Blackjack - Basics of Card Counting

Basic card counting is easy to learn, and gives you an edge in blackjack.

Running Count
Learning the running count is simple. For every card dealt(including your cards, the other players cards, and the dealers cards):
Start at 0 when you sit down at a game.
ADD 1 for every 2,3,4,5,6
Do nothing for every 7,8,9
SUBTRACT 1 for every 10,J,K,Q,A

Thus if the first few cards dealt are 4,7,A,J,K,2 the running count would be -1.

True Count
Because multiple decks are used in blackjack, you need to convert the running count into a true count. This is done by dividing the running count by the number of unseen decks. So if the running count is +20, and you are playing in a 6 deck game, where you are on the 2nd deck, 4 decks haven't been seen, so the true count is +20/4=+5

Using the count
Basically, when the odds are in your favour, bet more. That is to say the bigger the true count, bet more. The lower the true count, bet less. Vary your bets according to the true count. You may want to bet 40 when the true count is +5, but only 8 when the true count is +1, for example.