Does the player have the advantage in negative counts if he/she is playing the proper basic strategy deviations, or does this merely decrease the casino's edge?
For all practical purposes, a card counter is playing at a disadvantage at negative counts, even when employing strategy deviations based on the count. If you look at optimal bet spreads, they indicate a minimum bet at negative counts (as well as at 0), reflecting the fact that you're not playing at an advantage in these situations.
I suppose that with very favorable rules (e.g. S17, DAS) at single deck, a card counter employing strategy deviations might have a slight advantage when the count is -1, but I don't think that has much practical use.
David
