iaNac: hybrid system questions

[iaNac]

I've recently learned HiOpt1 +/- 6 from Humble & Cooper's book and I keep an Ace side count. I Kelly bet 1 unit less than ace adjusted true counts of +3 with a 1:4 spread playing SD, DHS17, no DAS, Double Any.

I bought BlackJack Expert Palm (love it) and I've logged 11,038 hands losing 69 units with an overall accuracy of 97.9% and an index accuracy of 80.2%. I've switched to HiLo with an Ace side and I'm up 447 units in 8,030 hands using the HiOpt1 actions and indexes: overall accuracy of 98.3% and index accuracy of 87.4%. HiLo PE is worse than HiOpt1 yet I'm doing better with the hybrid system! Questions...

1) Would you guess my bad luck with HiOptI to be due to my inaccuracy, standard deviation, bet scaling, or combos of the above?
2) Do you know of any software that can simulate an ace side count? I've demo'd Blackjack Audit and can't make it do that. (I'd like to know Ace side Expectations.)
3) BC with HiLo is high to begin with. Does it make mathematical sense to adjust wagers using an Ace side count with HiLo or is it counterproductive?
4) Where can I get indexes specific to HiLo? (I bought (and read!) Griffin?s T.O.B.and 99.5% was over my head so please don't ask me to crunch my own indexes - I'm a highly educated mathematical idiot!)

Thanks - iaNac
ps. I?m a noob - hope this post isn?t inappropriately long.

[Myooligan]

> 1) Would you guess my bad luck with HiOptI to be due
> to my inaccuracy, standard deviation, bet scaling, or
> combos of the above?

Sounds like mostly standard deviation. Your accuracy is probably good enough to have a winning game, it really depends on what type of errors you're making (see
http://www.cardcounter.com/Essays/Mistakes.htm)

> 2) Do you know of any software that can simulate an
> ace side count? I've demo'd Blackjack Audit and can't
> make it do that. (I'd like to know Ace side
> Expectations.)

The industry standard is available at: www.qfit.com

> 3) BC with HiLo is high to begin with. Does it make
> mathematical sense to adjust wagers using an Ace side
> count with HiLo or is it counterproductive?

No. If anything, you'd be adjusting HiLo for playing decisions, but it's not worth it. HiLo correctly values the ace, for betting purposes.

> 4) Where can I get indexes specific to HiLo? (I bought
> (and read!) Griffin?s T.O.B.and 99.5% was over my head
> so please don't ask me to crunch my own indexes - I'm
> a highly educated mathematical idiot!)

Well, hopefully Norm won't mind me saying this, but you can get them on the free trial download of CVBJ, also at qfit.com. Let me warn you, though: After a little exposure to CVBJ, you won't be satisfied with anything less!

BTW, it's pretty much been established that Hi-Opt I isn't worth using. It's not a bad system, it's just that there are other options that do as well or better, without the side count (Case in point: Hi-Lo, which returns about the same results). If you explore the links on the qfit page, you'll find online sim pages that will help you compare various counting systems.

And good luck!

[iaNac]

> Sounds like mostly standard deviation. Your accuracy
> is probably good enough to have a winning game, it
> really depends on what type of errors you're making
> (see
> http://www.cardcounter.com/Essays/Mistakes.htm)

Thanks for the url, it was an interesting read!

> No. If anything, you'd be adjusting HiLo for playing
> decisions, but it's not worth it. HiLo correctly
> values the ace, for betting purposes.

I primarily use the ace side count for betting. The only way it could help with play, I think, is by using a multiparameter table. Is that what you meant?

> Well, hopefully Norm won't mind me saying this, but
> you can get them on the free trial download of CVBJ,
> also at qfit.com. Let me warn you, though: After a
> little exposure to CVBJ, you won't be satisfied with
> anything less!

I took a quick look at (stumbled thru) the cvdata demo. The interface doesn't come intuitively to me. Does it allow betting adjustments based on a side count?

Thanks, iaNac

[Myooligan]

> I primarily use the ace side count for betting. The
> only way it could help with play, I think, is by using
> a multiparameter table. Is that what you meant?

yes

> I took a quick look at (stumbled thru) the cvdata
> demo. The interface doesn't come intuitively to me.
> Does it allow betting adjustments based on a side
> count?

and yes!