The key skills of card counting

As an ex-professional card counter then I think that I am well versed enough in this game to be able to compare what skills are required for players to become successful at it. In my time both as a croupier and as a blackjack player then I have encountered many players who simply thought that they knew how to beat blackjack simply because they knew how to card count and they knew basic strategy. There are far more factors towards the making of a successful blackjack player than this. Firstly card counting isn’t enough by itself.

The casinos in places like Las Vegas love these types of players because they simply stand out too easily and are detected almost straight away. There is little point in card counting if when you try to do it you are then easily detected and prevented from playing or evicted from the casino. So you have to disguise your skill as a player and you also have to disguise your winnings and also your bet escalation. In short then, everything that you do has to be concealed from the casino and this is a very difficult task when the casino staff are very knowledgeable.

There are certain techniques for getting money across a blackjack table that can make you appear like a gambler. Clearly then any player who starts out at say $2 table minimums who gets up to $500 maximums is going to get heat. It doesn’t really matter how you do this but a bet spread of 250-1 is going to get you thrown out and quickly. My advice would be to start at say $25 which is only a 20-1 bet spread and then ramp up your winnings by doubling up. If you double up winning hands then it merely looks like you are riding your wins and if you do this with losing hands then it looks like you are chasing losses.

Either way you are trying to build up the impression that you are gambling. However it is obvious that no matter how well you disguise your activity that winnings over a long period of time do not lie. This is where playing numerous different casinos is important and also getting other trusted people to cash some of your money out so that the amounts that you win are disguised and diluted.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson plays poker at www.pokerstars.co.uk