Running Count (RC) and True Count (TC).

The card counting system is one of the best systems available and it has a correlation of 0.92 without the Ace and correlation of 0.99 with the Ace count. The card counting system is very accurate and the point values used include -2, -1, 0, +1 and +2. The only major difference is that the common neutral cards – 7 and 9 are assigned a point value.

The point values are distributed as follows:

Face Card 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 T A
Point Value +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +1 0 -1 -2 0

Betting Correlation (BC) = 0.92
Playing Efficiency (PE) = 0.67
Insurance Correlation (IC) = 0.84

The system is a bit complicated due to its wide range of point values. The Initial Running Count (IRC) starts from 0 and its ending count after all cards are dealt should be 0. In order to make the system more effective, a player should do a separate count of the Aces.

Thus, when keeping track of the Running Count, you would need to convert the RC to True Count (TC). The TC is derived by dividing the Running Count (RC) by the Number of remaining decks.

When the count is high this would indicate that many low cards have been played on the table and the shoe deck is now high card rich. The ideal of the system is to bet low when you have a low count and bet high when you have a high count.

The post Omega II Count appeared first on Blackjack Card Counter.

The system takes note of the Ace and it is assigned with a point value of -1 and it also considers the numbers of decks used in the variation. Hence, to effectively make use of the Easy Red 7 Count, a player would have to know the number of decks used in the variation.
The system has an 80% potential gain and it is a system that can easily be adopted by new players as it only keeps track of the running count to depict when the shoe deck is high card or low card rich.

Aces and tens are assigned a negative point value of -1 while low cards have a positive point value of +1. In this system, the Red 7 is assigned a positive point value +1 while the black 7 is neutral. The neutral cards are Black 7, 8 and 9.

The Point values of the THE EASY RED 7 COUNT are as follows

The major difference with the Easy Red 7 Count and other unbalanced card counting systems is that its initial Running Count (IRC) varies according the decks used in the variation. The IRC is determined by multiplying -2 with the number of decks.

Hence, when the deck is reshuffled, if playing a variation of 8 decks, your IRC should be -16 and you proceed to keep track of the IRC as cards are dealt on the table. Thus a high negative IRC indicates that more high cards have been dealt leaving the deck low card rich. However, which negative IRC in a variation of 8 Deck would indicate an 80% success of low cards remaining in the shoe deck? For instance, a negative IRC of -32 would be clear to the player that the deck is now low card rich at which you can reduce your bet size because the player is more likely to bust than the house. On the other hand, if the IRC is 0 this would indicate that the shoe deck is now high card rich at which you can increase your bet size and the dealer is more likely to bust in such situations.

Here is some more information on Arnold Snyder’s Easy Red 7 Count:
http://www.blackjackforumonline.com/content/How%20toCount.htm

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The unbalanced card counting techniques is the fundamental/gateway to learn how to count cards during game play. The unbalanced card counting systems are the easiest to learn as they focus mainly on the running count and point values.

The unbalanced counting systems take note of the Running Count (RC) and the point values to determine whether the shoe deck is high card or low card rich. Let’s take a look at two unbalanced card counting systems – the KO Card Count ands the Zen II Count

KO Card Count also known as the Knock-out Card count is a popular unbalanced card counting systems that is well suitable for beginners. Unlike other card counting systems that exclude the 7, the KO count includes the 7 in the RC.

One thing you need to understand is that with the unbalanced card counting system, no conversion of the Running Count (RC) to True Count (TC) is required.

The point values of the KO Count are as follows;

2         3          4          5          6          7          8          9          10         A

+1      +1        +1         +1      +1      +1            0         0           -1         -1

From the above, we can see that the only point values we need to remember is the +1 and -1. The cards 8 and 9 cause no effect to the RC and are known as the neutral cards.

For instance, one the deck has been reshuffled and the dealer deals a K and Q, this would reduce our RC to -2 and when two more cards are dealt – 10 and 5 the RC is -3. Therefore, if the RC is negative, this would indicate that more high cards have been dealt on the table and the deck is low card rich.

The Zen II Card Counting is similar to the regular Zen Count the only difference between the two is that the unbalanced Zen 11 count assigns a positive to 3 cards.

Unbalanced Zen II Card Point Values

2         3          4          5          6          7          8          9          10        A

+1      +2        +2         +2       +2      +1          0         0           -2         -1

Now, comparing the Zen II count and the KO Count, we find out that there are more point values you need to remember when using the Zen II count. The Zen II count assigns a point value of +1 to 2 and 7, +2 to 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 and -2 to 10 and -1 to A.

The Unbalanced Zen II requires more practice in order for you to master the system and it gives out better results than compared to the KO Card Count system.

The post The Unbalanced Card Counting Techniques appeared first on Blackjack Card Counter.

On the other hand, the unbalanced card counting systems do not need to need conversion of the Running Count (RC) to True Count (TC). However, both levels of card counting deliver similar results but the balanced card counting systems tends top give out other indications such as when to take insurance, when to surrender  and the possibilities of getting a blackjack.

In balanced card counting systems, the True Count (TC) is derived by Dividing the Runing Count (RC) over the number of decks used in the variation.

True Count (TC) = Running Count / Number of Decks In Use

Not only does the balanced Card counting system make use of the True Count (TC), it also makes use of the Betting Correlation, Insurance Correlation and many others. Therefore, depending on the balanced system you employ.

We will look at two balance card-counting systems – The Hi-Lo Card Count and the Revere Point Card Count

The Hi-Lo Card Count assigns the following point values

2         3          4          5          6          7          8          9          10         A

+1      +1        +1         +1      +1         0           0         0           -1         -1

Here we can see that the Hi-Lo card count is similar to the unbalanced KO Card count. The major difference is that it eliminates the 7 from the count at which it is assigned a neutral value causing no effect to the running count. The Hi-Lo Card count converts the Running Count (RC) to True Count (TC) by dividing the RC over the number of decks used in that particular variation.

Therefore, the Hi-lo card count is a step ahead for beginners who need to take the unbalanced card counting techniques to another level.

The Revere Point Card Count is a balanced card counting system that is more complex than compared to the Hi-Lo card count. However, its results are better and the user has a greater chance of winning a larger portion during game play.

The point values are as follows

2         3          4          5          6          7          8          9          10        A

+1      +2        +2        +2       +2      +1            0          0          -2         -2

The Revere Point card count assigns a point value of -2 to all high cards and a point value of +1 and +2 to low cards. The 7 is included in the running count and the neutral cards are 8 and 9. During game play, other players tend to use a side count for the Aces at which if a certain number of aces have been dealt on the board, the player is able to depict whether the dealer is holding a blackjack or not at which s/he can decide to take insurance.

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