Hi-Lo assigns +1 to cards 2–6, 0 to 7–9 and −1 to tens, faces and aces. Adding the tags as cards are dealt gives the running count. A positive count means the remaining shoe is rich in tens and aces, which slightly favors the player.
Deal hands and keep your own count, then compare it with the shoe x-ray. When you are comfortable, start the speed drill: cards flash at 1, 0.5 or 0.25 seconds and you enter the running count at the end.
Open this experiment in the lab ↑All numbers below were computed by the same simulator and models that run in the lab above, when this page was built.
| Cards | Tag |
|---|---|
| 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | +1 |
| 7, 8, 9 | 0 |
| 10, J, Q, K, A | −1 |
2,000 simulated 6-deck shoes dealt to 75% penetration. Share of dealt cards seen at each true count (running count divided by decks remaining):
| True count | Share of cards |
|---|---|
| ≤ −4 | 6.4% |
| −3 | 5.2% |
| −2 | 9.2% |
| −1 | 16.4% |
| 0 | 25.0% |
| +1 | 16.8% |
| +2 | 9.4% |
| +3 | 5.3% |
| ≥ +4 | 6.5% |
Yes. A full deck has twenty +1 cards, twelve 0 cards and twenty −1 cards, so counting through a whole shoe always ends at zero. The simulator checks this in its test suite.
A common practice target is counting down a full deck in under 30 seconds without mistakes. The drill lets you raise the speed gradually.
It shows the count and the true count so you can study how they move. It is a math trainer with virtual coins, not advice for real casinos.
No. Virtual coins only, no prizes, 18+.
Free-to-play entertainment and math education with virtual coins only. No real money, no deposits, no withdrawals, no prizes. 18+. Simulated results do not predict real outcomes.