# counting cards

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-cards/650420>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [February 15, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-cards/650420 "2013-02-15T18:55:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![SirGalahad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71c47a/32.png) [@SirGalahad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirGalahad)\
**Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-cards/650420/41 "2013-02-23T21:24:34Z")

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> [@Dahu](#):
>
> Couple of questions if I may -
> 
> What does this mean (what’s a “gang-banger”)?
> 
> What is the point of card counting if their play isn’t adjusted accordingly?

A gang-banger is a violent gang member, say like a Blood or a Crip. You don’t want to make eye contact with them. Neither do you want to make eye contact with a Hell’s Angel. They will probably take it as a sign of disrespect and as a challenge.

Dealers and pit bosses can spot a counter in minutes, but they don’t care about clumsy beginners. If you’re a good counter, and there are a lot of them, they will often expel you from the casino, and the face recognition software, or at least video surveillance record will be part of a report that is, as far as I know, available at least to all the other bigger casinos. You go on a “black list” and have to go way out of town to play cards. If you get on a list, you may not even be allowed to ever re-enter the premises, even to eat or see a show.

This is what I’ve been told by security heads and also by acquaintances who were expert counters. Some of them still play, but they have some tricks to avoid expulsion. I don’t understand how those tricks work (and couldn’t reveal them anyway).

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