Card counting could not be made illegal because it would be impossible to prove.
It would turn the government into the thought police. Prove me wrong.
shareIt's never been illegal. In fact, in Jersey, it's illegal to BAN card-counting.
Jersey casinos get around this by shuffling after every deal, if they suspect you're counting
Vegas falls back on the "right to refuse service," but it can be bad press if they ban too many people
In fact, in May of 1989, when Stanley Fujitake held the dice at the California Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas for a record 3 hours and 6 minutes, the Boyd Gaming Corporation made it a point to "leak" the fact that they banned none of the players and fired none of the croupiers or table-men.
In reality, the advantage you get from counting is so slim that casinos bank on you screwing up and losing to them anyway. When Thorp first published "Beat the Dealer," it was an open secret that blackjack profits went UP dramatically, due to all the wannabe counters trying their luck and brains against the casinos' bankrolls.