Card Counting FAQ: Honest Answers to Common Questions

By CardCount Academy · Reviewed October 5, 2026 · 8 min read

These are the questions people ask most often when they first hear about card counting, answered as plainly as we can. Each answer links to a longer guide if you want the reasoning and the numbers.

Does it work?

Does card counting really work?

Yes, mathematically. Blackjack is dealt without replacing the cards, so the odds change as the shoe is used up. When more tens and aces remain than usual, the player has a small advantage, and a counter bets more in those moments. Under good rules with a wide enough bet spread, the long-run advantage is typically around 1% of the money wagered. It does not work in every game: continuous shufflers, 6:5 payouts and shallow dealing can each remove the edge.

How much money can a card counter make?

Far less, and far less reliably, than films suggest. A rough estimate is the average bet times the number of hands per hour times an edge of about 1%. Someone averaging $25 a hand over 80 hands an hour has an expected win of about $20 an hour, with swings of several hundred dollars in either direction in the same hour. Losing sessions, weeks and even months are normal, and a large bankroll is needed to survive them.

Can you lose money counting cards?

Yes. Counting changes the long-run average, not the outcome of any hand. A perfect counter still loses more hands than they win, and can lose an entire bankroll through ordinary bad luck. Mistakes, poor rules and betting too large for the bankroll make that much more likely. Never play with money you cannot afford to lose.

Does card counting work online?

Not in standard online blackjack. The software shuffles a fresh virtual shoe for every hand, so the cards you have seen tell you nothing about the next round. Live-dealer games use real cards, but they are usually dealt from eight decks with about half the shoe cut off, which leaves little or nothing to gain.

Is it allowed?

Is card counting illegal?

Counting cards in your head is not illegal in the United States and is not cheating. Using a device or app to do it in a casino is illegal in Nevada and prohibited virtually everywhere. Laws differ in other countries, so check the rules where you live.

Can a casino throw you out for counting cards?

In most places, yes. A casino is private property and may refuse your blackjack play or ask you to leave. New Jersey is a well-known exception: its Supreme Court ruled in 1982 that casinos there cannot exclude a player just for counting, so they use other measures such as shuffling earlier.

Can I use this site or an app at a casino table?

No. CardCount Academy is for practice at home. Using any device to track cards or calculate strategy at a casino table is a crime in Nevada and against the rules everywhere else.

Learning it

Do you need to be good at math or have a great memory?

No. You do not memorize cards. You keep a single number in your head, adding or subtracting one as each card appears, and occasionally divide it by the number of decks left. The difficulty is doing that accurately and quickly while playing, which comes from practice rather than talent.

How long does it take to learn card counting?

The idea takes minutes and the card values take an hour. Keeping an accurate running count at a comfortable speed usually takes two or three weeks of short daily practice. Doing everything at once — count, true count, bet and correct play, under distraction — typically takes a month or two more. People vary widely.

Which counting system should a beginner learn?

Hi-Lo. It is simple, effective and by far the best documented, and other systems are usually explained by comparison with it. If dividing to get the true count is what puts you off, KO is a good alternative that skips that step.

Do I need to learn basic strategy first?

Yes. Basic strategy is the foundation that counting builds on. A counter who misplays hands gives back more than the count earns. Learn it until it is automatic before you add a count.

How it works

What is the difference between the running count and the true count?

The running count is the total you keep as cards are dealt. The true count is that total divided by the number of decks still to be dealt. The true count is what tells you how strong the situation really is, because a surplus of six high cards means much more with one deck left than with five.

Why do high cards help the player?

Tens and aces make blackjacks, which pay the player 3:2 but pay the dealer only even money. They also make doubling down more successful and cause the dealer, who must hit stiff hands, to bust more often. Low cards do the opposite: they turn the dealer's stiff hands into winners.

Does the number of decks matter?

Yes. Fewer decks mean a slightly lower house edge and a count that swings further and faster. Six- and eight-deck games can still be counted, but they need a wider bet spread and more patience. How deep the dealer deals before shuffling matters even more than the number of decks.

Should I ever take insurance?

Not as a basic strategy player: insurance is a losing side bet. For a Hi-Lo counter it becomes correct at a true count of +3 or higher, when more than a third of the remaining cards are tens. It is the single most valuable deviation from basic strategy.

This site

Is CardCount Academy free?

Yes. Every lesson, drill, quiz and the simulator are free, with no account and no payment. The site is supported by advertising on content pages; the drill, the quiz and the simulator carry no ads.

Does the simulator use real money?

No. The blackjack table uses play money only. Nothing can be deposited, won or withdrawn, and the site is not connected to any casino.

Where is my progress stored?

In your own browser, on your device. There are no accounts, and your training results are never sent to a server. You can delete them at any time from the progress page.

Still have a question?

The glossary defines the vocabulary, and the guides index lists every topic in reading order. If something on the site is unclear or wrong, tell us through the contact page.

Educational content only. Card counting does not guarantee winnings, casinos can limit or refuse play, and laws differ by location. Read the disclaimer and, if gambling stops being fun, our responsible gambling page.

Sources and further reading

Wizard of Odds — Card Counting: Introduction
Edward O. Thorp, Beat the Dealer (1962; revised 1966).
Don Schlesinger, Blackjack Attack: Playing the Pros' Way (RGE Publishing) — origin of the "Illustrious 18".
Uston v. Resorts International Hotel, Inc., 89 N.J. 163, 445 A.2d 370 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 1982).
Nevada Revised Statutes 465.075 — use or possession of a device to obtain an advantage