How to Beat the Odds in Vegas

It is axiomatic that there is no table game at any casino in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, or anywhere else for that matter, where the odds are in the player's favor. Table payouts range from pure suckers' bets, like numbers in roulette, to slightly unfavorable, like the pass line in craps. But there is one game, as many experienced gamblers know, where the highly observant player can tilt the odds in his favor and cash in handsomely-blackjack (a.k.a. 21).

Ever since mathematics professor Edward O. Thorp first publicized a workable system for card counting in 1962, casino pit bosses have gotten heartburn from gamblers raking it in at the blackjack tables. Teams of system players have been known to take hundreds of thousands of dollars in a single night. Variations of Thorp's original system have proliferated, but they all employ the same principles of card counting, betting, and basic play. You may not break the bank in Las Vegas, but by learning and using a card counting system you can make your trips to the desert pay for themselves and more.

The object of blackjack is to draw cards to get as close to 21 as possible without going over. Face cards are worth 10. Aces count as either one or 11. Hands that include an ace are known as "soft" hands, and hands that do not are "hard." The dealer must hit 16 and stand on 17. Blackjacks pay 3 to 2, or 1 1/2 times the bet. (The differential payout on blackjacks enables card counting systems to work. Another element at work is that the dealer, who draws under fixed rules, is more likely to bust when there is a surplus of face cards in the deck.)

The way card counting works is this: The player's position relative to the dealer becomes stronger the more high cards are remaining in the show; by varying the amount of the bet to reflect whether the deck is favorable or unfavorable, the player can nudge the returns in his favor.

Using mathematical probabilities, Thorp and others established what is known as "basic strategy," a set of rules for when to hit, stand, split pairs, double down, and take insurance, based upon the dealer's up card. (Basic strategy is so ubiquitous that friendly dealers will even teach you if you don't know it.) There are only a few inviolable rules. Always stand on 19, 20 or 21. Never split pairs of fours or tens. Always split pairs of eights or aces. Insurance is almost always a sucker's bet; never take it unless the running card count is +3 or more. All of the other rules change based upon what the dealer shows.