Omega II Multi Deck Question

[Zach25]

Hey everyone I have a quick question about the Advanced Omega ii (AO2) strategy. I already learned the the Basic Omega strategy but in the book Blackjack For Blood Bryce Carlson says to use the AO2 for multi-deck. He says to learn the Fabulous 18 and, "In multiple-deck games, because most of our advantage comes from spreading our bets rather than from varing our strategy, learning the remaining double-digit decisions (especially the minus ones) is of very little value" (Carlson). So if I'm playing multi-deck (6 deck shoe), I understand to use the Fabulous 18 strategy, but for the other plays do I use basic strategy or Basic omega? Thanks

[BJGenius007]

First, it is Illustrious 18 and Fab 4. Second, positive indexes are much more important than negative indexes in shoe game because AP's advantage comes from spread than index play in shoe game. So if you can only memorize limited number of indexes, just memorize the most valuable index numbers- Illustrious 18 and Fab 4. Most of them are positive numbers, meaning you have big bets.

Back to your question, the answer is that index play is always better than basic strategy. But you have to be 100% sure you won't make any mistake on bloated index plays.

[Zach25]

Okay thank you. I researched online and discovered it is called Illustrious 18 but Carlson calls it Fabulous 18. So index play meaning use the Basic Omega (+6 and -6 true count strategy) on the other plays? thank you for the help.

[Three]

"In multiple-deck games, because most of our advantage comes from spreading our bets rather than from varing our strategy, learning the remaining double-digit decisions (especially the minus ones) is of very little value" (Carlson).

The value of indices depends on your style of play. That is your actual percentage of hands played at each TC and the bet size for that TC. If you play all TC 0 will have the highest frequency of play but will have a min bet unless the deck is ace rich. If you wong heavily and play mostly at advantage counts and rarely at small positive TC and never at neutral or negative TC your most frequent counts will be near your wong in point. The I18 is designed for play all or most counts. Your wong style will also affect bet size. If you are a heavy wonger you probably don't spread much compared to what a play-all player must do in shoe games. Another factor in bet frequency is hand spreading particularly if others are at the table. This will also skew frequency of bets. If you are playing heads up spreading to 2 hands doesn't affect TC frequency per hand much. You want to play a strong game with your biggest bets out and you should know which indices are strongest defined by how quickly advantage accumulates after it is exceeded, the bet size it affects and the frequency that you will see TC's that involve the index play. Someone only playing at TC +3 or higher will basically have a different basic strategy defined by the index plays that he will be making always and a different set of most important indices due to the fact he only plays decent plus counts. If you mix up your play and do a little of every style of wonging you need to learn more indices to have those that are most important for any given style you are currently using.

Indices are the easiest thing an AP has to learn. There is no excuse for getting lazy when learning them. You spend very little time learning them and then they are with you forever. There are probably about 50 to 60 indices that are of real value but if you want to go crazy you can get to over 100 indices. Just learn the most important ones first. Learn the positive indices and the near neutral ones. Some hands are much more frequent than others. Another affect of more indices is you can bet more at the same RoR or simply enjoy a lower RoR or both. It also lowers n0 a little which gets you to the long run faster.

[Zach25]

Thanks for helping clarify things Tthree!

[Shadowless]

Refer to page 127 of his book.

To sum up, if you haven't learned additional AOII indices other than the Fabulous 18, use the basic omega strategy tables.
The Fabulous 18 will give you 75% of the total advantage from using AOII.
When you start to learn additional indices, learn the ones from -10 to +10 (starting with the ones closest to zero) and your total gain from AOII will be 95%.
Note: the AOII indices in Carlson's book are for S17. If you play H17, refer to the end of the chapter for H17 changes.

If you are having issues keeping a side count of aces in 6D games AND adjusting your count with them, refer to page 154 of his book.

[Jabberwocky]

Refer to page 127 of his book.

To sum up, if you haven't learned additional AOII indices other than the Fabulous 18, use the basic omega strategy tables.
The Fabulous 18 will give you 75% of the total advantage from using AOII.
When you start to learn additional indices, learn the ones from -10 to +10 (starting with the ones closest to zero) and your total gain from AOII will be 95%.
Note: the AOII indices in Carlson's book are for S17. If you play H17, refer to the end of the chapter for H17 changes.

If you are having issues keeping a side count of aces in 6D games AND adjusting your count with them, refer to page 154 of his book.

There is another system that is easier and more powerful than A0II. Xen-VAPC where you switch the Ace and 9 values while using the standard insurance parameter. I wouldn't memorize any negative indexes lower than-3.