The Hi-Lo blackjack card counting system or the Plus/Minus system, was created by Harvey Dubner.
Dubner simplified Dr. Edward Throp’s groundbreaking system, the
Ten-Count, to make it easier for players to use at an actual table.
The Hi-Lo card counting system is a card counting strategy designed
for use by beginning and intermediate blackjack players. This is the
easiest card counting system to learn and is generally recommended
for blackjack players who just play here and there, on the side, and
aren’t full time players.
Due to its ease of use, the Hi-Lo
(High/Low) card counting system is the most common weapon of choice
used in blackjack teams. The reasoning is because the system works
well to the stiff learning curve of a multilevel blackjack team.
Hi-Lo Card Counting Strategy Explained
The Hi-Lo count is easy to learn. Any player who can add 1 and 1
together, is a strong candidate for mastering the Hi-Lo counting
system. First, you’ll need to learn the respective value for each
card in a deck
2, 3 ,4 ,5, 6 count +1
7, 8, 9 count 0
10, J ,Q ,K , A count -1
you can see, there are separate groups of card values. The 20
small cards (2-6) are counted as plus 1 as they are played. The 12
middle cards (7-9) are considered neutral cards and do not change
the count as they are played. The 20 big cards (10-Ace) are counted
as minus 1 as they are played. This system is considered to be a
balanced system because if you counted down every single card in a
52 card deck, you would end up with a count of 0.
The Hi-Lo card counting system is almost like a game of
tug-of-war, where each different card is changing the count one way
or the other. It’s an ongoing battle between the high cards and the
low cards to control the card count. You are rooting for the under
dog, because the more smaller cards that are played, the higher your
odds of winning are. When less smaller cards are in the deck, you
have better chances of being dealt blackjack, the dealer busting, or
just getting strong starting hands.
When you sit down at the table, the count starts at 0, however some
people like to also adjust if there are a high amount of decks in play
in general -1 for every 2 decks is a good rule of thumb, as the odds
of a high count making a significant difference will only come towards
the end in the last few decks.
If you make mistakes it may cost you, always good to remember that
many people have lost there ass doing this :)
