Card Counting is a hustle that has often been romanticized and fantasized about in movies. It is the exciting, sparkling blackjack tables, red and black cards shifting through fingers, running down casino halls – scenes that really make it look so fun and risky. But is It really that exciting in real life?
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What really is card counting? It is a specific strategy of keeping track of the cards dealt at a blackjack table. A good counter must know the high and low value cards that have been dealt in order to get more money from the casino in the long run.
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Even though it may seem scary and hard to learn, card counting is mathematical and technical and it can be learnt, you just have to do the work.
Although many may think that card counting is an illegal activity, it actually isn’t in countries like the United States, United Kingdom and Macau. It is presented as a crime on the big screen, but it is simply a brain trained ability, like a professional chess player, and there are no laws against that. However, it is a popular opinion, and there are reasons for it, which we listed below.
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- Casinos have the right to ask a counter to leave its premises. When the casino notices a player is winning a lot of money, and they observe the player has actual skills to beat the game, they have the right to back off from the game, i.e., to kick you out! It does not happen as it does in the movies. No drama around, with rushing security and physical altercation, however, it is communicated throughout the other casinos in the area, and a counter can get ‘banned’ from them. They simply do not like counters at all, as they lose a lot of money if they do not spot them on time.
- There are a lot of people that group up in teams and count cards together. Although still legal, it does give off a naughty vibe, as far as hobbies and hustles go. A single counter can make good money, but a team of counters can do real damage. It usually consists of:
– the Gorilla player: A person who does not need to know how to count. They just need to be a drunken distraction for when the spotter signals a big bet needs to be made on a certain table.
– the Spotter player: The main card counter that actively plays at a table and only takes a minimum bet so they avoid suspicion.
– the Big player: Responsible for the team not to get caught in the action. They always bet significantly at tables.
– the Back-Spotter player: They are not needed at the table, but in the back, spectating the game so they signal the Gorilla when to sit and start betting.
- The general public is not really familiar with the rules and law regarding casinos, card counting or cheating. Hollywood does not really help in this either. Almost all of the movies we have seen about counting, are these luxurious and dazzling stories about adrenalin, money and the chase and always end up bloody, desperate and kind of scary. This is why many people may think that card counting is more dangerous than it really is, and consider it illegal. However, if you go to a sketchy place, there is no guarantee that you won’t end up badly. As there is no guarantee that you will end up winning a lot of money. Maybe that is the paradox that makes it so fun and exciting.
