> No, no reason. If you know the index and get the
> situation, it's fine to make the play. In this case,
> it would be worth about 2% of your bet to you.

> Now, I don't know what a "big bet" is for
> you, but for purposes of this illustration, let's just
> call it $100. And, again, I full-well understand that,
> when the hand is in front of you, and you have the
> count, that's what you're concerned about. But, humor
> me for a minute.

> You get the hand A,3 v. 4 about once every 1,087
> hands. What's more, you now also want the count to be
> +4 or higher, and that happens about 5.2% of the time.
> So, together, you get the situation you described
> above about once every 20,903 hands. Let's call it
> 20,000.

> Suppose you play 200 hours of blackjack a year, which,
> for some people, is quite a lot. And, you get 100
> hands per hour. That's 20,000 hands a year. So, you
> can expect to be in the situation you describe once a
> year!! And, if your bet is $100, you stand to make $2
> in extra e.v. PER YEAR, knowing this index.

> Now, I'm not telling you not to know it. Knowing it
> will earn you one tip to a valet-parking attendant,
> once a year.
> What I am>/i> saying is, now you know why plays
> such as these aren't in any book of mine. :-)

> Don

> P.S. As you know from what I have stated in BJA3, I
> personally learned over 150 indices for the RPC and
> still use them to this day. I do so not because I
> think they're worth a great deal, but simply because,
> well, ... I can! Had someone come along with an I18
> before I learned BJ, I doubt very much if I would have
> bothered learning all the others.

Thanks Don. Appreciate your input.