true count

smart alecked

someone please reply to my post

True count by definition, means count per remaining DECKS. If you are dividing by half decks you are going to come up with a number that is the count per remaining HALF decks. You are then going to need to add an additional step of doubling your count per half deck to get to the REAL true count (per deck) which is what all the index numbers (including Illustrious 18) use.

The advantage to dividing by half deck rather than decks remaining is that your TC number will be a little more precise.

Here's an example: 6 deck game, running count of +10 with 2.5 deck remaining. Dividing by full decks, you will divide your plus 10 running count by 3 decks remaining and come up with a true count of 3 (3.33 rounded down). But if you are dividing by 1/2 decks remaining instead of decks remaining, you would divide your running count of plus 10 by 5 half decks and get a count of 2 per remaining half deck. Doubling that for the real true count number would give you a true count of 4.

So in this case if you were dividing by full decks you would get a true count of +3, while your friend at the other end of the same table, dividing by half deck (and then doubling) would get a true count of +4. The extra precision of dividing by half decks might make a difference in both what you are betting as well as how you play certain hands. In many cases it doesn't make a difference. In shoe games, it won't make much difference until you get down to the last couple decks remaining. In double deck games, it would be much more beneficial.

Task completed

Uston

Quote: elvis

Uston indicates half decks and using that count as your true count. I just reviewed his book.

I think that in most modern literature, true count is given as count per deck. This is probably due to Wong.

This does not mean that you should round to the nearest deck. It just means that when people say "true count of +2", they mean, two extra high cards per deck remaining.

Quote: AxiomOfChoice

I think that in most modern literature, true count is given as count per deck. This is probably due to Wong.

This does not mean that you should round to the nearest deck. It just means that when people say "true count of +2", they mean, two extra high cards per deck remaining.

Exactly right. I don't round to the deck, I round to fractions of a deck. If I have a running count of +5 with 3 decks remaining, I immediately, round to TC +1.7. I actually have betting levels that change by 1/2 deck values, for instance, my first raise in betting level is TC 1.5 for most games. But most index plays have been rounded to nearest full deck, so I would make index plays for TC +1, but not make index plays for TC +2. I still consider this true count by full deck. I mean when I say TC is +1.7 it still means there is 1.7 extra high cards per remaining deck.

You might want to edit that to "RC of +5" to avoid further confusion.

Quote: AxiomOfChoice

You might want to edit that to "RC of +5" to avoid further confusion.

Yep, my bad. Done. thanx.