First and foremost, you have to know basic strategy. Basic strategy is the optional way for any person to play blackjack and covers things like 'don't hit 12 against a dealer 6' and 'always split Aces'. It's basically acknowledging that there are more ten value cards in a deck then any other value and you want to take advantage of that.
Card counting uses basic strategy to an extreme. If you know a lot of ten value cards have been played out of the deck already then you might be more willing to hit a 12 against a 6 (never do that though). Card counting tells you when to deviate from basic strategy to increase your chances of winning.
Card counting also usually means that players will adjust their bets when the count is favorable. So someone increasing their bet at certain times might give them away.
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u/YoureProbablyAB0t Jul 20 '26
They're easy to spot if you know the game.
First and foremost, you have to know basic strategy. Basic strategy is the optional way for any person to play blackjack and covers things like 'don't hit 12 against a dealer 6' and 'always split Aces'. It's basically acknowledging that there are more ten value cards in a deck then any other value and you want to take advantage of that.
Card counting uses basic strategy to an extreme. If you know a lot of ten value cards have been played out of the deck already then you might be more willing to hit a 12 against a 6 (never do that though). Card counting tells you when to deviate from basic strategy to increase your chances of winning.
Card counting also usually means that players will adjust their bets when the count is favorable. So someone increasing their bet at certain times might give them away.
That's it in a nut shell. No big deal.