Side count

Don, for hi low is it more valuable to do a side count of 7’s or A’s? Why?

and I saw somewhere that side counting 7’s would somehow lower the insurance deviation. Does not make sense. Is that possible?

I'm not Don, but I can answer about the advantage of using a side count of 7s. Firstly, it’s a card that Hi-Lo doesn't count, so it wouldn’t be counted twice. A side count of 7s increases the efficiency in betting (BC/BE) and also increases the efficiency in insurance (IC/IE). A side count of aces in Hi-Lo only serves to increase the playing efficiency (PC/PE) but not the betting efficiency.
 

Sincerely,

Cac

Wouldn’t the ratio of aces to tens impact the % chance to get a blackjack, and therefore we would want to bet more when the ratio of aces to tens was closer to 1:1, as this will maximize the number of blackjacks given the same number of overall aces and tens. 

A deck with an abundance of tens and no aces will produce zero blackjacks, nor will a deck with an abundance of aces but no tens (this will in practice never happen). 

I would expect to be able to use the improved knowledge of this ratio with an ace side count to be able to increase our betting efficiency. Why is this not the case?

When a side count of any card is kept, the main idea is to improve its value in such a way as to obtain better efficiency in betting or playing (including insurance). In the case of Hi-Lo, the ace is already at its optimal value (the one that maximizes betting efficiency). Any other value would simply worsen it.

In the case of the seven, the value it has in Hi-Lo (zero) does not maximize betting efficiency, which is why it is possible to use a side count of sevens. Let's look at some correlations to understand this better:
Hi-Lo BC = 0.9621
Hi-Lo/7 BC = 0.9757

Using a side count of aces in Hi-Lo will only improve playing efficiency and insurance.

I hope this clarifies things a bit.

Sincerely,

Cac

Both arguments above are interesting. Another benefit of side counting is on the side bets though. 

As can be imagined, I agree with all that Cac has written. Once again, the general concept is that when you already reckon a card rank in the principal count, it does no good at all to double count it in a side count.

Conversely, since, in Hi-Lo, the 7 is one of the cards that isn't reckoned in the main count, it should become obvious that keeping a side count of that rank will increase betting and/or playing efficiency.

Don

Rather than a hi/lo side count of 7/merely  employ a 2 level count count/ie: RPC, instead for improved BE Anyway.

I presume no disagreement here.