Yes
Can I win in a "Double Deck" game with decent rules, i.e., ( Split on any two cards, double after split, split up to 4 pairs, etc...Dealer hits soft 17 and no-surrender) provided I am playing proper Basic Strategy and using your Hi-Lo counting method including starting at a -2 count, when the "Double Deck" has been cut to 1 to 1 1/4 of a Deck?? If so great! If not , why not.. and what is my remedy?
First of all, although those are common rules, there are not decent. You really want S17 and more penetration.
Second, I don't understand what starting at a -2 count means. You start at 0 using HiLo.
To answer your question, according to http://www.qfit.com/cvcxonlineviewer.htm, the c-SCORE for 2 deck, H17, DAS, HiLo+I18, 1-8 spread, 52 cards cut off is 20.35. With 39 cards cut off, the c-SCORE is 39.80. The game is beatable, but is not very good.
Things you can do improve the situation:
- Use a bigger spread.
- Play with fewer people at the table. The c-SCORE value is based on 100 hands per hour. If you can get 200 hands per hour, you double your win rate with no increase in risk. Fine Tuner won Post of the Month last year for an excellent post on this. You need to join greenchip to read it.
- Play two hands. Your c-SCOREs increase to 29.65 and 57.97, respectively.
- Occasionally sit out the rest of the shoe when the count is negative. Doing this after two or so losses in a row is "understandable" from the pit's standpoint.