Does Card Counting in Online Casinos Work?
If you have ever watched a movie with casinos and blackjack games involved, the chances are, it may have involved card counting of some description. Although card counting can be tricky to master – and is certainly frowned upon, if done correctly, it can certainly be effective in improving your chances of beating the dealer.
The Right Conditions
However, there are certain conditions you need to beat the dealer when card counting – and these aren’t necessarily conducive to playing casinos online.
Firstly, the blackjack game rules need to give the house such a low edge that card counting can work. If you are playing a blackjack game with rules that aren’t in the player’s favour, then card counting simply won’t be enough to win. For example, if the rules state that Blackjack pays out at 6:5 and you can’t double after splits, then it can be too much for you to overcome with card counting.
The dealer also needs to deal enough rounds for you to be able to card count effectively. It can only work if enough rounds have been dealt! Moreover, to make it worth your while, you need to play enough rounds per hour. The more hands you play, the more effective it is and the more you can win.
So How Does this Work with Online Blackjack?
Well, firstly, most online casino games don’t have the best rules… although you can find decent rules that make it OK (if not great) for a card counter.
However, the real killer comes with deck penetration. Pretty much all online casinos are wary of card counting and, as such, use continuous shuffle machines, which basically make card counting pointless. There are a small number of live dealer blackjack games that don’t use a CSM and just have the dealer shuffle in the middle of a shoe – however, these games are usually 4 or 8 decks, another massive issue for card counters.
Finally, online blackjack live dealer games tend to be very slow. Professional card counters usually play between 100 and 300 hands per hour. However, the fastest live blackjack online games are just around 50 rounds per hour with most being around 20 rounds per hour.
How to Count Cards
So, if you do manage to find an online game conducive to card counting, how does it work?
Well, there are several blackjack card counting strategies and these are all reasonably easy, but the most common is the HiLo strategy..
Give Every Card a Value
The standard deck consists of 52 cards – all used during a game of blackjack. Because you need to have an idea of the value of different cards when placing your bet, you need to keep a tally of the cards that have been played. This means you need to give the cards in the deck a value. Not all the cards need a different value, however. The easiest way to do it is with the Hi-Lo system:
- 10 to A = -1
- 7 to 9 = 0
- 2 to 6 = +1
Each time the blackjack dealer deals a card, you either subtract or add (or do nothing) depending on the above values.
Keep a Running Tally
You need to keep a running tally based on the cards dealt. If the count is negative then the casino has the edge. If the count is positive then you have the edge.
If the casino uses multiple decks (i.e. four), then you need to account for this and it can be harder to establish who has the advantage. In this instance, you need to use a basic equation to help you establish the true count.
- This is Running Count / Decks Remaining,
So, if you have a running count of -4 at the end of the first round of betting and the game is being played with four decks, then the running count is -1…
- -4 divided by 4 = -1
However, if only 2 decks are remaining, then the true running count is -2:
- -4 divided by 2 = -2
So, it’s not difficult – but playing at an online casino can make it much more tricky.
Conclusion
So, yes, you can beat the blackjack dealer – but it’s not very easy and highly unlikely if you are playing from home at an online casino. Online casino blackjack games are designed to combat the advantages you can get from card counting and such strategies.
Although card counting in online casinos is difficult, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t other strategies that you can use if you wish to play online blackjack. There are many tips and tricks out there that can give you a better chance of winning, although as there is a house edge and luck involved, nothing is certain.
If you do want to try and win from card counting, then we would recommend you head over to a real, land-based casino in Paso Robles and try your luck there. Then with your winnings, you can try out some of the other fun activities in the Paso Robles region.
