There many systems available to count cards in blackjack and they can be divided in two general categories: balanced systems and non balanced systems. Non balanced systems, like the Knock Out (KO), are systems designed to eliminate the conversion to a true counting. In general, the easier a system the less accurate it turns out to be.
The Hi-Low system is one of the most popular counting systems and consists on simple balanced counting. The problem with the Hi-Low system is its efficiency when it comes to results. It’s recommendable to use this system to start counting cards, since changing to a more complex system is not complicated once we dominate the Hi-low system.
In the Hi-Low system, 2-6 are counted as +1 and the 10s and Aces are counted as -1. We have to note that there’s the same number of cards in each group: 2, 3, 4, 5,6 y 10, J, Q, K, A. The 7, 8 and 9 are neutral in this counting and it is necessary to train the eye to ignore them. If low cards are good for the casino, why are they counted with a positive value? Because when a low card leaves the proportion of high cards that still remain in the deck, we have a slightly bigger advantage.
We can start with a deck picking one card at a time and counting. If 8, K, 3, 3, 6, 2, 7, A come up, for example, we have to cunt 0, -1, 0, +1, +2, +3, +3, +2. When we end with the deck, the count has to be 0. We have to practice until every time we count, we get 0 when we finish with the deck and we increase our speed. The goal is to count a 52 card deck in 25 seconds, keeping the necessary accuracy. This speed will guarantee that no croupier can deal cards faster than we can count.
Once we dominate this test, we have to pick a card out of the deck, face down and put it aside. After counting the deck, we have to guess which card we have put aside. We can guess, for example, that the card is a 10, and Ace or a 7, 8 or 9 and verify it later by watching the card.
After that, we have to throw two cards at the same time. This is useful since it is very common at the casino. It is a good idea to learn how to cancel pairs, such as Q, 5, since they are cancelled when counting. With this, counting will become more dynamic.
We must remember that counting cards is not allowed in casinos, so we should practice at home but not use it when we visit a real casino. It is interesting to just practice some of our skill, but not necessarily make use of them.