If card counting in blackjack is just keeping track of high cards vs low, does that mean if I could remember all the different cards used (i.e. how many 5s, how many 7s) I would be really good at blackjack?

Question

This would break online casinos because you could easily do that with electronics. Assuming the casino itself is playing fair.

If you could perfectly keep track of how many of which cards are left in the decks, and everytime make the most mathematically sound bet, would the house still have an edge?

(I assume the correct answer will start off saying I don’t understand how card counting works – fair enough, but what about the basic explanation of it did I misinterpret?)

In: Mathematics

Answer 1

The house will likely still have an edge because you have to play your hand first.

Also, there’s a couple ways they mitigate this: they use more decks (the casino I dealt at used 8 decks), and the cut card will make the deck get shuffled with 1-2 decks still to be played.

Counting the cards can certainly help your odds but it’s not going to become a sure thing, even if you aren’t caught.