Marc: unbalanced count

[Marc]

I have been experimenting with an unbalanced count. The thing that disturbs me is that at the beginning of a deck the strategy adjustments do not seem to be correct. For example, if the beginning RC is -24 and the index for 12 against 4 is 0, the first couple of hands will almost always call for a hit even though the correct play is probably to stand.

I seem to recall discussions about adjusting the indexes according to the decks remaining, but this seems to me to be more bother than just keeping the TC.

I guess the thing is that it is difficult for me to accept that the PE for an unbalanced count can be close to that of a balanced count.

Any comments?

Marc

[Parker]

> I have been experimenting with an unbalanced count.
> The thing that disturbs me is that at the beginning of
> a deck the strategy adjustments do not seem to be
> correct. For example, if the beginning RC is -24 and
> the index for 12 against 4 is 0, the first couple of
> hands will almost always call for a hit even though
> the correct play is probably to stand.

If you're using KO, you don't use an index for 12 vs 4 in 6 or 8 deck games. Indexes for unbalanced counts will be very accurate if they are near the pivot point, and decrease in accuracy the the further they are away from the pivot, being affected by how far you are into the shoe.

> I seem to recall discussions about adjusting the
> indexes according to the decks remaining, but this
> seems to me to be more bother than just keeping the
> TC.

> I guess the thing is that it is difficult for me to
> accept that the PE for an unbalanced count can be
> close to that of a balanced count.

> Any comments?

Don't worry about PE, especially if you're playing shoes. Bottom line is that extensive simulations have shown that a good unbalanced count such as KO or Red 7 will perform nearly as well overall as a level one balanced count.

All systems have trade-offs of simplicity vs. efficiency, with the unbalanced level 1 systems obviously leaning toward simplicity. However, unless you are playing a lot of hours at relatively high stakes, the gains from more complex systems may not be worth the additional effort.

Also keep in mind that as complexity increases, so does the potential for errors. It doesn't take very many mistakes to negate any gain realized from a more complex system.

[Don Schlesinger]

> I have been experimenting with an unbalanced count.
> The thing that disturbs me is that at the beginning of
> a deck the strategy adjustments do not seem to be
> correct. For example, if the beginning RC is -24 and
> the index for 12 against 4 is 0, the first couple of
> hands will almost always call for a hit even though
> the correct play is probably to stand.

Why would you say that the index would be 0? That's the Hi-Lo index -- a balanced count. Were you true-counting K-O, the index would be -4, for standing on 12 v. 4. If you use RC, it would be different, as you mention, depending on deck level. For 5 decks left, for example, it would -20. For 4, -16, etc.

But, under no circumstance, would it ever be 0.

Don

[Marc]

I had been using Mentor but haven't played for a while. I was rereading Blackjack Attack and saw the good results of UBZ 2. I figured I would give it a try. Before Mentor I used Hi Opt I so this unbalanced count is a new experience for me - I will see if I get used to it.

Anyway, thanks for the responses.

Marc

[Fred Renzey]

> I was rereading Blackjack Attack and saw the
> good results of UBZ 2. I figured I would give it a
> try.

> snip: Actually, with any unbalanced count, to play both 12 against a 4 and 16 against a 10 correctly, all you need to do is be aware of what running count would be "normal", or "neutral" at your particular current penetration depth -- then stand if the RC is above normal and hit if it below normal.

With the KISS Count for example, your IRC for six decks is "9". Since the RC will normally rise two points per dealt deck, then three decks into the shoe a neutral RC would be "15". If your actual RC is under "15", hit both hands. If it's higher, stand with both hands. Simply be aware in advance that neutral would be 9, 11, 13, 15 and 17 at the oned deck, two deck, three deck and four deck marks in the discard tray.