Casinos use a variety of strategies to win at blackjack, but the most common method is card counting. Card counting is simply the process of keeping track of the number of cards that have been dealt and used.
This can be done by looking at the face of the cards, counting the number of face cards (2s, 3s, jacks, queens), or comparing the rank of a card to what is expected.
Counting cards can help you win at blackjack by resulting in a higher hand value than your opponents. For instance, if you are dealt two 10s, you would have a total value of 20. Your opponent would have a total value of 16 (two 10s and a 2) and would be forced to either hit or stand.
If your opponent has any other cards in their hand, they would then be able to either hit or stand with a total value of 18 (10 + 2). In this case, your opponent would lose out on both their original bet and the additional 2 that was added to their hand due to the rank of the 10.
Some casinos try to thwart card counting by giving players different hands each time they are dealt a new hand. This makes it more difficult to keep track of how many cards have been played and allows casinos to count more cards without giving away too much information.
