Hi/Lo Card Counting System

The Hi/Lo card-counting system is one of the popular easy-to-use system known also as Plus/Minus system. Harvey Dubner, the author of this system, simplified much E. Thorp's card-counting system and made it easier to use at the actual game. It is really very easy to learn and apply that is why it is very popular with beginners and intermediate players.

According to the Hi/Lo card-counting system all the cards in the deck have the count of +1, -1 and 0. All ten-valued cards (Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 10) are counted as -1; 9, 8, and 7 are counted as 0; the cards from 6 to 2 get the count of +1.

Card	Count
2, 3, 4, 5, 6	+1
7, 8, 9	0
10, J, Q, K, A	-1

So, 20 small cards in the deck are counted as +1 (Plus count), 20 big cards are counted as -1 (Minus count) and the rest 12 middle cards are considered to be neutral and they are counted as 0. Hi/Lo card-counting is a balanced system because if to count all the cards in the deck the total count at the end is 0.

At the beginning of the game the count is 0 and each time the card is dealt the player add or subtract 1 from the total count. The count in fact shows the ration of high to low cards that are played in the game. It means that the lower the count is the more high cards have been already dealt. This situation is beneficial for the dealer and his chances to bust are very low in case he holds 15 or 16. On the contrary, if the card count is very high the high cards are about to come in the next deal thus you have good chances to get a good starting hand and the dealer is more likely to bust.