A fan: Camouflage/for Don

[A fan]

Of all the great work you have done in Blackjack, the article on camouflage for the basic strategist and the card counter was one of the best. I use it all the time. When your a card counter you can't always play textbook card counting. I continually refer to the conditional and absolute penalty tables to mix up my play.
In your book "Blackjack Attack" (I have all three editions) you state that the Appendices to Wong's revised edition of Professional Blackjack provides the most accurate information in print on this topic. I reviewed the appendices in Wong's book, and it appears that his figures gives only the conditional penalties. I'm primarily interested in the absolute penalties. Maybe I'm reading it wrong, if so can you clarify it.
Is there any other source? Are you planning to update your great work?

Thanks

A fan

[Don Schlesinger]

> Of all the great work you have done in Blackjack, the
> article on camouflage for the basic strategist and the
> card counter was one of the best.

Thank you. It doesn't get as much "press" as some of the other, more well-known stuff, but I enjoyed doing it very much.

> I use it all the
> time. When you're a card counter you can't always play
> textbook card counting. I continually refer to the
> conditional and absolute penalty tables to mix up my
> play.

Glad you find the charts useful.

> In your book "Blackjack Attack" (I have all
> three editions)

The first one hasn't disintegrated yet? :-)

> you state that the Appendices to
> Wong's revised edition of Professional Blackjack
> provides the most accurate information in print on
> this topic.

The topic was the frequencies of the various holdings. Frequencies for initial, two-card hands are fairly common, but frequencies for the decision, where the total may be multi-card, are less frequent, and Wong supplies them.

> I reviewed the appendices in Wong's book,
> and it appears that his figures give only the
> conditional penalties.

Again, we're talking about the frequencies of the holdings, by which the conditional penalties are multiplied, to get the absolute penalties.

> I'm primarily interested in the
> absolute penalties.

Understood.

> Maybe I'm reading it wrong, if so
> can you clarify it.

See above.

> Is there any other source?

Most of the software also uses the initial hands, and not the totals, for the penalties and frequencies.

> Are you planning to update
> your great work?

Hard to say. When I finished it, I tought that BJA3 might be the end. We'll have to see.

> Thanks

> A fan

You're most welcome.

Don