Are Card Counters a Threat to Casinos?
Card counting is a widely-known type of advantage playing used in blackjack. The expert in this system does not literally count each card played, but rather uses a simplified counting system to keep track of favorable and unfavorable cards.
Casinos view card counters as a serious threat to their business and take pains to keep them out of the way. Casinos train their pit bosses and dealers to identify card counters. They also use surveillance cameras and hire private detectives to help find these advantage gamblers.
But their first and foremost line of defense is to actually change the rules of blackjack to deter the card counters. Of all games in casinos, blackjack is the only one that has dozens of rule variations across different casinos.
When changing blackjack rules, a casino can choose those rules that favor the dealer, or those that favor the player, or a mixture of the two. As you can imagine, those set of blackjack rules that give the player the most options are the most favorable to him or her. Rules that limit these options or give the dealer more room to more are unfavorable. For example, the more freedom to double and split cards, the better for the player, but if the dealer can hit on a soft 17 it is not good.
The number of decks played as well as special blackjack payoffs also affect the odds. The more decks used, the worse for the player especially the card counter. A blackjack payoff of 6 to 5 is so bad it should be avoided even if just one deck is used. A high deck penetration is beneficial for card counters while a low one is the opposite.
Casinos that want to get rid of card counting folks often use blackjack rules so bad that no card counter would ever want to play them. This is why we see more and more 6-5 blackjack and the like in casinos today.
But is using bad rules to drive away card counters worth the effort? Some disagree.
Card counting does not post much of a threat to the overall well-being of a casino. While many blackjack players may be interested in it, the reality is very few of them succeed in card counting. Of those who do succeed, still fewer make a significant fortune. Most card counters spend their days grinding away at the tables for like $20 per hour or less. Card counting experts make up such a small percentage of gamblers that it's really strange how paranoid casinos get about them.
Some argue that driving away card counters with bad blackjack rules can even be worse for the casinos. Bad blackjack games can do harm to the casinos because they can turn off ordinary players, not just card counters. This, in turn, would mean less income for them. On the other hand, good blackjack games attract card counters and ordinary gamblers alike. This means more money goes to the house. The card counters may make more money too, but as said before they are so few it is not even statistically significant in most cases.
Card counting is nowhere near as successful as people think. Perhaps casinos should make an experiment and see how good blackjack rules can benefit them even more than the card counters.