Alpha numeric counting? (Numbers and Letters strategy).

I am pressed for time so this post is going to be a little bit incomplete from the way I originally envisioned it but I feel I must get it down lest I forget what I want to say and get some feedback on.

My main goal is to ultimately use a counting strategy which the average person is capable of employing which also has a betting correlation
of 99.9 percent, a playing efficiency of 99.9 percent and a perfect 100 percent insurance correlation. I mean the play of my dreams would be to know when to double a hard 19 vs. a dealer 20 and draw the 2 for twenty one, and at the start of a new shoe!

I've been analysing many historical systems and have been trying to modify each of them retaining their best points while dropping the weaknesses. I have come up with a hybrid strategy which although is a very high multi-level system I believe could be possible to apply.

I simiply count the card values up to a certain denomination as its number rank, for example two counts as 2, three counts as 3 and so on. According to Griffin a similar system has over a 69 percent playing efficiency and I believe if you incorporate just an ace side count you can push it well over seventy(still far from 99) but making progress. I have also seen that it has a betting correlation between 98 and 99 percent. The only thing I am worried about is the insurance correlation as I want the information to be given with only the single count system with no insurance ten count.

Does anybody know if you can take multiparameter side counts into account and incorporate into the strategy decisions if the cards are already figured in the primary count which is as I have said is a very high multi-level count, which certainly complicates things?

I hope that if this outside knowledge can be used, it can push the strategy up near 100 percent and with the simplications I have made I do think this is very possible for the average person with enough practice, however I am not saying it is going to be easy but a constant challenge, but for me that's the fun part while blackjack itself is really somewhat boring(even with basic strategy). I really like the mental gymnastics.

Does anyone think this kind of play is possible for the average human, or just a dream or a chance of luck kind of play, something to leave to the computers?

1. Read the Bishop's "Can Sidecounting Make You A Super-Counter?" archived at his website.

2. Realize you are dreaming.

3. Start practicing your ass off with the T-H systems if you still have the desire to get as close to perfect play as humanly possible.

Trust me.

ANS

How do we get the T-H sytems AS?
His site is down -I have tried e-mailing him to ask any time scale or possibility of obtaining copies.
Is there anyway of getting the int/exp books at the moment, or any hope in the near future that you know of?

1. Read the Bishop's "Can Sidecounting Make You A Super-Counter?" archived at his website.

The Bishop's analysis is slightly pessimistic. The reason is that, while the Bishop mentions that extra advantage allows you to bet more proportionately, he doesn't mention that this gain compounds.

To use an extreme example, if I have a 10% edge on an even-money proposition and I make a full kelly bet, my bankroll is now on average 1% larger than what it was. If I have a 1% edge my bankroll is now on average .01% larger than what it was.

In the 10% edge game, my optimal bet size is now larger than it was initially, moreover, on a trial for trial basis the optimal bet will get larger and larger than the optimal bet of the 1% edge game.

While this doesn't make much difference in the short term at card counting, over the long term it can mean winning significantly larger sums if you plan to build up a bankroll from red to black chip, easily tens of thousands of dollars.

However, I don't think side-counting is really the best way to go about this. Easier ways to get more edge exist.

What about your system, the AnS-1. I read your profile saying you play it, and I remember you e-mailing me about it providing me with some information, nothing in detail but basically that it was a very powerful system of which I have kept secret. Are you going to make it avaliable to others? Will you get back to me?

I'm sorry to put you on the spot here, but if you haven't noticed I am very eager, not to mention hard to please. However not impossible.

1. Who is the Bishop, and where is his website? The article sounds very intriguing, probably not what I want to hear but none the less interesting. I can already see it, but anyway I'd still like to read it just to make sure and confirm my thoughts, or correct my errors.

2. Okay I realize I am dreaming, but can't one revel in his fantasies,
at least when he isn't playing... for only then is he truly free.

3. How can I get hold of T-Hopper's systems, are they generally available? Where is his website? I promise I will practice hard and let you know of my progress if you so wish.

P.S. I trust you and please forgive me, I hope you don't mind the publication, but I am sure you are already quite popular being that you are so knowledgable about the game, and so prolific with your postings of such exquisite quality. While I on the other hand probably sound like an arrogant little snot who thinks he knows it all, but I assure you this is not the case. I just keep writing and writing all the while with my foot in my mouth, saying the most foolish and offensive of things and worst of all I just can't seem to stop. Okay, okay shut up, shut up.

Keep exploring. You're young and you have time before you will be able to go to the casinos. It is a new adventure for you, and you are on a course of discovery. While I don't think you will find a system that meets the criteria you have set, it doesn't hurt to try and you will learn a lot in the process.

That said, there is more to this game than just the numbers. While one may find the perfect system, using it in the casino is a whole other matter. You have to be comfortable with your system, you have to be able to use it and talk to the dealers, ploppies and pit bosses, and you have to do it without looking like you are exercising your mind in the least. You have to understand risk of ruin issues and proper betting strategies, which can be quite different from game to game. While doing all of this, you also have to be aware of your surroundings and able to detect heat. You may find that the best system on paper is not the best system to play in the casinos.

While I encourage your search for the perfect system, I would suggest that you spend a good deal of the time you have available to you actually learning a system and perfecting your use of it, taking into account the things I mentioned above.

By the way, the Bishop is Arnold Snyder. I understand that he has a new website, now that he has departed from the RGE site. I don't know the URL, but perhaps someone who does can post it. Maybe Wong will add it to his links, but it isn't there yet.

As a young player, you will be automatically suspect when you start playing in the casinos, especially if you are playing green or better. Young players fit the counter stereotype, and you will quickly find that your number one concern won't be the perfect system, but simply being able to play the game without getting the boot.

Came across it in Revere's, "Playing Blackjack as a Business."

"Skovand has the interesting concept of evaluating a high card as +100 and the small cards as +1 in his system 1. When a high card is seen you add 100 to the count; when a low card is seen you add 1...The player has both a point count, and a method of determining the ratio of tens to non tens..."

It was not recommended, but I still think it was quite clever.

Cheers!
Syph

(ps For those unable to obtain TH's systems, KO is an excellent place to begin...)

...but I'm certain that Skovand's system would underperform even the simplest level one systems of today. One reason is the system recognized the 8's and ignored the 9's and A's due to some erroneous card-clumping assumptions of the developer. Also the systems betting and playing strategies left much to be desired.

I believe it would be possible to improve the performance of this system with some modifications, but I'm sure the effort/return ratio would never approach justifying it's use. Nevertheless, for theory's sake, I'll propose an option.

-Card Values-

2-7 = +100
Ace = +10
Ten = +1

Values are combined for one RC, ie. four 2-7's, one Ace, and 3 Tens makes for an RC of 413. To illustrate how to convert for count based decisions let's assume 4 = n, 1 = A, and 3 = T

-Count Based Decisions-

Betting = n - (A + T) / decks rem.
Play/Ins = (n + A) / T

You could actually do better than this and due a TC conversion for playing as well as betting, but it would have a pivot of +8 and +12 when counting the Ace as 0 or +1, which would warrant much more precise deck estimation. Also, the ten count ratio does not include all non-tens so it will obviously not perform as well as the standard Ten Count, though I think it may be more accurate than a standard point count. Additionally, the ratio count is of cards PLAYED, not REMAINING, as is traditionally used with a ratio count, though it would still be effective.

ANS

The Skovand system is a bit disappointing, but the idea could be developed properly...

Even in single deck, there are 16 tens and these will overflow into the ace count. These point values will work for 1-2 decks:

2-7 = +1000
Ace = +100
Ten = +1