This\nups the stakes because once you\u2019re flagged for the first time, you will have a\nmuch harder time going unnoticed in the future. It may even bring your playing\ndays to an end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Casinos\naround the country subscribe to various databases and programs that help them\nmanage counters and other advantage players. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\nshared information means one misstep for a card counter can be extremely\ncostly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
How Casinos Catch Counters<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBOLOs\n(Be On The Look Out) or info sheets on players will not only have pictures,\noften from multiple angles, but also known associates and aliases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\nwill have a detailed description and other identifying info like tattoos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many\ncasinos use Car Tag Readers to let them know when certain VIP guests arrive or\njust to keep track of who enters and exits the garage or parking area, so don\u2019t\nbe surprised if some of that data is also on file. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Typically,\nthese are sent out regionally, or to casinos that have information-sharing\nagreements between their surveillance departments, but the info is still widely\navailable to be searched by name, description, or the like by any casino that\nsubscribes to the databases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All\nof this is often combined with facial recognition software which means many known\ncounters are unlikely to even make it to a table before management intervenes\nand asks them to leave. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most\ncasinos will simply not take a chance on letting someone identified by another\ncasino as a card counter play on their tables, though some will allow a player a\nlittle leeway so that they can make their own determination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\nthe medium to large casinos I\u2019ve worked, it\u2019s not unusual to walk three or four\ncounters a week off the property. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m\nsure the number is much, much higher at certain Las Vegas properties known for\ntheir advantageous rules, and deck penetration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Literally\nfour out of five of those I walk off the casino floor will have been identified\noff a BOLO. They messed up once and now we have got them again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But\nthe fact of the matter is, counting cards is a mathematical game. You can only\nchange your play so much before it erodes all your profit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some\nways of playing are unavoidable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And\nthat\u2019s what we look for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Math That Gives Counters An Edge Is Also Used To Catch Them<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nCard counting<\/a> is at its heart a very simple proposition. <\/p>\n\n\n\nBet more when the remaining cards are in your favor and bet less, or sometimes don\u2019t bet at all, when they are not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\ntrick of course is that the casino also knows when the remaining cards are in\nyour favor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My\npersonal favorite tell is the insurance\/16 against a 10 rule. These two play\ndeviations make up almost 40% of the advantage one can achieve through basic\nstrategy deviation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\ncan\u2019t escape the math. If you want to make money, these are the two plays you\ncan\u2019t fudge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basic strategy<\/a> says you must hit a 16 against a 10, but the index count for changing that strategy is basically zero. <\/p>\n\n\n\nIf\nthe deck is even slightly positive in 10 cards you need to stand. If you stand\non 10 against a 16 with big bets out there (a high positive count), you will\nhave my attention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If\nyou also then sit on 16 when you have table minimums bets out there, I\u2019ll be\nreaching for the phone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The same is true of insurance<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\nWhile\nmost average players have learned their lesson about insurance being a terrible\nbet, all counters know that they must insure their hand at a +3 true count. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This\nleaves them in the unenviable spot of having to sometimes take insurance with a\n12 and skip even money when they have a blackjack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both\nare must-make bets for a counter to be successful long term. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And\nboth leave a counter extremely noticeable to anyone trained to look, but there\nare just as many other tells that will give a counter up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Casino](\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/surveillance_team.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe\nfollowing all draw quick attention:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Reducing your bet to your minimum bet size after the shuffle<\/li>
- Pulling back all of a blackjack payoff or a tie bet<\/li>
- Never tipping<\/a><\/li>
- Leaving the table to take a phone call or use the bathroom when the count goes very negative.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Demeanor\ncan also be a giveaway and get you noticed, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Watching the cards too closely<\/li>
- Not drinking <\/li>
- Not conversing with dealers or guests<\/li>
- Nervous or furtive behavior<\/li>
- Very precise with chips and\/or cards. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
But\nof course, the biggest hurdle is getting more money in the betting circle\nwithout bringing down the house. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To\nbe truly effective, you will need to bet somewhere between 12x to 16x your\nlowest wager when the count goes higher in a shoe game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That means a player who starts off betting a $100 a hand, and who will stay betting that same $100 a hand for more than 70% of their play, must sometimes be able to get a $1,000 or even $1,500 bet out on the layout. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And ideally more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Players\nhave come up with many ingenious methods to try and disguise this bet spread. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But\nno matter the story, no matter the reason, this kind of bet spread will draw\nattention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And\nthen we will have someone counting down the shoe and rating their play, whether\nit\u2019s another trained counter or, more and more often, a computer program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If\nplayers do get away with it for an extended period, it\u2019s because the dealer or\nthe floor didn\u2019t do their job. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ideally,\nwhen a dealer sees that kind of bet spread, they will say something like \u201cchecks\nplay,\u201d which usually means something like \u201cthis person just suddenly started\nbetting a lot more than they were.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\nis to alert the floor to large bet spreads so that they can relay that on up\nthe chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As\nyou can see, there are many, many ways a card counter can be tripped up. They\nare literally constrained by the math that makes all of this work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And\nas soon as they\u2019re outed once, it becomes incrementally harder to get away\nunnoticed the next time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\nwas exactly these constraints that made for the team play that was immortalized\nby Hollywood in movies like 21<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Old Bait And Switch <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nThe\npremise of the \u201cbig player\u201d attack was simple. Skilled counters could watch\ngames, and continue to flat bet, but call big players in when the count was\nhigh enough. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
These\nplayers would bounce from table to table, only playing when the count was high.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This\nmeant it was hard for casinos to spot the real counters; they remained camouflaged\non their games, and since the big player was only betting large amounts of\nmoney each hand, it didn\u2019t call into question the bet spread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Often\nthe big player would assume a theatrical role to lend some credence to their\noften odd and erratic behavior to lessen suspicion even more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While\nit seems unlikely 30 years later, these teams would take Las Vegas and other\ncasino jurisdictions for millions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
? How The MIT Blackjack Card Counting Team Beat The House<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe\nsolution was simple yet costly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Casinos\nwould only allow new players on a table to bet a maximum of $100 until the new\nshoe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\nstopped this attack in its tracks, but at the cost of casinos telling millions\nof guests that they couldn\u2019t place large bets until after the shuffle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some\nargued that the remedy was worse than the malady, but it did put an immediate\nend to that particular loophole in the casino\u2019s counter defenses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many\nof these rules have been relaxed now as casinos have gotten better at knowing\nwhat to look for and mining databases of players to find connections between\nseemingly unrelated players has become exponentially easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Working In Teams<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"Card](\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/card_counting_team.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nOne\nof the best team plays I\u2019ve seen involved a group of five or six players who at\nfirst seemed unrelated, who often bet erratically and didn\u2019t seem to pay close\nattention to the count. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\nwould position sometimes two but mainly three players on a table and take turns\nkeeping the count while the others engaged in conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\nwould signal the count using chip stacks, and while each member\u2019s bets might\nnot follow the count, the team\u2019s as a whole would. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\nwould also disguise play this way, with smaller bets on larger counts not\nalways matching the index deviations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\nwere eventually only discovered when some of our dealers noticed them on\nmultiple occasions playing at other casinos in the same cohesive groups which\ncaused us to reevaluate their play. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once\nwe knew they were a team, we could see the bets and play move with the count in\ntotal, instead of through one individual\u2019s actions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While\nteam play can slow down a casino\u2019s efforts to identify counters, it is still\nconstrained by the need to put large bets out only when the count is high. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And\nideally, the ability to play that hand in a very defined way, though large\nenough bet spreads can make up for some of that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As\na long-ago shift manager once told me about game protection, \u201cThe money will\nalways tell the story.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And\nthat\u2019s as true today as it was 30 years ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nmath that makes blackjack beatable and card counters successful is exactly the\nhook that we use to catch them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What To Bear In Mind If You Plan To Count Cards<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nFor\nthose still intent on card counting, there are a few important considerations.\nThe first thing is to remember that the age of the MIT teams or the Hyland\nGroup are gone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Card counting<\/a> is at its heart a very simple proposition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bet more when the remaining cards are in your favor and bet less, or sometimes don\u2019t bet at all, when they are not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\ntrick of course is that the casino also knows when the remaining cards are in\nyour favor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n My\npersonal favorite tell is the insurance\/16 against a 10 rule. These two play\ndeviations make up almost 40% of the advantage one can achieve through basic\nstrategy deviation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You\ncan\u2019t escape the math. If you want to make money, these are the two plays you\ncan\u2019t fudge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Basic strategy<\/a> says you must hit a 16 against a 10, but the index count for changing that strategy is basically zero. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If\nthe deck is even slightly positive in 10 cards you need to stand. If you stand\non 10 against a 16 with big bets out there (a high positive count), you will\nhave my attention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If\nyou also then sit on 16 when you have table minimums bets out there, I\u2019ll be\nreaching for the phone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The same is true of insurance<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While\nmost average players have learned their lesson about insurance being a terrible\nbet, all counters know that they must insure their hand at a +3 true count. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This\nleaves them in the unenviable spot of having to sometimes take insurance with a\n12 and skip even money when they have a blackjack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both\nare must-make bets for a counter to be successful long term. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And\nboth leave a counter extremely noticeable to anyone trained to look, but there\nare just as many other tells that will give a counter up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nfollowing all draw quick attention:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Demeanor\ncan also be a giveaway and get you noticed, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n But\nof course, the biggest hurdle is getting more money in the betting circle\nwithout bringing down the house. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To\nbe truly effective, you will need to bet somewhere between 12x to 16x your\nlowest wager when the count goes higher in a shoe game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That means a player who starts off betting a $100 a hand, and who will stay betting that same $100 a hand for more than 70% of their play, must sometimes be able to get a $1,000 or even $1,500 bet out on the layout. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And ideally more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Players\nhave come up with many ingenious methods to try and disguise this bet spread. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But\nno matter the story, no matter the reason, this kind of bet spread will draw\nattention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And\nthen we will have someone counting down the shoe and rating their play, whether\nit\u2019s another trained counter or, more and more often, a computer program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If\nplayers do get away with it for an extended period, it\u2019s because the dealer or\nthe floor didn\u2019t do their job. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ideally,\nwhen a dealer sees that kind of bet spread, they will say something like \u201cchecks\nplay,\u201d which usually means something like \u201cthis person just suddenly started\nbetting a lot more than they were.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n That\nis to alert the floor to large bet spreads so that they can relay that on up\nthe chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As\nyou can see, there are many, many ways a card counter can be tripped up. They\nare literally constrained by the math that makes all of this work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And\nas soon as they\u2019re outed once, it becomes incrementally harder to get away\nunnoticed the next time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\nwas exactly these constraints that made for the team play that was immortalized\nby Hollywood in movies like 21<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\npremise of the \u201cbig player\u201d attack was simple. Skilled counters could watch\ngames, and continue to flat bet, but call big players in when the count was\nhigh enough. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These\nplayers would bounce from table to table, only playing when the count was high.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n This\nmeant it was hard for casinos to spot the real counters; they remained camouflaged\non their games, and since the big player was only betting large amounts of\nmoney each hand, it didn\u2019t call into question the bet spread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Often\nthe big player would assume a theatrical role to lend some credence to their\noften odd and erratic behavior to lessen suspicion even more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While\nit seems unlikely 30 years later, these teams would take Las Vegas and other\ncasino jurisdictions for millions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n ? How The MIT Blackjack Card Counting Team Beat The House<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nsolution was simple yet costly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Casinos\nwould only allow new players on a table to bet a maximum of $100 until the new\nshoe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\nstopped this attack in its tracks, but at the cost of casinos telling millions\nof guests that they couldn\u2019t place large bets until after the shuffle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some\nargued that the remedy was worse than the malady, but it did put an immediate\nend to that particular loophole in the casino\u2019s counter defenses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Many\nof these rules have been relaxed now as casinos have gotten better at knowing\nwhat to look for and mining databases of players to find connections between\nseemingly unrelated players has become exponentially easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One\nof the best team plays I\u2019ve seen involved a group of five or six players who at\nfirst seemed unrelated, who often bet erratically and didn\u2019t seem to pay close\nattention to the count. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They\nwould position sometimes two but mainly three players on a table and take turns\nkeeping the count while the others engaged in conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They\nwould signal the count using chip stacks, and while each member\u2019s bets might\nnot follow the count, the team\u2019s as a whole would. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They\nwould also disguise play this way, with smaller bets on larger counts not\nalways matching the index deviations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They\nwere eventually only discovered when some of our dealers noticed them on\nmultiple occasions playing at other casinos in the same cohesive groups which\ncaused us to reevaluate their play. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Once\nwe knew they were a team, we could see the bets and play move with the count in\ntotal, instead of through one individual\u2019s actions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While\nteam play can slow down a casino\u2019s efforts to identify counters, it is still\nconstrained by the need to put large bets out only when the count is high. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And\nideally, the ability to play that hand in a very defined way, though large\nenough bet spreads can make up for some of that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As\na long-ago shift manager once told me about game protection, \u201cThe money will\nalways tell the story.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n And\nthat\u2019s as true today as it was 30 years ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nmath that makes blackjack beatable and card counters successful is exactly the\nhook that we use to catch them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For\nthose still intent on card counting, there are a few important considerations.\nThe first thing is to remember that the age of the MIT teams or the Hyland\nGroup are gone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe Old Bait And Switch <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Working In Teams<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhat To Bear In Mind If You Plan To Count Cards<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n