There is a website called blackjack678.com advertising a "Counter" basic strategy invented by Hal Marcus in 1999. This strategy supposedly eliminates the necessity of memorizing various indexes for changes in how basic strategy is played, depending on the true count. He emphasizes that bets must be varied from 1 to 12 units for this strategy to give better results.
For a typical Vegas strip 6 deck game (s17, das, doa, late surrender), here are the differences from accepted basic strategy:
1. 9 v. dealer 2: Basic Strategy (BS) says hit; Counter strategy (CS)says double (index variation would say double with tc of +2 or more)
2. 8 v. dealer 6: BS is hit; CS is double (index variation would say double with tc of +6 or more)
3. A,8 v. dealer 5 or 6: BS is stand: CS is double
4. A, 7 v. dealer 2: BS is stand: CS is double
5. A,6 v. dealer 2: BS is stand; CS is double
6. A,3 v. dealer 4: BS is hit: CS is double
7. 9,9 v. dealer 7: BS is stand: CS is split
8. 8,8 v. dealer 10: BS is split; CS is surrender if available, otherwise hit (note index variation would be to surrender or STAND with tc of 0 or more)
9. 7,7 v. dealer 10 or A: BS is hit: CS is surrender if available, otherwise hit
10. 4,4 v. dealer 4: BS is hit; CS is split
11. 15 v. dealer A: BS is hit; CS is surrender if available, otherwise hit (note index variation would be to surrender if available, otherwise stand with tc of +5 or more.
I am interested in everyone's thoughts about these changes to basic strategy for a counter who will make substantial bet variations. It doesn't seem to make sense to me.