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Clear Deal: Bye-bye Card Counters

Card counting is a controversial topic, isn’t it? While many people actually look up to great card counters (not everyone can perfect this, by the way) the casinos and gambling houses do not look nicely upon those who count cards at their blackjack tables. Indeed, some liken card counting to cheating. I would say that I lean towards the former group of people but then again, I am not a casino owner.

Anyhow, a mathematician from Dublin has created a piece of technology that is “guaranteed” to rid casinos of card counters. Wesley Cooper, a PhD student at the Trinity College claims that he has developed a system whereby casino operators can effectively detect blackjack players who are counting cards. The technique operates on the basis of statistical analysis combined with an automated surveillance system and is called Clear Deal.

According to Cooper himself:

Blackjack is beatable if you have good maths brain. At the moment, casino surveillance staff have to watch the tables and try to identify suspicious play using their experience and instincts. This system does the same job automatically using computer-vision techniques and algorithms.

So what does this new system mean for blackjack players around the world? If proven to be successful – it is currently being tested by an international casino operator – card counters may be out of business. As much as people would like to think that card counting is part of blackjack (and I honestly think that it is; people have been doing it for thousands of years!), casino operators and the law might push for its abolition.

Let’s see what will happen.