The Unbalanced Black Nine Card Counting System - An Unbalanced Level One Counting System

The UB9 Count

34. The UB9 Count

Author: Bill Garner

UB9 stands for Unbalanced Black Nine. This is the newest and most
powerful of the level one, unbalanced counting systems.

Card           2   3   4   5   6   7   8   R9   B9    10    A
Card Value 1    1   1   1   1   1   0    0    -1    -1    -1

The black 9’s are counted as -1 and the red nines are counted as 0 or
neutral. As you can see, the 2 through 7 are a +1 count, and all ten
value cards and Aces are -1. This means that for each deck, there are
two more plus cards than minus. Just as with the Red Seven count, it
matters not whether you count the black or red nines. It is easier to
count half of the nines as -1 than to count them all as -1/2. By
counting the black nines, this creates values a bit closer to the effects
of removal percentages. As a matter of fact, the treatment of the 9’s,
10’s and Aces is essentially the same as the Wong Halves. Wong
counts the nines as -1/2, and the ten’s and Aces as -1.

To review, with an unbalanced count, when all of the counts are added
up, the sum is a number other than zero. In the case of the UB9
count, they total to +2, meaning there are two more +1 cards than -1.
The purpose of the unbalanced count is to eliminate the need for
converting the running count to a true count. This eliminates the need
to estimate the discard pile, convert this to decks yet to be played, and
divide the RC by this estimate. The bottom line is, an unbalanced
counting system simplifies counting and eliminates a source of error.
The trade off is that early in play, some opportunities to increase one’s
bet may be missed.

The starting count for an unbalanced system is usually negative. The
UB9 count starts at -2 for single deck play. For every deck added, you
add another -2. Therefore, the starting count for a six deck game
would be -12. With that negative of a count, it may take a little while
before the count gets up to -1 where you double your wager. Still, this
is no different from a system where the true count has to be +2 before
the bet is doubled. That means the running count would have to be
+10 in a six deck game when only one deck has been played. It will
take a while for it to get that high. If you don't do negative numbers
well, simply adjust the starting point to zero and raise the numbers
below by twice the number of decks being played. With a two deck
game, the bet would be raised at a count of +3 instead of -1.

Betting Strategy for UB9

With most single deck games, a 1-4 betting spread is recommended.
The spread is as follows:

< or = -2……1 unit
-1……………....2 units
0…………….....3 units
> or = 1…….4 units

When playing more decks, a 1-6 spread may be used.

< or = -2……1 unit
-1……………....2 units
0…………….....3 units
+1…………...…4 units
+2…………...…5 units
> or = 3…….6 units

Insure at +1 count regardless of the number of decks.

Playing Strategy for UB9

Below are the full indices for the UB9 count. This will be followed by the
indices for the Illustrious 18 for UB9.

Hard Hit/Stand Hit if < value

Hard Double Down DD if >= value

Soft Double Down DD if >= value

Split Split if >= value

Surrender if >= value

The Illustrious 18 are listed below:

16 v 9……...3
16 v 10….…0
15 v 10….…1
13 v 2……...0
13 v 3……..-1
12 v 2……...2
12 v 3……...1
12 v 4……...0
12 v 5…….-1
12 v 6…….-1
11 v A….…-2
10 v 10…...1
10 v A….….1
9 v 2……..…0
9 v 7…….….2
10-10 v 5..2
10-10 v 6..2
Insurance..1

Regarding surrender, Schlesinger’s Fab 4 are:
14 v 10
15 v 10
15 v 9
15 v A
These are in addition to surrendering 16

UB9 Advantage

The player advantage of any system will vary depending on the rules,
penetration, indices, and the betting spread. If you are comparing
counting systems, you must compare them under the same rules or the
comparison is erroneous. If one system uses a 1-4 spread and another
uses a 1-6 spread, the greater spread will have a higher player
advantage than it would if also using a 1-4 spread. For the UB9
system, the performance is as follows:

Single Deck
Double any two cards
Late Surrender
Insurance
Dealer Stands on S17
Double after Split (DAS)
Split pairs to 4 hands
65% penetration
Full indices (70)
Betting 1-6 spread
$5.00 unit bet

The player advantage (Initial Bet Advantage) is 2.30%.
The Win Rate is $24.94 per hour.
The hourly action is $1237.40 per hour.

If the penetration is only 50%, the advantage goes down to 1.74%,
and win rate to $17.30.

If the penetration is 65% but the spread is reduced to 1-4, the
advantage goes to 1.51%, and win rate to $13.75.

For comparison, the Red Seven is the closest Level one unbalanced
system. The player advantage is 1.551%, win rate $15.23, and Action
was $1116.44.

When the rules are changed to :
Single deck
50% Penetration
NO Surrender
Dealer Hits Soft 17
Double Down on any 2 Cards
Double after split
BJ pays 3:2
Split pairs up to 4 times

With the above rules, the player advantage goes down. UB9 is still on
top, but the advantage drops to 1.113%.
The following table compares the top single level unbalanced systems:

System        IBA        Win Rate        Action
UB9         1.113%        $9.07        $920.90
Red 7       0.996%        $7.95        $914.70
K-O         0.281%        $1.74        $618.75

Now, for the bad news. At the latest count, there were 12 tables (not
casinos, tables) in all of Las Vegas with the above rules. There has
been a trend in Vegas to go to a 6:5 payoff for a Blackjack (Natural.)
As of this writing, I can testify that this is true. I went around to
dozens of casinos looking for a 3:2 single deck game. I found none.
So, I bought a copy of Stanford Wong’s CURRENT BLACKJACK NEWS
at Gambler’s Book Club and I counted the 12.

So, how do the above systems work at a 6:5 table? Take a look at the
table below:

System        IBA          Win Rate        Action
UB9         -0.399%        -$3.23        $920.90
Red 7       -0.528%        -$4.22        $914.70
K-O         -1.151%        -$6.35         $618.75

These are negative numbers. They are the result of one rule change, 6:
5. So, what should you do in the face of these rule changes? First,
boycott ALL single deck games except for the 12 with 3:2 payoff.
Second, you will only be able to profitably count two deck and up
games. Most of these are going to have a 50% penetration, so your
opportunities will be rare. Still, with the same rules, and a 1-6 spread
(1-5 for K-O), the following table shows with both the UB9 and Red 7,
one can have a respectable return.

System        IBA        Win Rate        Action
UB9          0.464%        $4.22        $1039.62
Red 7        0.515%        $3.98        $887.02
K-O         -0.223%       -$1.21        $612.88

Software used for all simulations: Casino Verite' CV Data.

Back to Counting Systems Index

	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
10s			3	2	2
9s						4
4s				5

	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
A-8				0	-1

	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
16							4	0	-2	-2
15							4	1	-1	-1
14							5	2	1	1
13								5	3	4
8-8								3	1