Are you looking to master the game of black jack by doing some hi lo card counting? Then you have come to the right place as we are going to discuss 5 tips on how to master hi lo card counting. Card counting is difficult and requires lots of practice before you can do it without taking much time. Once you have learned the 5 tips, ensure that you practice, practice, practice because that’s the only way you are going to perfect your skill.

#1. Learn the Basics of Hi Lo Card Counting

One of the first things you have to do is learn the counting values of the cards. This is one of the most important things in regards to hi lo card counting is learning the counts of each of the cards. The hi cards, or 10, J, Q, K, A, are counted as -1. The middle or neutral cards, 7, 8, 9, are counted as 0 and then the lo cards, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 are counted as +1. Once you learn the values of each card you need to learn how to keep a running tally in your head. Here’s an example on how to count.

Continue practicing your running total, until you can do it for a whole deck. This is important as it will help you be able to keep the running total in your head quickly. Once you are able to keep the running total, quickly and accurately, then you can move onto the next step of converting to the true count. The true count is what you are going to base your bet on. It is based on the running total, the total number of decks and then looking at what is already discarded.

#2. Learning to Master Distractions

Another tip that you should learn to do is learn how to master any and all distractions that will come at you while trying to count cards. If you go to any casino, there will be lots of distractions – people, music, lights, etc. It will be hard to count cards in a busy place without some practice as you might quickly lose focus and lose count. Therefore once you master the rules and counting in the quiet, add lots of distraction to your own house and practice counting with everything going on. Play some loud music right behind you, have some friends come over and talk to you, have your wife and kids come up and ask you questions or just sit at the table and talk to you loudly. Try to include as many distractions as you can at once so you can practice your counting until you are able to do it all correctly with all the many distractions.

#3. Master the Betting Skills

Now that you can count with distractions, you will need to learn how to bet using your hi lo counting skills. If you can’t bet properly and win money, there’s not much use in learning how to count! Once you have learned to get the true count, you need to decide what your betting spread is. Your betting spread is based on your positive true counts and can be $5 each betting unit. Here’s a chart to help you out:

If you know your betting price is $5 per unit, then if your true count ends up being +4, you are going to bid $15 since that would be 3 betting units. While you can bid higher than 5 betting units, the higher you go, the more likely you will get caught for counting cards. So it is recommended to stick to just 5 betting units.

#4. Read, Read & Read Some More

While we have covered a lot in this article, we really have just covered the basics. There are a lot of great books out there that talk about hi lo card counting and how to bet, etc. The more you read, the more you will learn and become a better card counter. Reading and learning is almost as important as practicing. Read the customer reviews on the books first to make sure that they are going to be helpful.

#5. Visualize the count

Even though you have mastered counting cards with all the distractions, you still might mess up and lose count. Therefore, instead of keeping it in your head, try to keep the count on your fingers or something tangible that you can see so you don’t lose count. You obviously can’t write it down but try to figure out a way to visualize it. Put a picture of +1 in your head and then change it when you get a new number. Don’t visualize that number as a spot on the table though or people might think you are weird for staring at the table! But keep the running number in your mind or on your fingers and keep it there like it’s stuck like glue.

In Summary…

These are just five tips to help you master hi lo card counting. One theme that is repeated throughout all of them is PRACTICE. You can’t master any of these tips without practice and more practice. It’s very important so you can keep the count in your head with all the distractions and not draw attention to yourself by counting out loud or being slow, etc. It is said that you should have at least 20-30 hours of practicing the hi lo counting with and without distractions until you will be ready to try it out in an actual casino.

Word to the wise: the counting technique will not be helpful for online gambling, just in person. Continue practicing and then you will be ready to go to the casino and place some bets to win some cash!

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