All About Card Counting with Blackjack Expert Henry Tamburin

[spar2020]

A smarter gambler?? Card Counting is not what it's all cracked up to be. you only have a 1 percent advantage over the casino...not great deal of advantage is it? How the casino combats this micro advantage can be wiped out by negative variance. The casinos greatest weapon Variables. Chances are you will give into your emotions and lose big.

[americancasinoguide]

I would agree that there can be a lot of volatility in card counting. However, that's why counters play on teams. One player can have a bad day, but with five players at different tables the results are more likely to be around that 1% advantage for the team.

[754759119]

If I'm playing one deck game in El Cortez Casino, which is a very good casino for blackjack player. The first 10 cards coming out were all small cards(Hi - Low), if I bet now, will the edge benefits to me? should I bet in this situation?

[americancasinoguide]

If the first 10 cards are all low (2-6), then there would be more 10-value cards remaining in the deck and that would favor you as a player. Therefore, yes, you should make a bigger bet. You may not neccessarily win because the dealer may get the better cards rather than you. However, the advantage will be in your favor because your are more likely to get a blackjack, plus the dealer is more likely to bust on his bad hands when he has to draw a card.

[754759119]

@americancasinoguide Thank You！

[stephanthienel]

@754759119 I've heard that the El Cortez is very aware of card counters at their single deck game and that even a betting spread of 1-2 draws heat.

[754759119]

@stephanthienel

what's a betting spread of 1-2 draws heat

[americancasinoguide]

"Heat" is when the casino personnel in the pit start scrutinizing your blackjack play very carefully. They may also call the surveillance department to watch you because they suspect you are a card counter. The 1-2 spread would be the number of units you bet. If you are a $10 player you bet from $10 to $20. A $25 player would go from $25 to $50. A 1-4 spread would be $25 to $100 for a $25 player.

[754759119]

if I've been banned from a casino, and I come back. Then they find me again, what would they do?

[americancasinoguide]

It depends. They may ask you to stop playing blackjack, but you are free to play other games. They may tell you to stop and leave the casino. Or, they may ask for your ID and ban you forever.

[americancasinoguide]

If you are banned forever and come back to the casino they can have you arrested for trespassing.

[pranksterguy1]

Thanks for the excellent vid! I use the KISS III count described in Blackjack Bluebook II by Fred Renzey. It works!

[mrgamer556]

ok im 12 and i can count cards i learned the hi lo system in 2 hours of striaght practise. 2 months is a bit much

[americancasinoguide]

Well, besides earning how to count, you also need to learn how to calculate the true count, plus memorize all of the index numbers.

[mba2ceo]

What is the point of card counting if the casino will ban U ?!?

[americancasinoguide]

If you don't bet a lot of monay, chances are very good that you won't be banned. However, a lot of money is somewhat subjective and it will differ from casino to casino. You need to do a little research and see how much you can get away with before you attract too much attention from the casino pit. If you want to bet a lot of money then it would be hard to do that at the same casino. You would need to spread out your play among many casinos and, prorbably, stay for short visits.

[AngeloR674]

@mba2ceo they wont... amatuers like u only think that!

[rocaho001]

If I could do this well I wouldn't have to work. I wonder how fast you get blacklisted after you get busted.

[2424mikeo]

hey man geat videos I'm watching all of them

[TheShamusOfSlots]

You do a nice job with these videos! Keep up the great work!

[amok831]

Yeah, but video poker has a much higher variance than blackjack, you need the royal flush to realize your edge, and the royal flush only happens about every 40,000 hands. Which means that your chances of getting one are nonexistant. Compare with blackjack where you will get a blackjack every 20 hands on average.

[americancasinoguide]

It took me a long time to get my first royal flush, about 2.5 years, but I only played when I went to Las Vegas or Atlantic City, so I wasn't playing a lot. On average you are supposed to get one about every 40,000 hands and I was way behind, statistically, on getting that first one. But, I got other ones much quicker after that so it balanced out. You will find, however, that even as a quarter player, which I was and still am, you get some very good room offers, especially for Atlantic City.

[Mimebasher]

very cool and very good info thanks for sharing

[americancasinoguide]

You are welcome. I was counting cards for about eight years. I never bet a lot of money and I did it just to see if it worked. My bets were probably $10 to $50, sometimes a little higher. It did work and I made some money. The problem is that if you bet a lot of money they will watch you very closely. If you win a lot you might get banned from the casino. It's also very mentally tiring. I now play video poker instead. It's more fun and the comps are better. Also, you won't get banned.

[BWoodhouseSOH]

(continued from last post...) calculate the true count after two decks, because you can't calculate the running count to a different true count when there is one deck remaining, but if you try to calculate when there is half a deck remaining the count would double if you are dividing by 0.5.

Thanks for the help. :)

[americancasinoguide]

You always want to base the true count on one deck. So if there was only half a deck remaining you would need to multiply by two.

[BWoodhouseSOH]

I have a couple of questions about the running counts and the true count.

Firstly, after the running count has been divided after one deck in an eight deck show (let's say the running count is 7 and therefore the true count after one deck has been dealt out would be 7) would the true count from 1 become the running count before the true count was calculated again later?

Secondly at what points should the true count be calculated? Because if it's after every deck, you can't really (continued...

[americancasinoguide]

The running count is always based on the count at the current time and it does not change based on the true count. You should calculate the true count whenever you are going to make a bet, or make a playing decision. There are certain index numbers that need to be memorized and those numbers let you know when you should deviate from basic strategy based on the true count. Most of the time as a card counter you will use basic strategy, but will deviate when the count is especially high or low.

[hectormurray28]

where is the cut off between a high card and a low card?

[americancasinoguide]

2,3,4,5,and 6 are +1. 7,8 and 9 are zero. Ten, jack, queen, king and ace are -1. It's a balanced count so you start at zero and when you reahc the end of the deck it should be zero. If not, you made a mistake when you counted. There are some card counting systems that are not balanced so you may start at a number other than zero.

[KJIB10]

Nice

[BartjeOstend]

The greater the penetration the better for card players, thats what my wife said before she went with an african poker player :p

[Amnas2011]

Excellent vid,thanks for sharing my friends!

[casinohire]

Card counting is pretty much redundant, the cutting card reduces one's ability to count, my advice is don't botther.

[americancasinoguide]

It all depends on where the cut card is placed. To be an effective card counter you usually you want at least 75% of the deck played before reaching the cut card.

[Davesintexas]

Ive been in casinos where the first card is down second is down. How can you count that hand as you play?? And there are casinos that throw all cards up I can see this happening. But, most of the casinos have a 3-5 deck shoe and are constantly shuffeling those decks. How can you count that? Do you have to research each casino to see what their rules are? Also your video shows the players actually touching their cards...A BIG NO NO at most Casinos..

[americancasinoguide]

In single and double-deck games you are allowed to touch the cards. In six and eight-deck games you are not supposed to touch the cards. In the video we used double-deck games, as well as eight-deck games.

[Davesintexas]

Ive been in casinos where the first card is down second is down. How can you count that hand as you play?? And there are casinos that throw all cards up I can see this happening.  But, most of the casinos have a 3-5 deck shoe and are constantly shuffeling those decks. How can you count that? Do you have to research each casino to see what their rules are?

[americancasinoguide]

Single and two-deck games have the first two cards dealt face down. You just have to count the cards when they are shown. If a casino has a continuous shuflling machine you can't count cards. It helps to know what the rules are before you sit down to play because they may vary from casino to casino, as well as within a casino from table to table.

[7europeanfootballer7]

interessting

[z520is]

very interesting, thanks!

[PaulTheillusionist]

Thank you very much!

[firsthighlander1]

Thank you for sharing my friend. Best Regards!

[MrKill9r]

i live in finland :P

[tenglee2]

Thanks for sharing! :^D How do we count with three decks?

[americancasinoguide]

When counting cards you really need to keep track of two counts: the running count and the true count. The running count is the total count at any given moment, while the true count is the count per deck. So, with the true count you need to divide the running count by the number of decks left to play. If the running count was +6 and you had two decks remaining to be played, the true count would be +2. The true count is also the number on which you will base your betting and playing decisions.

[tenglee2]

@americancasinoguide

Thank you! This explanation is much easier to explain than learning Statistics.

[DeutscheCasinos]

Good one! :-)

[ezpicker1]

i've heard that the ho-lo count is a sure way to lose moeny playing blackjack,...there is another count called the ten count were tens are counted as -2 and low cards are counted as +1 aces are side counted, my question is what is the better card counting technique?

[americancasinoguide]

Hi-lo is the most popular card counting system. I interviewed Mike Aponte from the MIT card counting team and he said that was the system that they used. The MIT card counting team was very successful and won millions of dollars. It was also the subject of the best-selling book "Bringing Down the House," plus the movie "21" starring Kevin Spacey.

[robogil]

I am writing a screenplay that partially entails card counting. This is very useful. Thanks.

[Magicsidekid123]

i dont live in vegas anymore :(

[ClintfromNYtoVA]

Twas a good way to find out the fire house casino I was at (shut down due to tax evasion) was cheating when the count went +23 and the dealer hit 21. Deck was stuffed with extra 5's and/or 6's.

Think about what that would do to the basic strategy players!

[BubbaLee2]

great vid!

[thepictureman007]

6:48 the dealers covering the front of the deck, didnt think that was allowed due to dealing seconds and bottoms etc

[americancasinoguide]

I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary at that point in the video. As far as I know, the dealers do sometimes cover the front of the deck when they deal and I don't think there is any rule against it.

[thepictureman007]

@americancasinoguide Its just that due to being a magician and the like crooked gambling and its methods are somethng I've spent a lot of time on, and the position hes in at 6:45 if you look carefully he's got enough cover to do seconds , centers , bottoms ,greek and if his hands were at the side of the deck it would be much much harder, still possible, but harder. I just thought there would be a rule against that.

[teban909]

nice!

[AgentDoubleZero7]

Very informative, that was nice!

[heartlessvietboy]

Vegas Life is the Life. Waking-up early in the morning passing by the Casino Lobby, going to the table and sitting down. Lights are low, there's not many people around. Then Going outside, the Autumn Mist is in the air. Fresh air and sun is coming out. Boulder Creek.

[jurassicpark4ever]

Thanks bro.. :D

[tillasmax]

Great video keep up the good work.

[americancasinoguide]

@tillasmax Thanks! We put out a new video every month, be sure to subscribe to see all the new ones.

[USAtwins1]

wow

[Massimodem]

Interesting video

bye

Max

[calvinayretablog]

Awesome! Good Job Mate!

[Ricoboy66]

Very informative. Thanks.

[WCRAVEN10000]

lots to learn here...........thanks for video

[NasibShenaBlog]

Thanks

[pacman812]

Wongs half count

my mate runs the most killer Casino in Macau he used to be able to count and deal card's at the same time amazing guy...pratice makes perfect!

[Oreillyisthebest]

interesting thanks

[Alexdelossantos123]

good video, thanks