Confessions of a Card Counter

Irish Poker Open 2013

2013-03-18T14:42:00.001+00:00

So it feels like forever since my journey into the secretive world of Card-Counting began. More than 4 years now! As you will know if you have read my previous posts, my days of slinking unnoticed into casinos and testing the laws of probability came to an end more than 2 years ago in favour of a more entertaining (and profitable) game ... Poker! I've been at it for over 3 years now (

The end of my career!

2010-11-05T11:21:00.002+00:00

So there were recently a couple of post over at BlackJack Info on what happened to the blog. A bit of speculation that I in fact couldn't count cards at all and lost my bankroll. Well, just in case anyone is wondering what happened, here is what happened:It was fun ... for a whileWhen I first started counting cards, I was still pretty young (mid twenties) had lots of spare time and was looking

Showing Off

2009-10-31T22:48:00.003+00:00

It's been a long week, it's late, I'm tired and it's All Hallow's Eve! (Halloween). So here's a quick story for y'all (sorry, but it's not scary).In the very early days of my card counting career, I was part of a duo ( well trying to be anyway). We were a little naive and over optimistic at the time on all the fortunes that card-counting was going to bring us, but we weren't stupid. We did our

Temporary Leave of Absence

2009-09-20T12:32:00.002+01:00

DUDE! Where'd you go!I must apologise to my few followers who are reading and enjoying my blog. As you might have gathered from my last post, I was getting worried about only making small returns and the risk of getting booted from my favourite joints before I get the chance to play big. However, this was not the reason for my short disappearance from the card counting world.Recently, I've

Where am I going?

2009-07-19T09:57:00.004+01:00

Over the past couple of months I've been pondering my future in card counting. I think it is mainly due to a series of losing streaks counteracting my initial winning streak taking me slightly below (but still close to) EV.When I first starting counting I had some phenomenal success due to some nice winning streaks. I was way above EV. A lot of this was due to multi-hand play at high counts

Excuse me sir, are you counting cards?

2009-07-19T09:21:00.002+01:00

Casinos don't like it when you win. Sure they pretend they do, it's part of the act of creating an enjoyable, amiable atmosphere whilst emptying your pockets at the same time. Running a casino is a business, and they expect you, the punter, to pay.Most of the location I play at I'm up overall. Glad to say I've attracted no heat from pit bosses as yet. However, I have been asked more than

Attack of the ploppies

2009-06-06T23:06:00.006+01:00

So today was yet another day of counting cards where I got to play with some idiot ploppies. I feel the need to rant about it, so bear with me!A ploppy is an everyday blackjack gambler who 'plops' themselves on a stool around the table in the 'hope' of winning. They do not count cards and normally have no idea about basic strategy.Now don't get me wrong when you read this. I don't hate

Am I becoming immune to fear?

2009-06-01T19:35:00.003+01:00

I was back at my local haunt tonight playing heads up against the dealer. It was one of those up and down struggles with some huge swings and some high true counts. At one point during the evening I was down about 80 units ($400), but was feeling calm and relaxed. I was confident in feeling that it was just one of those swings that I've become so accustomed to.But it did make me think back to

Where have you been?

2009-05-31T21:46:00.002+01:00

Got a few mails asking me where I disappeared to. I stopped my card counting activities for a few months due to a death in the family and some heavy negative variances on the tables.I also decided to relaunch my poker website, http://www.pokeradore.com/. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed doing a little web design every now and then.So all in all I have kept away from the blackjack tables for a

Encounters with other Counters

2009-02-11T13:12:00.002+00:00

Catchy title eh?Since the day I started counting, I have come across three other counters. 3 times more than I expected and in such a short period of time too! I know there are lots of counters out there, but honestly, I never expected to come across any in my back water town. But I did.Encounter 1 - And I would have gotten away with it too if wasn't for those rotten kids!My first encounter

The Polite Back-Off

2009-02-02T04:33:00.003+00:00

One of the problems with being one of only a few players playing blackjack in my area is that casinos quickly start to notice that the tables are not making them as much money as they were expecting. When the tables actually start to lose them money, they really start to pay attention and there's only one person to look at, me!One of the first casinos that I chose to display my skills at offers

My Story: How I became a Card Counter

2009-01-16T20:42:00.005+00:00

The movie '21' spawned a whole new generation of card counters. I was one of them.Before watching '21', I was barely aware that blackjack was a beatable game.Sure I'd heard of people with the 'magical' abilities to track cards and who were able to use their skills in casinos to beat card games and make money, but I'd also heard that this was considered cheating and people caught counting were

Thanks for Visiting!

2008-12-30T23:46:00.004+00:00

Thanks for visiting. I have learned a bit more about blogging now, so am going to do a little site redesign to hopefully make a better blog. Currently it is badly laid out and a bit confusing to first time visitors.Be blogging again soon! Please bear with me!To view this video you need Adobe Flash Player.For other free poker lessons visit ExpertInsight.combuildVideo

Beating BlackJack with Andy Bloch

2008-12-30T05:07:00.002+00:00

When I first decided to become a card counter, this is where I started:Learn how the M.I.T. Blackjack Team made millions in Vegas bringing down the house! Basic Strategy Card Counting Optimal Betting Camouflage and Team Play!Also included: Bonus Audio Track, Basic Strategy Chart, and Optimal Betting Guide! Andy Bloch is one of the original members of the MIT team and is a featured player in

Team Meeting Two

2008-12-30T04:00:00.002+00:00

Another week had passed since our first team meeting. The day job kept me busy, but I still found time to practice my card counting skills.Now, to any serious card counter, learning basic strategy and how to count cards are fundamental building blocks to your career. If you are unable to master either of these basics, then you have no shot at becoming a card counter. So practice, practice

Team Play Tactics

2008-12-30T03:30:00.001+00:00

Up until this point of my career, I was following Andy Bloch's instructional DVD, 'Beating Blackjack with Andy Bloch'. The DVD teaches you how to use basic strategy, count cards and implement it into a team strategy like the one used by the MIT Team.According to the DVD, one player sits and plays the table minimum, keeping track of the count. When the count reaches the point where it is

True Count Vs Running Count

2008-12-30T02:56:00.002+00:00

The ability to count cards needs one further step to make it useful to a card counter. So far we know how to work out the running count by using the Hi-Lo method of counting. This tells us if the deck is rich in 10's and A's, or is depleted of them. We need to take this one step further by looking at how many decks are left, and determining the advantage/disadvantage per deck left to be played.

Team Meeting Numero Uno

2008-12-29T04:00:00.001+00:00

For those of you who remember, I started out card counting with my buddy Zola. But so far our training was done separately, apart from watching some instructional DVD"s together.I learned Basic Strategy and the Hi-Lo counting system on my own in a couple of days, but we waited a week for our first team meeting. I had 'tested' the system and was pretty confident that it all worked and made sense

Testing the system

2008-12-29T03:46:00.004+00:00

Until now, I had taken it on blind faith that counting cards works, but there was no way I was going to put into practice without testing it first.Now, according to card counting strategy, when playing blackjack using basic strategy, the house has an approximate 0.5% edge over the player. This is the average edge over the long term. However, it has been proven that when the deck is heavy in

Learning to Count Cards

2008-12-28T17:04:00.003+00:00

So Step 1 was over. I know my basic strategy. It was time for Step 2 - learning how to count cards. I have briefly explained the counting system I first learnt in the previous post.Now, it had only taken me a couple of hours to learn Basic Strategy. Memorising the chart was pretty simple and playing a few dummy hands to test my knowledege was pretty easy too. But counting cards looked a bit

The Hi-Lo System of Counting Cards

2008-12-28T16:27:00.006+00:00

Step 2 to becoming a card counter is learning how to count cards.There is a common misconception that you need to be some sort of genius to be able to count cards. I mean, keeping track of all the cards already being played to figure out what cards are left in the deck? Who can do that?Well I'm here to tell you that counting cards is easy. Anyone can do it with a little practice.Back in the movie

Learning Basic Strategy

2008-12-28T09:43:00.001+00:00

Let's get started!So here we were after a only a week in the world of card counting ready to start our training. We'd watched the movie '21' and even seen 'Beating BlackJack with Andy Bloch' a few times, it was time to start our training.Step 1 was learning Basic Strategy. Now I've played blackjack before and am well aware of the basic rules of the game and have even come up with a few strategies

An intoduction to Basic Strategy

2008-12-28T08:45:00.012+00:00

Step 1 to becoming a card counter is to learn Basic Strategy. In fact, all blackjack players should learn basic strategy whether you're going to count cards or are just a recreational gambler.What is Basic Strategy?It tells you the optimal play to make in every situation whilst playing blackjack. For example, if you have a hard 16 against the dealers 10, basic strategy tells you to hit (or

Getting started with Andy Bloch

2008-12-28T03:13:00.006+00:00

So here I am. It's roughly June 2008 and my friend (ZoLa) and I have watched the movie '21' and decided to give card counting at blackjack a shot. We have some fairly unrealistic expectations and no clue what to do. Counting cards eh?So where to start? Well, we turned to our good old friend Google and plugged in MIT Blackjack Team and Card Counting, reading dozens of articles about how the MIT

Begin at the Beginning

2008-12-27T11:59:00.008+00:00

So what drove me into the depraved world of card counting?Counting cards is not something I saw myself doing six months ago. I was vaguely aware of stories of irresponsible parents taking their genius kids into casinos to track cards whilst they gambled and make them money. I also remember hearing stories of people being taken around back and beaten to within an inch of their lives for cheating.