If blackjack is your game of choice and if you feel comfortable counting cards and you are scouting the Internet for a new technique to try out the next time you hit the casino floor, the Red 7 card counting system is one that you should definitely consider.
Devised by blackjack expert Arnold Snyder, the Red 7 technique combines what many other card counting systems lack. It is simple enough to master as it requires a minimum of practice, but its level of efficiency is much higher than what other, much more complex methods offer.
But what rules should a player follow when using the Red 7 card counting system and how to size their bets according to those rules? With this article we intend to provide our readers with answers to these questions and some more information about this technique that can make their blackjack game a little bit more enjoyable and hopefully more profitable.
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Red 7: The Basics
As already mentioned, Red 7 is an easy system to practice and master. But we’ll get to what actually makes it an easy technique in a very short while. Before learning the system, a player needs to learn blackjack basic strategy as even professional blackjack players use that strategy to play most of their hands at the table.
Once a player is comfortable enough with the principles of blackjack basic strategy, they can move to learning the Red 7 system.
Snyder’s Red 7 card counting technique is the first unbalanced point count system ever invented. It is believed that it gets around 80% of the potential gain that is available from the Hi-Lo Count and other card counting systems that are significantly tougher to master.
With the Red 7 system, a player only needs to keep a running count in their head and know how to adjust their bets according to the running count. This is why this method is one of the easiest to learn and use.
Unlike other card counting systems where the player needs to use a starting count of zero when they kick off a card counting session, the Red 7 system requires the player to adjust their starting count based on the number of decks the blackjack game is played with.
Here is how the starting count is adjusted:
- One deck – starting count is -2
- Two decks – starting count is -4
- Four decks – starting count is -8
- Six decks – starting count is -12
- Eight decks – starting count is -16
Since the Red 7 system uses an adjustable starting count, players are not required to run a true count in addition to the running count, which is really what makes this technique so simple.
If a player’s running count is high, they have a really good change to get blackjack. And if the running count is very low or negative, this means that the player has a very small chance of getting a blackjack.
Running Count Keeping Hints
True Count Drills
Approaches Utilized by a Card Counter
Making a Proper Selection of a Game
Appropriate Games
Zen Count Card Counting System in Blackjack
Card Values
When using the Red 7 card counting system, the player needs to assign value to each card in the deck to determine the running point. Below are the values for each card in this technique:
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Red 7 | Black 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | J | Q | K | A |
| +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | -1 | -1 | -1 | -1 |
There are certain things that players need to take into account based on the above table. In the first place, you have probably noticed that red 7s are given a different value than the value of black 7s. This is what the system actually gets its name from – the fact that red 7s are tracked differently from their black counterparts. This separation creates the unbalanced card counting system that Red 7 is and does not require players to use a true count conversion.
In addition, aces in this technique are given a -1 value. In other words, using Red 7 does not require players to keep a separate count of the aces in play.
And here is an example of how the system actually works. If you play single-deck blackjack, your starting count is -2. If the dealer deals a queen, you will add the value of that card to your starting count. This will bring your running count to -3. If a red 7 is dealt, then you will add +1 to your running count, which will bring it to -2. These steps are repeated until the deck is shuffled.
A Pivot Point in the Red 7 System and How It Helps to Adjust Your Bet
As mentioned earlier, the Red 7 system incorporates running count as well as blackjack basic strategy. An important thing a player needs to be aware of is the so-called pivot point, that is to say the point when the player can increase their bets to take the best possible advantage of a favorable deck.
While in other card counting systems the pivot point would be when the running count reaches +3, +4, or +5, in the Red 7 system, the pivot point is different since the starting count is never 0. It can be said that when the player uses the Red 7 technique, the pivot point is reached when the running count crosses into a positive territory, that is to say +1, +2, or +3.
One good way to adjust your bet when using the Red 7 system is by using the running count as a betting multiplier. In other words, if the running count is +4, the player can bet four times the table minimum. If the table minimum is $10, this means that the player can bet $40 on the next hand, if the running count reaches +4.
There are several specific strategies that apply with the Red 7 card counting strategy. For example, when the running count is 0 or higher, players can stand with 16 against the dealer’s 10 or stand with 12 against the dealer’s 3.
In addition, when the running count is +2 or higher than +2, players can stand with 15 against the dealer’s 10, stand with 12 against the dealer’s 2, or double down with a total of 10 against the dealer’s ace.
