KO with Table of Critical Running Counts

KO with TCRC (Table of Critical Running Counts) should replace HL as the standard blackjack count for the shoe game.

Check out article on Michael Dalton's Blackjack Review website: www.blackjackreview.com


Also click on these two links at the end of the article:

EXAMPLES, CHARTS AND EXHIBITS
TKO SIMULATIONS

For some reason the link to KO with TCRC on www.blackjackreview.com is not coming up.

So go to www.blackjackreview.com and search for KO with TCRC.

I need to warn you. This website is packed with many mathematicians. When making a statement here, get ready to back up with rigorous math derivations.

Cacarulo's simulations of TKO is included in a link at the end of KO with TCRC article on .

Click on these two links at the end of the article:

EXAMPLES, CHARTS AND EXHIBITS
TKO SIMULATIONS

There's nothing so bad about the KO system tags, but nothing so great about them either. The way you are implementing it is more complicated than High-Low, and if you are willing to be more complicated than High-Low there are better things you can do than any kind of true counted KO.

I would never teach a new aspiring AP with an unbalanced count. High-Low has as its biggest benefit providing a clear picture of how counting works. Everything is very linear and straightforward, and uses manageable numbers.

The best counts are the ones you develop for yourself to do what you are going to be actually doing at the table. I like to have several things going on, usually a sidebet or two, so I'll pick a count that will hit on whatever else there is to play there, or a much simpler count because I'm going to be ace sequencing at the same time. Back when there was really good single deck available I would attack those with the Fry count (balanced 10s) and an ace sidecount. Now Fry is not a very powerful count for betting, but who cares, it's not like I'm going to be able to get down a huge spread at a SD game anyway. So I can treat the ace like a low card for insurance / 12 vs. 2, like a high card for betting and splitting 10s or doubling on 9 or 10, I'm sitting there making my money with the plays as well as a little bit of spread, and if the pit boss comes by and goes through the discards he's not going to know what's up, all he knows is High-Low (*with one exception!) That's the other advantage of using a less common count; it will take the people watching longer to recognize what you are doing.


The Exception: one time I'm playing a double deck game, and a young pit supervisor comes over to me, giggling and counting out loud as I spread. But he was counting in Hi-Opt II, just like I was. Not many people use that anymore, and I wouldn't expect it from a guy who was too young to be in a casino when it was popular. I had to give him a nod of admiration as I was leaving, for his knowing my count, and also knowing he wasn't going to have to do any more than that to get me out of his game, no creepy stuff where he's calling security clowns and yanking me around and all that.

The problem is this topic is combative. As I said earlier, blackjack is an entertainment, not a rigorous math. It’s intended for YouTube and podcasts.