Best Card Counting System For Blackjack
The Zen Count card counting system is one of the many card counting techniques devised by professional gambler and blackjack master Arnold Snyder. First mention of this strategy can be found in Snyder’s 1983 classic Blackbelt in Blackjack. The KO system is a good card counting system, however, it can be tough to determine which method is best. All card counting systems have their strengths and weaknesses. We can tell you that there are some variants out there that are more accurate than the knockout system. However, these systems. KO Counting System: This system works like Hi-Lo, with an extra feature involving the insurance against dealer blackjack bet. It counts cards two through seven as +1, eight and nine as neutral and 10 through ace as -1. You should increase your bet at +2 or more (based on the true count). Red 7 is deemed as a card counting system that is best for card counting beginners or even blackjack beginners. But, that doesn’t mean that it’s an inaccurate system. On the contrary it is very accurate, very basic and very professional, which is why it’s great for beginners. Blackjack card counting is illegal. Because of the way that mass media presents blackjack card.
Best Card Counting System For Blackjack Game
There are many different blackjack card-counting systems but they all have the same objective: to provide a simple method of calculating when the odds are in your favor and therefore when you should increase your stake on a particular hand.
Let’s look at some of the more common systems in use and judge them against four key criteria. These are:
- Ease of Learning and Use (E)
- Playing Efficiency (PE)
- Betting Correlation (BC)
- Insurance Correlation (IC)
Ease of Learning and Use is measured on a simple scale of 1 to 100 with 1 being the hardest and 100 the easiest system to learn and use. The other three criteria need some explanation.
Playing Efficiency is a term used to describe the accuracy of a specific system. It is typically expressed as a percentage and the closer it is to 100%, the more efficient the system is in defining the correct playing decision. Efficiencies are typically between 50% and 75%.
Betting Correlation is a measure of how good a system is in providing information on when to increase or decrease the size of bet. It is normally expressed as a decimal, for example 0.92, which means that a count with such a betting correlation is correct 92% of the time in defining the correct size of bet. Correlations are normally upwards of 90%.
Insurance Correlation is a measure of how well a blackjack card counting system indicates a correct decision when insurance betting. When the dealer has an up-card which is an ace, players are offered the choice of taking “insurance” before the dealer checks his other card. The bet is independent of the main wager. Typical correlation figures are 70% +
Hi-Lo System
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This is probably the most common system and is very popular with people beginning to learn how to card count. It is explained on other pages here but it scores pretty well on our criteria. Ease of use is typically scored at around 65, with playing efficiency of 0.51, betting correlation of 0.97 and insurance correlation of 0.76.
REKO System
This is a more efficient system generally than the Hi-Lo system. It works using the following card count:
- Cards of value between 2 and 7 are counted as +1
- 10 and ace cards are counted as -1
- Other cards require no count.
The simplicity of the REKO system makes it ideal for multi-deck games and the more decks are used in a game, the more powerful the system becomes. It is known as an unbalanced system because the count is not started at zero. To define the starting count you simply multiply the number of decks being used by -2. So if 8 decks are in use the starting count is -16 (8 x -2).
The logic here is that the automatic assumption is that the game favors the house. Increased betting activity relies on the count passing zero and moving into positive numbers. Its scores against our criteria are: E = 8; PE = 0.55; BC = 0.98; IC = 0.78
Zen Count System
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This is an older system and dates back to 1983. It’s a balanced system, which means the count starts at zero. The card count values are:
- 8 or 9 count as zero
- 7 counts as +1
- 4, 5 and 6 count as +2
- 2 and 3 count as +1
- Ace is counted as -1
- 10 or above count as -2
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You can see from this that the system is more difficult to learn, and the general opinion is that the increased complexity is probably not worth the effort. Its criteria scores are: E = 4; PE = 0.63; BC = 0.96; IC = 0.85
Wong Halves System
One of the most difficult systems, this is for the more advanced players only. The card count values are:
- 8 counts as a zero
- 9 counts as -0.5
- 7 counts as 0.5
- 6 counts as 1
- 5 counts as 1.5
- 3 and 4 counts as 1
- 2 counts as 0.5
- Ace counts as -1
- 10 or more counts as -1
This is by far the most complex system reviewed here. Again it’s a balanced system but the sheer complexity of count is difficult when compared with the more simple system outlined above. Its criteria scores are: E = 2.5; PE = 0.56; BC = 0.99; IC = 0.72
Red Seven System
An easier, unbalanced system developed by Arnold Snyder and described in his book, Black belt in Blackjack in 1983. It is a “suit aware” system, which means that a 7 card is counted differently depending on the color of the card. Here are the card count values:
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- Ace counts as -1
- 2 through 6 are counted as 1
- 7 is counted as either 0 or 1 depending on suit
- 8 and 9 count as zero
- 10 and above are counted as -1.
Its criteria scores are: E = 7; PE = 0.54; BC = 0.98; IC = 0.78
Some people simplify the system by making the 7-card count as 0.5. This makes the system a little more difficult but does not seem to detract from its accuracy.