Variations in Counting Systems
In talking about the history of card counting, we touched on this area.
Counting fives is a thing of the past. There were a few early attempts
at counting fives or fives and Aces, and they are in this book primarily
for their historical significance. We can group counting systems into
the following groups:
1) Psuedo-Counting Systems
2) Five and Ten Counts
3) Plus-Minus System Level One Counts
4) Plus-Minus System Level Two Counts
5) Plus-Minus System Level Three and up Counts
6) Plus-Minus System Unbalanced Counts
Pseudo-Counting Systems are those which scan the table to give the
player an idea of which cards might be “due”. This information may be
used for playing decisions or may be carried forward like a running
count. Five counts were actually the first counts. Ten Counts are
variations of the original Thorp Ten Count. These include improved
ways of counting by counting forward, by estimating decks played and
deriving a count, or by approximating a count based on Tens to Hands
ratio. More modern variations include counting Aces with the tens, or
Aces and nines with the tens. These attempt to give a better picture of
the large to small card ratio, not just the tens to others.
The true counting systems are the plus-minus systems. They come in
simple to complex to impossible forms. They come in balanced and
unbalanced forms as well. What they have in common is assigning a
value to opposing groups of cards in the deck. Level One balanced
systems have all values at +1, -1, or 0. Also they have the same
number of pluses to minuses.
A Level Two count has card values at two levels. Most often these are
at +/- 1 and +/- 2. One could have a system with values of +/- ½ and
+/- 1, and still have a Level Two system. Fortunately no-one has done
so to my knowledge. The other systems just go higher in values to try
and reflect the effect of removal values more accurately.
Level Three systems have a plus or minus three value card, perhaps for
the five denomination cards, and level four systems have a card with a
value of four. The higher the level, the more complex the system
becomes, but theoretically the more accurate they become as well.
Unbalanced systems are different from balanced systems because the
sum of the card values does not equal zero. A Level One unbalanced
counting system also uses +1, -1, and 0, but they do not total up to
zero. There are usually a greater number of pluses than minuses, so
these may start with a negative count and end at zero, or start at zero
and end with a plus count. For example, the Red Seven Count has two
more plus cards than minus, and the K-O Counting System has four
more. The user does not have to estimate the number of decks
remaining to be played and calculate the true count.
In talking about the history of card counting, we touched on this area.
Counting fives is a thing of the past. There were a few early attempts
at counting fives or fives and Aces, and they are in this book primarily
for their historical significance. We can group counting systems into
the following groups:
1) Psuedo-Counting Systems
2) Five and Ten Counts
3) Plus-Minus System Level One Counts
4) Plus-Minus System Level Two Counts
5) Plus-Minus System Level Three and up Counts
6) Plus-Minus System Unbalanced Counts
Pseudo-Counting Systems are those which scan the table to give the
player an idea of which cards might be “due”. This information may be
used for playing decisions or may be carried forward like a running
count. Five counts were actually the first counts. Ten Counts are
variations of the original Thorp Ten Count. These include improved
ways of counting by counting forward, by estimating decks played and
deriving a count, or by approximating a count based on Tens to Hands
ratio. More modern variations include counting Aces with the tens, or
Aces and nines with the tens. These attempt to give a better picture of
the large to small card ratio, not just the tens to others.
The true counting systems are the plus-minus systems. They come in
simple to complex to impossible forms. They come in balanced and
unbalanced forms as well. What they have in common is assigning a
value to opposing groups of cards in the deck. Level One balanced
systems have all values at +1, -1, or 0. Also they have the same
number of pluses to minuses.
A Level Two count has card values at two levels. Most often these are
at +/- 1 and +/- 2. One could have a system with values of +/- ½ and
+/- 1, and still have a Level Two system. Fortunately no-one has done
so to my knowledge. The other systems just go higher in values to try
and reflect the effect of removal values more accurately.
Level Three systems have a plus or minus three value card, perhaps for
the five denomination cards, and level four systems have a card with a
value of four. The higher the level, the more complex the system
becomes, but theoretically the more accurate they become as well.
Unbalanced systems are different from balanced systems because the
sum of the card values does not equal zero. A Level One unbalanced
counting system also uses +1, -1, and 0, but they do not total up to
zero. There are usually a greater number of pluses than minuses, so
these may start with a negative count and end at zero, or start at zero
and end with a plus count. For example, the Red Seven Count has two
more plus cards than minus, and the K-O Counting System has four
more. The user does not have to estimate the number of decks
remaining to be played and calculate the true count.
