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Is card counting legal?
The idea of card counting is enough to scare lots of players worried about being caught and going to jail. However, contrary to what casinos will have you believe, there is nothing illegal about counting cards. That is as long as there is no outside device employed to count the cards. In the rules and laws of the United States there are no provisions making card counting illegal. Casinos know that skilled blackjack players will be able to count cards and take an advantage over the house. However, the way casinos win and make money is they identify card counters and keep them from playing. Since the casino is considered private property the casino owner can ask anyone to leave at any time, or not allow entrance.
What the Casinos do to Stop Counting Cards
Casinos want to make money and the best way to ensure that they do is to keep card counters out of the casino. In fact, the casinos spend money and time on keeping card counters from playing. There are quite a few different countermeasure put in place and you can see what they are by checking out the following examples.
- Adding more decks of cards making it more difficult to keep track of all the cards
- Talking to the player to break their concentration
- Surveillance to determine players who may be threats to the casino.
- IDs of known card counters.
- Increased shuffling, especially when wagers are increased.
- Ensuring players only flat bet.
The location of the casino affects how many countermeasures may be put in place to thwart skilled players. For example, New Jersey limits the amount of countermeasures a casino can use to keep skilled players from winning. However, in Nevada there are no restrictions.
Keeping card counters from winning can also reduce the house’s edge, too. For example, if the casino is over shuffling the cards this means they are taking longer and fewer hands are being dealt per hour. This results in the house’s winnings going down. As a result, some casinos have instituted automatic shuffling machines to keep the cards shuffled and more hands dealt per hour. There are even some machines that will shuffle one set of cards while another set is in play. There are others that allow for used cards to be returned and reshuffled to keep game play going at all times. These are called Continuous Shuffle Machines. This shuffle technique ensures minimal penetration, which means that any advantage of counting the cards is practically eliminated. Most online casinos ensure the deck is reshuffled at the beginning of each hand. This is down to make sure the house will always have the edge.
Any pit boss that identifies a player as a card counter will do one of two things. They may invite them to play a different game and avoid blackjack altogether or they may choose to ask them to leave the casino. Also, those accused of card counting, or even cheating, will have their photos taken via surveillance and included in the list of known card counters provided to casinos. |