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The
"5 Ace" Blackjack Counting System
As you
probably know, most blackjack counting systems are complicated, difficult
to remember and even harder to employ under casino conditions. That's
because most of them require the blackjack player to memorize a lot of
different cards that have been played. Typically, that means aces, tens
and all face cards. The "5 Ace" system is much simpler and easier to keep
up with under playing conditions. With it, you only need to remember two
cards: the 5's and the aces.
The first
thing to do is to recognize and understand why these two cards are important
in the game of blackjack. The ace is the most obvious one as it's the
most important card for you, the player. Why the 5? Because it's
the most important card for the casino. You want to get as many
aces as you can because you'll improve your chances of getting a blackjack.
Obviously getting a pair of aces are even better. But why are fives the
most important card to the casino? It's because a five can turn a dealer's
hand of 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 into a "standing hand", a hand that doesn't
break. The biggest advantage that the house has is that the dealer takes
his or her cards last, after the players may have already broken and lost
their bets.
If you
can track the aces and fives, it follows that when more fives have been
played than aces (or: more aces are left to be dealt than fives), you
as the player have the advantage. If more aces have been played than fives
(or: more fives are left to be dealt than aces), the dealer and the house
have the advantage.
The
"Why": This may seem like a very simple concept (because it is),
but if you follow it and track just these two cards, you'll be able to
do two important things:
1) Bet more money (and therefore win more) when there are more
aces than fives in the deck, and
2) Bet less money (and therefore lose less money) when there are
more fives than aces remaining in the deck
The
"What": How can you take these simple facts and make them work
to your advantage?
I. Track and count all aces and fives that are dealt
II. Move your bets up and down according to the 5/ace count that
your shoe is playing out. This is "play" money management (as opposed
to "session" money management and "visit" or "trip" money management.
The
"How": The simplest way to count and track aces and
fives is not memorization! Even with tedious practice, memories can be
faulty and make mistakes. With all the distractions that a casino can
offer, it's very easy to lose track of your count of either card. If that
happens, you're back to square one.
To track
aces and fives (Part I. of the "What"), buy 20 $1 chips. You'll
be using these to count with. Designate the area between you and the card
'square' (a circle on most blackjack tables) as the area for your counting.
To the left-front of the card square, place a $1 chip for every
ace that you see dealt, regardless of whether you, the dealer, or another
player received it. To the right-front of the card square, place a $1
chip for every five that has been dealt.
Obviously,
you want the stack indicating the number of fives that have been dealt
(the right stack) to be higher than the ace stack (the left stack). The
higher the five stack is in relation to the ace stack, the higher the
advantage is for you, the player. Conversely, the higher the ace stack
is in relation to the five stack, the bigger the advantage is for the
casino. But to put these simple facts and your card counting to use, you
must use "play" money management based on the count.
"play"
money management (Part II. of the "What") means expanding or contracting
the size of your bets based on the count of any given shoe of cards currently
in play. To explain a specific scenario, we'll use a $5 minimum-bet blackjack
table as an example.
In this
example, $10 would be your 'neutral' bet; 'neutral' meaning that you would
be betting $10 a hand without any knowledge of the count or when the count
of your aces and fives are equal.
Positive
Count: When your five stack gains one chip more than your ace stack,
bump your bet up by 1 minimum bet ($5) to $15. For every chip in your
five stack that exceeds your ace stack, bump another $5. For instance,
if you have 6 chips in your five stack and 2 chips in your ace stack,
you would bet $30 ($10 neutral bet plus 4X$5=$30).
Neutral
Count: It's equally important that you back off your bets on negative
counts as well. If your positive stack (more five chips than ace chips)
evens up, return to neutral ($10). If your ace stack is either one or
two chips more than your five stack, bet the table minimum ($5). For instance,
with 5 chips in your ace stack and 3 chips in your five stack, bet the
table minimum of $5.
Negative
Count: Whenever your ace stack exceeds your five stack by 3 or more,
pull out and do not bet. For instance, if your ace stack has 5 chips and
your five stack has 2 chips (a negative count of -3 in this system), do
not bet the next hand, simply observe the other players and the dealers
cards, keep counting their aces and fives and wait for a neutral or positive
count to return before jumping back in. If you see that the shoe is running
out of cards while the count is negative (the ace stack is higher than
the five stack), you might want to consider another table rather than
waiting for the upcoming shuffle.
Of course,
the $5 minimum table used to illustrate the system is just an example.
You can use the same money management system of your play at any stakes.
If the minimum table bet is $10, your 'neutral' bet would be $20, etc.
Yes,
the "5 Ace" System is simple. The bottom line is: IT WORKS FOR ME!
Recommended
"session" Bankroll
The figures below are recommended amounts of money to become a winner
the reason why we recommend so much of a bank roll is because....
even though the deck is in your favor that doesn't mean that you will
win every hand,
therefore you need enough money to stay in the game during bad beats.
BET SIZE
(MIN.BET) |
SESSION
BANKROLL |
| $2 |
$160 |
| $5 |
$400 |
| $10 |
$800 |
| $15 |
$1,200 |
| $20 |
$1,600 |
| $25 |
$2,000 |
| $50 |
$4,000 |
This blackjack system
is for entertainment purposes only.
I use this system for fun at the casinos -
there are risks involved when playing any game.
Use at your own risk!
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