What Does Counting Cards Mean

Card counting, also referred to as card reading, often refers to obtaining a sufficient count on the number, distribution, and high-card location of cards in trick-taking games such as contract bridge or spades to optimize the winning of tricks. Listening for and counting phonemes in words can be a challenge for kids. These FREE phoneme counting cards, help kids SEE the phonemes they hear. Definition of card counting in the Definitions.net dictionary. Meaning of card counting. What does card counting mean? Information and translations of card counting in the most comprehensive.

• What Does Counting Cards Mean In Blackjack
• What Does Counting Cards Mean In Poker
• What Is Counting Cards Mean

Phoneme. Kind of sounds like a foreign word, doesn’t it? Basically, a phoneme is an individual sound in a word. Some phoneme sounds are simple, like /b/, while others are a little more complicated, like /sh/. Learning to listen for and manipulate phonemes {also called “phonemic awareness”} is a vitally important skill needed for reading. It’s actually one of the biggest predictors of success in learning to read!

Listening for and counting phonemes in words can be difficult because you can’t see phonemes. You only hear them. Until now! These phoneme counting cards, like our syllable counting cards, help kids SEE the phonemes as hear them. Then kids are ready to count how many are in each word! {Note: our download link can be found at the END of this post.}

*This post contains affiliate links.

Phoneme Counting Cards

Counting phonemes can be confusing even for adults, as the number of phonemes is not always equal to the number of letters in a word. For example, block has 5 letters, but only 4 phonemes because the ck makes one sound {or one phoneme.} You can read more about phonemes in our 7-day pre-reading series. We also have a Phoneme Counting Activity Pack that includes clip cards and pictures for counting phonemes. But today, we’re sharing our NEWEST addition: Phoneme Counting Cards.

I pulled a few LEGO bricks from our HUGE collection for my son {Kindergarten} to use as he counted the phonemes in words. For example, rabbit has five phonemes. /r/-/a/-/b/-/i/-/t/.

If you don’t have LEGO bricks, you can substitute them with things like snap cubes, transparent counters, small pom-poms, pony beads, foam cubes or even pennies! Here we are counting the two phonemes in zoo – /z/-/oo/.

Make them Self-Checking

First, what does “self-checking” even mean? In a setting where you are teaching multiple children this is key! Often times, we ask kids to do an activity independently. And just a side note: independent activities should NOT be teaching kids new information; independent means that it is something they can do with independence, like reviewing what you’ve already taught them.

But when we can, we want to give kids a way to quickly check their answers so they are able to gauge their answers. A SIMPLE way to make these cards self-checking is to write the number of phonemes on the back of each card. That way the child can then turn them over and check their answer. Easy peasy!

More Resources:

What Does Counting Cards Mean In Blackjack

• 3 Important Skills Needed for Reading {7-day series}

>>Download these FREE Phoneme Counting Cards HERE.<<

~Becky

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• Appendices
• Miscellaneous
• External Links

Introduction

Let me say loud and clear that card counting is hard and is not as rewarding as television and the movies make it out to be. If it were an easy way to make money, then everyone would be doing it.

If you do not know the basic strategy, trying to count cards is highly ill-advised. Experienced card counters still play by the basic strategy the great majority of the time.There can be no short cut around learning the basic strategy, those who attempt card counting without a firm foundation in the basic strategy are making a big mistake.

To be a successful counter you have to be able to countdown a deck fast and memorize large tables of numbers as well as make it look like you're just a casual player.Furthermore, with today's rules, a realistic advantage the counter will have is only 0.5% to 1.5%. You will not win money slowly and gradually but your bankroll will go up and down like a roller coaster in the short run. Only in the long run, over hundreds of hours of playing, can you count on winning.

The underlying principle behind card counting is that a deck rich in tens and aces is good for the player, a deck rich in small cards is good for the dealer. When the counter knows the odds are in his favor, he will bet more, and adjust his playing strategy to stand, double, and split in some plays where basic strategy says to stand. All the options the player has at his disposal favor the player even more when the deck is ten and ace rich. Here is a list and a brief reason why.

Standing: The player may stand on stiff totals of 12 to 16, and the dealer may not. In ten-rich shoes, hitting stiff hands becomes more dangerous, favoring the more conservative player strategy.

Insurance: On average, when the dealer has an ace up, the remaining cards in blackjack will be 30.87% tens (based on a six-deck game), making insurance a bad bet. However, if the probability gets above 33.33%, it becomes a good bet. Counters know when the remaining cards are ten-rich, and make powerful insurance bets at those times.

Doubling: Usually, when the player doubles he wants a ten. In ten-rich shoes, the player makes better double downs, getting closer to 21.

Blackjack: Both player and dealer will see more blackjacks, but the player gets paid 3 to 2, and the dealer does not.

Surrender: The alternative to surrendering is much worse in ten-rich shoes. If the alternative is hitting, the player is more likely to bust. If the player would otherwise stand, due to the high count, the dealer is still more likely to get a 10. While the counter will surrender more in high counts, the savings will be greater.

Splits: The player is usually splitting high cards and/or off of a weak dealer card. Either way, a ten-rich shoe helps the player get higher totals, and increases the probability of the dealer busting.

I'm working on an in-depth study of how these effects break down. The contribution to each factor depends on the rules, deck penetration, and bet spread. However, based on average conditions in a six-deck shoe, my initial results break down the benefits of counting as follows.

Why Card Counting Works

What Does Counting Cards Mean In Poker

Player Option	Portion of Benefit
Stand	40%
Insurance	34%
Double	9%
Blackjack	7%
Surrender	6%
Split	4%

The probability for insurance was taken from Don Schlesinger's 'Illustrious 18' list, as found in Blackjack Attack. The rest of the breakdown is mine.

To gauge the richness of the deck in good cards, the player will keep track of the cards the are already played. Strategies vary, but all assign a point value to each card. For example, the hi-lo count assigns a value of +1 to 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, and -1 to tens and aces. Everything else is 0, or neutral. At the beginning of a deck or shoe, the count is 0. Then the counter constantly adds and subtracts from the count, according to the cards played. This running total is called the 'running count.' A positive count means that a disproportional number of small cards have already been played, which means that the deck is rich in large cards. To determine the 'true count,' divide the running count by the number of decks left to be played, or in some strategies, the number of half decks. This will tell you the relative richness of the deck in good cards.

The true count is used in two ways, to determine how much to bet and how to play your hand. Unless it is obvious, every situation has a line in which you should play one way if the count is above the line and another if below. For example, a 12 against a 6 may dictate that you stand if the true count is -1 or greater and hit if the true count is less than -1. The counter will also bet more when the true count is high, meaning the deck is rich in good cards.

A problem arises when it comes to treating aces. The player should bet more when the deck is rich in aces since they add to the probability of getting a blackjack. However, when it comes to playing your hand, the number of aces left is not nearly as important as the number of tens, so it is desirable, but not necessary, to distinguish between tens and aces. Some card counting strategies keep a side count of aces. In the Hi-Opt I and Revere Plus/Minus aces are counted separately and only considered when making the wager. This is a more accurate and powerful way to play than assigning a negative value to aces and not keeping a side count, as some strategies do. Yet, many people feel that for the beginner it is too confusing to keep two counts. A player is more likely to make mistakes keeping two counts and that costs money. The efficiency of a strategy that does not keep a side count of aces is only modestly less, but you likely will gain more from fewer mistakes made. Different experts fall in various places in the spectrum in terms of what to recommend for the beginner. The Zen Count takes the middle ground and gives aces a value of -1 and tens -2. Personally, I have tried both and would recommend against a count that requires a side count of aces to a person ready to take up card counting. The Uston Advanced Plus/Minus is a good strategy that does not involve an ace side count and can be found in the book Million Dollar Blackjack. How well you know a counting strategy is much more important than which strategy you know.

Legally speaking, the player may play blackjack any way he wants without cheating or using a computer, and the casinos may do anything from making conditions unfavorable to barring, in an effort to stop anyone who they deem has an advantage over the game. Much of the challenge of card counting is avoiding suspicion that you are anything but a normal non-counting player. The most obvious indication that somebody is counting is that they make a substantial increase in bet size after a lot of small cards leave the table. Although the greater the factor by which you can increase your bet the greater your odds of winning, more than doubling your last bet is a fast way to arouse 'heat'from the dealer and pit boss. Usually when casinos employees realize you are counting, they will either shuffle the cards whenever you increase your bet, essentially removing any advantage, or ask you to leave.

This is only scraping the surface of the subject of card counting. I suggest the following pages of mine.

Practice

Practice your card counting skills with our trainer.

Internal Links

• Blackjack main page.
• Hi-Lo Count.
• The Ace-Five Count, possibly the easiest way to count cards.
• Book review section, for suggestions on good blackjack books.

External Resources

What Is Counting Cards Mean

• Blackjackinfo - A complete course covering everything from basic strategy to card counting
• BJ21 - By Stanford Wong; A membership based community covering all aspects of card counting.

Written by: Michael Shackleford