While much of card-counting
is a science -- the science of mathematics -- it all takes on
something of an art form when playing at a single-deck game.
True count conversion is difficult to do quickly, large bet
spreads (over 4 to 1) are difficult to obtain and it's hard
to keep an accurate count at a game which is dealt face-down
when you're used to counting where all the cards are face up.
Despite that, I really urge you to learn how to play single
deck and, instead of banging your head against the multiple-deck
games in your area, save your money and take 2 or 3 trips to
Reno each year. No, I'm not in the employ of the Reno Chamber
of Commerce, but I can tell you that it's a great place to make
$$$ at the Blackjack tables, it's relatively inexpensive and
typically very easy to get to from all over the United States.
Sure their rules, for the most part, suck (only double on 10
and 11, no double after split and the dealer hits A-6) and that
gives the casinos the same .5% edge off the top that you're
fighting now, but it takes just one +1 card to get you even
with the house and that's the real appeal of single-deck. I
should mention that some casinos in Reno (as well as in Tahoe
and Laughlin) allow double on any first two cards, so the casino
edge is dropped to about .2% and that's a very beatable game.
The key to evaluating
good single-deck play is how many cards you'll see before a
shuffle. If you can find a game with 60% penetration and get
away with a 5 to 1 betting spread, it's fairly easy to obtain
a long term winning rate of 1.5% of all the money you bet, just
by playing basic strategy and varying your bets according to
the count. If you also modify the play of your hand according
to the true count, a win rate which approaches 2% is possible.
That's serious money Blackjack fans, so the effort is worth
it.
Which Counting
System?
I use two different
systems for counting cards; the Hi/Lo for multi-deck play and
the 'Hi-Opt 1' system for single deck play. The latter counts
3-6 as +1; 7,8,9 and ace as 0 with 10s as -1. Since there are
only four aces to track in a single deck game, I find omitting
the ace in the count improves the play of the hand, yet I can
still 'adjust' the count for betting purposes. Let's talk about
a side count of aces for a moment. We expect to see one ace
per quarter-deck played in a normal distribution, but of course
that doesn't always happen. For example, if a quarter deck has
been played and no aces have come out, the remaining deck is
'rich' one ace. I can -- for betting purposes -- temporarily
add +1 to the count, yet for playing purposes the true count
without adjustment is correct. Got that concept? If a quarter-deck
has been played and 2 aces have come out, the remaining deck
is 'poor' by one ace, so I would lower the count by 1 (that
is, 'add' a minus 1 to the count ) just for betting purposes,
since my opportunity to receive a natural has decreased. This
is a very powerful addition to your game, but my advice is to
just use it in single-deck play because an ace adjustment is
very taxing, mentally.
If you want to
learn the Hi-Opt count, use the same techniques I showed you
for learning the Hi/Lo count. All of my advanced techniques
will, however, be based upon the Hi/Lo system, since that seems
to be the method most of you are using.
The most difficult
aspect of single-deck play is computing the true count. First
you must 'calibrate' your eyeballs for measuring the number
of cards which have been played. Today most casinos have the
dealer place the discards in a rack to the side; unlike the
'old' days when they put the discards underneath, so deck estimation
is easier. The really tough part is the division which is required.
In a multideck game, we're almost always dividing one wholre
number (the running count) by another number which is at least
1. Admittedly, some people have a problem of dividing 17 by
2.5 qucikly, but it doesn't take long to get used to. In single
deck, you're always dividing by a fraction or decimal and that's
not easy. For example, if you're at a single-deck game and a
quarter-deck has been played, with a running count of 3, the
true count is 3 divided by .75 = 4. That's actually an easy
example. Try dividing a running count of 5 by .5. The answer
is, of course 10, but how many of you wanted to say 2.5 or 1?
Only practice will make this an automatic process.
Good Online Casinos
Homework
Continue learning
the decision numbers for Hi/Lo basic strategy variations in
the multiple deck games.
For the 'overachievers'
out there, start learning the Hi-Opt 1 count.
