Adv Omega II

Read Carlson's Blackjack for Blood and fairly impressed with the Adv Omega II system (he markets it well in the book).
A couple questions;
1) At what TC should one walk away from the table? I assume TC=-1, am I correct? If one had good rules and good pen then it might be worthwhile staying at a game and use all those negative count numbers. Although its eems like it would be better to move on when the TC went suffiently negative, but how negative is negative?
2) Not real comfortable with bet size calculation could somebody expand on the issue?
3) Adv Omega II looks like a good system for 1-2 deck games. Where I live, it is 8 deck land and I use high/low and Wong about with a fairly narrow bet spread. What other systems would be strong for 1-2 deck games?

Thanks,
JW

Just stick with Hi-Lo or any other level-1 system and backcount with a big enough bet spread.

True, AO2 has a higher win rate than all level-1 systems, but you need a side-count of A's to make it really worthwhile. Just imagine side-counting 24 ( 6D ) or 32 A's ( 8D ) in a shoe game. As one BJ author used to write in his book, "Beginning players trying it are prone to error."

However, even without the ace side-count, you could win about $8 - $12 per hour more than a level-1 system with AO2, but ask yourself 2 simple questions:

1. Is it really worth the time and effort?
2. Could I do it in a real casino environment without error, even if the house is doing its best to break my concentration?

If you answer no to 1 or both of the above, then use Hi-Lo, AND

read Chapter 1 of Don S's book, BJA3 for a full description of the backcounting approach. Also go through the chapters on the Illustrious 18 and the Floating Advantage. The former gives you the top 18 plays for the shoe game, the latter a betting strategy against a 6-decker.

I'm SpiderMan

I have been impressed w/Omega II too. I am learning it conscientiously but cannot learn the Advanced Omega II(which might be OK) because the software is not available.

I really think if you master this level 2 balanced system and use the plus six and minus six strategies, you will be Way Ahead of basic strategy players and most high/low players too.

And a side count of aces is not that hard. Most small town and suburban casinos cut off 2 decks anyway. Just stay away from 8 deckers if you can.

My problem with high/low is that 2 and 3s are given the same importance as 4,5 and 6,which doesn't make sense to me. Also the 9 is not accounted for in high/low either, as it is in Omega as a high card with value of 1. Also, so many casino personnel know high/low, I think Omega may be somewhat of a cover..

I loved the book and have read many, many of them. I wish he would update it though. If anyone knows where you can get the Omega II BJ Machine, please advise. Phone number in my old book is wrong.

However, the 60 indexes in the plus/minus 6 strategies are plenty. And if you want to sit out low counts or Wong in, you only need to learn the 12 in the plus 6 strategy.

I use CV Verite to practice, and you need to do a real lot of it, but it will be worth it.

Carlson keeps a low profile and I am impressed with this -- I sometimes wonder if the rest of the Big Players make more money selling books and software.

The Witness

You wrote, "My problem with high/low...which doesn't make sense to me."

Actually, it makes perfect sense because the purpose of all level-1 systems are recommended for beginners and is intended for simplicity.

True, most personnel know hi-lo, but not all of them know how to convert the RC to TC, and they probably won't know the index numbers a well-practiced counter is using, assuming that he/she is using cover plays.

Also, it doesn't matter which system you use. Imagine a knowledgeable pit boss noticing a player standing on all 16v.10 with lots of low cards out; the player will be asked to take a hike.

Last but not least, you might get the Omega II BJ machine on ebay. It's not for sale these days.