I know there are other blackjack players on the board. Has anyone else here tried the Knock-Out Blackjack system, by Olag Vancura and Ken Fuchs? I’d read some good things about it on rec.gambling.blackjack, so I thought I’d give it a read. I’ve read through it once so far, and it sounds promising.
I have absolutely no inate proficiency with numbers. Doing quick computations can be very difficult for me; converting the running count to true count under casino conditions just kills me. So the main thing that appealed to me about Knock-Out system is that there is no true count conversion. Instead, the system has an ‘initial running count’ for different deck sizes. Instead of starting a fresh deck at a coung of 0, for a double deck game, you start at -4, and for a 6-deck game, you start at -20. There are also different ‘key count’ numbers for different sized decks; the number the deck has to reach before you know you have the advantage. It also has matrixes for changes to basic strategy based on the count.
The way they explain it (and back it up with numbers), it seems to make sense. I have no doubt that it’s not as powerful as a professional multi-level count with a true count conversion. But it seems like a very good alternative for someone who’s pretty sure he’ll make mistakes with a harder system.
It’s one of the better ‘unbalanced’ count systems out there. If you’re playing shoe games, that, or just hi-low is really all you need. The miniscule added gain you get from advanced counts isn’t worth the effort. You’re better off spending the extra brain cycles on camouflage.
Well, I hate to say this but in Vegas there is basically no way to beat the house. Counting cards used to work but the casinos figured out how to stop that. At the same time if the casino thinks you have a new and better way of counting they just toss you out on your ass.
If someone actually figures out how to win by counting cards in Vegas it will be outlawed soon.
The only way to win in Vegas is to play poker. You play against the people and not the casino.
That’s not correct. There are plenty of people making money counting at blackjack in Vegas. Most of them don’t make much. A few make quite a bit.
The casinos have not figured out how to stop counting. The games are just about as good now as they have ever been. They have gotten better at spotting counters, but generally don’t care unless you’re betting $50/hand or more. And you can still fool them if you are very, very good at camouflage. Even at high limits.
I’ve used KO, and both your and Sam’s assessment of it is right on. You can eke out a few more percent with a more complicated count, but a system is only as good as your ability to use it. KO is one number, no calculations, with simple rules for applying the count.
I’m just an occasional recreational player, and I almost certainly negate my advantage by over-tipping, so I can’t say whether I have seen a difference. You won’t see a big difference, since we’re talking about changing a 1 or 2% advantage in the house’s favor into a 1-2% advantage in your favor. The average occasional dabbler would do better to spend more time learning basic strategy cold that learning to count, as a few mistakes can cost more than counting can earn you.
Then, there are people like me who learned to count cards for fun. If that’s the case, KO is a great start.