Smart Blackjack For The Casual Player

Not everyone wants to put in the time to become a professional Blackjack player; I don't understand it, but I do accept it. But, with a little bit of practice, even the casual player can take a big bite out of the casino's edge. It can translate into hundreds, even thousands of dollars in winnings and enable you to enjoy all the casinos have to offer at little cost.. You can do it with the Ace-5 count.

No card-counting technique will allow a player to win all the time, it's a statistical impossibility. But by reducing the house edge considerably, a player can expect to have winning sessions of play. The average casino edge in a 6-deck game is about .5% for a player who plays perfect basic strategy. By using the Ace-5 count and a reasonable betting spread to take advantage of favorable situations, that edge could be cut in half, to about .25%. There is not another game in the casino (except, perhaps video poker) with that low an edge for the house.

This count works because it recognizes the value the Ace holds for the player and the value the 5 holds for the dealer. The Ace is important because it's the key component of a Blackjack or "natural" which pays 3 to 2 on a bet. Without any Aces in a deck, the house has an average 2% edge over the player. The 5 is important to the dealer because it helps to make their "stiff" hands -- 12 to 16 -- into good hands; 17 to 21. Therefore, as fives are played, they are no longer available to the dealer, so this is a good situation for the player. On the other hand, as Aces are played, they are not available to the player, so that's a good situation for the house. Since there are an equal number of each in a deck ( or a 6-deck shoe), they can be tracked and their ratio evaluated for betting purposes.

The Ace-5 count is simple. As Aces are played, count them as minus (-) 1, and as 5's are played, count them as plus (+) 1. The two are added together to obtain a "running count" and that is used to determine your bet. You must begin the count on the first hand after the shuffle and keep track of the count from round to round. This count will tell you how much to bet on the next hand.

For example, if on the first round two Aces are played and no 5's come out, the count for betting the second round is minus 2. Let's say that on round two, four 5's come out, but no Aces appear; the count for betting the third round is now plus 2 (-2, +1, +1, +1, +1 = +2). Your count for betting the next round is now plus 2. Remember, you are adding and subtracting the point value for each Ace and 5 as it appears, regardless of whose hand it's in. Don't forget to count any the dealer has, as well.

To see if you understand this technique, try to calculate this sequence A, 5, 5, A, A, 5, 5, A, 5. Remember, +1 added to -1 = 0. The answer is at the end of this article.

For the Ace-5 count to be effective, you must play proper basic strategy. If you think you should stand with a hand of Ace-7 against a dealer's up card of 9, you don't know basic strategy. If you don't know if you should hit or double Ace-2 against a dealer's 4, you don't know basic strategy. I cannot overemphasize this point; knowing basic strategy is the key to winning at Blackjack. 'Nuff said.

As each round is finished and prior to the next deal, bet the number of units corresponding to the count as shown below. The dollar amount of your "unit" depends upon how much you're willing to risk. My advice is to try this on a computer program at home before venturing real $$$ at the casino.

An easy way to practice this count is to purchase four decks of inexpensive cards, set aside one deck and remove all the Aces and 5's from the other three decks. Shuffle the extra Aces and 5's into the one deck you set aside; this will give you a deck of 76 cards: a regular 52-card deck enhanced with 12 Aces and 12 fives. Now, turn the cards from this "super" deck over one at a time and count each 5 as +1 and each ace as -1 while ignoring the other cards. Keep a running cumulative count and when you're finished, the count should be 0 if you have done it correctly. Keep at it until you feel comfortable with the system and then start turning the cards over two at a time and count the pairs. For example, a King and an Ace are -1; a 5 and an Ace are 0; two 5's are +2. Counting in pairs is the "secret" we card counters use in keeping track of the cards, and since our count is cumulative just like this one, we can count 200 decks of cards if we have to.

Because you're only tracking two cards, the count isn't likely to get very high in a six-deck game, but if you're playing at single deck, this is actually a fairly powerful count. But, if you can stand the boredom and stick with the disciplined betting schedule, you will reduce the house edge. At the Casino Queen in E. St. Louis, IL, the house edge for perfect basic strategy play is just .33%. This technique will reduce that to about .10%. If a player uses the betting schedule above at a $5 table, his or her average bet will be about $6. At a rate of 60 hands an hour, s/he will put $6 X 60 or $360 in play each hour. With an expected loss of .10%, the long term cost of playing Blackjack there will run about 36 cents an hour. In the short term, a player will win or lose much more than that in any given session, but if s/he uses the guidelines above for several hundred hours of play, the results will likely be a loss of about 36 cents per hour. This technique does not completely overcome the house edge, but it does come close. Consider this: the average player is operating at a 2% disadvantage at the same game. Using the figures above, this player can expect to lose about $7.20 an hour; after several hundred hour of play, that's thousands of dollars! If you play at a casino with a cash-back "player's club", or if you are good at getting comps for rooms, travel, dinners, etc., the Ace-5 count can be quite profitable for you.

A word about bankroll requirements. Since this technique does not give you an edge over the house, you will eventually lose all the money you bet in these situations since we are just postponing the inevitable for a while. But, with the freebies, the fun and the entertainment value, it might be a small price to pay. I would start with 50 top bets, so if you bet from $5 to $25, you should have a bankroll of $1250 set aside for this. It should be money you can afford to lose, because until you learn a complete counting system, that's what will happen and you can't play well when you're betting the rent money. Again, 'nuff said'.

An added benefit of learning the Ace-5 count is that you will see how easy it is to learn card-counting, so you may want to learn a complete point count such as the Plus/Minus which will give you a long term edge over the house. But in the meantime, use your play at the table to get as much back from the casinos as possible and most of all, have fun!

Answer to the count: You should arrive at a count of +1. Here's how I count that sequence in my mind: (Another good point here; I identified another counter in a casino recently because she was moving her lips as she counted. Most casinos don't like any kind of counter, so don't tell them that's what you're doing.)

NOTE!
M1 - I don't use the word minus, just 'M'. It's one less syllable to deal with.
Even - I don't use '0' but you can, if you wish.
One, I don't use 'Plus 1' because 1 is always a positive number and it saves a syllable.