Level One Balanced Count - Page 1 14. The Uston Ace-Five Count
Million Dollar Blackjack, by Ken Uston, 1981
This is an early, simple count which is included for historical purposes only. The Aces and fives are the only cards counted. The value assigned to the Aces is minus one, and the fives are plus one. The betting system was to bet two units with a neutral count, one unit with a negative count, and three units with a positive count. He recommended playing basic strategy, and to never take insurance.
Betting Correlation or B.C.: .54 Playing Efficiency or P.E.: .05 No Insurance correlation because tens are not counted.
The following counting systems are the same system as found in different books. Each author presents it differently, with different playing strategies. It originated with Harvey Dubner in 1963.
15. Simple Point Count
Beat the Dealer by Dr. Edward O. Thorp, 1966
The Simple Point Count is the same count as the Wong HI-LO, Braun Count, Revere Plus/Minus, Nestor’s Hi-Low, Snyder’s Hi Lo Lite, and described by Griffin as well. It is probably the most popular counting system of them all, and is usually the starter system for any serious card counter. Each of the low cards 2 through 6 are assigned a value of +1. The Aces and Tens are assigned a -1 value. Because the values are all one, it is called a level one counting system. The 7, 8 and 9 are considered neutral and have a value of 0. Because there are the same number of low counts as high ones, a count of zero is neutral, and it is considered a balanced counting system.
Dr. Thorp’s strategy was as follows: Keep track of the total points seen. Play Basic Strategy. If the count is zero or negative, bet one unit. If the count is positive, bet the count in units. For example, for a plus three count, bet three units.
Although it was created in the days of single deck Blackjack, the point count has been adapted to use with more than one deck. The count is done the same, but the running count has to be converted to a true count to obtain a count per deck. This means that the discarded decks have to be estimated, and a source of error is introduced.
Unlike with the Thorp 5 Count or 10 Count, Dr. Thorp didn’t modify the basic strategy for the simple point count. Other authors using the same counting values have made extensive playing strategy modifications.
Betting Correlation or B.C.: 97% or .97 Playing Efficiency or P.E.: 51% or .51 Insurance Correlation or I.C.: 76% or .76
16. Revere Plus-Minus
Playing Blackjack as a Business by Lawrence Revere, 1969
Revere stated he developed his first Blackjack strategy in 1954. “It was a plus-minus strategy. I counted nines, tens, and Aces as minus one, eights as 0, and all other cards as plus one as they were removed from the deck.” Again, if true, this predates Dr. Thorp by eight years. The above count is different from the Revere Plus-Minus count. The count above is more of a complete count, counting sevens and nines. It is the same as the Green Fountain, or the Silver Fox.
As you can see, the Revere Plus-Minus Count is identical to the Thorp Point Count. What Revere added was a playing strategy which was modified depending on whether the count was positive, zero, or negative. His betting strategy was simple. If the count is +1 or less, bet one unit. If the count went to +2 or more, bet two units. If you win the two unit bet, bet four units if the count is +2 or more. Continue betting four units if the count remained +2 or more. The step where he went to four units after a two unit win is the first example of mixing a betting progression with card counting. B.C. .97 P.E. .51 I.C. .76
17. Revere Advanced Plus-Minus Count
Also from Playing Blackjack as a Business
Revere did not give away much about this system in his book. He sold it by mail order at the time. I was able to find the values from a reliable source.
Wong gave strategy deviations based on whether you were playing in Las Vegas with more liberal rules, or Northern Nevada where the rules are more restrictive. Northern Nevada allowed doubling down on 10 or 11 only. Also, there was no doubling after split (DAS) at the time.
Although now dated, Wong’s book gave his strategy tables which list full indices for deviations from basic strategy. Since they were designed for four decks, they are applicable to any shoe game, making the strategy very versatile.
Although this strategy is an entry level plus/minus counting system, it may be the only strategy you will ever need to learn. The betting correlation is 0.97 which is almost as good as it gets. The insurance correlation is 0.76, and the playing efficiency is 0.51. This doesn’t go much beyond 0.70 with the best performing systems. If you choose it, spending time reading Wong’s or Revere’s books is a good idea. Wong also gives a lot of advice on betting. The term “Wonging” is named after Stanford Wong. Wong introduced the concept in an effort to not appear to be an advantage player. He felt bet size variation gave away the fact that he was a card counter. He decided to only play when he had the advantage. His technique was to stand back and count prior to sitting down. If he had the advantage, he jumped in and played until the advantage changed. If the house had the advantage, he would simply keep looking. This is Wonging, Today many casinos do not allow a player to enter until a shuffle. A sign says no mid-shoe entry, all thanks to Stanford Wong.
As you can tell from the name and see from the card values, this is the same as the other Hi-Lo counts. I list this count because of its presentation. Mr. Snyder uses the professional technique of converting the running count to percent advantage. This is a very sensible approach. It allows one to bet using the Kelly Criterion. Also, the author keeps the strategy indices minimal and simple.
As you can see, we have another plus/minus count. Besides being from what I consider one of the best written books on Blackjack, this count is presented with a twist not seen anywhere else. Although Revere progressed a single bet, Tamburen is the first to conceive using the count in combination with a full betting progression. He called the technique the Streak Count. Using the Plus-Minus count, when the count reaches a threshold, the player changes from a 1, 2, 3, 5, 1… betting progression to a 2, 3, 5, 7, 7… betting progression. For example, the threshold for “Favorable” is +3 for four and six decks. What this does is get more money out during periods when the deck is favorable to the player.
A problem for card counters is getting caught counting cards and subsequently barred from the casino. You have to disguise your play, put on acts, and be very careful not to draw attention to your playing. If you are playing a betting progression, the casino will welcome you with open arms. By being seen as a progression bettor, your card counting is disguised. Once you are written off as a progression bettor, your disguise is complete. Betting progressions are thought to only win in the short term, and at best, break even in the long run. Card counting is going to win in the long run, but may suffer losses in the short term.
By merging the two, you have: 1. Short term gains (progression) 2. Long Term Gains (counting) 3. A perfect disguise
I have some more ideas on merging of betting progressions and card counting which I will present later. For now, consider what has been said as you read on about card counting systems. This concludes the group of Hi-Lo counts. There are many other level one, balanced counts that follow. There are subtle differences, but not many are improvements on the basic Hi-Lo Count.
