Approaches Utilized by a Card Counter

In case a player participates in multi-deck games and as the number of decks increases, he/she should use a wider bet spread. It is so, because multi-deck games have a larger house edge, which the player needs to cope with. In a number of cases, he/she needs to keep on placing minimum-sized ”waiting bets” when he/she has neutral or negative counts. And when the counts come to his/her advantage, the player needs to place bets of a larger size, so that the bets made at a disadvantage can be neutralized.

Betting approaches for a card counter

The steepness of the player’s bet spread is usually influenced by the particular betting approach he/she uses. Three major approaches a card counter can take advantage of:

1. A Play-all style of playing the game, where the counter enters a game and keeps playing the negative counts, while he/she waits for a positive count to come up;

2. Wonging (backcounting), where the counter participates in a game only when the count is favorable;

3. Semi-wonging (exit strategy), where the counter leaves a game when the count turns out to be unfavorable for him/her.

The first approach (play-all) is appropriate to be used when one plays single-deck and double-deck games and, sometimes, the best multi-deck games. The counter may score reasonable profits by using bet spreads such as 1-2 or 1-3 in single-deck games and spreads such as 1-4 or 1-6 in double-deck games. However, as soon as he/she decides to enter a multi-deck game, he/she should employ a far wider bet spread. If the player uses a spread such as 1-4 and the play-all style of play, he/she will probably not be able to gain profits in multi-deck games. In those games the player needs to employ a spread such as 1-8, if he/she aims at a decent profit.

Experts in the field propose using the following generic bet spreads, depending on the game:

1. In single-deck games the bet spread should be 1-4 units;

2. In double-deck and four-deck games the bet spread should be 1-8 units;

3. In six-deck and eight-deck games the bet spread should be 1-12 units.

Best Online Blackjack Bonuses

HarrahsCasino.com

100% up to

$100

+ 100 Spins

100% up to

$100

+ 100 Spins

Visit Read Review Visit

Sloto'Cash Casino

100% up to

$500

100% up to

$500

Visit Read Review Visit

Uptown Aces

150% up to

$750

150% up to

$750

Visit Read Review Visit

Lucky Tiger Casino

No Deposit Bonus

$ 55

No Deposit Bonus

$ 55

Visit Read Review Visit

Shazam Casino

Exclusive No Deposit Bonus

$ 50

Exclusive No Deposit Bonus

$ 50

Visit Read Review Visit

Vegas Casino Online

No Deposit Bonus

$ 20

No Deposit Bonus

$ 20

Visit Read Review Visit

It is important to note that none of the approaches fits all the games and all playing conditions. It is a practice among the majority of card counters to use a generic betting ramp, geared to the number of decks in play, but some experts claim that it is not necessarily the most effective way. The advantage of using such a method lies in that it is quite easy to memorize and, of course, it is one less distraction for a card counter at the blackjack table.

Now, let us take a look at generic betting ramps for the three major betting approaches. Although they are not optimal betting ramps, they are quite easy to memorize and employ in practice.

Adjustments to the base betting unit depending on the game

There are card counters, who tend not to think of their bankroll as a compilation of units, but as a compilation of large bets. For example, a player who employs a bet spread of 1-4 in single-deck games and uses a base betting unit of $25.00 and a highest bet (top bet) of $100.00, he/she is not likely to use that configuration in multi-deck games. In case he/she participates in a double-deck game, in order to use a top bet of 8 units, the player needs to scale down his/her base betting unit to $10 or $15, so that he/she can keep the top bet in proximity to the $100.00 limit. In case he/she participates in a six-deck game, he/she will introduce suitable adjustments, so that his/her base betting unit can be at the amount of $5.00 or $10.00.

In conclusion, a player may bet as much as $25.00 in a single-deck game, but in order to keep his/her risk of ruin in check, he/she may bet as much as $5.00 in a multi-deck game.

Necessary re-adjustments

It is natural for a counter, who begins with a base betting unit of $5.00, to boost it as soon as he/she can. To a certain extent, the reason for it may lie in the fact that games with a table minimum of $25.00 tend to be more favorable to players. Truth is that often a player can encounter better rules at tables with higher denomination. In addition, these tables may often turn out to be not that crowded, for example compared to tables with lower denominations.

We should note that a player is free to keep playing at a $5.00 table, while employing base betting units of $5.00, but the bet spread required to gain a profit proportional to the increased bankroll would undeniably attract the attention of the pit boss or other members of the casino surveillance team.

Someone may ask: ”Ok, when am I supposed to adjust the size of my bankroll?” Experts in the field propose that a counter may keep his/her original bankroll level until he/she has diminished the risk of ruin to 5%. Next, he/she may increase his/her base betting unit by $5.00, when he/she can operate at that level with a risk of ruin of 5%. He/she may continue playing with such a base betting unit, until he/she can afford to increase it by another $5.00 and still operate at a risk of ruin of 5%. However, experts suggest that when the player reaches the $25.00 base betting level, he/she should abstain from resizing it again until he/she can play at a risk of ruin of 1%, or even lesser.