Professional blackjack players gambling in land-based casinos use some methods to get a mathematical advantage over gambling establishments. To be sure, they may select the most profitable versions of blackjack, search for tables with the appropriate parameters, make the appropriate changes in the basic strategy by some specific nuances of the rules, and count cards by one or several systems.
However, a set of experts’ techniques is not limited to such well-known methods. Many players have recurrence to additional tricks that may help to achieve the best results. Some methods are legal, while others are more or less illegal, or they are just not approved by the administration of gambling clubs.
This article covers a technique beyond any cavils of dealers, inspectors, pit bosses, managers, or security service representatives. Firstly, it is almost impossible to notice that you are using it. Secondly, it does not break standard rules or behavioral principles.
What You Should Know about Ace Tracking?
So, we will discuss ace tracking in the decks or a shoe. It attempts to find clumps of aces in the cards a croupier deals. As you can imagine, this information gives customers numerous advantages since clumps of aces significantly increase the probability of winning (read about this fact in an individual article.)
We want to warn you that we are not talking about card marking. Card marking is an obvious fraud, and Casinoz does not support any kind of fraud in particular and card sharps as a whole.
It should also be noted that the technique discussed in this article is quite complicated, so it can hardly be recommended to beginners. This article is intended for informative purposes only, and we will not teach readers to use the tricks described below. More detailed information can be found in specialized sources if you are interested in this material.
General Description of Ace Tracking
The method we discuss is based on the fact that gamblers should memorize the cards dealt directly after or before aces. As soon as the cards are shuffled again, they may help to determine when the croupier can deal aces.
To be sure, this approach cannot be extremely accurate. If the dealer does his job well and shuffles the cards carefully and thoroughly, they are probably well shuffled, so there is no sense in tracking.
Frankly speaking, dealers do not always shuffle attentively. Even playing with one or two decks, some casino employees can shuffle cards carelessly to start the next hand as quickly as possible. This approach is particularly effective at such tables.
In addition, you can notice clumps of aces hidden in the cards. In such cases, paying attention to the adjacent cards is necessary. It is difficult to guess when an ace shows up and players succeed in doing it in rare cases, but information about clumps of aces in the deck is very useful for experienced gamblers.
Ace Tracking in Practice
Let's simulate possible situations. You are sitting at the single-deck blackjack table and playing according to the basic strategy. It does not matter whether you are counting cards or not (although a real pro always counts, even subconsciously).
In one of the hands, you have received two aces. When the hand is over, you should memorize the cards on the table. Let’s imagine that there were a five of spades, a jack of clubs, a ten of diamonds, and a king of diamonds. When the cards in the deck come to an end, the dealer shuffles them, and you should not forget the key cards.
Then a new hand starts. If you notice that a ten of diamonds and a jack of clubs show up at any stage, aces (or one of them) may be dealt. Although there is no guarantee that they can appear, a pro will correct this strategy.
For example, he or she can always increase the number of boxes or raise a bet on them (especially if his or her score is positive while card counting). In this particular case, his or her activities can fail to provide an advantage, but this tactic is favorable over the long run.
One or Several Decks
It is easier to keep track of aces in single-deck or double-deck blackjack when a croupier shuffles the cards personally and deals them manually. However, if the casino does not have good shuffling machines, multi-deck versions of blackjack are also suitable for ace tracking. Moreover, in this case, this fact will even provide additional advantages.
The croupier rarely shuffles six or eight decks well. This increases the probability of success. In addition, if you have a good memory, you can memorize several chains of consecutive aces. However, it is very difficult.
Online Casinos
You probably know there is no sense in counting cards at online casinos with blackjack running on the random number generator. It is useless to track aces in such games. All virtual cards take part in each hand and are dealt with randomly. It is useless to search for any sequence because it is not formed. There are some exceptions, though. For example, counting cards in multi-hand one-deck blackjack makes sense if you find such a game at an internet casino.
You may try to use it at live casinos where the gameplay with real dealers is broadcast. Though it should be admitted that such clubs cope with card counting and other tricks of the professional players (read about them in the special article on the website Casinoz.)
Extra Advice
The following recommendations will help you to use ace tracking more efficiently.
- Keep in mind that it is necessary to use the basic techniques. It is useless to track aces unless you have mastered the basic strategy.
- Card counting will be useful. Yet, only experienced players can combine all these techniques.
- Look for inexperienced croupiers and lazy dealers. The first ones are not very good at card shuffling due to a lack of skills, and representatives of the second group shuffle cards half-heartedly.
- If a croupier shuffles a deck thoroughly, does the riffle shuffle, and places a few cards into the discard tray, you can hardly track aces at this table.
- Do not draw attention to yourself. You should not increase your bet dramatically, even if you are sure that you will get aces on two boxes. Pit bosses are very suspicious, and this step will make them keep an eye on you.
- You can also try to distract the croupier in any available way. Chat with talkative dealers. Pay compliments to female dealers. Ask them to tell you about the current promotions. Gain pace to make the dealer shuffle cards faster and less attentively.
Anyway, be wise.
Conclusion
To sum up, we want to remind you that the key factor of success in blackjack is the properly chosen strategy. The second leading technique is card counting. The other methods follow the aspects mentioned above. If you want to learn how to play blackjack professionally, you should be patient and move from the basics to the more intricate nuances.
We will be glad to know your opinion concerning this issue. Write it in the comments and tell us about your experience and achievements.