Best Card Counting Strategy
Give each child one large dot card, a blank 5 x 5 inch card, and some tokens (usually a few more than they need). Have children re-create their dot card using the tokens on the blank card. Things to notice as children play. In Game 1, putting tokens on dots while counting reinforces one-to-one correspondence. Ask, “How many dots did you cover?”. If you are looking for physical strategy cards instead of using our strategy engine, the BlackjackInfo Store has wallet-size basic strategy cards, and an advanced strategy set that includes card counting indexes right on the card. Our set of six strategy cards covers all the common rule variations. Blackjackinfo Store.
Card counting systems for Blackjack are compared here, along with theirCard Values, Betting Correlation, Playing Efficiency, Insurance Correlation,Ease of Use and Type. These terms are defined at the bottom of the pageand are used to estimate the effectiveness of a Blackjack card countingstrategy. Ease of use is rated from 1 (hardest) to 10 (easiest) and is basedstrictly on my own opinions (and a few phone calls from authors since Ifirst published this page
J). Brief descriptionsof Blackjack software can be found at BlackjackSoftware Roadmap. Click on the Blackjack button on the left formore info on counting cards.CardCounting Strategy Summary
Click on a card counting strategy name in the table for more information.
Strategy | A | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | T | BC | PE | IC | Ease |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -1 | .87 | .63 | .76 | 6 | B1 |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -2 | .92 | .67 | .85 | 4 | B2 |
-1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | .97 | .51 | .76 | 6 | B1 |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | .88 | .61 | .85 | 6.5 | B1 |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -2 | .91 | .67 | .91 | 4 | B2 |
0 | 0/1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | .90 | .62 | .87 | 7 | US1 |
-1 | 0/1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | .98 | .56 | .78 | 7 | US1 |
-1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | .98 | .55 | .78 | 7.5 | UC1 |
-1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -2 | .97 | .62 | .80 | 4 | B2 |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -2 | .92 | .67 | .85 | 4 | B2 |
-1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0/1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | .98 | .54 | .78 | 7 | USC1 |
-1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | .98 | .55 | .78 | 8 | UC1 |
0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | -1 | .89 | .59 | .76 | 6 | B1 |
-2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -2 | .99 | .55 | .78 | 4 | B2 |
-4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | -1 | -3 | 1.0 | .53 | .71 | 1 | B4 |
0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | -2 | -3 | .92 | .65 | .82 | 1 | B4 |
-1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -1 | .96 | .53 | .69 | 6 | B1 |
-1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -2 | .97 | .62 | .84 | 6.5 | U2 |
-1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | .95 | .55 | .76 | 6.5 | B1 |
0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | -1 | -3 | .91 | .69 | .90 | 2.5 | B3 |
-2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -2 | .99 | .54 | .73 | 4.5 | U3 |
-1 | .5 | 1 | 1 | 1.5 | 1 | .5 | 0 | -.5 | -1 | .99 | .56 | .72 | 2.5 | B3 |
-1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -2 | .96 | .63 | .85 | 4 | B2 |
Blackjack Card Counting Strategy
Strategy | BC | PE | IC | Ease | Type |
.87 | .63 | .76 | 6 | B1 | |
.92 | .67 | .85 | 4 | B2 | |
.97 | .51 | .76 | 6 | B1 | |
.88 | .61 | .85 | 6.5 | B1 | |
.91 | .67 | .91 | 4 | B2 | |
.90 | .62 | .87 | 7 | US1 | |
.98 | .56 | .78 | 7 | US1 | |
.98 | .55 | .78 | 7.5 | UC1 | |
.97 | .62 | .80 | 4 | B2 | |
.92 | .67 | .85 | 4 | B2 | |
.98 | .54 | .78 | 7 | USC1 | |
.98 | .55 | .78 | 8 | UC1 | |
.89 | .59 | .76 | 6 | B1 | |
.99 | .55 | .78 | 4 | B2 | |
1.0 | .53 | .71 | 1 | B4 | |
.92 | .65 | .82 | 1 | B4 | |
.96 | .53 | .69 | 6 | B1 | |
.97 | .62 | .84 | 6.5 | U2 | |
.95 | .55 | .76 | 6.5 | B1 | |
.91 | .69 | .90 | 2.5 | B3 | |
.99 | .54 | .73 | 4.5 | U3 | |
.99 | .56 | .72 | 2.5 | B3 | |
.96 | .63 | .85 | 4 | B2 |
For a detailed description of the aspects of strategies for counting cards,see How to Create a Card Counting Strategy
BlackjackCard Counting System Sources
The sources for system comparison above can be found at CardCounting Strategy Sources. Full counting tables for most strategiescan be found in free downloads of CV softwareproducts by permission of the various authors. They are not included heredue to copyright concerns.
Card CountingDefinitions
Card counting techniques include the following measurements:- Playing Efficiency– PE indicateshow well a counting system handles changes in playing strategy. Playingefficiency is particularly important in hand-held games (one or twodecks.)
- Betting Correlation– BCis defined as the correlation between card point values and the effectof removal of cards. It is used to predict how well a counting systempredicts good betting situations and can approach 1.00 (100% correlation.)BC is particularly important in shoe games (six or eight decks.)
- Insurance Correlation– IC isdefined as the correlation between card point values and the value ofcards in Insurance situation. A point value of -9 for tens and +4 forall other cards would be perfect for predicting if an Insurance betshould be placed.
- Level– The level of a strategyrefers to the number of different values assigned to cards. Level 2and 3 counting strategies are more efficient, but quite a bit more difficultfor most people. Level 4 & 5 counting strategies also exist. Butthis is overkill.
- Side Counts– There are severalmethods of side counting used to increase strategy efficiency. For anoutline of five side counting techniques, see SideCounting Techniques.
Type– The TYPE column keyfollows:
- B – Balanced count requiring the calculation of aTrue Count
- U – Unbalanced count with no True Count
- S – Suit Aware count requiring different counts forred and black cards
- C – Compromise indexes used for greater ease
- 1, 2, 3, 4 – Level. That is the highest tag value
Note: Playing Efficiency (as defined by Griffin) is not relevant to unbalancedcounting systems and is only an estimate. PE & BC stated here do notinclude side counts.
Best Card Counting Strategy Games
A list of the card counting index tables that can be found in CV productscan be found at CV Blackjack IndexTables.
For Blackjack training see Blackjackcard counting software.