The Wong Halves System for Card Counting

Basics of the Wong Halves System

The Wong Halves is a standard, balanced card-counting system for blackjack that allows players to track the ratio of high to low cards in the shoe and recognize when they have the edge. Decks rich in high cards (Aces and 10s) are more favorable to players, while decks with fewer high cards favor the house. The Wong Halves is a rather complicated, level-3 method, meaning that three different numerical values – positive or negative – are assigned to the cards.

Moreover, this system uses fractions, so it is significantly harder to apply than most methods. Here are the numerical values used in the Wong Halves count:

• 2, 7 – +0.5
• 3, 4, 6 – +1
• 5 – +1.5
• 8 – 0
• 9 – -0.5
• 10, J, Q, K, A – -1

As we can see, the highest value is assigned to the 5s (+1.5). These cards have been proven mathematically to offer the worst odds for the player. In contrast, the high cards that form hands of 20 or 21 (including blackjack) are worth -1. The method also assumes that the 9s in the deck shift the odds slightly in favor of the player, which is why they are also given a negative value (-0.5).

The sum of all card values in the deck is exactly 0, which makes the Wong Halves a balanced system. This means that before placing their bets, players need to convert the running count into a true count – more on this below.

How to Use the Wong Halves System?

Before starting to count cards, players should determine their bankroll, along with the minimum and maximum bets they are comfortable making. A good betting spread for beginners is 1-5, whereas larger spreads such as 1-10 or 1-20 offer higher profitability but also greater risk. After a reshuffle, players start the game with 1-unit bets. They begin the count at 0 and add or subtract numbers as cards appear on the table.

Because the structure of this system is a bit more complicated than usual, let’s use a 6-deck game as an example. The first cards dealt are 7, 2, Queen, 4, and 8, corresponding to +0.5, +0.5, -1, +1, and 0, respectively. This gives us a running count of +1, indicating that the player has a slight advantage over the house. However, these are just the first five cards of the 312 contained in the six decks used in this game.

If even two cards with a negative value are drawn in the next deal, the count will dip below 0. The uncertainty created by the many cards still remaining in the shoe makes the running count of +1 essentially irrelevant. To provide a more accurate assessment, the system requires converting the running count to the so-called “true count”.

True Count

Unlike the running count, which players maintain continuously during the game, the true count takes into account the number of decks still in play. There are several ways to determine the true count, but most players rely on a simple, proven method – they just divide the running count by the number of decks in the shoe.

Continuing with the same example, we have a running count of +1. Assuming some cards have been burned and some have been dealt, about five and a half decks remain in the shoe. If approximately five decks are left, we divide 1 by 5 to get a true count of +0.20.

Because higher counts indicate better odds for the player, this true count is far from impressive. In fact, we need a minimum true count of +2 to gain a real edge over the house. Therefore, we keep wagering the minimum until the count reaches +2 or higher. At that point, we raise the bet size to capitalize on the favorable situation. The higher the count, the larger the bets should be. Naturally, players should bet less when the count is low.