To begin this page, I present two five counts for historical purposes only. Next are two ten counts which were also early in Blackjack counting history, but became the basis of other reformulated ten counts and Ace-Ten counts which are viable today.
8. Five Count Strategy Beat the Dealer by Dr. Edward O. Thorp, 1962, 1966
This is the first strategy formulated by Dr. Thorp. It evolved from a computer study of player advantage when cards were missing from the deck. First, the four aces were deleted and the player advantage was calculated. The player advantage was -2.42%. The study was then continued for every denomination. He discovered a deck with all four fives missing gave the player the highest advantage of all: +3.58%.
This discovery led him to devise the Five Count Strategy. The player begins play making small bets and keeping track of the fives. When the fives were depleted from the deck, the player had the advantage and should make a large bet on the next hand. One would want to make sure there were enough cards left to play another hand before placing the bet. Dr. Thorp also developed strategy changes which would be used in conjunction with the increased bet.
This strategy was developed when Blackjack was played with single decks only, and the deck was dealt down to the last card.
9. Revere 5 Count Playing Blackjack as a Business by Lawrence Revere, 1994.
The Revere 5 Count is based on the same principle as Dr. Thorp’s 5 Count. The major difference is Dr. Thorp waited until the 5s were depleted, then made his large bets. Revere refined this by comparing the number of 5s seen to the number of cards played. He was able to take advantage of a five deficit for one quarter, one half, and three quarters deck, not waiting for all of the 5s to show. Revere developed a betting matrix based on the number of fives seen at any given quarter of deck. He also gave a modified basic strategy to go along with the count.
This count was a step toward the Thorp Ten count which will be discussed next. With this count you compare the 5s to others ratio, where the Thorp Ten Count counts the tens to others ratio.
10. Ten-Count Beat the Dealer by Dr. Edward O. Thorp, 1966
The second counting system developed by Dr. Thorp was the Ten- Count. From the computer study he did, he added four tens to a deck, then calculated the player advantage to be +1.89%. Although less than the fives, there are 16 ten-value cards, so there could be more deviations from average, and therefore, times when the advantage was much higher than that of the fives. Starting from a fresh deck, the player keeps track of tens and others (non-tens). In a full deck there are 36 others and 16 tens, so the ratio is 2.25:1. As the cards are played, the player counts down from 36:16. For example, if there were six others and one ten dealt, the count would go to 30:15, yielding a ratio of 2:1.
Dr. Thorp calculated the advantage from a ratio of 3:1 down to 1:1. A ratio of 3:1 has a -2% advantage, while a ratio of 2:1 has a player advantage of +1%. Next, Dr. Thorp devised betting guidelines for various ratios. When the ratio was between 2:1 and 1.75:1, 2 units were bet. Between 1.75:1 and 1.65:1, the bet was raised to four units. Strategy tables were also developed to go along with the Ten- Count.
The beauty of the ten-count was that it was a more powerful system than any count preceding it, and almost any genius could execute it flawlessly.
11. Revere Ten Count Playing Blackjack as a Business by Lawrence Revere, 1994.
According to Revere, “By 1959, I was playing a ten count strategy.” If this is true, it predates Dr. Thorp’s original 1962 book by three years. Unlike Thorp, Revere counted forward and didn’t use ratios. Instead, he developed a chart with codes which he memorized. As he saw tens and non-tens, starting at 0-0, he counted forward. For instance, 1-2, 2-5, 3-6, where the first number was the number of tens, and the second, the number of non-tens. His chart went from 1-15 tens, and up to 35 non-tens. Where the points crossed was a bet from one to five units, and this was the appropriate bet.
Whether this was simpler than Dr. Thorp is debatable, but the concept of counting forward was certainly easier.
We now fast forward to the 21st century and multiple deck blackjack.
12. Ace Ten Front Count Blackjack Bluebook II by Fred Renzey, 2004.
The Ace-Ten Front Count is used to gauge the deck favorability at the point where two decks have been played. Starting from a freshly shuffled shoe, and a count of 0, count the aces and ten value cards. Keep a running total of these cards as they come out. Keep counting until the discard tray contains two decks. At this point the count would normally be 40 if the decks were neutral. If the count is 36 or less, the player has the advantage, and should bet more. Mr. Renzey recommends four units. If the count is 37-41, bet one unit, and if the count is 42 or greater, leave the table.
Mr. Renzey gives some playing modifications as well. For example, if the count is 36 or less, stand on 16 vs dealer 10. This is approximately a count of plus two. Other changes to basic strategy are given as well. If the count is greater than 36, he recommends you simply play basic strategy.
A technique he suggests is to stand back and observe for the first two decks, then if the count is 36 or less, jump in and play. If not 36 or less, move on to another table. If you are a card counter, this might sound familiar to you. It is known as “back counting”, or, “Wonging”, named for Stanford Wong who put it on the map. So to implement the front count you have to back count. Actually, Mr. Renzey recommends you back count once, and if unsuccessful, sit down at a table with a fresh shoe and start from scratch. Many casinos will not allow mid-shoe entry to prevent players from “Wonging.”
Finally, Mr. Renzey suggests you could improve the Ace-Ten Front Count by checking at two, three and four deck marks. Of course there are different betting numbers for each.
