There has been a long ongoing debate about the merits of particular card counting systems down the years. The easiest ones to use are the level one systems along with some unbalanced systems like Fuchs and Vancura’s KO counting system for example.
In fact the KO system is one that I would recommend to any novice counter as a starter system. I have never used it personally for the simple reason being that balanced counts are better for shuffle tracking. My own personal favourite was the most well known of them all and that was the high/low. This simple system managed to grab most of the betting opportunities that were presented but its simplicity allowed you to do other things.
Like interact with casino staff like a real punter and not have to act like some emotionless android from the planet x. It also allowed you to shuffle track as well and to also watch for suspected heat. In short then it game you one very importantand valuable thing as a blackjack player……time.
This was just what many blackjack players simply didn’t get when they read my book Princes of Darkness : The World of Highstakes Blackjack, sophisticated counting systems are very tiring when done for hour after hour, simple systems are far better and this gets back to the concept of time once again only this time, you are creating longer playing time.
In fact I dare say that there were few people who properly understood my position as in many instances I was approaching things from a direction purely based on what I knew about the internal structure of casinos and how they operated. So my answer to this question is that I wouldn’t touch sophisticated level three and level four systems with a barge pole for the simple reason that you would spend so much mental energy keeping the count that you would miss the crucial other aspects of advantage play blackjack that contribute towards getting you a meaningful edge and not something that was very marginal.
Personally I have never much fancied playing blackjack for an edge somewhere inbetween 0.5% and 1.0% and all of the assorted variance that comes with it.
Anyway….take care and see you soon.
Carl “The Dean” Sampson – author of Princes of Darkness : The World of Highstakes Blackjack
