I played with counting a few years ago and used HiLo. I also tried KO. So now I'm starting again. I don't have any illusions of being a professional blackjack player, just a recreational player. Currently I am working on getting my basic strategy down with the CV iPhone App. I love practicing standing on the subway after a long day at work while listening to a podcast!

The general advice seems to be to use KO ( or REKO ) for a beginner. I assume because there is no deck estimation. What I didn't like about the KO count was the range in the running count. I tried starting at 0 instead of at a negative number but I still preferred the count staying near 0 like it does in HiLo. On the other hand, with HiLo I need to make sure that I have good deck estimation skills.

So my question for the experienced counters is what is harder to learn, deck estimation or counting a larger range? I'm assuming I'm not the only one to ever have this question.

Thanks!