Red 7 Card Counting System

May 20, 2014

Hi-Lo is the blackjack world's standard car counting system, but the proponents of Red Seven argue that it is a simple and accurate alternative.

Red 7 Card Counting System Online

In the game of card counting, Hi-Lo is the default. When I tell someone that I count cards, usually what I mean is that I use a Hi-Low system. This makes sense because the vast majority of counters use this variant of counting, but it ignores the fact that there are numerous card counting systems out there.

This piece will analyze Hi-Lo in relation to another well-known counting system, the Red Seven. Weighing the pros and cons of each, we'll give our final judgment on which is the better.

Red 7 cards are assigned a value of +1 and black 7 cards a value of zero. This is, of course, why the system is named as the Red Seven system. It is possible to reverse the assignment of value against the red and black seven, so that the red 7 is counted as zero. Each card you see in the table above is translated into a value and then added to the running count. The Red 7 Counting system's specific feature is the values given to cards with a value of 7 - you need to assign red 7's a value of +1 but give black 7's a score of 0. Red 7: The Basics. As already mentioned, Red 7 is an easy system to practice and master. Arnold Snyder's 'Red Sevens' system also seems to be derivative of the High-Low system. It is, in all ways, identical High-Low, except that red sevens count as +1 (black ones count as zero). In effect, this gives all sevens the value of +0.5, which is fairly accurate when considering the effect of a seven on the player's advantage. The Red Seven card counting system is an unbalanced card counting strategy, similar to the KO Count. You can read more about the Red Seven Count in Blackbelt in Blackjack by Arnold Snyder. The point values are distributed as per the table below:.In the Red Seven Count, ONLY red seven's are counted as +1; black seven's are given a value of 0.

The advantages of Hi-Lo

Hi-Lo is the most popular system because it is accurate but simple and easy to learn. It involves giving one of only three values (+1, -1 or neutral) to each card as it is dealt. This makes it easy to keep count, as the player only moves up or done one number.

The simplicity of hi-lo also allows the counter to process each card extremely quickly. The player only needs to reader whether it is a face card, 2-6 or 7-9. Someone who spends enough time practicing visual recognition techniques can pick this up quite simply.

The only complicated part is converting the running count into a true count, which will be discussed at length later.

The Red Seven

The Red Seven system was invented by blackjack strategy book author Arnold Snyder. It is heralded as almost as accurate as Hi-Lo but much simpler and easier to learn. In fact, Red Seven is similar to Hi-Lo in many ways.

In Hi-Lo, each seven is treated as a neutral card regardless of suit. But in Red Seven, sevens in red suits are given a +1, whereas seven in black suits are given the standard 0. Because there are two red-suit sevens in each deck, the count tends to be slightly higher when using this system.

This is what is referred to as an unbalanced system. Because there are two extra +1 cards, the final count in each deck will be +2 rather than neutral, as it is in Hi-Lo.

Pros and Cons of Red Seven

As it's usually better to give you the bad news first, I'll start with the cons of the Red Seven system. It isn't as accurate as Hi-Lo. Snyder himself admitted as much. It is designed to be extremely simple yet give the player a greater advantage over the house then they would get from basic strategy play. Said Snyder:

The easy Red Seven Count gets 80% of the potential gain available from the Hi-Lo Count and other counts that are significantly more difficult to learn and use. It is the strongest professional-level card counting system ever devised for its level of simplicity and ease of use.

There we have both the pros and the cons. Its 20 percent less accurate but is much simpler to use. But while its easier to use once in the casino, it relies on the same techniques as Hi-Lo and requires the same amount of practice. Experts usually recommend that an aspiring counter spends 40 hours at home learning either system before trying their hand in a casino.

What makes it easier

Card Counting Test

On the surface Red Seven may actually look more complicated because the player has to differentiate between red and black sevens. But its simpler because the player doesn't have to convert the running count (total count) into a true count (includes number of decks).

What online casino can i play in australia. The true count is important because most games are dealt from between 2 and 6 decks, so counting through one deck doesn't tell the entire story. Players convert the running count into a true by dividing the running count by the number of decks that remain to be dealt.

For example, if the running count is at +6 but there are three decks left to be dealt, the true count is +2. Red Seven is considered easier because it doesn't require to player to make this conversion.

The running count is the true count. Why? Precisely because Red Seven is an unbalanced count. Because the running count is positive instead of neutral at the end of each hand, the amount of decks in the shoe is factored in.

Final verdict

While Red Seven has some appeal, we don't think it's as good as the Hi-Lo system. Why? Even its founder admitted that it's generally 20 percent less accurate than Hi-Lo. The tradeoff is that it is slightly simpler to use.

But is it really that much simpler? We don't think so. You don't need to convert the running count into a true count. But that isn't all that difficult to do anyway. And you do need to differentiate between red and black sevens.

While overall it is a bit easier to use, the difference is not great. And it is less accurate. We recommend that you put the time in to master the Hi-Lo system, which gives you a better chance of winning at blackjack.

Tags: Arnold Snyder, card counting system, hi-lo, Red Seven, running count, true count, winning at blackjack

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The History

The Red Seven system was developed by Arnold Snyder, one of the original inductees into the Black Hall of Fame in 1983. Snyder is a renowned professional gambler and author, publishing a number of important works across the years.

His first book was published in 1980, and was called The Blackjack Formula. This was an important work since it was the first to show how deck penetration (the number of cards dealt before a deck is subject to a reshuffle) affected the rate at which a card counter won against the house. Of particular interest is Snyder's assertion that the amount of penetration has a more significant effect on win rate than the actual card counting system being used. Since this assertion, Snyder's data has been subject to a number of checks via computer simulation and found to be correct.

His 2^nd book, Black belt in Blackjack: Playing 21 As a Martial Artist was published in 1983 and used the well-known colored belt grading system used in the martial arts as an analogy to take the prospective blackjack player from ab-initio status (white belt) to professional level (black belt). This professional level covered key aspects such as tracking the shuffle and playing as a team.

A further book, The Big Book of Blackjack, and published in 2006 described the history of blackjack. It also updated Snyder's thoughts on various card-counting systems, including the Red Seven system.

How to use Red Seven System

So what is the Red Seven system all about? It's an unbalanced system, which means that the number of negative and positive point values, assigned to the cards, are unequal and the total sum of all the points is non-zero. After a full deck is counted the running count should finish with the value +2. The running count values assigned are as follows:

• Cards of ten and above are assigned a value of -1
• Cards 2 through 6 are assigned a value of +1
• Cards 8 and 9 are assigned a zero value and are therefore ignored
• Red 7 cards are assigned a value of +1 and black 7 cards a value of zero. This is, of course, why the system is named as the Red Seven system. It is possible to reverse the assignment of value against the red and black seven, so that the red 7 is counted as zero and the black seven as +1, without affecting the system.

Snyder describes the use of a 'pivot', which is defined as the running count at which the edge in favour of the player has risen to 1% or greater of the games starting edge, which is always in favor of the house. This pivot is used to make informed betting decisions.

Assuming the starting running count is zero then the pivot will change with the number of decks in the game. A simple adjustment to make the pivot zero irrespective of the number of decks is to multiply the number of decks by -2. As an example, in an eight-deck game the running count starts at -16. This will ensure that the final count, at the end of counting all the decks in the game, will be zero.

Betting Strategy Adjustment

Snyder himself recommends that, in a single deck game, a negative running count should result in a minimum bet. When the running count hits the pivot, or zero, then the minimum bet should be doubled and when the running count goes to +2 or greater then the bet should be doubled again. He describes very detailed betting advice in his book Black belt in Blackjack: Playing 21 As a Martial Artist.

Below is simple overview of how to increase/decrease the bet size based on the running count. The betting amount adjustment of this system can be calculated based on the running count:

Hand Counting System

• running count < 0
  the betting amount is equal to table minimum
• true count >= 0
  the minimum bet amount should be doubled
• true count >= +2
  the minimum bet amount should be doubled again

Red 7 Card Counting System

Playing Strategy Adjustments

Insurance betting strategy is also easy using the Red Seven system. If you are betting in single and double deck games then the insurance should be taken when the running count is zero or positive. In multi-deck games always take insurance when the running count is +2 or more.

Other recommended strategies include always standing on 16 versus a 10 when the running count is zero or more.

Simple Card Counting System

The Rating

Easiest Card Counting Systems

The Red seven system fairs pretty well when compared with other far more complex systems with the following scores. Betting Correlation scores high 0.98. Playing Efficiency is at average 0.54. Insurance correlation is fairly accurate at 0.75. The biggest advantage of this system is that it is easy to learn making it's ease of playing score 70. The ease of playing is a particularly high score, beaten only by REKO System and KO System.