Casinos, Blackjack And Card Counting

By Author: Yuette Saulpaugh
Total Articles: 14
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The casino specialises in offering games of chance. In most of these games, the gambler plays against the house, with the odds of winning determined by the rules of the game, and the way that you play.

For as long as people have been gambling in casinos, different theories about gambling systems have been expounded. The common theme is always the idea that the odds of winning can be improved by adopting a certain strategy.

In fact, the only strategy that is mathematically proven to increase your odds of winning is a system called card counting, which can be applied to the game of Blackjack. Blackjack is sometimes also known as 21.

Blackjack is a game played against the house. Each player, including the house dealer, has a hand. The rules of blackjack are quite simple. Each player is dealt two cards to start with, and can then request a further card each round of dealing to try and reach a total score of 21, or as close to 21 as possible. The score of 21 from a face card and a 10 is called blackjack, and is the best hand possible. If the player gets a better score than the house, the player''s stake ...
... is multiplied into a win.

The house always plays using the same system, taking a new card below a certain score, and staying with the hand once that score is reached or bettered. Card counting is asystem which can help the player determine how to play, based on the probability of certain cards being left in the pack after several hands have been played.

This is possible since the dealer is progressively exposing the cards in a deck of finite number, meaning that if you have an accurate grip on which cards have already been dealt, you will know which cards are still to be dealt. Rather than remembering every single card, the card counting system allows the player to hold a running count in their head, based on adding together the points scores assigned to different hands. This score will indicate when there is a high probability that good cards will be dealt, and so determine when the player should increase the stake bet at the beginning of the hand. The points score referred to is not simply the face value of the card, but the special points scoring system of card counting that assigns positive, negative or zero values to the cards dealt.

Card counting mentally is not classified as cheating, and is therefore legal. However, since this system improves the player''s chance of beating the house, it is unpopular with the casino.

Casinos reserve the right to ban any player from a playing table, or even the whole casino, for any reason that they choose ? with the suspicion of card counting often provoking such action. Players following a card counting system can be identified by several factors, including an irregular pattern of betting.

Yuette Saulpaugh is a keen amateur online gambler. They recommend checking out 32 Red when looking for an online casino.