True Count

[The Truth]

I've been counting cards for about a year now, just go to the 6 deck shoes, and back count while i'm waiting on my poker seat, as the wait can be up to an hour somtimes. Just betting 50 bucks everytime the count is +3 true count or better.
With fairly decent results over a long period of time, I was considering moving to playing 2 deck blackjack some.

I was wondering what me EV is with each true count, as I was just waiting for it to be really high to put in any money.

like at +1 true count, what is my EV in% same for +2 +3 etc.
this is for a simply hi lo count.

Also, how does keeping a seperate ace count affect your ev?

thanks alot

[cardcounter0]

It varies by rules and penetration, but a good rule of thumb for double deck is every HiLo point is worth about .5% in EV. So, at +1 you are a little bit over the house edge, +2 .5% over, +3 1% over, and so forth.

DoubleDeck differs from the shoe game in that the count fluctuates rapidly, and knowing how to compute the True Count from the Running Count is critical. You can't gradually ramp up your bets like you can in a shoe. If you see a good count in Double Deck, jump on it, it might be gone the very next round.

Also, your playing departures are more critical than in a shoe where mere betting power can get you thru. So I hope you know what to do in positive counts with 16 vs 10, and when to double down 9 vs 7, 8 vs 4,5,6 and other good plays like 10 vs T. Hitting 12 vs 4, etc.

Insurance should be taken at +2.5 instead of a TC of +3.

Before I would worry about a side count of Aces, I would get better at estimating TC at quarter deck levels, learn lots of playing indexes, and make sure some other basics where down pat.

[The Truth]

thanks for the response.
Im pretty good with judging true count based on deck levels. I have no problem keeping a solid true count and a sperate ace count, just from where I do it so often.
I play in tunica where the rules are very soft.

However, I do not do any playing departures, and what you spoke of is very intersting. I've always just kept the simple hi lo count, and an ace count for fun, and just based everything on the hi lo count and mid shoe entry only.

Any suggestions on where i can read more on the playing deviations and such?
thanks alot

[morgan180]

i tried the [censored] search function for card counting strategy and basic blackjack strategy - what'd you know - came up with [censored] anyone have any favorite links.

thank in advance sorry for the inconvenience

[cardcounter0]

As I said, you can get by playing shoes just by betting power alone, playing departures add about 20% to profits.
But in double deck, playing departures become more significent.

There are a handful of plays that give you about 80% of the gain, the other 50 odd departures only add fractions.
So here are the plays and the HiLo number to depart from basic strategy, remember these and you are really squeezing the money out of the game.

Insurance: the most profitable play you can make. Take Insurance when the TC is > 2.5

16 vs T: Second most profitable play you can make. Stand on 16 vs T when the count is positive.

15 vs T: stand when TC > 4

T vs T: double down when the TC > 5. Trust me it feels good!

12 vs 3: stand when the TC > 2

12 vs 2: stand when the TC > 3

11 vs A: only double down when TC > 1

9 vs 2: double down when TC > 1

T vs A: double down when the TC > 5 (of course you have lost your insurance bet already) throw some more money out there!

9 vs 7: double down when the TC > 3. Yeah, man! Against the 7!

16 vs 9: stand when TC > 5

8 vs 5: double down when TC > 4

8 vs 6: double down when TC > 3

soft 19 vs 6: double down when TC > 1. Blow their minds!
soft 19 vs 5: double down when TC > 3. You one crazy gambler!

soft 18 vs 2: double down when TC > 1

12 vs 4: Hit it if the count is negative.


Another tip: if the count is negative going into the last hand before the shuffle. Don't Play! Make an excuse and just play the next hand after the shuffle. Why make a bet in a negative count when you can just wait one hand and start over.

A good book to get is "Blackjack Attack: Playing the Pro's Way" by Don Schlisinger.

Not only does it explain the above plays (He was the first to find that this small handful of plays are the ones to concentrate on) but the book goes in-depth into HOW MUCH DO I BET.

The bible for the HiLo count is "Professional Blackjack" by Stanford Wong.

These books can be purchased at www.rge21.com (http://www.rge21.com) Which is also a good site about counting without a lot of BS.
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[cardcounter0]

www.blackjackinfo.com (http://www.blackjackinfo.com) is THE site for generating basic strategy charts for a variety of rules.

www.rge21.com (http://www.rge21.com) is a good site for discussion about counting. It has a beginner section for questions.