The oldie but goldie Thorp 10-count

I have been moderately sucessful card counter in the visits I have made to Vegas. I have always used High-Lo. But I am planning a trip to Norther Nevada soon and I have been thinking about using the old Thorp 10-count since I will be playing primarily in single deck games.
From what I have read the 10-count deviations from basic strategy are more accurate than the High-Lo and the 10 count's effiency with the insurance sidebet is much better, a perfect 100%, of course. However, I think High-Lo performs better for ranging your bets. If there are any old-timers (or new-timers) out there who still use the 10-count please tell me if you think the 10-count is best for Reno and any other places where you can find decent single deck games.

I don't think many people appreciate how complicated the ten count is - which is fair, because it's not being used these days. Unlike Hi/Lo, the denominator is not some easy to handle number, since the Ten-Count works on a non-ten to ten ratio. Plus, You have to count the exact number of unseen cards, since both betting decision AND play decision indeces are given to 1 decimal place. Are *you* prepared to calculate whether 43/19 is greater than 2.3?

Remember, Thorp was a genius. This kind of stuff was easy to him. When Braun brought Hi/Lo to the world, Thorp countered with his own system, the Thorp Ultimate, with tags from -11 to +7. He actually expected people to use it!

Plus, he didn't exactly have a good concept of the Law of Diminishing Returns. He was an intellectual perfectionist. He'd rather have played 40 hands per hour perfectly than 80 hands per hour almost perfectly. Mind you, with the way he played (spreading 200-1 on a nearly break-even off-the-top game), it probably didn't matter!

If you want to improve your count for single deck, look at Hi-Opt with a side count of aces (3-6: +1; T: -1) and work the side count. But really, if you're comfy with hi/lo, stick with it. It's the Cadillac of card-counting systems for a reason.

M.

Your points are well taken, it probably would be best to stick with the High-Lo count. But there is one other possibility regarding the 10-count that I forgot about yesterday. A book was published back in the 1970's by Archer giving his version of a 10-count. It's been a long time since I read it but if I recall rightly he counted the 10's as -2 and all other cards as +1. When you reached +4 with the Archer count you are at the equivalent of a 2.0 ratio with Thorp's 10-count. Do you think Archer's count would be worthwhile in single deck games, or do you think the High-Lo count is still better?

.. if you want to try things with unbalanced counts, try KO.

Don't get me wrong, I may one day try using the ten count in a single deck game. But I understand that I would be doing it strictly for the intellectual challenge of even trying to keep up!

Hi/Lo or KO, both good choices for single deck. Want a bit more performance and a bit more challenge, go for HiOpt I with the side counts.

M.