Hi-Lo Count | How to Count Cards in Blackjack
Card counting in blackjack is the best way for players to nearly guarantee that they’ll win against the casino. Many professional gamblers commit to this to start winning big and the most common card counting system they use is the Hi-Lo Count thanks to its simplicity. Still, players must first master Basic Strategy before trying out the Hi-Lo Counting system to ensure that they play their hands correctly.
How Does Hi-Lo Card Counting Work?
Since the Hi-Lo counting system is the most basic card counting system out there, we’ll also talk about how card counting generally works as a refresher. Card counting works as how it is written below:
- Player assigns a value to each card (+1, 0, or -1) according to card counting system’s rules
- Keep track of the total value of all cards drawn
- Add the cards’ values to determine whether the deck’s remaining cards are of high or low value to get the running count
- Base how much to bet according to the card count, depending on the card counting strategy used
In Hi-Lo, players will assign -1 to high cards, +1 to low cards, and 0 to neutral cards.
| Card Value | Card Types | Assigned Value |
| High Cards | 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace | -1 |
| Neutral Cards | 7, 8, 9 | 0 |
| Low Cards | 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | 1 |
The cards’ values are assigned in a way to indicate that more high cards or -1 cards are drawn, the lesser the player’s chances against the dealer is. Betting high is a good way to lose real money here while betting low when the count is down in the negatives is safer. Once the count is high, both the players and the dealer have a good chance of drawing high cards as a lot of low cards have probably already been used.
The Hi-Lo count is a balanced counting card counting system since the starting value is set to 0 and the players only add or subtract in increments of 1 to be able to keep track easier.
Is the Hi-Lo Card Counting System Good?
Most professional players stick to the Hi-Lo card counting system to keep things simple and play more consistently. It’s best to Keep It Simple Stupid when playing for real money since more complex strategies can get confusing for players, resulting in more frequent bad plays and more losses.
Hi-Lo is a simple card counting system so both beginners and long-time players can use this system to their advantage. The learning curve isn’t as steep as that of the other systems so most bettors will prefer this instead of other more complicated card counting systems.
Still, some players might prefer playing with more complicated card counting systems since their running counts and true counts are more precise than Hi-Lo’s.
Is Hi-Lo the Ultimate Card Counting System?
No. This is the most basic card counting system and even professional blackjack players who play perfectly with ABSOLUTELY NO MISTAKES can still lose big when playing. Card counting with Hi-Lo is meant to make it easier for players to keep track of which cards are still in the deck and there’s always a chance that the dealer will get the best cards that card counters are aiming for when betting high.
Conclusion
The Hi-Lo card counting system is an extremely simple card counting system that most players will use when counting cards. Not only is this simple card counting system good for beginners, but it’s also the best system for most card counters to use to win real money. Many professional card counters stick to this system to minimize errors and improve their chances of winning real money.
Try out the Hi-Lo card counting system today at Lodibet. We recommend using ONE Blackjack to give you a better chance to keep accurate track of both this system’s true and running count. Once you’re done, you can try out more complicated systems or play in multiplayer blackjack games.
