Just Another Idiot: Beginner Questions

[Just Another Idiot]

I have played blackjack intermittently for several years now. I consider myself a slightly better player than average. Since, in the past, I have only been able to play a couple times a year, I have had to relearn basic strategy before each trip. I have always tried to do research before the trip to find out the specific rules of the game at the casino where I will be staying and then I find BS tables for those rules.

In the past, I have read or scanned several BJ books and understood most of the concepts. Because of my lack of playing time and lack of time in general, I have never really tried to learn to count. However, I think that I am now ready to commit the necessary time to do so. It looks as though I will have the opportunity to start playing much more often. So here are my questions:

1. For a player such as myself, what counting system would you recommend? Obviously, simplicity is the key for me. The game offered is 6D. Please also tell me the book to buy for the given count.

2. If you were to guess, how long to become proficient enough? Enough for what? Well, I am guessing that few are perfect. But, I really would like to just have a slight edge while still keeping it fun. I don?t want to quit my job, lose my wife, or take over the world.

3. This one is a request for the manner of your newly renovated board. I have in the past ranted on the other board that I feel that many of the comments directed at ?ploppies? are a bit heavy handed. These people are not idiots. At least not any more so than the general population. They are gambling. It is a form of entertainment. It is one that I have enjoyed for some time and will continue to do so. Don?t forget that every time even the most proficient counter sits down to play, he is gambling for that session. Yes, in the LONG run, it is not gambling. But, it is still gambling, and it is still entertainment. At least I hope so.

Thank you all for your suggestions and help.

[Loco]

> 1. For a player such as myself, what
> counting system would you recommend?
> Obviously, simplicity is the key for me. The
> game offered is 6D. Please also tell me the
> book to buy for the given count.

Personally, I use the Red 7 after playing Hi-Lo for almost 20 years. It's an unbalanced count, which means you don't have to fool with true count conversion. It's available in Blackbelt in Blackjack by Arnold Snyder. I would recommend using the simple version with only six strategy changes at first, and adding enhancements as you grow more comfortable.

The KO count, also unbalanced, by Fuchs and Vancura is more popular, but I prefer Red 7 because I find it slightly simpler, and it outperforms KO in the simulations that I have seen. Either count would be a good one.

> 2. If you were to guess, how long to become
> proficient enough? Enough for what? Well, I
> am guessing that few are perfect. But, I
> really would like to just have a slight edge
> while still keeping it fun. I don?t want to
> quit my job, lose my wife, or take over the
> world.

It depends how often you practice. I got pretty good at counting down decks in less than a week. The beauty of the Red 7 is that you don't have a lot of index numbers to memorize. Snyder gives some excellent advice about practicing in his book. Practice untill you're sick of it, and then practice some more.

I hope this helps. I'm sure that other people have different ideas.

[Sidewinder]

> 3. This one is a request for the manner of
> your newly renovated board. I have in the
> past ranted on the other board that I feel
> that many of the comments directed at
> ?ploppies? are a bit heavy handed. These
> people are not idiots. At least not any more
> so than the general population. They are
> gambling. It is a form of entertainment. It
> is one that I have enjoyed for some time and
> will continue to do so. Don?t forget that
> every time even the most proficient counter
> sits down to play, he is gambling for that
> session. Yes, in the LONG run, it is not
> gambling. But, it is still gambling, and it
> is still entertainment. At least I hope so.

That's very true. Personally I don't use the term and unskilled players really don't bother me. After all, at one time we all were ploppies. The players which do bother me are the ones who chastize and insult others at the table for their play. Hit 'em hard, The Side

[Kasey]

I started playing basic strategy in the mid-80's and then tried to learn the balanced true count system from The World's Greatest Blackjack Book. Keeping a running count was easy enough, and only took a few days to learn. However, make the true count conversion before every play and bet was exhausting and I doubt my estimates of cards remaining were very accurate. I gave it up in frustration and played basic strategy for another 10 years.

Last summer I was browsing the Internet and happenned across the KO Rookie system. After giving up on counting, I stopped reading and so I had never heard of unbalanced counts. KO looked wonderful, because I knew I could keep a running count.

I bought KO BJ last November on a trip to the Gambler's Book Club and started practicing in earnest on KO Preferred. It turned out to be harder than I expected to think about indexes (indices?) and still keep the running count in my head. It took me about 4 months of everyday practice to get to where I rarely made a mistake during practice.

Still, I can handle KO Preferred, while I could not handle true count conversion.

I got an MKE practice deck from GBC as well, and that has been a big help. Also, I recommend the KO version of the World's Greatest Blackjack Simulation. There is a wealth of information in there to help you pick good games.

I now read everything I can get my hands on about BJ, so I have learned about Red 7 and I think it would be an excellent choice too. KO and Red 7 are very similar and I strongly recommend Blackbelt in Blackjack which describes Red 7. I know there are a lot of people using the Unbalance Zen as well, but I have no experience with that.

Hope this helps.

[Don Schlesinger]

> Don?t forget that
> every time even the most proficient counter
> sits down to play, he is gambling for that
> session. Yes, in the LONG run, it is not
> gambling. But, it is still gambling, and it
> is still entertainment. At least I hope so.

If you would like to learn to count and turn negative expectation into positive expectation, I would respectfully suggest that you also change your opinion regarding the above.

Instead of calling it "gambling," you might consider that the activity is "investing with some risk," where the ratio of that risk to the reward gets smaller as the number of plays gets larger. "Gamblers" go into a casino hoping to win, but realizing that, most of the time, they lose. Counters go into a casino expecting to win, but realize that, occasionally, they lose anyway. It would be good if you understood the not so subtle difference between the two.

Finally, counting may begin as "still entertainment" for you, but a) it isn't the main objective in playing, and b) I hate to tell you this, but the fun won't last forever! :-)

Good luck to you.

Don

[Just Another Idiot]

Don,

You wrote:

> Finally, counting may begin as "still
> entertainment" for you, but a) it isn't
> the main objective in playing, and b) I hate
> to tell you this, but the fun won't last
> forever! :-)

If you don't find it entertaining and fun, why do it? There are certainly better, easier, and more productive ways to make money.

Thank you for your comments.

[Don Schlesinger]

> If you don't find it entertaining and fun,
> why do it?

For the most part, I don't. But, you'd be surprised what some other people would do to make, oh, a couple hundred thousand a year! :-)

> There are certainly better,
> easier, and more productive ways to make
> money.

You know, it's funny, I think I may have found some of those. :-)

Don