Blackjack Card Counting Tutorial

Posted : admin On 3/27/2022

10.3 How Card Counting Works in Blackjack. It’s important that you understand why the removal of small cards is player favorable and the removal from the deck of large cards is player unfavorable. 10.4 Learning the Hi-lo Card Counting Systems. Hi-Lo has been the gold standard of card counting systems for many years.

  1. How To.count Cards Blackjack
  2. Blackjack Card Counting Mit
  3. Blackjack Card Counting Tutorial
  4. Hi-lo Blackjack Card Counting
  5. Blackjack Card Counting Tutorial Software
  • Apr 14, 2020 There's a comprehensive tutorial to learn how to play blackjack online, and there's a free €88 no deposit bonus available to some players. Games in terms of winning odds and counting cards.
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  • A game of Blackjack may seem simple and random at first, but only when the players follow certain strategies like Card Counting, the game becomes complex. There are many versions of Blackjack floating across the world like Swedish Pub Blackjack and Home Game Blackjack.
  • The Hi-Lo Count is the most widely written about, and in my judgment, the most commonly used card counting strategy. The High-Low was first introduced in 1963 by Harvey Dubner 1. It has since been discussed by just about all the major blackjack writers.
  • Appendices
  • Miscellaneous
  • External Links

On This Page

Introduction

The Hi-Lo Count is the most widely written about, and in my judgment, the most commonly used card counting strategy. The High-Low was first introduced in 1963 by Harvey Dubner1. It has since been discussed by just about all the major blackjack writers. In my opinion, the best introductory treatment is in Professional Blackjack by Stanford Wong, and the most detailed coverage is in Blackjack Attack by Don Schlesinger.

How it Works


Following is a brief explanation of how to use the Hi-Lo.

Step 1: Assign a point value to each rank, as follows.

High-Low Point Values

Step 2: Start with a 'Running Count' of zero at the start of the deck/shoe. As cards are revealed, keep adding or subtracting from the Running Count, according to the point system in step 1. For example, if the first ten cards to come out of the shoe were 3, 5, K, 7, Q, A, 8, 5, 4, 2, then the running count would be 1 +1 -1 +0 -1 -1 +0 +1 +1 +1 = +2.

Step 3: Divide the running count by the number of decks remaining, to get what is known as the 'True Count.' This is the part that beginning counters hate. You don?t need to be exact. A rough estimate will do, in my opinion. Let's look at example. The running count is +7 and there are about 4 decks left. The true count would be 7/4 = 1.75. Round that up to 2, to keep it simple. The more you play the more you will be comfortable eyeballing this adjustment, without doing any real division in your head. Usually the right play is obvious. In borderline cases only will you need to do this True Count conversion.

Step 4: The greater the true count, the more you should bet. This is where card counting becomes more art than science. Some blackjack books give rigid rules on how this should be done. However, the casino managers have read these books too, and the patterns recommended in earlier books now set off red flags. How you do this should depend on your own style, and how much heat you are getting. It helps avoid heat to keep the ratio of maximum bet to minimum bet to a limit, known as the ?Bet Spread.? Only increasing bets after a win, only decreasing after a loss, and staying the same after a push, makes play look more natural, but at a cost to profitability.

Step 5: For some hands, you will play according to the True Count and a table of 'Index Numbers,' rather than basic strategy. The greater the count, the more inclined you will be to stand, double, split, take insurance, and surrender. For example, the Index Number for a player 15 against a dealer 10 is +4. This means the player should stand if the True Count is +4 or higher, otherwise hit.

The following tables are known as the 'Illustrious 18' and 'Fab 4' respectively.2 They appear in Blackjack Attack by Don Schlesinger, and are republished here with permission. These are the most important index numbers to remember. Knowing only these will give the counter 80% to 85% of the value of knowing every index number, based on a six-deck game. The difference is more in single and double-deck games. The lists are given in order of value. If you can?t memorize all of them, start at the top, and work your way down.

Illustrious 18

OrderPlayIndex
1Insurance+3
216 Vs. 10+0
315 Vs. 10+4
410,10 Vs. 5+5
510,10 Vs. 6+4
610 Vs. 10+4
712 Vs. 3+2
812 Vs. 2+3
911 Vs. A+1
109 Vs. 2+1
1110 Vs. A+4
129 Vs. 7+3
1316 Vs. 9+5
1413 Vs. 2-1
1512 Vs. 40
1612 Vs. 5-2
1712 Vs. 6-1
1813 Vs. 3-2

The player should stand/double/split if the True Count equals or exceeds the Index Number, otherwise hit. The player should take insurance if the True Count is +3 or greater.

Fab 4 Surrenders

OrderPlayIndex
114 Vs. 10+3
215 Vs. 10+0
315 Vs. 9+2
415 Vs. A+1

The player should surrender if the True Count equals or exceeds the Index Number.

A full table of all index numbers can be found in Chapter 3, and Appendix A, of Professional Blackjack by Stanford Wong.

The next table shows some statistics using the High-Low. The blackjack rules this table is based are liberal Vegas shoe, as follows:

Six decks
Dealer stands on soft 17
Surrender allowed
Double after split allowed
Player may resplit to four hands, including aces

To avoid setting off red flags, the simulation increased the bet after a win only, decreased after a loss only, and always stayed the same after a push, except resetting to a minimum bet after a shuffle. The simulation rounded the remaining decks to the nearest half deck, otherwise playing perfectly.

High-Low Statistics

SpreadPenetrationIndex
Numbers
Player
Adv.
Std.
Dev.
Avg.Bet
1 to 54I18+F40.157%1.501.35
1 to 104I18+F40.368%2.041.57
1 to 154I18+F40.578%2.671.73
1 to 54.5I18+F40.300%1.601.41
1 to 104.5I18+F40.587%2.271.68
1 to 154.5I18+F40.834%3.061.90
1 to 55I18+F40.469%1.701.47
1 to 105I18+F40.837%2.521.80
1 to 155I18+F41.147%3.492.10
1 to 54.5All0.313%1.611.41
1 to 104.5All0.608%2.291.68
1 to 154.5All0.862%3.101.91
1 to 55All0.494%1.711.47
1 to 105All0.857%2.551.81
1 to 155All1.182%3.542.11

Explantion of columns

Spread: This is the ratio of the player?s minimum bet to maximum bet. The bigger the range, the greater the player?s advantage, and bankroll volatility. A wide bet spread also sets off a red flag. In a six-deck game, I think a 1 to 15 spread is about the most aggressive the player should get. The simulation played one betting spot only.

Penetration: How many decks played before reaching the cut card. In a six-deck shoe, 4.5 is the norm.

Index Numbers: I already explained index numbers above. Simulations were run using both the Illustrious 18 and Fab 4 (I18+F4) above, and with the full table. The difference is not much, which shows that knowing the top 22 gets you most of the benefit of knowing all of them.

Player Advantage: This is the ratio of net player win to total initial bets. For example, in the last row, the player could expect to win 1.182% of his total initial bets.

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Standard Deviation: This is a term for the volatility per initial bet.

Average Bet: The average final bet per hand, compared to the lowest bet For example, in the last row, if the player?s minimum bet were $100, his average bet would be $211. This includes additional money bet due to doubles and splits.

This table was created using CVCX Blackjack Analyzer by Casino Vérité. This software produces hundreds of different statistics for just about any set of rules, betting strategies, and playing strategies. For the player who wants to run these tests, this software is the best there is, in my opinion.

Footnotes

  1. Professional Blackjack by Stanford Wong, page 31, 1994 ed.
  2. Blackjack Attack by Don Schlesinger, page 62, 2004 ed.

Acknowledgments

Don Schlesinger: For his permission to reprint the Illustrious 18 and Fab 4 tables from his book, Blackjack Attack.
Norman Wattenberger: For his complimentary use of CVCX Blackjack Analyzer by Casino Vérité.

Practice

Practice your card counting skills with our trainer.

Further Reading

  • Card Counting Introduction.
  • Wizard Ace-Five Count: Very easy and simple card counting strategy.
  • '21' Movie Review: Truth and fiction about the movie about the MIT card counting team.
  • Blackjack book reviews.
  • Main blackjack page.

Written by:Michael Shackleford

On This Page

Introduction

Crazy 4 Poker is a poker variation invented by Roger Snow and is marketed by Shufflemaster. It has been around since about 2004 and one of the more successful poker-based casino games.

Video Tutorial

Video uses our practice Crazy 4 Poker game.

Rules

  1. Play starts with the player making equal bets on the Ante and Super Bonus. The player may also bet on the Queens Up side bet at this time.
  2. Following is the ranking of hands from highest to lowest:
    • Four of a kind.
    • Straight flush
    • Three of a kind
    • Flush
    • Straight
    • Two pair
    • Pair
    • Four singletons
  3. All player and dealer get five cards each.
  4. The player decides to fold or raise by making a Play wager.
  5. If the player folds he forfeits all bets.
  6. The Play bet may be up to three times the Ante bet if the player has at least a pair of aces. Otherwise, the Play bet must be exactly equal to the Ante bet.
  7. Players make their best four-card poker hand, and discard the fifth card.
  8. After all decisions have been made, the dealer will turn over his cards and select the best four out of five.
  9. The player's hand shall be compared to the dealer's hand, the higher hand winning.
  10. For purposes of the Ante bet only, the dealer needs at least a king high to open.
  11. The Ante bet pays as follows:
    • Dealer does not open: Ante pushes.
    • Dealer opens and player wins: Ante wins.
    • Dealer opens and ties: Ante pushes.
    • Dealer opens and wins: Ante loses.
  12. The Play bet pays as follows:
    • Dealer does not open: Play wins.
    • Dealer opens and player wins: Play wins.
    • Dealer opens and ties player: Play pushes.
    • Dealer opens and wins: Play loses.
  13. The Super Bonus bet pays as follows. It is not pertinent whether or not the dealer opens.
    • Player has straight or higher (beating dealer not required): Super Bonus wins according to pay table below.
    • Player has less than straight and wins or pushes: Super Bonus pushes.
    • Player has less than straight and loses: Super Bonus loses.

Super Bonus Pay Table

Player HandPays
Four aces200
Four 2-K30
Straight flush15
Three of a kind2
Flush1.5
Straight1

Strategy

Optimal strategy would be tedious and complicated memorize. However, the player can get extremely close to it with this simple strategy. Follow the first rule to apply.

  1. Make large raise when allowed (with pair of aces or higher).
  2. Make small raise with K-Q-8-4 or higher.
  3. Fold all other.

The increase in house edge with the KQ84 strategy, compared to optimal, is 0.000089%.

Analysis

The next table shows the return of the Ante bet under optimal player strategy.

Ante Bet

How To.count Cards Blackjack

EventPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturn
Win11,415,369,375,1480.3550280.355028
Push0473,003,972,8920.1186470.000000
Loss-12,098,272,755,4000.526325-0.526325
Total3,986,646,103,4401.000000-0.171298

The next table shows the return of the Play bet under optimal player strategy. A win of 0 also includes folding, in which case a raise bet was never made.

Raise Bet

WinCombinationsProbabilityReturn
3671,609,661,9480.1684650.505394
11,215,649,215,6840.3049300.304930
0938,265,298,8240.2353520.000000
-11,093,014,959,1960.274169-0.274169
-368,106,967,7880.017084-0.051251
Total3,986,646,103,4401.0000000.484904

The next table shows the return of the Super Bonus bet under optimal player strategy.

Super Bonus Bet

EventPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturn
Four aces20073,629,0720.0000180.003694
Four 2-K30883,548,8640.0002220.006649
Straight flush153,178,321,6080.0007970.011959
Three of a kind289,974,725,9840.0225690.045138
Flush1.5175,813,952,4240.0441010.066151
Straight1156,167,261,7120.0391730.039173
Push01,485,273,310,1400.3725620.000000
Loss-12,075,281,353,6360.520558-0.520558
Total3,986,646,103,4401.000000-0.347795

The next table summarizes the Ante, Play, and Super Bonus bets. The sum shows the player can expect to lose 3.48% for every hand played, compared to the size of his Ante (or Super Bonus) bet. For example, if the player started with $10 on both the Ante and Super Bonus, then he could expect to lose 34.8¢, assuming optimal strategy.

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Summary

BetReturn
Ante-0.171298
Raise0.484904
Super Bonus-0.347795
Total-0.034189

The next table shows the net overall win between the Ante, Play, and Super Bonus under optimal player strategy.

Net Win

Blackjack Card Counting Tutorial
WinCombinationsProbabilityReturn
20456,580,4320.0000140.002895
20317,048,6400.0000040.000868
34764,060,8080.0001920.006516
33119,340,4800.0000300.000988
26147,5760.0000000.000001
192,708,500,2160.0006790.012908
18467,451,2040.0001170.002111
15239,5440.0000000.000001
112,130,6440.0000010.000006
675,428,689,4240.0189200.113522
5.5140,729,630,9760.0353000.194151
5132,528,726,0360.0332430.166216
4.526,782,817,4360.0067180.030232
4240,544,812,5160.0603380.241351
351,462,003,7800.0129090.038726
2859,165,302,4440.2155110.431022
1.511,157,3840.0000030.000004
1356,744,817,3360.0894850.089485
0842,169,3840.0002110.000000
-2938,364,828,4960.235377-0.470754
-2.58,290,346,6280.002080-0.005199
-31,106,499,736,0320.277552-0.832655
-545,115,566,0240.011317-0.056583
Total3,986,646,103,4401.000000-0.034189

The bottom right cell of the table above shows a house edge of 3.42%. This is the ratio of the expected player loss to the Ante bet. One might argue that since the Super Bonus bet is required I define the house edge as the expected loss to the sum of the required starting bets. However, in the interests of consistency with how the term is defined in other games, I choose to base the house edge on the Ante only. So, for every $100 you bet on the Ante you can expect to lose $3.42 between the Ante, Raise, and Super Bonus combined.

The standard deviation is 3.13, based on the Ante bet.

Blackjack Card Counting Mit

Overall the player has a 18.56% chance of making a big raise, 57.93% for a small raise, and 23.51% for folding, for an average final wager of 3.14 units. Thus, the element of risk of the game (ratio of expected loss to average total bet) is 3.42%/3.14 = 1.09%.

Queens Up

As far as I know, there are four pay tables available for the Queens Up, according to the choice of casino management. Most Las Vegas casinos use pay table 4.

Queens Up Pay Tables

Player HandPay Table 1Pay Table 2Pay Table 3Pay Table 4
Four of a kind50 to 150 to 150 to 150 to 1
Straight flush30 to 140 to 130 to 140 to 1
Three of a kind9 to 18 to 18 to 17 to 1
Flush4 to 14 to 14 to 14 to 1
Straight3 to 13 to 13 to 13 to 1
Two pair2 to 12 to 12 to 12 to 1
Pair of queens or better1 to 11 to 11 to 11 to 1

Queens Up — Pay Table 1

EventPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturn
Four of a kind506240.0002400.012005
Straight flush302,0720.0007970.023917
Three of a kind958,6560.0225690.203121
Flush4114,6160.0441010.176403
Straight3101,8080.0391730.117518
Two pair2123,5520.0475390.095078
Pair of Qs to As1242,9160.0934670.093467
Loser-11,954,7160.752115-0.752115
Total2,598,9601.000000-0.030606

Queens Up — Pay Table 2

EventPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturn
Four of a kind506240.0002400.012005
Straight flush402,0720.0007970.031890
Three of a kind858,6560.0225690.180552
Flush4114,6160.0441010.176403
Straight3101,8080.0391730.117518
Two pair2123,5520.0475390.095078
Pair of Qs to As1242,9160.0934670.093467
Loser-11,954,7160.752115-0.752115
Total2,598,9601.000000-0.045203

Queens Up — Pay Table 3

EventPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturn
Four of a kind506240.0002400.012005
Straight flush302,0720.0007970.023917
Three of a kind858,6560.0225690.180552
Flush4114,6160.0441010.176403
Straight3101,8080.0391730.117518
Two pair2123,5520.0475390.095078
Pair of Qs to As1242,9160.0934670.093467
Loser-11,954,7160.752115-0.752115
Total2,598,9601.000000-0.053175

Queens Up — Pay Table 4

EventPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturn
Four of a kind506240.0002400.012005
Straight flush402,0720.0007970.031890
Three of a kind758,6560.0225690.157983
Flush4114,6160.0441010.176403
Straight3101,8080.0391730.117518
Two pair2123,5520.0475390.095078
Pair of Qs to As1242,9160.0934670.093467
Loser-11,954,7160.752115-0.752115
Total2,598,9601.000000-0.067772

6-Card Bonus

Blackjack Card Counting Tutorial

Some casinos add on a side bet known as the 6-Card Bonus. This side bet is found on multiple poker-derivative games, so I created a special page for it. For more information, please see my page on the 6-Card Bonus.

Millionaire Progressive

Hi-lo blackjack card counting tutorial

Hi-lo Blackjack Card Counting

This is a $5 'red light' progressive side bet that pays $1,000,000 for a royal flush in spades, using the player's five cards. For all the rules and analysis, please see my page on the Millionaire Progressive.

Practice Game

Before you play for real money, practice your Crazy 4 Poker game right here.

Internal Links

There is also a similar game called Four Card Poker.

External Links

Shufflemaster's official web site for Crazy 4 Poker.


Blackjack Card Counting Tutorial Software

Written by:Michael Shackleford