Steely Blue-Eye Blind?

Hi All,

I still have a LOT of doubts, even after reading many blackjack books, several times some of them! I've heard about "nerve of steel" and "steely blue-eye". Should I rigidly betting according to the optimum betting schedule although I keep losing hand after hand in high count?

Is "betting cycle" an illusion? I've often noticed that sometimes I kept winning hand after hand regardless of the count and sometimes the dealer kept busting hand after hand even in very low count. A few old time gamblers told me that the secret is bet large when the cards "turn" to the player side (when the dealer keep bursting". They are making good money, $20,000-$30,000 a month regularly (or at least that is what they told me).

Please share your though.

This game will make you question alot of things. I never believe what I hear and only half of what I see. I suggest you set back and evaluate your play. How many indices are you using? How accurate is your counts? Never play by hunches or feelings. Trust the math and practice, practice, practice. I side count the " A " against DD. There are wild and crazy fluctuations, an understatement. Better cards to ya.

Hi Smoke8,

According to KO Preferred, there are only 18 indices. Would you really hit hard 12 against 5 or 6 dealer up card as suggested when the count goes -4? How about A7 against 9-A?

I'm kind of new to this card counting thing. I'm not sure if I keep perfect count. Maybe I should just play red chip until I can almost count with my eye closed!

Trust the math...the long run is what you are living for. Nothing magical or superstitious about it.Plus, you have to execute well - any errors will negatively affect your EV.

Definitely play low stakes until you are totally automatic w/ your play, and don't play underbankrolled. That is a common mistake. Make sure you keep your ROR low - I prefer the traditional 5% or less.

Ultimately, if you don't shove that second or even third big bet out there when the count calls for it (even when you are losing) then you are not taking advantage of a situation that is favorable to you and you are sacrificing an opportunity to get the money.

And don't play shitty games (bad rules, nad pen, 8 decks if there are 6D games around). Just because you have a hammer doesn't mean everything should look like a nail.

They are either stupid, ignorant, or misleading, and probably all of the above. No one can make 20K a month playing blackjack unless they are a world-class counter and an Academy Award winning actor so they don't get backed off.

Go back and read the message at the top of the board index.
"Card counting can give you an edge. Progressions do not give you an edge." Trying to play the "betting cycles" is just as fruitless as progressions. If you are competent and stick to it, over the long run you will see a profit.

Just a word of advice (and also an inquiry to the more experienced folks hanging out with us freebies), unbalanced counts such as KO are more suited to shoe games than DD. You can still get an edge but I'm guessing using KO with a DD game probably isn't going to get you a much bigger edge than using KO at a 6 deck game. Again I'm a beginner at this too, so somebody correct me if I'm wrong. I had always heard/read that if you want to attack a 1D/DD game proper, use a traditional balanced count.

Lastly, *definitely* play red chips until you're comfortable. You should be able to play basic strategy completely braindead and be able to keep the count successfully with distractions before you move up to green chips. Really you should be able to do that stuff before you start betting money at all...

Hey Inquiry,

As stated by the Doc..Absolutely Hit that 12 vs 5 if the count is less than the given index number. It is imperative that you do not deviate from the charts. If your primary game is DD, then you might want to consider another system. Unbalanced counts tend to have you under betting early and over betting late in the shoe. You didn't mention how many other players are at your table during these 6 - 7 hour sessions? I would try and play with no more than 3 other players, less is better, more than 3 others at the table makes this game less desireable.

Hi,

Which count system you use? How successful have you been?

Thanks.

Hey Inquiry,

I used KO with 32 indices for about 1 1/2 years and my average weekly play was around 16 hrs. Playing with a small spread, red chips, I didn't do much other than break even! I now use Zen with 51 custom generated indices. I make money about 5 out of 7 sessions. I give credit for my success to the very intellagent people on this site, especially the Gorilla. I do feel much more confident with the Level Two System for a number of reasons, but, that' me, it might not be for everyone. When the AP's on this site talk about Game Selection, Pen, Rules, Number of players, Bet Spread, BR, and Heat, don't sluff off any of these elements. Learn and respect the value of each one of them. There's much more to winning at "BJ" then just counting. Good cards to ya...

I firmly believe that proper execution of the system you choose is more important than the system itself. If you use KO and execute it flawlessly you will get the money. You may get a little more w/ q level 2 count, but I'm not sure it's with the extra effort.

Hi Smoke8,

Thanks! I'm glad that you are making money now, which I hope one day I will too. My local casino is a very big money casino. There are even player that bet $30,000 a hand and playing two spots! I was over at Reno over the holiday playing 4 days, but I haven't seen big action at Silver Legacy, Nugget, and Circus Circus, forget about Boom Town SD with $200 max.

I don't think they would sweat green spread because even if you raise your bet from $25 to $500 the dealer would not call out to the floor! My other smaller local casino, sometimes those old dealers would call out to the floor when you raise from $5 to $50. That sucks.

I like learning from others. So, all advise here, I have taken to heart (that is if I can remember!)

Thanks again.

Hi Doc,

I'm going to stick with KO fro another 6 months to see what happened. Thanks!

you should use the Color of Blackjack numbers so that you can get a bit extra out of the system early in the shoe.

Bigplayer,

Right now I only play double deck. Which system do you think is good and user friendly to DD play? After reading books and forum and Arnold Snyder. I am getting more confuse.

I want to make some money and willing to work hard.

Thanks.

KO will do the job. I forgot thhe "Color of BJ" addition which is very easy and adds the accuracy of true counting to KO. That's all you need, but do it well. That's what is most important.
Sorry to stepo in Bigplayer, please expand if you wish.

Doc,

Have you heard about Unbalance Zen II? According to Fred Renzey's book: Black Jack Blue Book II, it has 96% betting and 62% playing efficiency correlation.

Please advise.

esp w/ the TKO advantage provided by the Color of Blackjack zones...
Plus errors are costly, and you'll have more w/ the UBZII.

Thanks again Doc.

I'm starting to doubt my counting skill or the KO system itself. Maybe you can shed some light. Over the past 10 days, I have made 3 casino trips, with 7 hours playing time each.

Results:
Trip 1: DD, DOA, DAS, RSA 70% Pen, green chip, spread 1-8 (loss $2,500)
Trip 2: DD, DOA, DAS, RSA 70% Pen, green chip, spread 1-8 (win $15)
Trip 3(last night): DD, DOA, no DAS, RSA 70% Pen, red chip, spread 1-12 (loss $205)

Thus far, the whole three trip ended up disaster! Am I that unlucky?

Long losing streaks are cetainly possible, and all of us have had them. These games conditions look OK and your spread is aggressive enough.

I wonder if you are committing a lot of errors. I can't say that is the problem since it may be simply variance, but always analyze and look at what you could be doing better.

Hi Doc,

I've known for sure that I kept losing too many large bets near the end of the deck, when the count is high, where supposedly should be lots of 10s. Instead, I kept getting smaller cards. This is very strange.

I searched online about the Color Of Blackjack, as you have mentioned about it quite a few times. I saw the color coded graph of cold/warm/hot. Now, what is the Initial Running Count (IRC) for DD in this system? Could you teach me a little more about it? I have too many blackjack books already and don't feel like buying another one.

Thanks Doc!

The IRC is 0, the pivot is 2x the no of decks...8 for DD, 24 for 6D. What the charts do is correct for the unbalanced nature of the count, which tends to underestimate advantage at the beginning of a shoe and overestimate it toward the end.

The key count changes as more cards are dealt. In DD it takes a count of +4 at 0.5 decks dealt, +5 at 1d dealt, and +6 at 1.5 d dealt.

For 6D, the key count is +9 at 1d dealt, +12 at 2d, +15 at 3d, +18 at 4d, and +21 at 5d dealt.

Don't forget to adjust your index numbers for the new IRC if you were using the recommended -4 for DD and -20 for 6D.