Card counting systems have been devised to tell the player when the odds are in their favor (so that they can bet more), and when the advantage shifts to the house (so they can decrease their wagers). All such systems are based on the logic that the more 10-value cards and Aces remain in the shoe, the bigger is the chance that player gets dealt a Blackjack and that the dealer goes bust. Available systems differ in terms of complexity, accuracy and efficiency. Even the simplest ones will take time to master if you’re a beginner, so no wonder the interest in Blackjack card counting software is high and the offer fairly big.
What does Card Counting Software Do and Who is it For?
Let us clear one thing right from the start: card counting software does not come in the form of a discreet device disguised as a James Bond weapon, which you can take and use in a land-based casino without anyone noticing. It functions primarily as a practice tool which will train you in different card counting techniques and help you improve your skills. But it’s not just the novices who can benefit; experienced card counters may want to learn a new system, other than the one they’ve been using for years, or advance in terms of speed and accuracy.
Do a bit of Googling and you’ll find plenty free options, including many apps for iPhones and Android devices. The fact they are free doesn’t necessarily mean they’re crap, though one would expect a truly outstanding product to come with a price tag. And it does! Let’s have a look at a few options worth checking out.
The Interactive Card Counting Trainer is a software tool that will teach you how to count cards accurately. No experience is required to use the tool, just the desire to want to learn a mathematically proven technique that will give you the advantage over the casino when you play blackjack. Basic Card Counting Strategy The most basic strategy for beginners is called the Hi-Lo strategy. This is the type that you practice in our simulator. In this strategy, high cards (10 - Ace.
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Blackjack Apprenticeship website offers a comprehensive video course which will teach you how to count cards in the best possible way, at the same time providing drills to practice your Blackjack card-counting skills and improve your game. They also host a forum where one can discuss game strategy, learn tips and tricks, and get access to pros who have already won millions. Services are offered via 3 packages ranging in price from $12.50 to $29 per month.
Why should you trust them? Well, the guys behind this project have got some impressive experience to boast of. Colin has been counting cards for almost 15 years, played on all levels, travelled around the world as a full-time professional, and run a multi-million dollar Blackjack team consisting of 30+ players. He’s been featured in New York Times, CNN and The Colbert Report, so his background and qualifications are fairly easy to check. The other guy, going by Loudon Ofton, has been counting cards professionally for the last 7 years and is currently closing in on his millionth dollar taken out of the clutches of US casino (which, incidentally, has labelled him the most notorious player). Fancy learning a thing or two from these guys? Then check out their website!
Card Counter 4, recipient of above average reviews, offers tutorials and practice modes which will take you through easy, medium, hard and expert levels. The software features all popular card counting systems, namely Hi-Lo, Hi-Opt I, Hi-Opt II, KISS III, KO, Omega II, Red 7, Silver Fox and Zen Count. The software is available for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, with a Free version which will bombard you with ads, offer one rule system and easy to medium tutorial levels, and Pro version with no ads, multiple rule systems plus custom, and access to all levels.
The software was developed by TMSOFT, a company which was founded in 2008 and is not specialized in Blackjack, not even gambling. Their mission is, in fact, to “create and publish unique mobile apps for smartphones”, and their biggest success Health & Fitness app called White Noise, which reached the #1 overall position on iTunes when it was released and continues to be a top-ranked one in its segment. Why should you use their card counting solution? Because these guys clearly know how to develop a good app, and their product is simple enough to please beginners who might get intimidated by more bulky propositions.
And now, drumrolls, please! The solution which seems to be light years in front of all others is Casino Verite – a complete set of tools allowing you to practice card counting while it adapts to the user. Beginners will be able to master the basics, intermediate counters can work on their specific area of weakness and increase their speed and accuracy, professionals can practice cover strategies, add side counts and more, and tournament players get to take advantage of a dedicated mode which enables them to develop specific tournament- related skills.
Casino Verite comes with several modules, each allowing you to practice play and count cards in a super-realistic casino environment. CVBJ is created to cater to all levels of players, allowing one to start simple and keep adding more expert methods at their own pace. CVCX includes risk and bankroll calculations, game comparisons, card counting strategy comparisons, 150,000 card counting simulations, and has a built-in ultra-fast simulator. CVData is advanced simulation software featuring expert methods, supporting highly complex cover play and error simulation, and featuring modern card counting index generator. CVSH is a shuffle-tracking practice and analysis software enabling Ace Sequencing practice and analysis.
All Casino Verite programs boast the following features:
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- 3D realistic graphics
- User-friendliness, with an animated talking guide and content-rich online help
- All common counting systems preloaded
- Ability to mimic most games found in casinos worldwide, including Super Fun 21, Double Exposure, Royal Match side bet, etc
- Searchable database of 700+ casinos, allowing you to duplicate the game found in any of them
- Endorsement by highly respected gambling writers
- Availability on PCs as well as Android and Apple mobile devices
A downloadable demo version of Casino Verite is available free of charge, but in order to get full access, you’ll have to pay about $90, which to us seems like a fair deal.
If you are looking for a place to test your skills, check out our list of reputable Blackjack online casinos.
I’ve done a lot of writing in the past regarding card counting in blackjack. I’ve looked at the basics of how to count cards and discussed how hard it actually is or isn’t, as well as covering some of the intricacies involved in actually counting cards.
In this particular post, I’m looking at some of the strategy (rather than sheerly tactical) factors involved in a card counting. In other words, what factors affect your overall approach to counting cards in blackjack successfully?
The Long Run Versus the Short Term
The most important thing for every real money blackjack player to understand is that the math behind card counting is a long-term phenomenon.
You’re not going to learn how to count cards this week and come home rich next week. In fact, most card counters don’t ever get rich.
In the short run, anything can happen. Even the worst blackjack player can have a big winning streak, and even the best blackjack player can have a losing streak. And these streaks often last longer than you’d ever expect.
The best way to keep a long-term perspective is to keep records. You should track how many hours you’re spending at the blackjack tables along with how much you’ve won or lost during each session. Your average hourly win or loss rate will be easy to calculate if you’re tracking those numbers.
Another thing to keep in mind is that even when you’re counting cards, you’re still going to lose more than half the time. In fact, if you want a better probability of winning a single bet, you can find it at the roulette table.
A bet on black in roulette wins 47% of the time. A bet on a hand of blackjack only wins 43% of the time.
The reason the house edge in blackjack is lower relates to the payouts in various situations – especially when you get the occasional “natural” or “blackjack.”
You also have opportunities to double down and split when it’s a good idea to do so.
Even when the count is positive, you won’t win more often. You WILL see naturals more often, which means you’ll see that sweet 3-to-2 payout more often. That’s why you bet more – not because you’re hoping to win more often because the count is high.
And I don’t mean that a losing streak might go on for an hour or two. Losing streaks can last for days, weeks, and sometimes even months.
Some people get discouraged when learning how to count cards, but if you’re doing it right, it will work.
But you’re still not a huge favorite over the house. The average card counter gets a 1% edge over the house, and someone who’s really good maxes out with an edge of 2% over the casino.
Until you’ve gotten about 10 hours at the table under your belt, you’re still very much in the short run. If you’re playing at full tables – where you’re seeing fewer hands per hour – you’ll need more like 20 hours at the table under your belt.
Casino Bankroll Management for Card Counters
This focus on the long term versus the short run has some implications regarding your casino bankroll management. If you can have a losing streak that lasts for days or weeks on end, it’s possible to go broke even if you have a mathematical edge over the casino.
You need to have enough money in your bankroll to prevent that from happening. You need to avoid going broke before you reach the “large numbers” in the “Law of Large Numbers.” (The Law of Large Numbers suggests that the closer you get to an infinite number of trials, the closer your results are going to get to the mathematically expected results.)
When you’re deciding what limits to play, you need to decide on your betting spread and the amount of money you can afford to sink into your blackjack hobby. Let’s assume you want to play lower stakes with a 1-to-4 betting spread. You’ve found a casino with a minimum bet of $5.
This means that the biggest bet you’ll be placing is four units, or $20.
You should have at least 100 times that amount in your bankroll.
In this case, you need a bankroll of $2000 to play at this level to avoid a high probability of going broke because of variance.
The more money you have in your bankroll, the bigger stakes you can afford to play without stressing out about going broke.
Most card counters base the size of their bet on the count. If the count is zero or lower, they bet the minimum. In the example we’ve been using, they’ll bet $5.
Then when the count hits +1, they’ll add a unit – betting $10.
If the count hits +2, they raise their bet to $15.
If the count gets to +3 or higher, they raise the size of their bet to $20.
Also, the bigger your bet spread is, the higher your edge over the house becomes. With a count of +1, your edge over the casino is only 0.4%. With a count of +3, your edge is at 1.6%.
But if you get to a count of +6, your edge over the casino is 3.3%. The more money you can get into action with an edge of 3.3%, the better off you’ll be.
Penetration and Number of Decks
I wrote a lot about rules changes and game conditions in my previous post, and I addressed the number of decks in that post. Put simply, the fewer decks in play, the better off you are.
You’ll do better in a game with a single deck or two decks than you will in a game with eight decks.
But you should also consider penetration.
That’s just a word that describes how far into the deck the dealer plays before shuffling the cards. At some tables, the cards are shuffled continuously. This gives such a table a penetration of 0%. It also makes a game effectively unbeatable.
The deeper into the deck the game goes, the more opportunities you have to get a big variance in the composition of the deck. That variance is where you make your money.
Your goal should be to find a game with a penetration of 75%, and this is almost more important than any of the blackjack variations or game conditions I mentioned in my previous post.
Any game with a penetration of less than 50% is probably best avoided. You’ll wind up finding few situations where the count is positive enough to raise your bets, and even when you do, that advantage won’t last long at all.
Camouflage and Heat
I haven’t gone into a lot of detail about the practicalities of this, but I’ve mentioned that casinos will back you off if they realize you’re counting cards. When you attract this kind of attention, you’re getting “heat.”
One of the biggest factors the casino is going to look at is the size of your betting spread. At lower stakes, the casinos might tolerate a large bet spread.
But at high stakes, the casinos stand to lose a lot more money, so they’re less tolerant of a big betting spread.
I discussed camouflaging your play by only increasing the size of your bet after a winning hand and only reducing the size of your bet after a losing hand. This cuts into your advantage, but it’ a good way to camouflage that your counting cards.
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The practical limit for a betting spread is to have a large bet of eight units.
Also, some casinos are so paranoid about card counters that they’ll back you off just for getting on a winning streak even if you’re not counting.
I think wearing a disguise is overkill for most counters, but if you’re serious and big time, it might be necessary.
Conclusion
Those are some of the biggest issues to account for when planning your card counting strategy in blackjack.
You can execute all of this perfectly and still have some big losses in your future.
Card counting’s not for everyone, and it’s less than impossible but harder than it seems.