Well, as the developer of Speed Count, I
guess it's time I wade into the fore and
provide some hard data about the count system.
Many very good and fair questions have
been asked here about the Golden Touch Blackjack
seminars and the Speed Count card counting
system. I'll do my best to provide the answers
I can...

First some background...

I am the President of DeepNet Technologies,
makers of a wide range of Blackjack training
software products for Palm, Pocket PC, and Windows
(www.HandheldBlackjack.com). DeepNet has
been selling blackjack training software for
four years now.

Now, to answer some of the questions raised in this
forum post...

"What is Speed Count, and why is it any better than other simple count systems?"

From years of selling blackjack training software,
I've learned that the hardest skill to master to
become a proficient blackjack card counter is
keeping track of the running count as cards are
dealt. Adding and subtracting 'on-the-fly' sounds
easy, until you're chasing a modest to fast
dealer at a full table! Although you may think
you're accurately tracking the count, even small
errors can be costly and cause the slim advantage
you've gained to turn into a loss. If you're not
betting properly with the advantage because you've
tracked the count wrong, then you are most likely
playing at a loss without knowing it.

Speed Count was designed from scratch to remove this barrier.
By leveraging some consistent mathematically properties unique
to blackjack, you can have a system that only takes a
few hours to master, virtually eliminates count errors,
yet delivers most of the advantage possible with
popular high-end count systems.

Fred Renzy's Front-Count is a nice simple method, and
you won't hear me saying anything negative about it.
Nor of other super-simplified systems, like Uston's
Ace-Five count.

But all such systems are not tracking enough play information
to provide much of an edge, if any in multi-deck games, nor have
they been exhaustively tested in blackjack simulators across
a wide range of games. Some sound simple, but actually require
more mental skill to apply (like estimating the shoe penetration,
or back-counting before playing).

Speed Count is new, and depends on a unique and different
mathematical property of blackjack, which is revealed in the course.
It can't be modelled in any publicly available blackjack simulator.

I had our (DeepNet's) professional blackjack simulator,
Blackjack Audit, modified to support Speed Count.
This is how Speed Count was evolved and developed.
We have detailed and exhaustive simulation data to back up
our claim that Speed Count works as advertised... 70%
to 95% of the power of High-Low (without play indices). This
actual outcome depends on the game conditions.

As a teaser, here's some simulation data on a few games
(exhaustive data provided in the seminars, of course):

For an eight deck game, DAS, S17, one player:
- win rate, avg. bet, std. dev., expecation (EV):
- SC: 0.011111 $15.1980 4.73839 0.3655%
- HL: 0.008621 $11.0840 3.33669 0.3889%

For a two deck game, DAS, S17, 6 players:
- SC: 0.009480 $10.1770 2.51615 0.4658%
- HL: 0.013117 $12.4110 2.87117 0.5285%

This might be greek to some folks, but those knowledgable
in the stats of blackjack, it says Speed Count works (look at the similar
EVs), and delivers comparable win rates. And, this data is for a
'pre-release' version of Speed Count without insurance,
no 'Wonging' or hand spreading! The HL comparison
is similar, and both used no **play indices** in the data above.
Once you add aggressive play strategies (such as wonging,
hand spreading), Speed Count yields close to 1% expectation
in good games, still without complicated play indices
or other complexity.

"Why should I spend 700 bucks on a 2-day course, instead
of spending $20 on a good blackjack book like Wong's or Renzy's?"

The Golden Touch Blackjack Course, the exclusive licensee of
Speed Count, provides detailed training, including actual table
playing time to make sure players master the system. Until now,
no effective blackjack card counting system has been easy
enough to learn that it could be mastered in a one or two
day seminar.

Our goal is to help average blackjack players become advantage
players, rather than flood the shelves with yet another book
about blackjack.

If books about card-counting alone were a sufficient tool to
become a skilled advantage player, there would be millions
of card counters and casinos would have stopped peddling
blackjack years ago. The ideas behind card counting are
easy and well known... mastering the skill is not!

I personally use High-Low, with all the play indices from
-3 to +3. It took over 100 hours of training time, and I have
to practice at least 4 hours before every trip. If
I don't do this, I may well think I have an edge, but
testing in my 'Blackjack Expert' software shows that in
fact I'm making mistakes and playing at a loss.

Current card counting systems are either very hard to
master, or too simple to provide any valuable edge.

Speed Count is a powerful system, that is trivial to learn.
If you already know basic strategy, you can master the method
in a few hours of practice, without committing errors.
It's that easy, and that different.

"What type of player would benefit from Speed Count?"

Speed Count is for average blackjack players who have
been leery of learning card counting, or who have tried
already and failed. It's trivial to learn and use,
yet delivers most of the advantage of good count systems.

For expert players already playing a high-end system well
without errors, Speed Count will not provide further
advantage, but could provide good cover since the casinos
will not be familiar with it's different characteristics
and uniquely optimized playing strategy.

"What does Shackleford have to say about Speed Count?"

We are currently having some well-known blackjack
experts comment on Speed Count. We are providing
full details and data on the system (under non-disclosure,
of course). Michael is in the process of reviewing
Speed Count. We'll provide his formal comments and
quotea once they are available.

"Who is Henry Tamburin?"

Henry will probably post and reply on his own, but
I'll add a few comments here.

Henry is one a well known blackjack expert
and columnist, writing fantastic literature and guidance
on gambling and blackjack for average players. He has
30 years experience teaching card counting to players
in courses, videos, books and seminars.

Henry and I hooked up years ago, and quickly realized
we shared a common view of blackjack... that the
game is beatable, yet very few manage to do it! We both
strive to teach more regular players to become skilled advantage
players, through books, software, and our popular free blackjack
e-newsletter "Blackjack Insider" (www.bjinsider.com).

After I came up with the idea of Speed Count quite a while back,
Henry colaberated with me and helped evolve the system into the
precision card counting system that it is today.

"What is the REAL cost for the GTB course?"

I'm just the creator of the system, not the marketing company!
But I can say that all Blackjack Insider subscribers can
sign up for $695, for a limited time. Note also that Blackjack
Insider is a free e-newsletter, so there are no tricks attached
to this deal! Just call the GTB order line (1-866-WIN-BJ21)
to sign-up for the course, and mention you are Blackjack
Insider subscriber.

You can subscribe to BJI at: www.bjinsider.com

"What about the Optimal Basic Strategy in Speed Count?"

Speed Count does not use play indices, but instead uses
a fully optimized set of basic strategy tables that delivers
the greatest possible player advantage. Hal Marcus, maker of
the Blackjack 6-7-8 Strategy Cards, hit on this novel idea
for card counters who don't use play indices. This approach
is highly dependent on the count system and characteristics
(such as bet spread), and the Optimal Basic Strategy (OBS)
for Speed Count is unique and exhaustively tested for
maximum player advantage.

Mastering the skill of tracking a complicated plus/minus
running count is bad enough, but adding play indices pushes
today's card counting systems into the league of elite
and devoted trainees. Sped Count replaces play indices with
an amazing OBS that is simple to learn, yet delivers
incredible performance.