Counting cards is NOT cheating.

Post Reply New Topic

In reply to the 'header' to this blog.

There are rules to every game and also proper etiquette in playing them...and certainly in games of chance where there is money involved.

However, to play any game while abiding by the rules and winning...is NOT cheating. Therefore, for any player to count cards and win at blackjack is following the rules and is not cheating.

What has happened since, is that once this practice was discovered and people were asked to leave...lawsuits were filed. Since that time the casinos have obtained a law that allows the operators to remove any player that is counting cards and winning at blackjack.

From that point on, I've felt that the laws around casino gambling, is a...license to steal.

The Golden Rule: whoever has the most gold makes the rules.

Which is why I'm dead set against casino's appearing anywhere. Not only are the odds always in favor of the house, but they actually promote gambling addiction. It's also why I am against lotteries of any kind that are run by the state. The odds in state run lotteries are even worse than the casinos. Also, it sends the wrong messages to the population when the proceeds are used to fund public schools, fund public works projects, and fund care for the elderly. In short, it's another damn indirect tax on the people who can least afford it.

Which is why I'm dead set against casino's appearing anywhere. Not only are the odds always in favor of the house, but they actually promote gambling addiction. It's also why I am against lotteries of any kind that are run by the state. The odds in state run lotteries are even worse than the casinos. Also, it sends the wrong messages to the population when the proceeds are used to fund public schools, fund public works projects, and fund care for the elderly. In short, it's another damn indirect tax on the people who can least afford it.

On a side note for state lotteries and casinos, I was born and raised in Vegas. Casinos have always lobbied in Nevada to prevent a state lottery from being done. They even contend amongst themselves to get rules and regulations enacted through lobbying that supports the idealized version of their casinos versus any other type of gambling establishment. It's really amusing to watch the politics. I don't care for gambling myself. I've maybe done it three times in my life where I've put quarters or nickles into slots, and one of them was here where I live now which is across the country. It's not worth it. Save the money up, invest it, do something productive with it. Gambling is not productive at all and is a waste of time.

Now onto rules exploitation. I've had people stop gaming with me because I will rules lawyer them to the point where they're sick and tired of having me play. I even got blacklisted by my friends from playing Ticket to Ride and other board games because when I play, I play to win. I've learned to tone it down with rpgs as I want to keep what few friends I have in my gaming group.

The House has the gold, thus it makes the rules.

Anyone who wants to make card-counting 'legit' should try to run a casino that way.

Casinos rely on the fact that the odds of winning are normally stacked against in order to make money. Therefore, if anyone figures out how to tip the odds in their favour and make money against the casinos, they are inevitably going to change rules so that the your method is banned, that's why card counting was banned. It's all about how the casinos operate and how they make their money.

The house always wins.

c'est la vie.

is this thread in any way inspired by rainman per chance?

Do any high functioning aspies among us actually have the rainman card counting powers?

If so I am insanely envious of you.

I found Derren brown's documentaries/shows about this interesting.

http://derrenbrownexposed.blogspot.co.uk/




http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/derren-brown-banned-casino-management-1915541

+1

I agree that it's not "cheating" if you can count cards. However, it is supposed to be a "game of chance," and your ability to count cards negates that element because you know what the next card will be. Hence, the casino is within its rights to turn away people who can predict the outcome of any game with sufficient accuracy as to say they aren't playing a "game of chance."

I don't know how many people do this, but a smart gambler always knows to play for a while...maybe deliberately lose a hand or two...then walk away before the casino gets too suspicious.

Simple - adjust the odds / payouts to reflect the revised odds of winning if you're counting cards.

And, use large enough shoes of cards and fill them with fresh cards well before they're depleted and even card counters can't gain that much of an advantage.

Casino's try to have it both ways - they want you to believe that you can achieve success at their games through some measure of skill rather than it simply being dumb luck (for instance, that is why they'll offer poker and blackjack classes to beginners), but as soon as you try to build such skills they cry foul.

what does "counting cards" mean?

Dustin Hoffmann and his moonbat scientologist sidekick explains.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtmVMrAUcR8[/youtube]

Casino's are a very interesting and... corrupt business. As with any business there are rules, if you know what they are you can bend or even break them to win.

Is counting cards legal and ethical?

Let's break that into two questions. The first is "is it legal?" Absolutely not only is it legal, but they want you to do it! They could easily change the rules and disallow card counting allowing them to confiscate any i'll gotten gains. But they don't because they have cleverly observed that people want to win and when someone does win what do they do? Well first if the Casino notices they ban them, but those winners will spread the word and more people will end up at the Casino. So in that way card counting is like a loss leader or a sale at JC Penny's it gets you and other people in the door to buy their drinks, rent a room, and lose money gambling.

Is it ethical? Without getting into a long drawn out debate over ethics, taking money from thieves who let you doesn't seem morally questionable, but if you spread the word and unintentionally refer others who aren't as skilled or who are then "robbed" or become addicted then you become an accessory to that act.


If you want to do it things to keep in mind!

Your presumed goal is win as much money as possible, you need to first learn and practice how to count cards but then after that you have two options. Option 1: Play once win as much as you can and get banned, it will be a blast and you can know that you beat the system. Option 2: You go and lose or win, probably lose the first day, then you come back repeatedly over time taking more wins than losses overall but never enough that anyone notices. For this strategy you must employ at least semi-erratic betting so that when you bet more it isn't completely obvious, and you need to lose some of the time on the large bets so that it appears legitimate. Also care must be taken to appear at least somewhat relaxed, if it's apparent that you look guilty, worried, intensely studying, or some other abnormal behavior for casino play... then you will get caught. Even with all these precautions expect to get banned it's just a matter of time. The will keep records and after 20 visits if you have picked up $30,000 in profits, winning twice as often as you lose, and playing mostly at the Blackjack table they won't miss the pattern.