counting system

on a recent trip to gulf coast miss. casino was playing alone with a female dealer,was using hi/lo and getting beet pretty bad,when she suggested i play her way which was stand on hands over twelve against any hand except small cards like 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and hit these against dealers up card ,which after a while i was back up even and even made a little profit can anyone help me as to what kind of a system this was,i was playing 2 decks,thanks ray

If I read you correctly, you were standing on 12's or higher against the dealer's 6,7,8,9,10 and ace and hitting 12's or greater against the dealer's 2,3,4 and 5. Never heard of this system. You got lucky once. Never play it again.

Most dealers don't have a clue about how to properly play blackjack, and their playing advice is usually bad.

Are you sure you know how to use the hi-lo system?

Ah, the old devil variance.

Your edge while counting is still only 1-2%, so in the short term you could be off by as much as 40% one direction (winning huge) or the other (losing your shirt). I lost half my entire bankroll once in a 48 hour trip to Vegas where i was using an advanced 2-level count, Wonging, and playing only favorable rules/conditions. It seemed like everytime I had a blackjack, so did the dealer, and everytime i had 20 the dealer hit to 21, no matter how high the count. Sh*t happens, but in the long run you will always be ahead if you use a proven system (like Hi-Lo). There is no way to test the effectiveness of any 'system' in the short-term, that is why we rely on computer-calculated mathematical data that runs into millions of simulations... and i'll take that system any day over some random dealer's 'friendly advice.'

Try not to be discouraged!

-holly d.