The dealer deals the first hand a seven (0), the next hand gets a nine (0), the third hand is dealt a ten (-1), and then the dealer takes a card facing down. The play continues with the first player drawing an ace (-1). The next player draws a three (+ 1), and the third player draws a four (+ 1). The casino dealer draws a card for himself, and flips over an ace (-1). After asking for insurance bets, the play continues. The first player stands with a soft 18. The second player draws a king (-1) and goes bust. The third player draws a five (+ 1) and stands with 19. The dealer opens his down-facing card and shows a four (+ 1) for a soft 15, and proceeds to draw a five (+ 1) for a count of 20 and a win over all players’ hands. Sounds familiar? The dealer always draws out the right card! But at this point, it doesn't matter who won or lost. What matters is the count. Let's now check the count.
The first card was a seven and worth O. The next card, a nine was also worth O. The third card was a ten, worth -1 so the count is now -1. The fourth card was dealt down so we don't know its value yet. The fifth and sixth cards were an ace, -1, and a three, + 1, respectively. The total count is -1 at this point. The’ seventh card was a four, + 1, and the dealer drew the eighth card and opened an ace, -1. With the two I additional cards, a negative and a positive (which cancel each other out), the count is still at -I! The ninth card, a king, worth -1, and the tenth card, a five, + 1, also cancel each other out, so we still have a count of -1. The dealer now opens his down card to reveal a four, + 1, and then draws a five, + 1, and the hand is over. The last two cards, both valued at + 1 have changed the count from -1 to + 1.
Card Counting
This last-minute change has made the deck more favorable to the player. There are now slightly fewer lower-valued (two I through six) cards in the deck. The above is basically all there is to a fairly easy counting system. The only other thing to remember is that whenever the deck is in a negative or minus condition, in any amount, never bet more than the table minimum. As the count goes positive, or plus, the deck is getting richer and richer in high cards and as such deserves larger and larger bets. At positive one (+ 1) bet two units. At positive two (+ 2) I increase your bet to three units, and at positive three (+ 3) I increase the bet again, to four units, and so on until the count changes. At that time, go back to the minimum bet. This is a daring way to play. Be prepared for the deck to fool you. Don't overextend your betting. Remember, our basic premise is to have fun and perhaps win some money.
Conclusions
To recap, it is to the player's advantage to have a working knowledge of the availability of aces, fives, and tens in the shoe. With any sort of effort, even the beginning player can learn to "count." When you are comfortable with counting, bet accordingly. Bet minimums when the shoe is against you, and more heavily when the shoe is in your favor. Don't, how- ever, think that the online casino isn't wise to card counters. As a matter of fact, known counters are barred from all casinos. New Jersey casinos allowed counters to play for a period of time, when the Casino Control Commission reasoned that any player who uses his mental skills should not be barred from playing. The casinos, on the other hand, adopted new methods of shuffling decks; reshuffling with every hand, or at random, in an effort to thwart the card counters.
