Why Card Counting Doesn't Necessarily Pay

Hollywood has glamorized the art of card counting through a variety of blockbuster movies. In “Rainman” Dustin Hoffman’s character used a disability to his advantage by card counting in the casino so that his brother could walk away from the tables with a handsome reward. A more recent movie “21” showcased the art of a college student with a phenomenal numbers capacity that earned six figure incomes for him and his college friends. With examples such as these, many are convinced that card counting is the optimal way to make the most money at the gaming tables.

 These movies do not display a factual picture of the card counting practice. Highly skilled card counting individuals maintain a .5 to 1.5 percent advantage over the house. These individuals have learned how to perfect the art of mentally tracking the switch in card decks from high to low cards as a deck is played out. Remaining card presentations in favour of a player prompts that player to place high bet denominations thus walking away with a higher monetary prize value. Likewise when the card presentation favours the house, bet denominations are reduced.

The temptation to walk into a casino, sit down at a table and practice the art of card counting is extremely high in the industry. However, the fact remains that many individuals stop just shy of learning how to count cards without alerting security teams at casinos. A subtle sign such as drastically increasing a bet amount several times in a row is an easy sign to security that card counting is taking place.

Once the pit boss and security team have been alerted that card counting is going on, the player has a few vital seconds to plan the next move. An advisable step would be to collect current winnings and exit the casino as quickly as possible. While card counting is not an illegal practice, it is highly frowned upon by casinos. They will ask a player to leave the establishment and never return. This demand is ensured by placing the player’s name in a black book of banned players.

Going one step further, casinos increase the number of card decks that are played in the course of one game. With more cards in the mix it makes it that much harder for a person counting cards to keep track of card numbers. This in turn makes it harder for the individual to continue counting cards. Rest assured that casinos remain one step ahead of card counting individuals and will always come out ahead of the player.