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Lesson
18:
Advanced Single-Deck Blackjack,
Part 1
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.
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.
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