Counting Cards: How to Escape Detection

Playing Blackjack and counting cards is a risky business. If you're ever faced with the temptation, know that casinos have plenty of sophisticated surveillance equipment to detect card counters and cheaters. And if they catch you, it will probably be unpleasant. So how do you bust the casino without getting caught?

This post focuses on understanding the risk of counting cards, as well as methods for avoiding detection at casinos while still getting away with your strategy each time- even if they're using all sorts of surveillance techniques!

##Chapter 2: In-text illustrations

A good in-text illustration is usually one or two sentences long. They'll explain how a technique works and what it accomplishes, while also conveying information that is not immediately obvious. A good example of this can be found on page 1 of:

The image above is an example of a good in-text illustration. It explains the concept behind counting cards, and also shows exactly how it can be accomplished without detection. The text is short and the picture does most of the work.

This chapter is all about how to avoid detection by casinos. This means that the important stuff you need to know as a card counter will be written in-text with lots of pictures, because that way it will be easier to remember and understand.

##Concealment

The best thing you can do is simply not get caught in the first place. Every single technique you use should have a built-in method of concealment, and counting cards is no exception. The first method of concealment involves reducing the scope of your play while making sure your earnings still have the same effect on your gambling bankroll.

For example, you might only play at a table that has a minimum bet of $1. If this is the case, I highly recommend that you create several false identities in order to cover the lower end of your betting range. This is because, since you're playing at a table with a minimum bet of $1, the casino will have to keep an eye on all players who exceed that amount. The casinos understand this and will be less likely to question players who are sitting at lower-end tables. That's because they don't expect much from these tables and therefore don't put much attention towards them.

So say you normally play with multiple decks of cards and have a betting spread close to $20 per hand. You would set your accounts up so the $1 and $2 players are all different people. The casinos might not take much note of these players, but if you add a few higher-end players to your collection, they will investigate. If you do get investigated (and you eventually will), be sure to use a false identity that is not connected to your higher-end 'self'.

The second method of concealment is to completely hide your methods relative to the amount of card counting that you're doing. In other words, you want to make the amount of card counting look normal. In order to do this effectively, you'll want to quantify the number of decks remaining in your deck tracking strategy. This is because the more decks remaining that you're tracking, the more likely you are to get caught!

So let's say that I have a betting spread where I'm betting $3 on single-deck blackjack games, and $15 on six-deck blackjack games. At this point, I'm clearly in "counting" territory. However, there are no cameras in the hallways (most casinos keep their surveillance equipment behind the front desk) and we won't be able to check out any information on Internet forums or other websites. If we do make a mistake and start counting cards too soon, it's unlikely anyone will notice because of how far we've come. In fact, if someone catches us counting cards early on, they most likely won't be able to tell because we're playing with a very small betting spread!

The first level of concealment deals with reducing the scope of your play. You'll need to find betting spreads that are within the realm of normal play and avoid the one dollar tables if you're playing with multiple decks. Remember, you don't want to ever become "that player". That player is the one everyone avoids because they think he or she is counting cards.

The second level of concealment deals with how many decks are remaining in your deck tracking strategy. The smaller this number, the less likely you are to get caught! You can quantify your card counting using a number of different numbers (see below). However, if possible, you'll want to use a sum of the cards remaining. This is because it will be much easier to add this number at a later time than to subtract the number from the actual decks remaining.

So let's say that I'm playing with a betting spread of $3 per single-deck, and $15 per 6-deck game. My card counting strategy is counting down, with one deck remaining. If I'm playing at a table with half-decks, I will have a sum of 2.5 decks remaining. Because of this, I'm in a good position to add two decks later on if someone catches me counting cards early on. If the table has full-decks, then 3 decks will be remaining, and it's much more likely that people will catch me early on at this point.

The final level of concealment is extremely important for players who are counting cards for the long-term (and for players who play at online casinos). The trick is to make your card counting look like normal play so it doesn't get noticed when you're actually doing it.

Conclusion

If you want to get good at counting cards, you'll need to do everything on your end to make sure that the casinos don't catch you! By reducing the scope of your play, adding false identities and using other techniques to hide from the casinos, you'll be able to avoid detection and score some serious profits. The best part is, if a casino does catch you counting cards early on (which will likely happen if they have surveillance equipment or cameras), there's a good chance that you might get away with it. At least for a little while.