Little Ben: The Red 7.

[Little Ben]

Hi all,

I've been skating around the web trying to find any decent info on Arnold Snyder's Red 7 system. I've been using Hi-lo but thought i'd try something a little more relaxed i.e not having to worry about True Counts.

The info i've been getting from various sources is mixed- it's either loathed or loved.

Any thoughts?

Many, many thanks

Little Ben

[Wolverine]

Hey Little Ben,
I too use Hi-Lo, and I understand where you are coming from. It happens to come easily to me, but can appreciate how a simpler system could make playing more enjoyable and lower the stress levels. This is supposed to be "fun," right?

I think if you search this board and site, you will notice that many, many players looking for an "easier" system use the KO. Hopefully, some of the regular posters that use KO will chime in and why they use it over Hi-Lo or the Red 7 system.

I would encourage you to search the site and see if KO doesn't answer your system needs.

Good luck and good cards. While certainly not my area of expertise, I hope I helped steer you in the right direction.

[Norm Wattenberger]

I don't loathe it or love it. It's a good strategy. I just prefer KO for this class of strategy as I think it has a superior performance vs. ease of use ratio. Also, there are more KO users, making for a larger community.

> Hi all,

> I've been skating around the web trying to find any
> decent info on Arnold Snyder's Red 7 system. I've been
> using Hi-lo but thought i'd try something a little
> more relaxed i.e not having to worry about True
> Counts.

> The info i've been getting from various sources is
> mixed- it's either loathed or loved.

> Any thoughts?

> Many, many thanks

> Little Ben

[David Spence]

> I don't loath it or love it.

Change "loath" (meaning "reluctant") to "loathe" (meaning "hate") :-)

[Don Schlesinger]

Can't imagine what you're talking about! :-)

(Yes, I saw it right away.) By the way, the verb "loathe" is usually the one that's spelled correctly, while the adjective "loath" is very often misspelled, because it's pronounced the same as the verb, and many people add an e that doesn't belong. But then, Norm is always the creative one! :-)

Thanks for writing.

Don

[Little Ben]

Buddy you are a star,

I've been doing a lot of digging around on the net and it appears that KO is the best way to go. Sorry to be a pain but what about play variations? Call me an idiot, but I assume you can't use a 'balanced' method like the illustrious 18 and change the numbers to suit the system. Right??

I was sent 2 index lists via e-mail. I've thanked the sender but can't work them out.

I know what you're thinking "Buy the book!", I just wanted to get an idea of how it works before I part with my hard earned cash.

Once again many, many thanks

Little Ben

[Parker]

Buy the book. If your bankroll can't handle an expense of $17.95 (plus shipping), you probably shouldn't be playing blackjack at all. :-)

However, here is a brief summary: KO has three levels: Rookie, Preferred, and Full.

In the Rookie system, no playing variations are used - basic strategy is employed, and all advantage is gained via bet variation.

In the Preferred system, strategy variations similar to the I-18 are added (except that splitting 10's is not done, due to cover considerations). A reduced rounded matrix is used, with all plays being tied to the IRC (Initial Running Count), Key Count or Pivot Point. Thus, the user only has 3 index numbers to remember.

With the Full system, exact indexes are used. However, the authors note that very little is gained over the Preferred system, and it is included in the book primarily for reference.

Extensive sims and studies have indicated that almost nothing is lost when indices are rounded.

You can find out more at the KO website (www.koblackjack.com).

Norm Wattenberger has developed a variant of KO, which he calls REKO (Ridiculously Easy KO), that takes it a step further: only one index number is used for all strategy variations. His sims indicate that this works nearly as well as the KO Preferred matrix. You can find out more about it at his website (link below).

Still confused? Buy the book.

REKO

[Little Ben]

Thanks for the info- I've decided to stop being cheap and buy the book. It's en route.

[Norm Wattenberger]

I was using the 17th Century spelling.

[Fat Lizard]

> Hi all,

> I've been skating around the web trying to find any
> decent info on Arnold Snyder's Red 7 system. I've been
> using Hi-lo but thought i'd try something a little
> more relaxed i.e not having to worry about True
> Counts.

> The info i've been getting from various sources is
> mixed- it's either loathed or loved.

> Any thoughts?

> Many, many thanks

> Little Ben

Whatever floats your boat, ie., works best for you.
I started with Red7, and when KO came out had a look at it, but R7 was too deeply ingrained, so I stuck with what I could do with ease/cover/etc.
Works for me, but if you find KO better for some reason, then that's best for you.