Don,
I've got CVCX running on the preferred BJ game I play with indices (I18+, of course!) and have the bugs worked out about calculating TCs, etc.... I started playing with bet schedules and ran into some data that I didn't understand fully. Please help.

First, the DD game we're discussing is what it is. This chain of casinos isn't going to offer a different DD game, or change the penetration. I totally realize that "shopping" for better penetration would help bring the SCOREs up. But let's leave that suggestion out of it for now. Thank you.

Let's assume a $100 unit. If a bet schedule is laid out as follows: TC<2 is 1 unit, TC=2 is 2 units, TC=3 is 3 units, TC=4 is 4 units and a TC of 5+ gets 6 units. The win rate for this game is $129.00 per hour, the SCORE is about 36.00 and the s.d. per hour is 21.62.

If we tweak the betting schedule to be the same spread, but more condensed, some funny things happen. The new schedule would be: all negative TC get a 1 unit bet, TCs of 0 or 1 get a 2 unit bet, and then we hit the TC of 2 with a 4 unit and any TC of 3+ with a 6 unit bet. Obviously, we'd bet 2 units off the top since the TC is 0. Now, the win rate per hour goes up to $197 per hour, the SCORE is not much better at 38.00 and the s.d. per hour has grown dramatically to 32.05.

Here is where I need your expertise. Since the SCOREs are nearly identical (a 5% difference) but both the s.d. and win rate went up by roughly 50% in the second bet schedule. It appears that although more money is hitting the table when I have an advantage, it is making the game an extreme roller coaster ride! Is the small increase in SCORE (5%) worth the greater risks taken with this more aggressive betting ramp?

And what if we are willing to really get aggressive and make a betting ramp like this: TC <=1 bet 1 unit, TC of 2 gets 2 units, TC of 3 gets 6 units, and TC >=4 is two hands of 5 units each. I realize that the spread changes (effectively a 1-10 rather than a 1-6) so the comparison is only valid in determining if the schedule is better (which it should be due to the larger spread). The SCORE of this ramp is 44.80 with a win rate of $205.50 per hour and a s.d. of 30.72. If seems this ramp helps bump the SCORE and the win rate, while dropping the s.d. That would seem to be a good thing, right?

I'm just trying to understand how win rates, s.d. and SCORE all work together. Plus, determine the best way to attack a given game. I've read that some players (pros, I guess) won't play a game unless they can get a SCORE of 50+. Is that a reasonable expectation for a DD play all approach?

Thanks. I'll await your reply and hopefully I'll understand how to use this powerful SIM software to help fine tune my game.