Joker and shuffle-tracking

Hello. This is my first post here so don't beat me hard :)
Some casinos in my area offers BJ with joker (joker is 313 card and count as any card for player and as no card for dealer). Question is - where i can find literature or internet resources about tracking it and how joker arise my edge over game?

And 2nd question - by the rules 6D, S17, DOA, DAS, RSA, RS(4), NHC (no hole card), ES (early surrender at any dealer's card) (but penetration is awful - 50-60%) what system is preferable. Is any counting system effective or because pen. BS is enough?

Per pg. 167 of Wong's "Professional Blackjack", a single joker in a 6D game is worth 0.7% advantage.

Tracking it...I am not sure it would be worth the effort to track one card in 6D, especially if you are getting 40-50% of the deck cut off. Conversely, it might be fairly easy to track and "preferentially cut" one single card to your advantage. I have read George C.'s book on Shuffle Tracking, though I do not recall him talking about tracking a Single Card...I think he is mostly into "Clumps" of good and bad cards.

Will likely need more than BS to beat the game you describe. Best system can debated for the next few years...and still no one will agree. Slansky and others recommend that for 4+ Deck games, a Level I Count that reckons with the Ace is preferable, in that these are easy to use, and that any "loss of Gain" from correlation/efficiency issues will be offset by ease of use, greatly decreased errors, and likely longevity.

Many would not recommend your game at all, with such poor penetration. However, that Joker does make things interesting, does it not?

0.9% off top with BS, bet 0.9% of your capital at 1 Kelly and enjoy. If joker does not come out after some cards (say 1 deck), increase your bets.

hi, we've played under this condtions a lot, and the hit was very strong.
we are from israel and plyed in europe.
send me e-mail maybe i can help you.

I have some experience with games like that, e-mail me if interested. By the way, what are the table limits? Does the casino have money to pay winnings? The type of joker you describe is analyzed in Wong's Basic BJ. It is worth 0.7% off the top with six decks, so, with ES the game itself is +0.9% off the top. With that kind of initial advantage the penetration is no more the crucial factor. If you can track the joker always in the playable half of the shoe, then you can double its value. In this situation, the poor penetration could be even an advantageous factor.

Regards,
Orson

Thank you and other who reply for interesting replies. But one question is still open - still i need play by streak (and may be attract hate from staff) or flatbet and using hi-lo for playing hands is enough or may be just simple BS? so i can freely chat with dealer, drink vodka :) and so on. It that case no hate is possible EVER...
I personnaly don't intersted in ban from that casino system or rules changes so what line of actioning you'll recommend me?

Privyet Zedmor,
With the joker card you have a .9% advantage off the top using Basic Strategy. With that kind of advantage you can flat bet a decent sized bet unless the true count drops below 0. You won't really need to increase your bet until the true count goes above 4 or 5.

You should be able to track where the joker is during the shuffle. You should get some cards from the casino's gift shop and practice tracking the joker. Knowing where the joker is tells you whether you can be flat betting a decent sized bet off the top or not.

Use a count system optimized for 6 deck and you should do very well with this game. hell, I might come to russia and play it too. Is this game in St. Petersbug or Moscow?

Steve

The joker is worth 4% / the number of decks remaining. Just counting the winning joker is a powerful method by itself.
Don't waste time attempting to track this game, it isn't neccessary. This is one of the best games in the world. Naturally, if you have keen eyesight you may want to try and cut the joker so it comes out at the end of the pack, where you can verify its location with count info, but don't go overboard with this. Your priority should be making sure you are allowed to continue play. If neccessary, flat bet, as the BS player still has a significant edge.

...in Russia will kick you out based on your actual win/loss balance. So, it doesn't really matter what you do, when your cumulative win will reach certain level, you will find yourself a persona non grata at that place. If you are a 50 rbl. player, you can play virtually forever, but if you bet 5000 rbl. per hand, it may happen pretty fast. The game is good enough for simple BS play, but you can also increase your win rate (and thus decrease the longevity) with counting.

Regards,
Orson