Hello all,

I am new to Don's Domain. I have been counting for about 6 mos. (I use CVBJ/CVCX and have studied the books BJA3 and PBJ among others). I play mostly 6-deck (h17, das, ls) and DD (h17, das).

I use Hi-Lo and I like its simplicity. However, I have read in past posts (here and elsewhere) that adding a side count of 7's could make for a substantial improvement, especially with betting efficiency (BE).

For the side count, I want to determine the excess or deficit number of 7's seen, then multiply that by 0.5 to get an adjusted RC before dividing to get the TC. I find this is not too hard with double deck.

I would NOT want to keep an unbalanced (IRC) side count which would require a separate betting schedule. I would want to retain the same betting schedule that CVCX recommends for standard Hi-Lo counting. For examble, if my attention is being overwhelmed, such as while needing to converse with the pit or dealer while playing, I could, on the fly, disregard my side count of 7's and just use standard Hi-Lo until the next shuffle.

I understand that Cacarulo's (cac/7) system is based on doubling the tag values and using an IRC (4*#decks) for the side count, which requires using a separate betting schedule.

I am unclear about whether side counting 7's in the "excess/deficit" way I described above is advantageous. If it improves standard Hi-Lo by even 90% as much as cac/7 does, then that is okay with me...I just don't want to head down the wrong path."

Another idea is to keep a side count of 7's and 9's. Not two separate side counts, but one side count that adds one for each 7 seen, and subtracts one for each 9 seen (DD games). Any insight on this brainstorm?

Thanks in advance for any information or advice.
Zenfighter, Cacarulo, anybody...