Zach Arrick: Using the Ill18

[Zach Arrick]

So I have reread the chapter in BJA3 about the ill18 a dozen times and I can not understand how to use the indices. For example, with 13 vs.2, the index number is -1, so does that mean you have to depart from basic strategy of standing and hit when the true count is above -1?

maybe this is more a question about indices than the ILL but either way...thanks in advance

[Parker]

> So I have reread the chapter in BJA3 about
> the ill18 a dozen times and I can not
> understand how to use the indices. For
> example, with 13 vs.2, the index number is
> -1, so does that mean you have to depart
> from basic strategy of standing and hit when
> the true count is above -1?

> maybe this is more a question about indices
> than the ILL but either way...thanks in
> advance

This is a negative index, which is a little tricky. You hit when the TC is below -1 and stand if at or above the index.

This is logical if you think about it, since at the negative counts the dealer is more likely to make a hand.

A thumb rule for hit/stand indices is think of the indexes in a line, going left to right, negative to positive, and "Hit if to the left of" the index for a particular hand/dealer upcard combination.

[Zach Arrick]

> This is a negative index, which is a little
> tricky. You hit when the TC is below -1 and
> stand if at or above the index.

> This is logical if you think about it, since
> at the negative counts the dealer is more
> likely to make a hand.

> A thumb rule for hit/stand indices is think
> of the indexes in a line, going left to
> right, negative to positive, and "Hit
> if to the left of" the index for a
> particular hand/dealer upcard combination.

So if it is a negative index, you change your play when the tc is less, and vice versa with positive.

also, looking at this table in chapter 5, it doesn't say the correct play to make. are we just supposed to realize that instead of hitting 10 vs 10, we are supposed to double down at TC greater than 4?

thanks again,

[Zach Arrick]

I figured it out with CVBJ - the previous post was way off.

> This is a negative index, which is a little
> tricky. You hit when the TC is below -1 and
> stand if at or above the index.

> This is logical if you think about it, since
> at the negative counts the dealer is more
> likely to make a hand.

> A thumb rule for hit/stand indices is think
> of the indexes in a line, going left to
> right, negative to positive, and "Hit
> if to the left of" the index for a
> particular hand/dealer upcard combination.