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A small number of card counters have still managed to profit from the game of blackjack. Two factors contribute to the success of the present day counter. First of all, he knows the basic math of the game—he has studied valid systems and has a realistic attitude about his long and short run expectations. Secondly, he knows the basic psychology of the casino environment. He understands how casinos detect counters and disguises his play. He is an actor; if he senses heat, he leaves, maybe returning later when different casino personnel are running the show. He doesn't take chances. There are lots of casinos.

Although four decades have passed since the first valid card counting system was published, many casinos still offer beatable blackjack games, and the math of card counting is easier than ever. The systems presented in this book are among the easiest-to-learn professional level systems ever devised. This does not mean that you can learn to beat the game of blackjack in an hour. If you are serious about playing for profit, you should plan to spend quite a bit of time studying and practicing. I will say this, however: Any person with average math ability could learn to count cards at a professional level.

The difficulty of making money as a card counter isn't in the arithmetic, but in the psychology. Some people are good actors; some are not. Some are adept at reading attitudes and manipulating people, and some aren't. To make it as a card counter, you must often be friendly to dealers and pit bosses, while at the same time deceiving them into thinking you're just another dumb gambler. Most card counters who experience any long-term success thrive on this exhilarating espionage-like aspect of the game. You must be part rogue and part charlatan. You must be cool under pressure. You must have enough money behind you to weather losing streaks without financial worry. You must thrill to beating the casinos at their own game. If you're not in it for the fun as much as for the money, you'll never make it as a counter. Card counting is boring, once mastered. It's work. Few who try card counting stick with it. It's like most games—chess, tennis, even the stock market; many people "know how to play," but only a few become masters.

I realize that most of the readers of this book will not go on to become masters of blackjack strategy. With this in mind, you'll find many simplified, albeit less powerful, methods that the casual player may use to win at the blackjack tables. I will also attempt to provide clear explanations of the more powerful techniques so that the casual player will at least understand how and why the advanced systems work. By understanding these concepts, a beginning player who has not developed the skill to apply them will, hopefully, realize his limited abilities, and will not entertain false visions of himself as an unbeatable player.

One thing you must remember: Casinos don't give money away; you have to take it. And contrary to appearances, casinos are holding on to their money with both fists. You've got to be slick to take them on for high stakes, and walk away with your shirt.

• Why Blackjack Is So Popular (0)
• Blackjack Card Counting Part2 (0)
• Blackjack Card Counting (0)

Thorp's first winning strategy was based on counting fives. He recommended betting heavily when they were depleted, and also playing a slightly different strategy when no fives were in the deck. His next innovation—upon which most winning card counting systems in use today are based—was called the "ten-count." In this system, tens and non-tens were counted separately. Larger bets were placed as the proportion of tens to non-tens in the deck became larger.

The ten-count system, as Thorp created it, was not easy to learn or apply in a casino. It required keeping two separate "backward" counts, and computing the ratio of tens to non-tens prior to betting and strategy decisions. Thorp played his system with what today would be considered a wild betting spread, sometimes jumping from a table-minimum bet of a dollar to a table-maximum of $500. Casinos were unaware of the power of Thorp's system, especially when they saw some of the "unusual" plays he made—like splitting 8s vs. dealer up-cards of tens and aces—and many continued dealing their single-deck, hand-held games to him down to the last card. Players able to use Thorp's system had an enormous advantage over the house, and players capable of following even a crude approximation of the strategy could win big if they used even a moderate betting spread in the deeply dealt single-deck games that predominated.

Once the Vegas casinos realized a legitimate winning system was being employed at their blackjack tables, they took drastic action, changing the rules of the game. This was in 1964, eight years after the first publication of the relatively accurate basic strategy, and two years after the advent of Thorp's Beat The Dealer.
The rule changes did not last long because, to the casinos' dismay, players stayed away from the tables rather than play against the new rules.

Casinos began losing a lot of money. So, bracing themselves for the worst, they changed back to the original rules.

The worst never came; in fact, the opposite occurred—blackjack became the most popular table game in U.S. casinos. Everyone, it seemed, believed they could beat the game, but few put in the time and effort to learn a legitimate system. Many blackjack systems were sold that were not mathematically valid, and players who did have valid systems often had no understanding of normal fluctuation. They overbet their limited bankrolls and tapped out before they ever had a chance to see the long run profits. Most importantly, casinos learned to recognize card counters by their playing styles.

Card counters jumped their bets suddenly, they paid inordinate attention to everybody's cards, they were quiet, they concentrated, and they didn't drink or socialize. They were often young collegiate types who didn't fit in with the normal run of tourists and vacationing businessmen.

Once spotted, a suspected card counter would be silently observed by the pit boss or "eye in the sky." If suspicions were confirmed, the dealer would be signaled to "shuffle-up" on the counter. If the suspect changed tables, the "heat" would follow him. If he did not leave the casino, he would be asked to leave the blackjack tables, and ultimately ordered to leave the casino. Thus, the casinos weeded out the few competent players and let hoards of fools who thought they could beat the tables with sloppy play and invalid systems play to their hearts' content.

• Why Blackjack Is So Popular (0)
• Blackjack – A Little History (0)
• A Blackjack Card Counter Is Born (0)