Since the famous American mathematician Edward O. Thorp released his card counting book, ‘Beat the Dealer,’ in 1962, card counting has become a widespread phenomenon at casinos. More people have gone on to create even more accurate versions that prove useful with games like blackjack. The Hi-Lo card counting system is one of the most recognized releases yet.
But Sir Edward didn’t invent this strategy. Harvey Dubner, an engineer and mathematician, introduced the Hi-Lo Card Counting strategy in 1963. Years later, Stanford Wong reviewed it.
Today’s casino news looks at Hi-Lo card counting and its use in blackjack.
How To Win at Blackjack With Hi-Lo Card Counting
The Hi-Lo card counting strategy is a mathematical blueprint designed by engineer Harvey to help players keep track of the high cards left in the deck to gain an advantage over the house. It focuses on keeping track of cards by assigning card counting values. The cards are divided into high, neutral, and low.
You assign a value of -1 to every high card that is good for you when they are dealt and a +1 to a card that is bad for you when they are dealt. For neutral cards, you assign a value of 0. Note that the Hi-Lo blackjack strategy uses cards already dealt with to predict the ones left in the deck.
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Hi-Lo Card Counting: How It Works
Here is a breakdown in case you have watched a counting cards movie but don’t really get how high-low card counting works.
Once a card is dealt, regardless of which player is given, you must assign it a value. Good cards get a -1 value. The -1 is to show that one good card has left the deck. The good cards in blackjack are the 10, J, K, Q, and Ace. They are good cards because having two of any of these as hole cards can almost guarantee you a win all the time.
Bad cards are assigned a +1 value. They are the 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. A count of +1 means that one bad card has been played. We always want them to be played out of the deck quickly.
Neutral cards 7, 8, and 9 are assigned a value of ‘0’. They are popularly called neutral because they don’t affect the game.
Example of How Hi-Lo Card Counting Is Done
To correctly count cards, you must start as soon as the cards are brought out of the card shoe. This helps you gauge which cards are left in the deck and which have been dealt. You can learn more about the single-deck blackjack strategy later. Let’s look at an example of card counting for the first five cards dealt.
Player 1 receives an Ace and a 2, player 2 receives a 6 and 9, and the assigned dealer gets a 7 upcard. To begin card counting, the Ace gets a -1, 2 gets +1, 6 gets +1, 9 gets 0, and 7 gets 0. The total of the first 5 cards dealt is +1. This calculation is called the running count since it is the ongoing calculation for the cards being dealt with.
However, you need to calculate the true value of the deck to determine how to place bets. To calculate the correct true count, divide the running one by the number of decks left in the shoe. In this case, the running value is +1 ÷ an 8-deck shoe. The total is 0.125.
The idea behind the Hi-Lo counting blackjack system is to place big bets when your true count is +2 or more. This means you have higher cards in the deck for a chance to beat the dealer more often.
True Count in the Hi-Lo Card Counting Strategy
The true count in a blackjack game determines if the player has an edge over the house. A +1 means you don’t have an edge, and your betting can go either way. Where you start seeing progress is with the +2 with a 0.5% house edge, +3 is a 1.0% edge, +4 has 1.5%, +5 has 2.0%, +6 has 2.5%, and +7 has 3.0%. The higher the true count, the bigger your chances of getting a good card.
Applying Hi-Lo Card Counting to Blackjack
It could take some practice to grasp the blackjack Hi-Lo strategy fully. However, it’s a fairly simple strategy and this can be easily done. The true value also always fluctuates several times during the game. You have to know what to do in different situations.
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Here are some things to always note when using the hi-low card counting strategy.
Follow the Basics
Understand that you still have to know basic blackjack strategy. The Hi-Lo does replace how you place bets with basic blackjack. For beginners, you can always use the basic blackjack strategy chart that tells you what actions to take when dealing with different card combinations versus the dealer.
Know How To Interpret the True Count
Once the true value gets to -2, it’s time to either leave the table or reduce your bets to the barest minimum. That’s because having a true running count that low makes it almost impossible to build back up and even profit from it. It always ends in losing all profits.
Study Bet Spreads
Study card counting bet spreads. These charts often highlight how many bets to place when the bet is in your favor.
Practice a Lot
One of the general blackjack tips is to practice a lot to gain experience. This will help you know how your cards play out with your card-counting strategy.
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Parting Shot
The Hi-Lo card counting blackjack strategy is one of the most popular gaming methods. That’s because they are easy to master. However, like most strategies, you must study how it plays out and practice more.
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