Red Seven is an easy card counting system that is great for beginners. However, just because it is one of the most basic and easy methods of card counting, don't be fooled. It is still incredibly accurate and combined with basic blackjack strategy, the Red Seven system can greatly increase your advantage when you play casino blackjack.
The first thing you need to understand if you want to learn the Red Seven card counting system is how the cards are numbered for the count:
- 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and RED 7 have a count of +1
- 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace have a count of -1
- 8, 9 and BLACK 7 have a count of 0
The name of the method, Red Seven, should help you to remember the values, as Red 7s are worth +1 while Black 7s are worth 0.
The Red Seven card counting system is an unbalanced card counting system. If you counted all the cards in a standard 52-card deck you would wind up with a final count of +2, rather than 0. Therefore, when you are playing casino blackjack with one deck you should begin the count on -2. In multi-deck games, multiply the number of decks by -2, so in a 6-deck game you would begin the count at -12.
As with other card counting systems, it is better for the player when the count is high and better for the dealer when the count is low. Therefore, you should adjust your bet depending on the count. When the count is a negative number, place the minimum bet. The higher the count gets the higher you should increase your bet. Place the maximum table bet when the count gets around 15 or 16.
If you want to practice the Red Seven card counting system you should memorize the card values and then flip through a deck of cards and count all 52. When you get to the end you should have a total of 2. Count through the deck again and again until you can count the whole thing in 30 seconds or less. When you can, you are ready to start counting cards in the casino.