Is Card Counting Still Viable and the Future of AP Blackjack
Has the ship sailed on card counting? The answer to that question is yes, well no, well it is a bit complicated. The good news is that card counting is still alive and well and many existing pro blackjack players think it’s not going to disappear anytime soon. On the other side of the argument, there are many pro blackjack players that have left the game because they either got caught doing it or found that the cons were starting to outweigh the pros. So the answer is probably in the ‘maybe’ area and it really depends on whom you ask.
you’ll find a few professional blackjack players lurking behind the scenes sharing some information and insight into the current state of card counting and advantage play. friendly people at RedditIf you ask the
Tips for learning Card Counting
and everything all starts with first learning the rules of blackjack and combining that with basic strategy to minimize the house edge. The stages of becoming an AP (Advantage Player) is as follows:invest 100 to 200 hours to master card countingOne can expect to
1. Practice blackjack & learn the rules of the game
2. Master basic strategy
3. Learn and master a card counting system
Blackjack Bonuses & Basic Strategy
One way to get a lot of practice in and also master basic strategy is to get some basic strategy charts and start playing blackjack. You can do this and play for free at any online casino but once you feel ready for real money play you can take advantage of casinos that offer blackjack bonuses for new players. Not all casinos allow blackjack to play on a signup bonus and when you read the terms and conditions, many are for slots. That said there are still enough casinos that offer blackjack for wagering but just keep in mind that often blackjack and those blackjack variants will count from 2% to 10% of the listed wagering. You’ll want to check the terms and conditions before you start playing.
The advantage of playing with bonuses is you’ll have a chance at winning and typically you are getting a signup bonus ranging from 25% to 100%. Even if the EV calculations are working against you on paper, it is assumed that players should come out with a slight edge if they play basic strategy with high variance where you don’t exceed a max bet size limit if there is one. Of course playing without any strategy is going to result in losing your deposit and bonus fairly quickly.
Card Counting Systems for Blackjack
This is the card counting bible and if you join any bonus hunting, card counting or advantage play groups, they will all point to this book as the must read book. Blackjack for Blood by Bryce Carlson on card counting but readers should focus on one book and one system that is regarded as the best card counting blackjack book around. This book is called blackjack booksThere are a few
Blackjack Team Play
themselves at one point in their career. That said team play is considered the best way to take advantage of a casino where your big players are women because most pit posses either flirt with women or they don’t give them the respect as being able to count cards. many pit bosses were card countersIt is possible to count cards as a standalone player without the help of a team but the downside of this is your chance of getting caught and kicked out of a casino increase. If you are a male, then it is easier to get labeled as a card counter as
Reasons why card counting is getting harder to do
Here are a few reasons why card counting is getting tough to beat
● Casinos have better tracking and identifying of players
● Frequently automatic shuffling of the decks
● Unfavourable rules and lower payouts
That said on the other side of the argument, players are noticing more casinos opening up around the world and the reality is that casinos simply struggle to hire and train the right people. That is, it is difficult finding a good pit boss that has experience at card counting and stopping card counting teams and also training dealers that might be able to spot advantage players lurking in the casino.
If you think you want to go down the path of card counting then do some research, learn basic strategy to start then pick up some blackjack books and start studying.
