Card Counting in Vanguard

For those of you who don't know what Card Counting is, it is a tactic that many use in order to get an edge on casinos in Blackjack. If you're interested in learning more about Blackjack, there are many websites dedicated to it, but for this article, I'll just be explaining the basic idea and its tie in to Vanguard. Basically, in Blackjack, there are cards that are good for the dealer, cards that are good for the player, and cards that are neutral. The idea is that the more cards that are good for the player in the deck (or six decks, as dealers will often use multiple decks), the safer it is to bet. I believe that there are multiple methods, but the one I learned was called the high-low method, and it works like this. Whenever a high card (good for you) is dealt, subtract one from the total count (which starts at 0 with a full deck, since high cards and low cards even out). If a neutral card is pulled, then the total doesn't change. Of course, a low card will cause the total to increase by 1, as low cards are good for the dealer, and one removed means a higher probability of getting a high card.

Of course, a similar method can be applied to Vanguard, in determining the probability of getting triggers. While you may just prefer to keep counting the cards in your deck and the triggers removed, or just not keep track at all, but here's a method to keep track if you are interested. It could be more effective if you perfected it, so your opponent couldn't tell that you were keeping track. Anyways, a deck starts with 50 cards. A deck contains 16 triggers and 34 other units. If 18 other units were taken out, then the ratio would be 1:1, and you would have a 50 percent chance of pulling a trigger. So, in order to keep track, then you could say that a deck starts with a count of -18. Every time a non trigger unit is removed from the deck, add one to the count. When a trigger unit is taken out, subtract one. When the count is 0, the chances are even, and when higher, you are more likely to pull a trigger.

This method would enable you to keep track of your probability of getting a trigger, which will allow you to be better informed when taking chances. It could probably be adjusted a little, but it could certainly be effective. If you are looking for a new way of keeping track of triggers, or if you are at all interested, give this a try and let me know if it helps.