Bren: Uston Simple P/M question

[Bren]

Hi all, I'm putting together a chart to help myself learn Uston's Simple Plus/Minus and I have a question I'm hoping someone here can answer.

The descriptions in Million Dollar Blackjack are a little hard to follow but seem to be saying that on an 8,8 you would:
Plus: split 2-9, surrender on 10 (stand if surrender is not available), surrender on ace (hit if surrender is not available)
Minus: split 2-9, hit on 10 and ace

Am I interpreting his instructions correctly? I'm assuming 6 decks, dealer stands on soft 17, and doubling down after splitting is allowed, if that has bearing on the question.

[Don Schlesinger]

> Hi all, I'm putting together a chart to help myself
> learn Uston's Simple Plus/Minus and I have a question
> I'm hoping someone here can answer.

> The descriptions in Million Dollar Blackjack are a
> little hard to follow but seem to be saying that on an
> 8,8 you would:
> Plus: split 2-9, surrender on 10 (stand if surrender
> is not available), surrender on ace (hit if surrender
> is not available)
> Minus: split 2-9, hit on 10 and ace
> Am I interpreting his instructions correctly?

Looks like you're reading the chart for A.C., when they had early surrender. Alas, those days are gone forever.

> I'm
> assuming 6 decks, dealer stands on soft 17, and
> doubling down after splitting is allowed, if that has
> bearing on the question.

What about surrender?

Don

[Bren]

> Looks like you're reading the chart for A.C., when
> they had early surrender. Alas, those days are gone
> forever.

> What about surrender?

> Don

Well, the thing is that the Nevada chart refers you to the A.C. chart if doubling after splitting is permitted. But the A.C. chart assumes early surrender, which is the only reason I can think of to not split 8,8 against 10 or ace.

So should I go by the A.C. chart when it says to split where you otherwise wouldn't (4,4 against 5 and 6 for example) but use the Nevada chart for 8,8?

[Don Schlesinger]

> Well, the thing is that the Nevada chart refers you to
> the A.C. chart if doubling after splitting is
> permitted. But the A.C. chart assumes early surrender,
> which is the only reason I can think of to not split
> 8,8 against 10 or ace.

> So should I go by the A.C. chart when it says to split
> where you otherwise wouldn't (4,4 against 5 and 6 for
> example) but use the Nevada chart for 8,8?

Yes!

Don

[Bren]

> Don

Alright, thanks for the help. Here are the charts for Minus, Normal, and Plus strategies. Can you let me know if you spot any errors? (I decided to merge A.C. and Vegas splitting sections using "L/H" for cases where you only split if you can double down afterward.)

-Bren

ustonSPM.jpg (JPEG Image, 792x696 pixels)

[Bren]

Of course, I realize AFTER doing all the work that this is all for dealer stands on soft 17... and the local casinos only offer tables where the dealer hits on soft 17. I know how to modify basic strategy for hits on soft 17, but I have no clue about Uston Simple Plus/Minus; in the book Uston only talks about modifying Advanced Plus/Minus for dealer hits on soft 17.

I suppose I could write a program to derive it myself, but skipping Simple and learning Advanced would probably be about 100 times faster.

Do you know how to modify Simple P/M for dealer hits on soft 17? How bad of an effect would just pretending that the dealer stands on all 17s have?

-Bren

[Don Schlesinger]

> Alright, thanks for the help. Here are the charts for
> Minus, Normal, and Plus strategies. Can you let me
> know if you spot any errors? (I decided to merge A.C.
> and Vegas splitting sections using "L/H" for
> cases where you only split if you can double down
> afterward.)

Looks reasonable, but, of course, it depends on how plus or minus the TC actually is, when you write "Plus Count" or "Minus count."

Don

[Don Schlesinger]

> Do you know how to modify Simple P/M for dealer hits
> on soft 17? How bad of an effect would just pretending
> that the dealer stands on all 17s have?

Bad for dealer upcards of six and ace, for certain hands.

Do you have no software at all, to run the sims?

Don

[Bren]

> Bad for dealer upcards of six and ace, for certain
> hands.

> Do you have no software at all, to run the sims?

> Don

Nope. I think I'm just not gonna worry about it. Simple P/M seems to be derived from a true count of -2 to +2, and the adjustments for six and ace in Advanced P/M are all at counts greater than that. I was only planning on using Simple til I got used to counting in casinos anyway.

Thanks for all the help.

-Bren