Since i worked in a casino for a long time, i can tell you what the odds are of you being able to "count cards"
If you have a casino that still plays with the old "shoes" you have to cope with 7 packs of 52 cards. (364 cards) if you are able to remember what cards and how many of them are out, you will only be able to win on the last 10 hands at MOST, more likely 5.... the casino wont see this as a big threat... (or hasnt in the years that i was there and i worked in the privé with all your big players. No one was ever accused of counting cards / cheating by counting cards.
Most casino's now use "shuffle stars" An electronic show that shuffles the cards constantly, and after every hand, the dealer puts the "used" cards back into the shuffle star to be shuffled and added to the pile again. No, a shuffle star only uses 5 packs 260 cards, but they are CONSTANTLY moving around. There is absolutely no way you can even have a clue as to what cards are up next, and there is no end to the "shoe" for 24 hours!!!!!! (they then change the cards, and the shuffling starts over). The shuffle starts also get swopped around every 25 days with other tables (the punters dont know which table they move to - and the casino replaces their sequences often too - this changes the shufle intervals.
What i HAVE seen, is when they play old shoes (games like baccara still uses them), there will be one player on the table, who is either not playing(or playing minimum bets the whole night), but giving "advice" to his friends / coleages. THey are considered card counters, and is likely to get warned if the casino notices a big difference in winnings on that table at the time. The next time he tries to do that, he will either not be allowed to participate in the game, or will be banned for 48 hours (if you get 3 bans like that, you get banned for a full year. and the bans are effective in ALL casino's in that state / province.
