need explanation please

A friend of mine posed a question to me today that I couldnt answer, because of my being new to counting.He asked me why in high counts do we gain the edge because wouldnt that also increase the dealers chances of getting high cards also.I do understand that in high counts I play certain hands differently expecting higher cards but why do high counts not also increase the dealers chances of getting 20's and 21's and/or why does this increase my advantage and decrease the house.I apologize for not knowing such a basic question but I have spent the day going through some of Stanford Wongs books and can still not find an answer.As always all comments are greatly appreciated and Thank you all for all of the help.

The best explanation I have for this is a paraphrase from Olaf Vancura (author of KO Blackjack) in an interview for The Hot Shoe Documentary. If a deck were composed of only aces and 10's, you would exchange naturals back and fourth all day long. At the end of the day, the player would be way ahead. The fact that you win time and a half when you get a blackjack and the dealer only wins your initial bet is worth a substantial amount. This is why the BJ pays 6 to 5 game is such a rip-off. Also when the count is higher there are more opportunities to double-down and split. Effectively getting more dough on the felt.

a premium on naturals.

rules in an ever changing fluid game. You have the option of hitting or not hitting based on the composition of remaining cards...the dealer must play the same way all the time...even when it is to his disadvantage.

When the deck is rich in 10s and lean in low cards, we are likely to bust when we hit stiffs.

Now the House has to hit all it stiffs. But we only hit some of ours. The BS players doesn�t hit against 4,5,6; and only hits 12 v 2,3. So high counts hurt the dealer more than they hurt us. Since this is 0-sum game, this means we have a net benefit.

The BJ Bonus is a factor as far the composition of Aces is concerned. The other cards have relatively little effect on the frequency of BJs.

If you don�t get your fair share of BJs that is about 4.75% or one BJ every 21 hands then is no way that you will ever make any money in this game regardless if counting or not. More, If you only get 4% BJs in a regular game that is the equivalent of playing the 6/5 game while getting the fair share of 4.75% BJs.

With only 4% BJ you cannot win! Though, if you dare to play the 6/5 game you will not win either. Regardless is you bet or play by the count.

Countless times I only got 3 or 4 BJs per hour and I windup losing for that hour time after time, again and again. Only a single BJ that you do not get it that you suppose to get it will seal your fate as a loser for that hour. Even if you bet spread is optimal.

Best Regards,
Geschaeftsfuehrer

From what I understand with all of your explanations, the edge is gained by knowledge of 10's coming out and knowing that your play is different but the dealer still has to hit stiffs with a higher chance of busting rather than the advantage being more naturals and 20's coming out because both you and the dealer will be reciecing similar amounts of those.(with naturals being more benificail to you than the dealer because of paying 3:2)If I am still not getting it I apologize.As always any comments are greatly appreciated.

I suggest you stop slacking off and start getting your share of the Blackjacks. :)

Some hours I actually get more than 4.75%. But I guess I may just be lucky, Or the dealer likes me.

Put it this way, by way of illustration: Suppose you and the dealer have a hard 16. YOU know that the odds are very, very good that one of the next 2 or 3 cards dealt will be a 10. So does the dealer. BUT THE DEALER MUST HIT!!! You don't HAVE to hit! The only high card that will put the dealer "over the top" is an Ace. And Aces are (relatively) scarce; there are 4 aces per deck, and 16 Tens. (4 K, 4 Q, 4 J, 4 10.)

Now suppose the count is low, or even negative. The dealer must hit at hard 17 ALL the time. The fact that she's likely to get a low card, or an ace, improves her chance of hitting to a 17, 18,19, 20 or 21. Your chances are even here vs. the dealer's. So when you have the advantage of "knowing" when the high cards are plentiful, you can stop hitting and wait for the dealer to bust.

My number 1 rule in blackjack is this: The object is not to get a 21. The object is to play until the dealer busts first, OR to get a better hand than the dealer. 21s are nice; Blackjacks are even better; but it's staying longer than the dealer that will make or break the current hand.