80's

As a hobby I'm currently fixing up an old IBM AT from the mid 80’s. I found a game called “Vegas Games” made by a company called “Key Punch Software”. It has roulette, VP, craps and blackjack. The cool thing is that the blackjack game appears to be a counting simulation or training software. The game comes with 3 counting systems:
Tulcean-main count system
Revere-Point Count
Archer system.
Plus you can make your own by assigning a value to each card. While playing you see the count simultaneously for all count systems and it tells you how many cards are still left in the deck. I couldn’t use it for to long because the computer has a problem with its power supply and won’t stay on for too long. But the software was very interesting. I did not know there were card counting software in the mid 80’s.

Has anybody heard or used this program ?
Any Background info?
Info on Tulcean and Archer Count systems?

Cheers
H

I thought you might be interested in this since it seems related to the Tulcean count system you mentioned.
Your post brought to mind the first gambling/blackjack book I came upon, and bought, seven or eight years ago when I had just learned that blackjack was beatable. Titled "A Book on Casino Gambling", by Virginia L.Graham & C. Ionescu Tulcea, copyright 1978, the blackjack chapter is quite detailed, nearly half the book. It says the authors are(were?) a mathematician and a computer expert.
They describe two systems, a Simple count strategy, and a Complex count strategy.
The Simple strategy uses the tags +1 for 2 thru 7, 0 for 8 and 9, -1 for10's, and -2 for Ace.
Running count is used for bet sizing and a few 1-deck play variations, RC and BS only for more decks.
(At that time most games were 1 or 2 decks with some 4, and in places, 6 decks which you were advised to avoid).
The Complex strategy lives up to its name. The tags are +2 for 2,3,6, 2.5 for 4, 3.5 for5, 1.5 for7, 0 for 8, -.5 for9, -2.5 for10's, and -3 for Ace. (What level would this be? My guess is level 6, since there are 6 different non-zero absolute values). The RC was then to be converted to a form of true count called the Complex count using the Dubner-Thorp index = (RCx100)/(number of cards remaining). This result would be used for betting and applying a set of 80+ playing indices.
They then mentioned a coming second book that would provide complete playing strategy details!?.
Seems like a strong system if it could be mastered. The tags don't look like any other system I've ever heard of.
Hope you find this interesting, if not useful.

The counting tags are EXACTLY the same as the ZEN system that is explained MUCH more clearly and with better indices and more pragmatic advice in "Blackbelt in Blackjack" by Arnold Snyder

I used ZEN for over 20 years before switching to Hi Opt II. It remains a GREAT count for shoe games. Highly recommended.

(which may not be news). But my copy of BBinBJ, p.85, gives the Zen tags as +1,+1,+2,+2,+2,+1,0,0,-2,-1, for 2 thru ace. These are nothing like those quoted above for Tulcea's systems.
They were +1,+1,+1,+1,+1,+1,0,0,-1,-2,for his Simple count, and
+2,+2,+2.5,+3.5,+2,+1.5,0,-.5,-2.5,-3,for the Complex.

I wonder what is causing this misunderstanding? fc

Back in those days of vending personal computing software, programmers weren't usually credited for their work. It was usually one savvy guy doing the whole operation, so, as in this case, it invariably reflects his personal passion and bias towards the game of BJ (very hardcore for the time).

I wouldn't take to heart of the name assignments to each counting system. You say tomato.

Dave

Unbalanced point count, or ten count as point count, promulgated in John Archer's The Archer Method of Winning at 21 of a quarter century ago. Same as that in Casino Holiday by Jauques Noir. Tags Duece thru Ace were 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,-2,1. Archer's departure table was a simplified extraction from the NT/T ratio table in BTD. Perfect insurance betting. Low betting correlation. One of the count structures evaluated by Griffin in Theory of Blackjack.