Next step to take? DD - Zen Count

[RS]

I play DD with Zen Count.

What can I do to improve my game? The first thing I thought of, was shuffle-tracking. But of course, that takes a LOT of time and dedication and precision and...requires a local casino that hand-shuffles and....I'm not going to go down that road (at least not yet!).


What about side counting aces? Or maybe 7's, 8's, and/or 9's? I don't know much about side-counting, just wondering if this may be something I should look into. I love challenging myself and trying out new things like this. If I can't do it, or it's not worth it or whatever...then whatever, who cares.



ANYWAY


Any books, websites, articles, etc. that I should look into? I have blackbelt in blackjack, but that's it. Or are there/is there any other strategies or something that I should look into? please don't be shy!

[zengrifter]

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[mcallister3200]

I think you have the idea reversed for side counting aces(someone correct me if I'm wrong). Side counting aces will help your betting efficiency more than anything else, I believe the only time it will have a notable effect on playing efficiency is insurance and when doubling on 11 when the index is close.
Also for the Zen count, side counting aces isn't going to be as useful as with some other counts, because of the fact that it's semi neutralized. I'm almost certain I've read Snyder quoted as saying that side counting aces for the Zen is impractical. The fact that it's counted helps the betting efficiency but not as much as if it's counted same as a ten, and that it's -1 instead of -2 helps your playing efficiency. I've used zen for all but my first couple months and think it's ideal for double deck when considering the tradeoff between ease of use and accuracy versus higher or lower level counts, in a shoe game really hi-lo is probably the best choice for most, but I just use Zen, it's what I know best and there's no sense in using two different counts unless your talking about sidebets, it has to lead more mistakes when you get tired if you switch between two counts. Yes I know that I habitually use run on sentences with way too many commas, but,,,,,,,,,,,.

[zengrifter]

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[RS]

I'm working on (more) indices. Playing for more hours is out of my control, unfortunately.


As for side counting...can someone clarify if this is correct or not (what I write below the quote) ?

http://www.qfit.com/blackjack-side-counts.htm

Ace Side Count for Playing Purposes

This method is only valid with Ace-reckoned strategies (e.g. High-Low, Halves, Red Seven, Zen Count, and Revere Point Count.) Note: using an Ace SC for one of these strategies requires a different set of strategy tables. Few people use this technique these days. If you are using any of these systems, the true count is quite accurate for betting purposes, but less accurate for playing purposes. To correct this, use the following procedure:

• Calculate the number of excess Aces (may be negative) in the remaining cards
• Multiply the number of excess Aces by the absolute value of the point count value assigned by the current strategy to Ten-value cards (normally one or two)
• Temporarily subtract the result from the running count
• Recalculate the true count for strategy decision purposes only
• If this is an Insurance decision, temporarily subtract double the result from the running count
• Recalculate the true count for Insurance purposes only

1) "Exceess aces" means how many extra aces there are compared to the amount of decks remaining. For example, if only 1 ace have been played (7 remaining) in the first deck, then there is an excess of 3? (because 'normally' there would be 4 aces in the last 1 deck?) On the other hand, if 5 aces have been played in the first deck, then there is an excess of -1 aces, (because there are 3 remaining, but normally there'd be 4) ?

In other words, there should be 1 aces per 13 cards (1/4 deck).

2) I would then multiply this number (either 3 or -1, in the two examples above) by '2', the number assigned to tens in the ZEN COUNT. So, 3x2 or -1x2 would give me 6 or -2, for the two examples I gave above.

3) Let's say the running count is 9 at this point, so I would subtract 6 or -2, to get either 9-6=3 or 9--2=11 ?

4) So, based on the two examples above, the TC is either 3 or 11? And I would use that number for only PLAYING strategy and not BETTING strategy. (ie: My bets don't change based on the ASC, only my playing/indices do?)

5) If this was insurance, I would either subtract 12 or -4 from 9 (ie: 9-12 = "-3" or 9--4= "+13" ?)

6) Same thing as #4, except for only insurance. The counts would either be -3 or +13, based on the two examples.



Is all this correct?

And there are no betting variations when using an ASC?

[mcallister3200]

I agree with play longer if you have several places to play, longer can mean several short sessions, it is going to be dependant on where you play.

Norm's Modern Blackjack and Blackjack Attack will no doubt open your eyes to ways to improve your game, I find these books indispensible and pretty much every other book I've read on card counting not including the diary types, even the good ones, are pretty much re-hashing the same material and if you've read blackbelt you won't learn much new by reading them. I'd browse the archives on Snyder's old website (blackjackforumonline), there are some good articles in there and you'll probably find something helpful there and if not you'll find a few things interesting anyways.

In pitch games watch for dealers who don't hold the deck level in the cutting process. If you can see the bottom card, cut it into or out of play as desirable and add it into your count off the top. If it's an ace and your deck estimation is good (jackpot), make sure you note where that ace is after the cut and get it into your hand with a max bet. If your deck estimation isn't great, i'd still bump the bet up and multiple hand when you think it's coming, but don't overbet too much because you just might be delivering it into the dealer's hand if you're off by a few cards.

Aggression, discipline and speed, aggression discipline and speed, agression discipline and speed. Always take note of dealers who give exceptional game speed and pen and make it a point to ask them something along the lines of if they always work weekends or when their Fridays are. I don't think anything will help you more than taking note of these type of dealers schedules and playing them extensively.

Take what you can when you can get it. As far as side counting and higher level counts, sure these things will help to a degree if done accurately, but you're going to tire more quickly, and are vastly overrated by many players (in my opinion) compared to game selection and finding places that will tolerate aggressive play, at least in short bursts. Zen should be as good as you need, getting as good as you can at deck estimation is more important and will make everything you do more accurate.

This is probably highly dependant on where you play, but everything I've learned indicates to me that longevity is overrated. If I recognize heat I'm going to leave, but I'm not going to leave much if any money on the table before that comes trying to prevent heat. Getting out ahead of a backoff is helpful because the individuals involved probably won't forget you for a while, but if it's just the heat before a backoff they will probably forget about that much more quickly if you get out then. It will probably take some time to recognize, I got backed off 3 times in a month and a half and since then I've been able to pick up on it coming before it happened just about everytime, has only happened at places where I had previously been backed off since then.

[zengrifter]

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[Ouchez]

Stoned,

It has been said that "a wise man knows his limitations", I disagree,,,,and it seems to me you are already putting limitations on yourself,,,I think you are way to smart for that.

ouchez

[RS]

Stoned,

It has been said that "a wise man knows his limitations", I disagree,,,,and it seems to me you are already putting limitations on yourself,,,I think you are way to smart for that.

ouchez

I'm not too sure what you're getting at. ?_?