The Hi-Lo Count was invented by Harvey Dubner and is sort of a simplified version of Edward Thorp’s Ten Count. It’s a great blackjack counting system for beginners, making it easy to get familiar with the basics of counting cards while keeping the odds on your side.
The main benefit of using the Hi-Lo Count as your primary card counting system is the simplicity of the system. While it may noin practice and therefore the player’s rate of failing to play according to the system will be at minimum.
Do you know how much 1+1 is? What about 1-1? Well, if you do, you’re going to be able to handle the difficulty level of the High/Low card counting system. In other words, you either add 1, subtract 1 or do nothing (add 0) when a card is dealt.
Here’s the Hi-Lo card counting method:
| When Dealt | Count |
|---|---|
| 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | +1 |
| 7, 8, 9 | 0 |
| T, J, Q, K, A | -1 |
When a 3 is dealt, you add +1 to the count. When an 8 is dealt, you add zero to the count. When a J is dealt you add -1 to the count… you get the idea. The High/Low system is very simple. For example, after 4, J, T, A, 3, 7, 8, A, K, J have been dealt, your count is +1-1-1-1+1+0+0-1-1-1=-4. The running count would be -4 and the deck isn’t beneficial for you to bet more or enter the game.
The more positive the count is, the better chance you have of winning.
Hi-Lo card counting system always starts from 0 and ends in 0. Therefore it’s a balanced card counting system. For practicing purposes it’s a good thing because whenever you’re practicing the High-Low Count, you’ll be able to tell whether you’ve counted correctly since once you’ve run out of cards, the final figure should be a zero.
Other simple systems are Ace-to-Five Count and Knockout Count.