First Normal Form

Most of the information on the "High Normal Form" is buried in ancient threads. I thought it worthwhile to give it a more permanent home.

The HNF uses the tag numbers

A,2,3,6,7 = +1
4,5 = +2
8,9 = 0
T = -2

For betting accuracy, the Ace should be side counted as -3.

This is an unbalanced count. Therefore, IRC = -4 * Number of Decks

In the simulations I've performed or seen, the HNF outperforms Hi-Opt II by about 5%. My key innovation is to value the Ace more accurately as a small card at +1. This gives us an unbalanced count geared towards playing strategy, where unbalanced counts more commonly have been geared towards betting strength.

If anyone takes on this count, I'd love to hear from you in the forums!

Dr. Brett Harris was kind enough to generate indices for this count:

Code:

// Indices generated by SBA STRATEGY GENERATOR, Version 5.51


// NOTE: the indices are reversal for:
// splitting 8,8 vs. T, 8,8 vs. 9, 3,3 vs. 7, and late surrender 17 vs. A up


INSURANCE   =   1; // Buy insurance if true count >= INSURANCE


H7710       =  11; // Hit 7,7 versus dealer's T if true count < H7710

SU8810      =  -1; // Surrender 8,8 vs. dealer's T if true count >= SU8810

SU889       =  19; // Surrender 8,8 vs. dealer's 9 if true count >= SU889

SU7710      =   0; // Surrender 7,7 vs. dealer's T if true count >= SU7710



//       2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   T   A     (Dealer's up cards)


//      hard standing table (stand if  >= number, hit if  < number)
DEFTBL HHT
       (
          1, -2, -4, -6, -5, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99,       // hard 12
         -5, -7, -9,-12,-11, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99,       // hard 13
         -9,-11,-13,-16,-15, 99, 99, 99, 10, 99,       // hard 14
        -14,-15,-18,-20,-19, 15, 14, 10,  2, 14,       // hard 15
        -17,-19,-21,-99,-23,  8,  7,  2, -4, 10,       // hard 16
        -99,-99,-99,-99,-99,-99,-99,-99,-99,-13)       // hard 17

//    soft standing table (stand if  >= number, hit if  < number)
DEFTBL SHT
       (
        -99,-99,-99,-99,-99,-99,-22, 99, 99, -2)       // soft 18

//    hard doubling table (double if  >= number)
DEFTBL HDT
       (
         99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99,       // hard 7
         99, 99, 11,  5,  0, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99,       // hard 8
         -2, -6, -9,-12,-15,  5, 99, 99, 99, 99,       // hard 9
        -19,-20,-22,-99,-99,-16,-12, -7, 99,  5,       // hard 10
        -21,-22,-99,-99,-99,-17,-14,-11,-11, -2)       // hard 11

//    soft doubling table (double if  >= number)
DEFTBL SDT
       (
         99, 12,  4, -4, -7, 99, 99,       // A,2
         99, 13,  1, -7,-10, 99, 99,       // A,3
         99, 12, -4, -9,-13, 99, 99,       // A,4
         99, 11, -7,-13,-18, 99, 99,       // A,5
          0, -9,-13,-19,-22, 99, 99,       // A,6
         -3, -7,-11,-15,-14, 99, 99,       // A,7
         13,  7,  3, -1, -3, 99, 99,       // A,8
         17, 14, 10,  7,  5, 99, 99,       // A,9
         99, 99, 13, 11,  9, 99, 99)       // A,T

if  (DAS)   // doubling is allowed after splitting

// 	splitting table for DAS (split if  >= number, except reversals)
DEFTBL SPT
       (
        -11,-14,-17,-20,-99,-99, 99, 99, 99, 99,       // 2,2
         -8,-19,-21,-99,-99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99,       // 3,3
         99, 16,  5, -5, -7, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99,       // 4,4
         99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99,       // 5,5
         -7,-11,-14,-18,-22, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99,       // 6,6
        -19,-21,-22,-99,-99,-99, 99, 99, 99, 99,       // 7,7
        -99,-99,-99,-99,-99,-99,-99, 99,  2,-99,       // 8,8
        -10,-12,-14,-16,-15, 10,-99,-99, 99,  6,       // 9,9
         99, 13,  9,  6,  5, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99,       // T,T
        -20,-21,-22,-99,-24,-17,-16,-15,-16, -9)       // A,A

else        // doubling is not allowed after splitting

// 	splitting table for no DAS (split if  >= number, except reversals)
DEFTBL SPT
       (
         13,  2, -9,-16,-22,-99, 99, 99, 99, 99,       // 2,2
         14,  4, -5,-10,-99,  5, 99, 99, 99, 99,       // 3,3
         99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99,       // 4,4
         99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99,       // 5,5
         -1, -6, -9,-13,-15, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99,       // 6,6
        -17,-19,-22,-23,-99,-99, 99, 99, 99, 99,       // 7,7
        -99,-99,-99,-99,-99,-99,-99, 14,  0,-99,       // 8,8
         -7, -9,-11,-14,-12, 16,-99,-99, 99, 12,       // 9,9
         99, 13,  9,  7,  4, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99,       // T,T
        -20,-22,-22,-99,-24,-17,-15,-15,-16, -9)       // A,A
endif

//       Late surrender table (surrender if  >= number)
DEFTBL LST
       (
                             99, 99, 99, 12, 99,       // surrender hard 12
                             99, 99, 13,  6, 14,       // surrender hard 13
                             99, 13,  5,  0,  5,       // surrender hard 14
                             99,  7,  0, -5, -1,       // surrender hard 15
                             15,  2, -5, -9, -7,       // surrender hard 16
                             99, 99, 99, 15,-10)       // surrender hard 17