I Am Able to Respond Non-Sarcastically
kingalex1 said:
i get the jist of card counting, count the 10's as plus one, and everything else as negative, and then bet big when count is high- however i still dont understand what the advantage is when the count is high? When there is a high chance of 10s and aces, what does that do for the players that it doesnt do for the dealer
Is it bc the dealer has to deal out to the rest of the table 1st-so theres a good chance that the tens will be dealt out already, and then the dealer hopefully gets a lower card??
Does the number of players at the table do anything to help/hurt the players?
Also, i noticed the casino uses 4-5 decks at once- does that help dampen the advantage of card counting?, or does it have an affect? Your guys help would be greatly appreciated
1. Facecards count as negative 1, not plus 1. Small cards (2s-6s) count as plus 1. Note, also, that this applies only to certain counting systems, such as Hi-Low (the best of the basic systems, and the one I use myself).
1. Players get paid 3:2 for blackjacks, meaning if you bet $10 and get a bj, you win $15. The dealer (house), naturally, enjoys no similar advantage. Furthermore, in a high count, the player has the option of standing on "stiff" (bustable) hands, i.e., 12s-16s, whereas the dealer does not. The dealer always has to draw to 17, giving him a high probability of busting in a high count whenever he DOESN'T have a "pat" hand (17 or higher).
3. The number of players at the table, theoretically, makes no difference at all, since there is no way of predicting WHEN the good cards will spill out. Nevertheless, many card-counters (myself included) prefer to play "heads up," or 1 on 1 w/ the dealer, simply to speed things up, eliminate aggravating misplays by others, and avoid the frustration of having to watch other players (usu "ploppies," or inexperienced players) "eat up" all the good cards.
4. In fact, most casinos today, esp outside Vegas and AC, use 6- or 8-deck shoes. If you can find a 4-deck shoe, you're in good shape. Single or double deck, and you're in heaven. Indeed, all else being equal, the more cards in the shoe, the smaller the card-counter's advantage,
insofar as high counts (say, >+5) are less likely to occur with a larger number of decks; the more cards in a shoe, the more evenly they tend to be distributed, making fairly neutral counts the norm. Also, obviously, it's easier to keep track of the count through 4 decks than through 8. Far more important than the number of decks in play, however, is the
penetration, or how deeply into the shoe the dealer deals. If there's, say, 85% penetration, meaning the dealer deals all but 15% of the cards, the card-counter will be able to achieve a much more specific, reliable idea of the remaining composition of the shoe than if the dealer dealt merely, say, 75% into the shoe.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you're still confused.
wvbjplayer
