Out of interest, how many people here have learnt the skills required for card counting and used them in casinos to make a profit?

Not necessarily like in 21 (the movie) where they fly off to Las Vegas quite often and make hundreds of thousands, but just someone who learnt the strategy and put it to use.

Edited 8/1/2015 12:26:49

I'd love to learn it, but no. I thought this was going to be WarLight related and was going to make a "do you want to get chucked out of Vegas" joke, but pleasantly suprised. I would love to learn it, loved the idea ever since I read about it in a CHERUB book.

I don't gamble, but I nearly always do some form of card counting when I play card games. It's second nature. I don't memorize everything, but I do keep track of what I think is most relevant (usually, it's keeping track of the faces and aces that have gone by).

It's especially useful for reaction speed games. If you know what card is coming up next, it gives you an advantage (again, I focus on the important things, like the locations of jacks and doubles).

It makes card playing fun and keeps it interesting.

I was hoping that the sort of people who played warlight might somehow be the same type of people who would be inclined to learn how to card count, shame.

Tom - that's where I first heard about it too, it's a lot simpler than the book or common perception of card counting would make you think though

jz - not quite the card counting i was talking about, but it's still useful of course to be able to use that. Helps in Bridge a lot if you know what everyone has played.

I know it, but never applied it in a casino. It's actually pretty easy.

From what I understand, it has become obsolete in most casino's anyway as they now use a machine to shuffle and the number of decks are not disclosed. Dealers are well aware of it long before the movie was released and casino's regularly threw out people when they suspected card counting.

You're right, it is very easy if you know how to add and subtract, hence why I was wondering if anyone had bothered to learn it here.

I'm not sure about Vegas, but in London only 1 of the 4 casinos I've been to have an automatic shuffler for blackjack, even though the other casinos do have automatic shufflers for 3 card poker. In Eastern Europe out of the 7 casinos my friend and I went to only 1 had an automatic shuffler as well. If a shuffler is not being used the number of decks can be estimated by eye since usually it is 6 or 8 decks (here at least) and it is easy to tell the difference between the 2. Also I don't think the dealers even know what card counting is in London, I've seen others discuss the count loudly in front of the dealers and the dealers haven't had a clue what they were talking about.

I have done things like calculate the odds of starting with a full house in poker or winning a prize in the lottery (sometimes as part of a class, and sometimes, admittedly, for fun).

Basic card counting is dead easy. Idiots can do it. Count counting rapidly, good enought to actually make money, is very, very hard. Oh, and don't start beating up guards or having a chase through a monorail if you lose.

Card counting fast enough to make money is not as fast as you make it sound Thomas, also considering you haven't tried it I'm not sure how you could know difficult it is to use :/
What is difficult is when you are trying to card count without being caught at a place where they are very vigilant on card counters, but fortunately I don't have that problem

I said that it was easy at home on your own time.

I haven't, but I have a friend who has. Guys never had a "proper" job in the 20+ years I've known him. In that time he's done the following to make money:

Played chess.
Played Everquest originally and various other MMO's since then (and illegally sold ingame items for $).
Gotten thrown out of countless casinos for "winning too frequently" at Blackjack.

Card counting isn't a crime, and it can't be punished in any legal way, but casinos tend to ban anyone suspected of doing it because it isn't profitable for them to allow such people to return.

His experience tended to be:

1. Win big at a casino.
2. Win big at the same casino weeks or months later.
3. Return a few months later, once again win big, and then be banned.

Once they didn't tend to bat an eye at, twice made them suspicious, three times made them confident that banning him was in their best interest as they wouldn't come out ahead from his visits.

Edited 8/7/2015 14:10:00