count

i know how to count cards but i dont fully comprehend the entire basic strategy matrixes. will this hurt my chances of winning or should i not waste my time with all of the miniscule rules?

What you have stated is very similar to saying, "I know how to count but barely have an idea of how to play blackjack."

Counting is something you should just forget till you not only have a grasp of basic strategy but till you know it perfectly without thinking. Look at it this way: The average blackjack game has a house edge of .5% over the guy who plays basic strategy perfectly and a good card counter can gain 1.5-2% edge giving him a total edge of 1-1.5% over the casino.
The average blackjack player, who has some idea of basic strategy but does not play it perfectly is actually giving the house a 2.5-3% edge. With this huge house advantage, even if his counting could cut the house edge by 2%, he would still be losing and a counter who does not know basic strategy would never get as much gain as one who does, in my opinion.
Then to go a step further and explain my last opinion. About 20% of what a counter gains is in the use of indices. Indices are deviations from basic strategy based upon the count but you can not properly deviate from something that you do not know.

Take an hour or so with the proper basic strategy chart for the game you play and learn it and then practice it over and over again till it is perfect and then learn to count. What you call miniscule is the foundation that without with you will fail.

ihate17

You have to learn how to crawl, and then walk before you can run and then sprint. You'll fail everytime if you don't learn how to do each one in order.

You MUST learn basic strategy first.

You must learn in this order:

Crawling - Basic strategy
Walking - Counting
Running - Using indices
*Sprinting - Shuffle tracking (Don't even think about it, yet) and other advanced methods.

Do not progress to the next level until you have mastered all the levels prior. You can stop at "Running" and still win if you seek out good games.

Are you serious?

You cannot play a winning game if you do not know basic strategy and indexes...I don't care how WELL you can count! Counting alone, is not enough.

Read a few GOOD books before you do anything else...that is, unless you want to just give your money away.

Trust me, learning basic strategy perfectly and at least the Illustrious 18 is a MUST before you tackle the casinos.

Regards,
PM

As the others have said, BS comes first, to the point where it's automatic. Learning a count sytem is next, but it's useless if you don't know how to use it. Using the count to size your bets properly is probably the most important application of the count. Then learn strategy indices, at least the I18.

i know how to count cards but i dont fully comprehend the entire basic strategy matrixes. will this hurt my chances of winning or should i not waste my time with all of the miniscule rules?

For many, the BS matrix can be daunting, particularly if you don't immediately see the patterns. Therefore, I use charts like the following which is the same as the matrix:

2 Deck, H17, DAS
9: double 2-6 else hit
10: double 2-9 else hit
11: double
12: stand 4-6 else hit
13-16: stand 2-6 else hit
17: stand
A,2: double 5-6 else hit
A,3 - A,5: double 4-6 else hit
A-6: double 3-6 else hit
A-7: double 2-6, hit 9-A else stand
A-8: double 6 else stand
2,2 - 3,3: split 2-7 else hit
4,4: split 5-6 else hit
5,5: double 2-9 else hit
6,6: split 2-7 else hit
7,7: split 2-8 else hit
8,8: split
9,9: split 2-6,8-9 else stand
10,10: stand
A,A: split

If you don't want to memorize index numbers for strategy deviations (and I don't blame you), learn REKO. There is only one index number.

http://www.qfit.com/REKOStrategy.htm

Fan2008,

Here you are... enjoy!

6 Deck, H17, DAS
9: double 3-6 else hit
10: double 2-9 else hit
11: double
12: stand 4-6 else hit
13-16: stand 2-6 else hit
17-21: stand
A,2 & A,3: double 5-6 else hit
A,4 & A,5: double 4-6 else hit
A-6: double 3-6 else hit
A-7: double 2-6, hit 9-A else stand
A-8: double 6 else stand
A-9: stand
A-10: stand and cheer ;-)
2,2 - 3,3: split 2-7 else hit
4,4: split 5-6 else hit
5,5: double 2-9 else hit
6,6: split 2-6 else hit
7,7: split 2-7 else hit
8,8: split
9,9: split 2-6,8-9 else stand
10,10: stand
A,A: split

Hope this helps!

Dog Hand

Hey Dog Hand, do you know that, DOG, if spelt in reverse, is GOD?

Thankyou for your shortcut BS, seriously. Your BS is surely preferred and beats the BS cards sold in casino giftshops.