I like your book Norm

**Blitzkrieg** · 02-12-2014, 02:26 AM

Thumbing thru your online book I was looking at your REKO strategy Norm. I did not realize that you were the one who devised the strategy. I noticed that it has the same characteristics of KO in that the Betting Correlation, Playing Efficiency, and Insurance Correlations are the same for the 2 strategies. It has left me wondering just how did you come up the with Initial Running Count starting values? I have not studied KO other than the tag values for the assigned cards. But when I compare the values for REKO to HiLo I can see the logic. In a double-deck game using REKO you start with a IRC of -5 but when the count reaches a +2 according to your betting ramp I should bet $50 in your diagram. In HiLo that would correlate to a running count of 7, so if there was one deck left in a 2 deck game it would equate to a TC of +7 which does seem like a favorable betting situation. If it were a RC of +7 using HiLo with 25% of the cards used up in a 2 deck game TC would equate to 4.67. Does that seem about right?

Overall REKO seems like a very easy strategy to use and it should be an easy transition from using Hilo with no need for a conversion to TC which I like. Do you have the BC, PE, and IC for the FELT strategy? From what your data shows it seems like FELT slightly outperforms REKO when you compared REKO, FELT, and Hilo on a 6 deck game using SCORE.

**AussiePlayer** · 02-12-2014, 03:42 AM

Originally Posted by Blitzkrieg

Do you have the BC, PE, and IC for the FELT strategy?

Keep reading: http://www.qfit.com/book/ModernBlackjackPage172.htm

**Three** · 02-12-2014, 04:21 AM

Originally Posted by Blitzkrieg

In a double-deck game using REKO you start with a IRC of -5 but when the count reaches a +2 according to your betting ramp I should bet $50 in your diagram. In HiLo that would correlate to a running count of 7, so if there was one deck left in a 2 deck game it would equate to a TC of +7

No REKO counts the 7 and HILO doesn't.

Originally Posted by Blitzkrieg

If it were a RC of +7 using HiLo with 25% of the cards used up in a 2 deck game TC would equate to 4.67.

With 1/2 deck (25% of 2 decks) remaining you expect to have seen 2 sevens. They would elevate the RC by 2 over that of HILO. So it equates to a HILO RC of +5 or a TC of (5/(3/2)) = +3.3

**Norm** · 02-12-2014, 04:22 AM

Thanks. REKO is based on KO. Just uses a different compromise that is less reliant on theory, simpler and a hair more accurate. The IRCs were created using simulation and trial and error. Theory gets you 95% there. But, theory is based on estimation methodologies. Squeezing out a bit more requires some grunt work.

**Blitzkrieg** · 02-12-2014, 10:55 AM

Originally Posted by Norm

Thanks. REKO is based on KO. Just uses a different compromise that is less reliant on theory, simpler and a hair more accurate. The IRCs were created using simulation and trial and error. Theory gets you 95% there. But, theory is based on estimation methodologies. Squeezing out a bit more requires some grunt work.

Your welcome. So would you say that REKO is more accurate based on your calculations of the IRC's? I haven't read "Knock-Out Blackjack" by Vancura and Fuchs but do they advise using an IRC in their book from 1996 since REKO is based on KO?

About your REKO betting ramps for 1-8 decks, in specific the double deck betting ramp, are those figures that you would recommend for betting if I was using this strategy in the casino? I have read that a 1-8 bet spread is commonly used to tackle a 2 deck game and your betting ramp for 2 decks is about spot on from what I am looking at. Looks like I have some work to do.

**Blitzkrieg** · 02-12-2014, 11:17 AM

Originally Posted by Tthree

No REKO counts the 7 and HILO doesn't.

With 1/2 deck (25% of 2 decks) remaining you expect to have seen 2 sevens. They would elevate the RC by 2 over that of HILO. So it equates to a HILO RC of +5 or a TC of (5/(3/2)) = +3.3

Thanks T3, I understand that REKO accounts for the 7. I was trying to compare Hilo to REKO as I was looking at Norm's double-deck betting ramp for REKO, just to see how the HiLo Running count and TC correlates with Norm's REKO values for my own purposes.

**Blitzkrieg** · 02-13-2014, 11:14 AM

I played around a bit with the REKO strategy yesterday. I played about 300 hands and got mixed results but I think I can with this strategy. The last session I played on a double-deck BJ sim H17, I started with $1000 and started out with a $10 min bet and $50 bets on counts of +2 with the exception of a $200 bet because the count was up to +5 or +6. I only played a total of 39 hands, won 19 and lost 20 hands but was up $580. It was almost magical. Compared to how long I would have to sit at a poker table to make that, it could potentially take hours and I did that in minutes on a BJ sim.