In August 2006, a US blackjack player named Thomas Donovan was banned from the Grand Victoria Casino in Rising Son, Indiana (USA). Donovan was caught counting cards at the casino’s blackjack tables. He admitted to casino staff that he was card counting, and he was subsequently banned from the casino.

Donovan filed a lawsuit against the Grand Victoria Casino, claiming that the casino had no right to ban him. The case finally came to a close late last week, when the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that the casino did not in fact have any legal right to ban Donovan for counting cards. The reason for this ruling is simple: the US state of Indiana has no laws or regulations that specifically prohibit card counting.

During the case, the casino retorted by claiming that they reserve the right to refuse to serve any patron for any reason. The court ruled against this claim, stating that the state’s comprehensive gambling regulations take precedence over the casino owners’ decisions. The Indiana Gambling Commission has since said that they intend to review the situation regarding card counting – perhaps the future will see a new law against such practices in Indiana.

Card counting is a blackjack strategy that usually only works in land-based casinos. For card counting to work, decks can’t be shuffled in between hands, otherwise players will not be able to keep track of what cards remain to be dealt. Most online blackjack games shuffle the cards after each hand, making it impossible for players to count cards.

Even though it’s not possible to count cards online, there are plenty of ways to get ahead of the game and to reduce the house edge. Online casino strategy is a bit different than what guides players in land-based casinos. The best way to approach the situation is to play some free online blackjack games to get used to the ways in which the game differs online. Once players have the basics down, they can move to real-money games at any of these top online blackjack casinos.