Introduction to Hi Lo card counting system
1 Introduction
This article describes Hi Lo card counting system. This is one of the most popular card counting systems. It is simple, yet powerful. In this system, cards are assigned count values as below:
|
Card |
Ace |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
J |
Q |
K |
|
Value |
-1 |
+1 |
+1 |
+1 |
+1 |
+1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
After dealer shuffles, your running count will be 0. As the cards are dealt, add the assigned count value to your running count. If an Ace comes out, your running count will decrease by 1. If a 3 is dealt, your running count will increase by 1. If a 7 is dealt, your running count will not change.
When the count is high, it indicates that the remaining cards are favorable to you. Running count must be converted to true count before being used. Divide running count by number of decks remaining to get true count.
2 Betting strategy
The betting index for Hi Lo system will vary with game rules. For example, for 6 decks, H17, DAS and late surrender, player has advantage when the true count is ≥ 0.8. At the beginning of a newly shuffled shoe, your bet amount should be low. For example if the table limits are $5-$500, you will start of with a $5 bet. As long as the true count is less than 0.8, your bet amount should be $5. If true count goes above 0.8, you should increase your bet amount. To determine by how much the bet size should increase, you will need to consider the following:
· How much bankroll you have? If your bankroll is small and you bet big, your risk of losing all your money will be high.
· Casino will ban players who they believe are card counters. Biggest give away for card counters is big jumps in bet size.
You should gradually increase your bet amount. As the true count increases, your bet amount should also proportionately increase. This will reduce your risk of ruin and avoid detection as a card counter. Risk of ruin is defined as the probability of losing all your money. Your maximum bet amount divided by your minimum bet amount is your bet spread. For example, if your minimum bet amount is 5 and maximum bet amount is 60, then your bet spread is 12. For 6 deck games, your bet spread should be around 12.
3 Playing strategy
You can use the true count to deviate from your basic strategy. For example if the count is high, you should stand on your 12 vs dealer 3, instead of hitting. True counts contain fractions. You must convert it to an integer before referring to the table. If true count is 2.4, it should be converted to 2. If true count is -2.4, it should be converted to -2. Every cell in the table will have a Basic Strategy. There will be zero or more indices.
For example:
· The cell “player 12 vs dealer 3” in hard hand table has Basic Strategy of HIT and one index ≥ 1 STD. This means that when true count is 1 or higher, you must STD. When true count is less than 1, you must HIT.
· The cell “9, 9 vs dealer 7” in split hand table has a “-“ for Basic Strategy and one index ≥ 3 SPT. This means you must split when the count is 3 or higher. When count is less than 3, you must not split and look in the hard hand table.
· The cell “3, 3 vs dealer 2” in split hand table has a Basic Strategy of SPT and one index ≤ -1 IGN. This means you must not split when count is -1 or less. If count is > -1, you must split.
4 Insurance strategy
Insurance will be advantageous when there is a higher concentration of 10s in the shoe. Thus when the count goes beyond a certain index value, insurance must be taken. The index value depends on the number of decks used in the game. Six deck games have an index value of 3.0. That means when the true count is ≥ 3.0, you must take insurance. If the count is < 3.0, you must decline insurance. Index values for different number of decks are given below.
|
Number of decks |
Index value |
|
1 |
1.4 |
|
2 |
2.4 |
|
4 |
2.9 |
|
6 |
3.0 |
|
8 |
3.1 |
|
12 |
3.2 |