Card Counting in Hollywood Movies – How realistic is it

If you’ve ever seen a movie regarding card counting in Blackjack, you will get a lot of questions. To begin with, is it essential to memorize each card, as Rain Man recommended? Do you have to be a master strategist to do it? At worst, do you even have to be playing hide-and-seek games while counting your cards to avoid casino security?

Counting cards, according to researchers, is nothing like what Hollywood depicts. Below are their justifications.

Low success rates

Counting cards have been rendered in the thousands by several individuals. For example, the MIT team made around $6 million by counting cards in states where gambling is legal. However, as previously said, the number of lucrative card counter players is so tiny that most land-based casinos no longer evict those who engage in the practice. Rather, casinos use a combination of deceptive rules and regulations to prohibit it.

Not a pleasurable experience

Counting cards in Blackjack is a tedious activity. Specialists do so in silence throughout a round, counting cards quietly as if nothing else mattered. They must stay focused and avoid disturbances such as sellers conversing with them or loud background music.

Many card counters lose track of their counts in the middle of a game, forcing them to either abandon their plans or find fresh games to start counting cards in. Furthermore, the procedure is sluggish. There really are no elaborate poses in this process. You can’t manage to prey on the croupier, and you won’t be able to trick security officers with clever disguises.

It is not applicable to all games

Card counting is successful in a limited range of blackjack variants, but not all of them. If you wanted to, you might count cards in any game. Counting cards, on the other hand, would not benefit you if you compete in any casino which pays out poorly or has rules that offer the house a significant advantage.

It is possible to have losing streaks as a result of this

Just people who make crazy quantities of money were seen in The Hot Shoe, Breaking Vegas, and other such movies on card counting. However, as you are undoubtedly aware, risks in gambling are inevitable. Also, card counters who have mastered the code occasionally risk their bets. And, according to real-life accounts from Blackjack players who try to make a living at it, the losses often outnumber the wins.

It is complicated to pull off

The celebrity card counters in several gambling movies have a photographic memory. It is not just for the sake of making the characters seem spectacular. Counting cards is a challenging task, and the majority of people suck at it.

Knowledge about card counters is shared between casinos

Casinos who are also on the lookout for card counters often exchange details with their friends. It’s a cruel penalty that veers dangerously close to a breach of privacy. But it’s also what makes working as a card counter in such land-based establishments so tough.

It can be impossible to complete an entire session of counting cards in many situations. If you win once but are trapped, you’ll have to drive a long distance to find another casino that doesn’t know you’re counting cards. Of course, you’ll have to avoid security personnel, cope with obnoxious employees, and deal with a lot of decks shuffling.

However, the scenes of guards bullying people found counting cards is exaggerated in movies.

Officials in charge of security can be brutal

While certain casinos no longer track card counters, many others are tough on them. They have Security cameras mounted in all sections and people roaming through the floors searching for card counters. This element of card counting is correctly portrayed in cinema.

Online casino players, on the other hand, do not face the same problems. Counting cards while practicing online Blackjack is pointless, though, because they use virtual cut cards and several decks of them at once. This makes it impossible for anyone to count cards.

To sum things up

The majority of movies that feature blackjack storylines do so for the sake of fun. As a result, they exaggerate most scenes and generate needless clashes among casinos and the players. In fact, counting cards does not necessitate becoming a genius.

What you need is a rigorous training session with a professional player or training yourself. If you are lucky, you may be able to gain something, but not to the ludicrous levels that they show in movies.