Illustrious 18

I'm an informed but not very experienced card counter. I'm working on committing the Illustrious 18 to memory and I'm wondering what basic strategy it's based on. I'm aware of the different strategies for shoe, single deck, and double deck, but I've only got the 6 deck shoe one down pat. Is the illustrious 18 based on single deck? If anyone has any info it'd be appreciated.

The standard one in Blackjack Attack is based on six decks, which is what I would suggest using.

Thanks! That's helpful, I already know that strategy. A follow up, one of the indices is if you have a 16 and the Dealer's up card is a 10 you stand at an even count or higher. Why is that? I was under the impression that basic strategy is based on an even count? I know that it's one of the slim advantages, a small fraction of an edge, but numbers are numbers. Any insight?

Quote: CloudStrife1212

Thanks! That's helpful, I already know that strategy. A follow up, one of the indices is if you have a 16 and the Dealer's up card is a 10 you stand at an even count or higher. Why is that? I was under the impression that basic strategy is based on an even count? I know that it's one of the slim advantages, a small fraction of an edge, but numbers are numbers. Any insight?

I could be wrong, but I think you're supposed to round down. So a rounded count of 0 would imply a non-rounded count of 0 to 0.999999, averaging +0.5. It only takes a slight imbalance, removing just one small card in six decks I think is enough, to make standing the better play with 16 against 10.

To expand on this a bit, assuming you have seen no other cards, the running count on 10,6 vs a dealer 10 is actually -1. Thus, you hit. If you have a true 0 running count it implies that at least one small card has been removed from the deck at another time or in another hand on the table, and you should stand. The rule also allows for three-card 16 compositions to be considered a stand, which they should be overall. Basically, it covers the situation pretty well.

Of course when the count is anywhere near that '0' running count decision point following this rule for 16 vs 10 will only effect a miniscule change in EV.

Quote: Wizard

I could be wrong, but I think you're supposed to round down. So a rounded count of 0 would imply a non-rounded count of 0 to 0.999999, averaging +0.5. It only takes a slight imbalance, removing just one small card in six decks I think is enough, to make standing the better play with 16 against 10.

Oh, that makes sense. I didn't think about it like that. I know it's a tiny difference, but I'm kind of an info buff, so I was curious. I find understanding makes using the systems easier. Thanks guys!

I wanted to expand on the question by Cloud Strife. It seems that the Illustrious 18 may be based on playing dealer stands on soft 17. I want to know if there are basic strategy changes in the dealer hits soft 17 game that become less favorable at a low true count index (eg doubling 11 v. A; doubling A,7 v. 2; doubling A,8 v. 6 etc.) Would incorporating these (say by hitting rather than doubling at a low true count index) rank among the top 18 as far as boosting EV?

Thanks!

I was going through the chart. It's kind of new to me, but I am aware of a few BS variations. I've never really broken from the basic strategy consistently I tend to take the paint 99% of the time. I'm not saying I haven't done any of these things, I have.

I have a few questions:

I'm not so sure about doubling my 10 versus a dealer's 10 with a deck of +5 or hitting any hard hand v 4, 5 or 6. Also splitting 10's is like giving away a solid hand even against a 5 or 6.

A few of these hints seem to defy logic like hitting a 12 v 3 when the deck is +3 when it would seem better to hit the 12 v 3 when the deck is -3

There are some plays I am just not comfortable making.

I'm listening...

Most of those deviations are marginal. You can´t get to a logical reason unless you do the actual numbers and look at smallish differences in EV the deviation will make.

However, at least splitting 10s against 5 or 6 is somewhat obvious. You may end up with two 20s. And if you don´t, you may end up with two hands while the dealer will bust.

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It's good to have the information at hand. I'm in really good blackjack shape right now. Just working on getting the bankroll together. I have about 12 weeks before I'm in Vegas.