The Card Counting

Free card counting practice for every game with an edge. Blackjack, Spanish 21, Hearts, Poker, Spades, Euchre, Bridge & Gin Rummy. No download needed. 🎴

[The Card Counting @TheCardCounting]

This is the drill: the shoe deals, you keep the count, it checks you at random. 2–6 = +1, 7–9 = 0, 10–A = −1.

Free, in the browser: https://t.co/iUz1rmjlB2

[The Card Counting @TheCardCounting]

Daily Hand #44 🂡
You: 6♦ 5♣ (11)
Dealer shows: A♠
(6 decks · dealer hits soft 17 · double any 2 · DAS · no surrender)
What's the play?

The ace scares people out of their best hand.

[The Card Counting @TheCardCounting]

STAND.
The index for 16 v 10 is 0 and you're sitting at +4 — the tens are already gone, so hitting mostly turns 16 into 22 rather than 20.
Standing is still a losing hand; at a plus count it just stops being the more expensive way to lose.
100% of you stood. Small electorate, correct result.

[The Card Counting @TheCardCounting]

Daily Hand #43 🂡
Advanced — you're counting, TC is +4
You: 10♠ 6♥ (16)
Dealer shows: 10♦
(6 decks · dealer hits soft 17 · double any 2 · DAS · no surrender)
What's the play?

The chart has an answer. It expires at zero.

[The Card Counting @TheCardCounting]

HIT.
A dealer 9 finishes 19 or better about 54% of the time, so standing on soft 18 pays full price to lose to her most likely hand.
The ace means the draw can't bust you, so you're buying free outs at 19-21 for roughly eight cents a dollar less than standing costs.
0 votes. Abstaining is technically the cheapest wrong answer, so well played.

[The Card Counting @TheCardCounting]

Daily Hand #42 🂡
You: A♥ 7♣ (soft 18)
Dealer shows: 9♦
(6 decks · dealer hits soft 17 · double any 2 · DAS · no surrender)
What's the play?

Eighteen isn't a made hand. It just dresses like one.

[The Card Counting @TheCardCounting]

STAND.
Hitting 12 busts ~31% of the time on the spot, and the hands you do make still lose to any dealer 17 — you're paying to fix a hand that isn't broken.
A dealer 4 breaks ~40% of the time, so standing collects that bust for free; the edge is only about a third of a cent per dollar, but free is free.
0 votes on this one. Nobody wanted their name on it, which is probably the most honest answer the timeline has ever given me.
Drill it until it's boring: https://t.co/ihtWqy5iFx

[The Card Counting @TheCardCounting]

Daily Hand #41 🂡
You: 8♠ 4♦ (12)
Dealer shows: 4♥
(6 decks · dealer hits soft 17 · double any 2 · DAS · no surrender)
What's the play?

Twelve feels unfinished. The four is counting on that.

[The Card Counting @TheCardCounting]

STAND.
18 already beats the dealer's most likely finish of 17, so splitting spends a second bet to break up a winner.
Nines split against 2-6 and 8-9 because 18 isn't good enough there; against a 7 it is - that's the whole exception.
100% of you stood. The crowd gets paid today.

[The Card Counting @TheCardCounting]

Daily Hand #40 🂡
You: 9♠ 9♥ (18)
Dealer shows: 7♦
(6 decks · dealer hits soft 17 · double any 2 · DAS · no surrender)
What's the play?

Nines split against almost everything. Almost.

[The Card Counting @TheCardCounting]

DOUBLE.
Soft 14 can't bust on one card, so against a 5 the second unit is close to free — you're pressing a hand that can only improve.
The 5 busts ~42% of the time, so most of the profit comes from her breaking, not from your total; standing collects the same pots at half the size.
50% of you stood. That's a donation with extra steps.

[The Card Counting @TheCardCounting]

Daily Hand #39 🂡
You: A♦ 3♣ (soft 14)
Dealer shows: 5♠
(6 decks · dealer hits soft 17 · double any 2 · DAS · no surrender)
What's the play?

Fourteen doesn't look like a doubling hand. That's the trick.

[The Card Counting @TheCardCounting]

DOUBLE.
Soft 19 wins on its own, but a dealer 6 busts ~42% and hitting soft 17 only makes her hand worse, so the money is in the extra unit, not the extra safety.
A-8 literally cannot bust on one card, so you're buying that bet risk-free; standing wins the same hand for half the payout.
0 votes, which is the one wrong answer that's free. The next one won't be.
Drill it until it's boring: https://t.co/ihtWqy5iFx

[The Card Counting @TheCardCounting]

Daily Hand #38 🂡
You: A♥ 8♠ (19)
Dealer shows: 6♦
(6 decks · dealer hits soft 17 · double any 2 · DAS · no surrender)
What's the play?

Nineteen feels finished. It isn't.

[The Card Counting @TheCardCounting]

STAND.
13 v 2 busts ~39% if you draw, and you're not drawing to a winner — you're drawing to 17 at best. The deuce is the dealer's weakest up card.
Standing cashes in her ~35% bust rate for free; hitting pays for the same outcome, and doubling pays for it twice.
0% of you stood. 50% hit, 50% doubled a hard 13 — that one isn't a play, it's a tip.

[The Card Counting @TheCardCounting]

Daily Hand #37 🂡
You: 9♣ 4♦ (13)
Dealer shows: 2♥
(6 decks · dealer hits soft 17 · double any 2 · DAS · no surrender)
What's the play?

Weak card, weak hand. Somebody has to blink first.

[The Card Counting @TheCardCounting]

DOUBLE.
Basic strategy hits this because at a neutral count a second unit on a hard 10 against a ten-value card barely breaks even.
At TC +4 the shoe is stuffed with tens: your 10 makes 20 far more often and the dealer stiffs more often, so the extra unit finally gets paid.
0 votes on this one. The crowd folded before the shoe did.

[The Card Counting @TheCardCounting]

Daily Hand #36 🂡
Advanced — you're counting, TC is +4.
You: 6♥ 4♠ (10)
Dealer shows: 10♦
(6 decks · dealer hits soft 17 · double any 2 · DAS · no surrender)
What's the play?

At zero this hand is easy. At +4 it stops being easy.

[The Card Counting @TheCardCounting]

HIT.
15 v 10 is a loser either way — standing gives up about 58 cents on the dollar, hitting about 54. You're not picking a winner, you're picking the smaller loss.
A dealer 10 busts barely one hand in five, so standing pays full price for a bust that rarely shows up; hitting at least lets a 4, 5 or 6 rescue you.
Zero votes, so zero donations — the most profitable day this crowd has ever had.
Drill it until it's boring: https://t.co/ihtWqy5iFx

[The Card Counting @TheCardCounting]

Daily Hand #35 🂡
You: 9♣ 6♦ (15)
Dealer shows: 10♠
(6 decks · dealer hits soft 17 · double any 2 · DAS · no surrender)
What's the play?

No surrender means no exit. Pick the cheapest way to be wrong.

[The Card Counting @TheCardCounting]

STAND.
Splitting tens trades the second-best hand in the game for two hands that start at 10 — you're giving up ~85% equity to chase a maybe.
The 6 busts about 42% of the time, and the other 58% she still has to beat a 20. Almost nothing does.
100% of you stood. One vote, zero donations — statistically the finest crowd this poll has ever had.

[The Card Counting @TheCardCounting]

Daily Hand #34 🂡
You: 10♦ 10♠ (20)
Dealer shows: 6♥
(6 decks · dealer hits soft 17 · double any 2 · DAS · no surrender)
What's the play?

A weak dealer makes people greedy. Greed has a price.