how to explain why card counting works
- Thread starter Daggers
- Start date
Severity8
Well-Known Member
The Chaperone
Well-Known Member
Get a deck of cards. Take out half of the 2-6s and add 8 tens and 2 aces. Learn the indices for TC +20. Then have him deal to you till he's convinced. Maybe bet him a dollar a hand. If he's not willing to put his money where his mouth is, then deep down he knows he's wrong.
Daggers
Well-Known Member
but then he would argue it's not a full deck then, like what they use in casinos. he would have to see it work exactly how i would do it in casino conditions. it's infuriating how much it takes to convince someone of something :flame:
kewljason
Well-Known Member
You can't convince him because he doesn't want to be convinced. His mind is already made up.
You can do a demo as Mr Chap suggusts, but that won't change his mind. You could run simulations of millions of hand and that too would have little meaning. You are better off not even trying. For most friends and aquaintances, just don't bother. let them think what they like. For someone very close to you, like your Father, tell him, you know this won't work, but it is just something you must do to prove to yourself and get it out of your system. If you do have sucess over time, you won't have to try to convince them. Eventually they will come to you wanting to know more and your success over time will have open their mind just a little, but even then they will remain highly skeptical. It is part of the isolism that will become a theme, if you do this for any length of time. Get used to it. 
NightStalker
Well-Known Member
There is a lot of difference
between theory and practise.. Simulations and real life are too different things
between theory and practise.. Simulations and real life are too different things
Sonny
Well-Known Member
It's pretty simple to explain. Whether or not someone believes you is a different story.
The house edge changes every time you remove a card from the deck. Card counters keep track of the house edge as the cards are dealt. When the casino has the edge they bet as little as possible (often nothing at all). As the player's advantage increases they raise their bets in proportion to their advantage. The bigger their advantage, the more they bet and the more money they expect to earn. Simple as that.
-Sonny-
QFIT
Well-Known Member
EXACTLY. And the casino only uses a full deck for the first hand, where you get no advantage.
21gunsalute
Well-Known Member
2 things you should never discuss with your father:
1. Sex
2. Card counting
Not necessarily in that order.
Gamblor
Well-Known Member
I just had a +18 TC and lost! Including the Lucky Lady side bet! I want my money back!
OP tell your dad to think about Spanish 21, and why its still not a +EV game with all the great rules and bonuses.
Wookets
Well-Known Member
Was this on your recent AC trip where you lost 100 units? At least the weather was nice :laugh: I've had trouble with that Lucky Ladies bet even recently when the count has warranted it. +18 though? Ouch.
Gamblor
Well-Known Member
AC's garbage as we all know, haven't been there in a while. It was somewhere else.
Get out two decks of cards: one being a regular deck and the other being a pinochle deck. From the regular deck, remove all the Kings and Aces. Leave the pinochle deck as is.
Now, have your Dad deal you blackjack, one hand at a time from alternating decks. For each hand from the regular deck, bet 10 cents. For each hand from the pinochle deck, bet $1. Play for real money until he understands what's happening.
Craps Master
Well-Known Member
I have always relied on the same thirty second explanation when describing counting to the uninitiated. I point out that a blackjack pays 3/2 to the player, but only 1/1 to the dealer. When there are more tens and aces left in the deck, more blackjacks get dealt. The dealer gets just as many as you do, but he doesn't get paid extra, only you do. So, over time, if you bet bigger when there are more aces and tens left, you win because of that 3/2 bonus. You just try to break even on all the other hands. That's the expanation I give, and I figure people who have at least a passing familiarity with the game "get it" about 80% of the time.
You could also employ a 1-100 spread at SD and let him deal to you. Talk about what's going on as you play, and maybe he will start to understand.
You could also employ a 1-100 spread at SD and let him deal to you. Talk about what's going on as you play, and maybe he will start to understand.