Question on possibly switching away from Hi-lo

[Finrod]

I have read about counting by inference in several books, though I am not sure which atm. I think both Wong and Schlesinger have wrote about it. While it is not a skill I have practiced, I do find myself using it at face down double deck games. If a player's first hit is a bigger card and the second hit is a middlin to big card, you can pretty much add one to your count for your playing decision. In this case, the player I am talking about acts before me. This is an example of where being at third base helps ever so slightly.

Counting by inference is used only for the next playing decision, so it improves PE, but not BC. So the improvement is limited though more valuable in double and single deck games. Probably worthless in 6d and 8d games.

[Three]

. Probably worthless in 6d and 8d games.

They are dealing face down 6 and 8 deck games somewhere. Good lord what has the world come to.

[seriousplayer]

They have restricted doubling. No soft doubles and double hard 10 and 11 only. Why learn an index that is not allowed to be used.

I think it is a mistake that the players are thinking that Northern Nevada only offer single deck game with doubling down on hard 10 and 11. It is not true! I go up to Northern Nevada casino a lot. I was able to find single deck games with 1 deck H17 DOA and sometime DAS.

[mofungoo]

I think it is a mistake that the players are thinking that Northern Nevada only offer single deck game with doubling down on hard 10 and 11. It is not true! I go up to Northern Nevada casino a lot. I was able to find single deck games with 1 deck H17 DOA and sometime DAS.

The last time I was in North Nevada the few 1D DOA games I saw didn't have good penetration. I didn't play everywhere so there may be some decent DOA games worth playing up there.

[redthetiger]

Thanks for the responses everyone. On my most recent trip I played primary at one place, as it had very good playing conditions and I didn’t feel any heat -- though much of that was likely because of how I was losing. Anyhow, like I mentioned before I found myself side counting aces as I was playing and it didn’t seem too terribly difficult… and that made me question if I should be taking a different approach.

I guess I’m trying to figure out where to focus on. I don’t want to end up in a situation where I spend a ton of time learning single deck indices for hi-lo, then realize I should have been doing a different count and indices. I'm willing to study and improve, but want to do so smartly.

Hi-Lo indices for Single Deck...I did run across them in a link through here: http://www.blackjackinfo.com/blackja...-lesson-19.php

If there is another resource I should be looking at for indices, however, do let me know. Also, is there a list out there that ranks them in terms of importance? And thank you for the suggestion on Million Dollar Blackjack. I'll have to check that book out.

[Three]

I don’t want to end up in a situation where I spend a ton of time learning single deck indices for hi-lo

It isn't possible to spend a ton of time learning indices. My memory sucks and I learned over 50 indices in a few hours. I learned them as number strings like phone numbers for each hand and the series of upcards. In time remembering individual indices without having to think through the pattern came. Just practice playing after memorizing the strings. I use over 110 indices and more than that in playing adjustments for side counts. The index numbers are logical if you have an ace neutral count. Since I never used anything else in my many decades of play I am not sure ace reckoned counts are as easily patterned. They probably are.

[Blitzkrieg]

Since you already use Hilo, are a red chip bettor, and take a few trips a year to play, continue to use it and add more indices. You should be using at least 60 indices for your game. A skill that is essential for single deck play that no one has mentioned is hand estimation. You must be able to "put a player on a hand" by considering the dealer's upcard then temporarily altering the count for playing purposes. After the hand is over go back to the original count for betting. If you don't have it already get a copy of Uston's Million Dollar Blackjack and learn the chapter The Art of Playing Single Deck.

Just curious, what do you think the deck penetration was in Vegas games for single deck BJ when the book as written, has it changed?

[RWM]

Back then it was 2 rounds if the table had 5,6, or 7 spots. 3 rounds to 4, 4 rounds to 3. I usually dealt down to about 10 cards, but sometimes less.

[redthetiger]

As a follow up, I've been studying and working on learning more single deck indices. But, I have a question on that. I started off looking at the ones listed on blackjack info and also looked at the appendix in Professional Blackjack with Single Deck H17 indices, and noticed some are slightly different (even with identical rule sets) -- such as doubling 9 vs 7. Which resource should I be using as my guide?