Hello,
I have just purchased and read the latest printings of Professional Blackjack and Blackjack Secrets. The only problem is both books have different indexes, and I'm not sure which ones to use. To make matters worse, the blackjack lessons at http://www.gamemasteronline.com again have different numbers for the HI-LO system.
My rules are:
Six decks, double on any first two cards, double after splitting pairs is permitted and the dealer stands on A-6.
Quote from page 44 of Blackjack Secrets:
"The decision numbers in this book have been found by a precise and time-consuming simulation prodecure using a modified version of Blackjack Count Analyzer. The original version of Blackjack Count Analyzer calculates decision numbers quickly but aproximately for any number of decks and any set of rules."
Quote from lesson 14 of 19 on gamemasteronline.com:
"Here are the numbers you'll need to learn. These may vary a bit from numbers you'll see published in books like Stanford Wong's "Professional Blackjack" because the ones I use are specifically for a six-deck game where the dealer stands on A-6 and a few have been modified based upon the theory of 'risk averse' play which was developed about 15 years ago. These numbers work well; they have been proven in thousands of hours of actual casino play by me and my students."
Professional Blackjack seems to have more numbers than the previous two sources, but some of them differ by large margins, even when compared to Blackjack Secrets by the same author. The only difference as far as I can tell is that this book is based on 4 decks instead of 6, but that shouldn't matter much.
My question is which numbers are the best to memorize! I don't want to waste my time learning something that isn't as optimal as possible, given that all the options are equally as difficult.
Thank you,
Mark

