Is It Illegal To Count Cards At A Casino
You will get enough time to complete the fair wagering criteria, is it illegal to count cards in a casino the operational procedures of the casino have been approved by the commission. Microgaming, those professional video gamers who win are those have the talent and the dedication. Card counting is not technically illegal unless you are using a card-counting device of some kind. However, card counting in blackjack is frowned upon by casino owners for the simple reason that the strategy leaves the casino with a very slim edge to win against the player, unlike casino games that rely on luck only, like slot games. There are some programs you can use which will count the cards for you, but they are generally forbidden to use. The benefits however mean you can count cards from your own home, without the.
- Is It Legal To Count Cards In A Casino
- Is It Illegal To Count Cards At A Casino Bonus
- Is It Illegal To Count Cards At A Casino
- Is It Illegal To Count Cards At A Casino Slots
- Is It Illegal To Count Cards At A Casino Winnings
At one time, the general public widely believed that card counting was/is illegal. These thoughts came from watching movies where card counters wear goofy disguises, run from security, and get beat up in back rooms.
By now, more people know that card counting isn’t outlawed. This fact has spread across the internet and made the public much more aware than in years past.
If you’re like me, though, then you may wonder if counting cards is illegal anywhere. I’ll discuss this matter by covering more on the stigma surrounding card counting and if any gambling jurisdictions actually outlaw it.
What Created the Stigma That Card Counting Is Illegal?
Several factors exist behind the perception that card counting is against the law:
- Casinos can ask counters to quit playing.
- Casinos can ban counters.
- The general public doesn’t understand much about card counting.
- Movies reinforce the idea that it’s illegal.
Gambling establishments can and do exercise their right to stop people from counting cards. However, these powers don’t come from an actual law against advantage play.
In fact, advantage gamblers are free to beat casinos as long as they play within the parameters of real money blackjack. They’re only breaking the law when they manipulate the course of the game through devices, marking cards, etc.
The reason why casinos can ban advantage players is because they’re private businesses. They can legally refuse service to anybody so long as they’re not discriminating based on gender or race.
Of course, the general public doesn’t look this deeply into the matter. Some believe that casinos can boot card counters because this technique is illegal.
Hollywood doesn’t help matters either. They’ve create the idea that card counting is highly taboo without ever explaining the legal side of things.
Do Any Gambling Destinations Outlaw Card Counting?
Counting cards seems to be against the law, but it’s definitely not. I can’t find a single gambling jurisdiction that outlaws this advantage play method.
I’ve looked at gaming laws in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and various European countries. Each country/region allows advantage gambling under reasonable circumstances.
They don’t see skill-based play as being illegal in any capacity. If you’re good enough to beat a casino game, then you’re perfectly in the clear.
Perhaps a tiny and remote gambling jurisdiction exists that bans card counting. If such a place does exist, though, then I can’t locate it.
Some Native American casinos have more freedom over how they deal with advantage players. But even in these cases, the reservations don’t explicitly outlaw counting cards.
The law only concerns cheating the casino. Players aren’t allowed to legally uses devices, mark cards, collude with dealers, or use other unsavory methods to win.
Card counting doesn’t constitute cheating, because it does not require the introduction of devices or bending the rules. Instead, counters merely observe the game and use skill to win.
Have Card Counters Ever Been Prosecuted?
Card counting has never officially been illegal. But this fact hasn’t stopped some jurisdictions from bringing bogus charges against advantage players.
In a 1995 case entitled R v Zalis, Caesars Windsor tried suing the Tommy Hyland team. The team consisted of Christopher Zalis, Karen Conroy, and Barbara Dancey.
Assuming the shoe was hot, one or the other would signal Zalis to the table. He’d place big bets right away so that he merely looked like a high roller (i.e. big player strategy).
After watching the team rack up over $100,000 in the matter of a few days, Caesars Windsor began investigating their play.
They first tried claiming that the players were using illegal cheating devices (i.e. pop-off beaded necklaces). However, their legal team noted that Windsor, Ontario didn’t have any laws against using devices at the time (this quickly changed).
The casino changed its strategy to suggest that the team cheated by using hand signals. However, the jury ultimately determined that hand signals are part of fair and legitimate advantage gambling.
In the end, Caesars Windsor didn’t technically prosecute the Tommy Hyland team just for counting cards. But they did come up with inventive ways to go after the team.
What Can Casinos Legally Do to Counters?
Gambling establishments can’t prosecute people for counting cards alone. They can, however, use a variety of methods to throw suspected counters off or even remove them from the property.
Bring the Heat
The pit boss monitors table games to ensure that gamblers behave, dealers perform adequately, and no advantage gamblers are present. The last duty is key to this discussion.
Of course, card counters don’t have a blinking cursor pointing towards them. Therefore, the pit boss must make a judgement call before going after them.
If they suspect card counting, they may walk up to a table and casually observe the action. This action may be all that’s needed to back off a card counter.
If they notice large bet spreads (i.e. going from the table minimum to 15x or higher), they may begin chatting with the player in question. The talk may be friendly in nature, but it’s designed to scare the gambler off what they’re doing.
Limit Bets
A pit boss doesn’t have to immediately escort a player off the property. They can use other measures to effectively neutralize the gambler instead.
Limiting bets is one way to ensure that a card counter can’t profit. For example, the pit boss may not allow a certain player to wager over $25.
Assuming the table minimum is $10, the counter can only increase their bet 2.5x. The latter isn’t enough to capitalize on favorable counts.
Additionally, the pit boss may ask the dealer to place the cut card sooner in the shoe. When the dealer shuffles earlier, this action prevents counters from getting deeper into the shoe where they can be more confident in their count.
Ask for an ID
The pit boss or security may ask for a player’s identification. They likely want to run the gambler’s information and find out if they’re an advantage player.
When the casino finds out that somebody is an advantage gambler, they’ll escort them out of the casino. However, the casino can’t force anybody to produce an ID without law enforcement present.
Take Players to the Back Room
Security may ask a gambler to go to a back room. They use this measure to keep the player on-property while running their details and/or waiting on police.
The latter is only necessary when somebody is suspected of cheating or committing another criminal offense. Of course, card counting doesn’t qualify under this category.
Ban a Player for Life
The final action against an advantage player involves issuing a lifetime ban. Such a move indicates that the casino definitely doesn’t want the gambler’s action any longer.
Of course, the gaming establishment can more easily pull off this feat when they have the player’s identification.
The casino will read the customer the trespassing act upon banning them. They’ll arrest said gambler if they attempt to return to any of the company’s properties.
Tips to Avoid Being Caught When Counting Cards
Card counting may not be illegal, but it sure feels so when considering all of the options that casinos have at their disposal.
The best thing you can do is take steps to avoid giving away your skills. Here are tips for camouflaging your counting abilities:
- Use a team – “Spotters” can identify a hot shoe and signal the big player. This practice eliminates the need to spread bets, which is the biggest tipoff to pit bosses.
- Hit and run – You don’t want to stay in the same casino all night. The pit boss will become suspicious if you keep winning.
- Don’t “wong in” – Most casinos have rules against mid-shoe entry (a.k.a. wonging in). Even if they don’t, though, you’ll give yourself away by counting off to the side and wonging in.
- Look normal – Unlike what movies suggest, card counters don’t wear disguises and goofy getups.
- Look for lenient casinos – Certain casinos are less concerned with card counting than others. You can find these venues with some research.
You’ll likely get caught a few times even if you’re excellent at camouflaging. When this happens, don’t show your ID under any circumstances. Casinos can enter you into a database that flags you as a known advantage player.
Conclusion
Card counting has never been and will never be against the law. You can freely count cards as long as gambling establishments don’t catch you.
Assuming the latter happens, though, then casinos have a legitimate right to boot and ban you. They draw this right from being a private business.
Luckily, you can take several steps to camouflage your play and lower the chances of being made. I heavily suggest researching camouflaging techniques and refusing to show identification if you are caught.
Remember: casinos aren’t law enforcement officers. They aren’t legally entitled to your ID—only the police are.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard of card counting in blackjack. Even if you never go to the casino and have little interest in doing so, the image of the card counter is so prevalent in pop culture that it would be impossible to not at least have some idea about it.
But what is card counting in blackjack, really?
How does card counting even work?
Is it really illegal? If so, why? If not, why do so many people think it is?
This post answers all these questions about card counting and then some. Keep reading below to learn more.
How Card Counting Works
The first thing to understand about card counting is why and how it works.
In most casino games, every bet is being placed on an “independent event.” This means that the odds are the same regardless of what happened on the previous round.
Roulette is a good example. If you bet on a single number, the odds of winning are 37 to 1—every time.
You have 37 ways to lose and only one way to win.
But suppose that the casino left the ball in the pocket after spinning the wheel? A bet on a single number on the next spin would have odds of 36 to 1 because you’d have fewer ways to lose.
This would continue until the casino removed the balls from the pockets and started over.
Blackjack is similar. When a card gets dealt out of the deck in real money blackjack, it’s gone, and that changes the probabilities for the next hand.
And since the deck is randomized, you’ll sometimes wind up with a deck that has a higher proportion of aces and 10s in it than normal.
This is good for the blackjack player because aces and 10s are the cards you need for a blackjack.
And a blackjack pays off at 3:2 odds.
Increase the size of your bets when the deck is relatively rich in aces and 10s, and you’ll get an edge over the casino.
And that’s how card counting works.
You just keep a tally of low cards to high cards and bet more when there are more 10s and aces in the deck.
How to Count Cards
Learning how to count cards isn’t hard. You need to start with a system. The easiest system I know of is the high-low system, and I can teach you the basics in a couple of paragraphs.
You start by assigning a point-value to each card in the deck. Aces and 10s are worth -1 each. Sevens, eights, and nines are worth zero points. All the lowers cards, twos, threes, fours, fives, and sixes are worth +1.
When you see a card get dealt, you add its value to your running count.
When the count is positive, you bet more.
When the count is negative or zero, you bet less.
This system by itself is enough to get you to a point where the casino has no edge left over you, but there are a couple of other intricacies to consider.
The first is compensating for the number of decks in play. The more decks the casino is using, the less effect an individual card has on the odds. To compensate for this, you divide the running count by the number of decks you estimate are still left in the shoe.
This gives you the true count, which is what you use to determine your bet sizes.
The second wrinkle is deciding how much to bet. Most card counters use a betting range based on the size of their default bet. That default bet is a single betting unit. It could be $5, $10, $50, or some other amount.
For example, you might decide to have a conservative betting range of one to four units. If you’re a $5 bettor, you’d be betting $5, $10, $15, or $20 per hand, depending on the count.
Your default bet is $5, so you just add the true count to one to get the size of your bet.
If the count is +1, you’d add that to get 2 betting units. That’s $10.
If the count is +2, you’d be betting $15.
And if the count is +3, you’d bet $20.
There’s more to it than that if you want there to be, but that’s the basics of how to count cards in a nutshell.
Why Is It Illegal to Count Cards?
Here’s a shocker for you:
It’s not illegal to count cards.
Unless you’re using a computer or some kind of device, you can’t be arrested for counting cards because you’re not breaking any laws. If you think about it, it wouldn’t even make sense for counting cards to be illegal.
You’re just thinking strategically about the game as you’re playing.
But even though it’s legal, card counting is—to say the least—frowned upon by the casinos.
How Do Casinos Prevent Card Counting?
Casinos prevent card counting through various countermeasures. One of the easiest countermeasures for a casino to put in place is to use a continuous shuffling machine.
This creates a situation where you really are facing independent events on every hand. The cards that have been dealt are fed back into the shuffling machine, so their removal from the deck has no effect on the odds for the next hand.
Lowering and raising the size of your bets suddenly has no effect.
Even casinos which don’t use continuous shuffling machines decide when to shuffle the deck.
If they think a player is counting, they’ll start shuffling the deck more often to eliminate any potential advantage the card counter might have.
Those aren’t the only countermeasures used. If a casino suspects a player of counting cards, they’ll also back him off the game. They’ll ask him to stick with the other games in the casino.
They might even ask him to leave the casino and never return.
Coming back into a casino after you’ve been asked to leave is trespassing.
And even though counting cards isn’t illegal, trespassing is.
Who Are the Most Famous Card Counters?
The most famous card counters are the MIT Blackjack Team. Their exploits were detailed in a movie, 21, which was based on a book titled Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich.
The individuals who comprised the MIT Blackjack Team aren’t famous, though. One of the ways a card counter demonstrates how good he is involves staying anonymous.
After all, once you become famous, the casinos don’t want to play blackjack with you anymore.
Plenty of blackjack authors are what you might consider famous card counters, too, though.
This includes Ed Thorp, who’s considered the father of card counting, and Sanford Wong, who’s practically a legend in the card counting community.
How Much of a Bankroll Do You Need for Card Counting?
Is It Legal To Count Cards In A Casino
Card counting doesn’t guarantee you a winning hand or a winning session. It’s a long-term strategy that only works over thousands of hands. This means that you can run bad for quite a while before your long-term edge kicks in.
To keep from going broke, you need a large bankroll to withstand the deviation involved in any random game like blackjack while you’re waiting for your edge to kick in.
How big a bankroll?
It depends on how risk-averse you are.
If you’re willing to accept a higher probability of going broke, you can get by on a smaller bankroll. If you really want to minimize your probability of going broke, you need a larger bankroll.
Most card counters measure the size of their bankroll based on betting units, which we discussed earlier.
If you’re highly risk tolerant, you can get by with 200 units, but if you’re risk averse, you should probably strive for 1000 units instead.
If you’re a $5 bettor, your bankroll should be between $1,000 and $5,000.
Once you’ve doubled the size of your bankroll, you can move up in stakes.
Can You Count Cards at Online Casinos?
You cannot count cards at online casinos, not even online casinos with live dealers and real decks of cards. Here’s why:
Here’s why: Online casinos shuffle the deck after every hand.
And yes, even the online casinos with live dealers and real decks of cards do this.
The reshuffling of the deck results in a reset of the count to zero by the time you place your next bet, eliminating the ability to get an edge over the casino.
Conclusion
Is It Illegal To Count Cards At A Casino Bonus
What is card counting in blackjack?
Is It Illegal To Count Cards At A Casino
It’s just a means of getting an edge over the casino by tracking the relatively number of high cards versus low cards in the deck.
Is It Illegal To Count Cards At A Casino Slots
Why is card counting illegal?
It’s not. It’s just frowned on by the casinos. They’d love for you to believe that it’s illegal, though.