Some Answers
You asked:
When you say "back counting", do you mean betting underneath a sitting player and have that player make the betting decisions? I ask this because I have had a few people attempt to do this (when I was counting) and the TC was out of orbit.
I had said When the casinos in my home town opened, they were so crowded you couldn�t get a seat. But when I studied the other players playing strategy, I realized that at a TC of 5, I only had a slight advantage.
Back-counting is a standard technique where you count the Shoe without sitting at the table and playing. If the shoe is positive, then you play.
Back-Betting means betting on another player�s hand, with them controlling the playing decisions. In some overseas markets, this is such a common practice that the casinos have formula rules regulating it. In much of the United States, this is an �unofficial� practice. You give money to player to play for you, hoping to get paid if the bet wins.
There are a lot of reasons why Voodoo players want to do this. Sometimes they think one spot on the table is �lucky�, and they want their money on that spot. Sometimes a player wants to join a game, but doesn�t want to �mess up the flow�. So rather than open a new spot, the player will ask to bet on somebody else�s hands.
If people wanted to bet on your hand, it may have been because you had won a couple of big bets in the high counts, and they thought you had the �hot hand. �
Sam Runner already gave a good answer to your other question: Second, who in their right mind would take to learning a counting strategy without learning BS???? , but I will add more.
Most players start card-counting before they have mastered BS. They may know to hit 12 v 2,3, but they don�t know the soft-doubling strategy. Also, they have �learned BS� the way they would learn dates for a History test. If they were given a one hour written test, they could probably recall them during that time. But they have not internalized them.