Once a player has mastered the basic rules of the game and has a clear understanding of basic strategy and money management, he may wish to take advantage of another tool designed to improve his chances of winning - a playing strategy known as card counting.

Blackjack is unlike most other casino games because the knowledgeable player has opportunities to predict the cards being dealt based on the previous cards that have been dealt.

The following example explains this concept:

You are playing against the dealer, "head to head," at a one-deck table. You know that the deck contains fifty-two cards-four aces, sixteen ten-point cards, and thirty-two cards ranging in value from two to nine points.

As play begins, you take note of the first card discarded by the dealer, and, as play progresses, the point value of every other card dealt to you and the dealer.

After thirty-six cards have been played and exposed, you recall that all four aces and thirty-one cards with values of two to nine points have been dealt.

On the next hand, you have a $100 bet at risk, are dealt two cards (face down), and the dealer's exposed card is the nine of diamonds. Without looking at your cards, what should you do?

The answer is obvious to the expert card counter: Split the hand, and continue splitting as long as the casino allows you to do so. You don't even have to look at your cards! You will win every hand! By keeping track of every card previously played, you know that when the current hand began, the remaining cards in the deck consisted of one nine-point card and sixteen ten-point cards. The dealer received the nine-point card as his exposed card. Consequently, his hole card must be a ten-point card, and your hand must be two ten-point cards, giving you a twenty to the dealer's count of nineteen.

More importantly, you know that every other card in the remainder of the deck is a ten-point card, and no matter how many times you split, your final hands will all equal twenty points! You are also breaking a cardinal rule of basic strategy by splitting tens, but since your knowledge of the value of the cards remaining in the deck is indisputable, this rule rmst be broken.

The preceding situation is the card counter's ultimate fantasy, and will probably never occur in an actual game of blackjack, but it does illustrate how card counting can affect your potential profits and how basic strategy rules are altered by the player's knowledge of the cards remaining in the deck.

A basic premise of card counting is that a deck that is "rich" in face cards and aces (a disproportionately high percentage of these cards) favors the player over the dealer. This is true for several reasons:

1. A player receiving a "natural," an ace and a ten-point card, is paid 3 to 2 on his original bet, whereas the dealer only rains the original wager if he has blackjack

2. If the dealer receives a poor hand as his original two cards (a point count of twelve to sixteen, he must draw another card and is more likely to bust if the deck is rich in face cards. On the other hand, the player has the option of ignoring basic strategy guidelines and not drawing to a "stiff" hand when the chances of busting are much greater than normal.

3. The chance of a higher than normal number of "push" hands exists, but no money is lost in these situations.

The card counter who experiences a deck that is rich in face cards and aces is advised to increase his unit bet, since his chances of winning are greater than normal.

Card counters also gain by knowing when the remaining cards in the deck are "poor' in face cards and aces:

1. The chances of drawing to a stiff hand are improved if fewer face cards are present, but the dealer shares the same advantage.

2. The player may choose to modify his split and double-down decisions when the number of low value cards far outnumber the face cards and aces, since the chances of winning these hands are reduced when a low card is dealt to the player after a split or double- down.

Players who are card counters normally bet their smallest wagers when the deck is rich in low point cards, since their chances of winning are reduced.

Extract from The Ultimate Blackjack Book by Walter Thomason