Hi-Lo or Hi/Lo Blackjack Card Counting System
If you are a beginning blackjack player looking to improve your strategy and increase your wins by learning about card counting then the Hi-Lo blackjack card counting strategy is a great place to start. Hi-Lo is one of the easiest card counting strategies to learn and can greatly improve your odds of winning at blackjack.
The Hi-Lo blackjack counting method employs simple math, so you don't have to be a genius or MIT student to win big using this system. Each value in the deck is assigned a number of -1, 0 or +1 and as cards are dealt you just have to keep a running tally in your head. When your count is positive this means that there is a greater ratio of high cards to low cards in the deck and when the count is negative this means there are more low cards in the deck. The more high cards, the better your odds. Therefore, when there is a high positive count you should raise your bet. On the other hand, as the count goes further into the negative you should place a minimum bet.
Before you begin counting using the Hi-Lo system you should memorize the card values. 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s and 6s are assigned a value of +1. 10s, Jacks, Queens, Kings and Aces are assigned a value of -1. 7s, 8s and 9s are assigned a value of 0. As you can see, the more high cards that are dealt the lower the count will be. If you are just starting out with card counting then you should practice counting cards using the Hi-Lo method before you head to the casino. To practice, shuffle a deck of cards and then flip through and count each card. When you get to the end of a 52-card deck your total should be 0, as Hi-Lo is a balanced card counting system. Once you can do this, you're ready to start playing!
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