Stopping Blackjack Card Counters
It’s well-known that casinos go to great lengths to combat card counters. So much so that counter-measures are often more costly than the potential losses the casino faces. But without some way to keep advantage players in check, counters would be as common as slot machines. This is an almost personal battle between counters and casino security staff, one trying to stay a step ahead of the other. This battle has fuelled the evolution of counting as well as counter-measures for over 50 years.
Stopping the advantage player used to be handled in a back room by a couple of guys named Bruiser and Basher. There are still rumors that this goes on to this day, but since Nevada established that counting cards playing blackjack is not illegal, the rough stuff is tougher for the casino to defend themselves against. Instead, the casino has created ways to deter the advantage player from playing there.
Changing the odds that the game presents is a common method of deterring card counters from playing in that game. Games that pay 6-5 for a blackjack, or giving the dealer the option to hit on soft 17, are a couple of the ways the house gets back the 1% advantage a card counter can hold over the house. These changes are often ignored by the recreational player.
Adding more decks to the shoe makes counting tougher and less accurate. Automatic shufflers re-deal the decks, causing the player to lose the count and start over. And if you do get caught you will be blacklisted and will have a hard time getting on a blackjack table anywhere.
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