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The GameMaster's Blackjack School

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And I'll have a side of aces....

If I were to ever go to work for a casino as a 'counter-catcher' (not likely), I'd watch certain players' feet to tell me if they were counting or not. Their feet? Yep, their feet and I'd toss the rascals out by the scruff of their neck, because I know how dangerous those counters are.

No, I haven't gone crazy ( I could understand you thinking that way if I REALLY went to work for a casino to catch my brethren), because the feet are a great place to keep track of the aces played from a deck or shoe. You see, the ace is a strange card when it comes to the game of Blackjack. For betting purposes, it's very important; after all, it's the primary component of a 'blackjack' or natural which pays 3 to 2. But for playing purposes, an ace is, except for some doubling situations, of very little value. Hit a 15 with an ace and now you have 16. Not a lot of help.

In multi-deck games, a counter will make most of his $$$ via a large betting spread. But, in a single-deck game where it's difficult to get a large spread (because of camouflage purposes), playing the hand accurately is very important. That's why some counting systems out there assign a point value of '0' to the ace. By doing that, you're giving up some betting situations in exchange for playing the hand better. But you can have the best of both worlds by keeping a separate count of the aces and using your feet to do it. (If all this is 'Greek' to you, please see my series, "How To Win at Blackjack" on the Strategy Page of this site.)

When I play single-deck Blackjack, I use the Hi-Opt 1 count which assigns a value of 0 to aces and make temporary adjustments for betting purposes. Since a single deck has only four aces, it's really easy to do. When the first aces comes out, I lift the heel of my right foot off the floor. When the second ace comes out, I rock my foot back so my toes are off the floor. For ace #3, I roll my foot so my weight is on the outside (The pad? What's that part called, anyway?). When the fourth ace shows, I rock my foot so my weight is on the arch area. How you keep track of the aces isn't as important as how you use the information you have. I'll run through a few examples to show you how this all works.

Let's assume a quarter-deck has been played, the running count is 2 and no aces have come out; therefore, my right foot is flat on the floor. In a 'normal distribution', I'd expect to see one ace in a quarter-deck of play, so the remaining deck is 'rich' by one ace. With a running count of 2, I'd temporarily add 1 to the running count FOR BETTING PURPOSES ONLY, so it's now 3. Since there are three-quarters of a deck remaining, my true count for figuring the bet is 3 divided by .75 = 4. I'd place an appropriate bet and revert back to the running count of 2. Continuing on, let's say that on the next round the running count drops to 1 and two more aces show up. With 4 players at the table, we will have used another quarter of a deck, so we are now 'poor' by one ace. Understand that? There is a half-deck left to be played, but only one ace left in there, so my chances of receiving a natural' have decreased quite a bit. So, I adjust the count of 1 to 0 (by subtracting 1 for the 'extra' ace which has come out) and will place a minimum bet. If I was not using the ace count, I'd be betting more, since the true count would be 1 divided by .5 (a half-deck) = 2. Naturally, once the deck is shuffled, I place my right foot back on the floor and begin again with both the running count and the 'side' of aces.

Keeping track of the aces separately is difficult and should only be attempted after you've completely mastered your chosen system. But, if you play a lot of single deck, it's well worth the effort.