Card counting is a practice that has plagued blackjack tables since the 1960s. It’s a strategy some players use to keep track of the card values coming out from the dealing shoe. It helps players judge when to increase their bets because they have a better idea of which cards come next and can potentially land them a win while the dealer busts.
Card counting is highly frowned upon, but it is not illegal. Physical casinos are always looking to sniff out card counters and ban them from their floors. Instead, card counters might opt to count cards in live dealer online blackjack because they don’t want to be picked out and kicked out from the casinos. However, is it possible? Let’s examine this in our article below.
How Does Live Dealer Blackjack Prevent Card Counting?
The essence behind live dealer blackjack is to eliminate the possibility of card counting. Card counting tends to give players a false upper hand, but online casinos have succeeded in becoming resistant to card counters. So, how do they achieve this?
They change things up fast
The shoe changes after dealing with 4 decks. For example, you might find that on some tables, a fresh shoe emerges before dealing out each new hand. They also introduce ‘Card burning’, where top cards or face-down cards disappear from the deck before the shoe deals a new hand.
Not all players at the table are the same
It’s usually easy to get a read of players if you’re at a physical blackjack table. In live dealer blackjack, however, you don’t know which players are at your table. Most of them know that dealt cards have no impact on future decisions. Some might use their strategies to play. A combination of skill levels and players puts a card counter at a disadvantage.
Live casinos also keep a count
As you count, so does the casino. So, the casino gets an alert if your betting patterns match the count closely.
They ban card counters
As soon as the casino detects a card counter, they issue a swift ban. Your connection to the game cuts, and you receive an email with details of their decision. Of course, the casino allows you to withdraw any funds from your account, but you cannot access their services again.
How Many Decks of Cards Are Used In Live Dealer Blackjack?
The number of card decks used in live dealer blackjack goes a long way in helping online casinos eliminate card counters.
With multi-decks in place, it’s almost impossible to use the card counting strategy in live dealer blackjack. The games use 8 decks of 52 cards plus a dealing shoe that’s continuously changing after dealing 4 decks. In addition, auto shuffling occurs on some tables, so there’s constantly a fresh shoe. Such practices, plus card burning, can make card counting highly inefficient for anyone doing it online.
Card counters usually depend on a fast game for their skills to shine. So, for example, they want their ideal game to have 100 to 300 rounds per hour. However, live dealer online blackjack only processes about 50 rounds per hour. That’s because individual players click to indicate their decisions. As a result, the process can be slower than playing at a physical table.
Conclusion
If you were planning to count cards in live dealer online blackjack, the odds aren’t in your favour. It’s a useless strategy for playing online blackjack since it’s only likely to lead to a casino ban.
*All values (Bet Levels, Maximum Wins etc.) mentioned in relation to this casino game are subject to change at any time.
