I am just starting out with card counting and I am using the K-O system. I know perfect blackjack strategy and have played blackjack for years without counting for entertainment. It has become a very expensive hobby so I figured I would try counting. I practiced a while at home and hit the local casino for the first time this weekend. I hit the casino for the first time this weekend and put in a total of 12 hours and won $1500.
I was playing at a 6 deck $15 minimum table and ramped up to 7 units when count was over 10 (I rounded down to $100 since $105 seemed like a strange number. I was generally using the running count like the beginner K-O system suggests. There were a few shoes where the running count was getting up around 30 when there was roughly 2 shoes left (one shoe to play and 1 shoe penetration). I actually ramped up to $200 a hand in those instances with mixed results. One shoe I got slaughtered, with the dealer pulling a 20 or blakckjack for the last 4 hands of the shoe while the count remained above 20. The other shoe I did a bit better winning 3 of the last 4 hands with the count remaining up above 20.
My question is this, since the K-O system is not a balanced count system could the high count just have been the 7's in the shoe. In other words, since the K-O system assigns a +1 value to sevens and there are 4 sevens per deck and 6 decks, if all the sevens are dealt from the shoe, you would have a +28 count. Is that really a true advantage seeing as the ratio of 2 through 6 cards to 10 through Ace cards are still the same. I wonder if a high-low count would be better in general?
I like the K-O system for beginners cause I don't have to worry about dividing the running count by the the number of shoes left and just simply move up to 3 units at a pivot point of running count of +4 and generally max out at 7 units when the running is above +10.
Has anyone made any real money long-term using the K-O system with the running count? I wonder if my win this weekend was just a fluke or if K-O system with the simple running count really is effective to use long term.
I appreciate any feedback anyone would be willing to give cause I am new to card counting and it really did seem like the count was working for the most part, but not sure if I was just experiencing the typical hot and cold streaks of BJ and I just got lucky with some well timed big bets.
-Novice card counter