Golden Touch Blackjack Revolution now available

KenSmith

Administrator
Staff member
#1
I've added the book Golden Touch Blackjack Revolution by Frank Scoblete to the BlackjackInfo store.

This book presents the new "Speed Count" devised by Dan Pronovost. Speed Count really is the simplest method I've ever seen to get an edge at casino blackjack.

If you are already comfortable with another counting system, this isn't for you. The simplicity of this system does have a cost. It's less powerful than either Hi-Lo or KO, other popular but simple counting systems.

But, man, is it ever easy! And it really does deliver what it claims, creating a player advantage against typical casino blackjack games.

If you've ever tried to learn a card counting system and given up in frustration, take a look at this book.
 

ScottH

Well-Known Member
#5
zengrifter said:
Maybe, maybe not. QFIT has some thoughts on this. The trade-off is a very unruly variance. zg
Yeah, I read his article on the subject. It was very interesting. Anyone conisidering using a really weak counting system should read it.
 

QFIT

Well-Known Member
#7
Just be aware that the claims in the book are false. The strategy is nowhere near as powerful as claimed.
 
#8
Introduction To Speed Count...

... by its developer, Dan Pronovost. zg



The History of Speed Count

Introduction

Dan Pronovost is the owner and president of DeepNet Technologies, makers of a wide range of advantage gambling training products and software (blackjack, poker, craps). Their web site is: http://www.DeepnetTech.com, and all products are available for free trial download. Dan is also the creator of the easy-to-use card counting system Speed Count, taught in the Golden Touch Blackjack courses for two years and now available in the Frank Scoblete's new book, "Golden Touch Blackjack Revolution!"

Wouldn't it be great if…

"There must be an easier way for everyday average gamblers to learn to count cards in blackjack and get an edge over the casino… what do you think Dan?"

This innocent question from Henry Tamburin in December 2002 led me to design Speed Count, a new blackjack card counting system unlike anything previously available.

This article is an introduction to Speed Count, a brief story of its development and why it’s the easiest proven method for average players to use to get a positive edge in blackjack. Speed Count has been a complete secret until now, so this article is your chance to finally learn about it! Enjoy!

...continued here - http://www.bjinsider.com/newsletter_78_speedcount.shtml
 
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QFIT

Well-Known Member
#12
No independent sims were authorized and I was not allowed to see the exact description. I guessed how it worked from the ads and Henry verified that my guess was correct at a party. I also heard details from several other sources. (Nothing is "secret" in the BJ world.) My sims showed that the similar OPP has about half the SCORE of KO-Rookie (no indexes.) It would be better if I had access to the exact details for SC as it may SCORE a bit higher due to inclusion of a CBS. I think KO is easier - but that is just my opinion. Exactly how well it performs depends on number of players, which method of counting players is used, the spread, the exact CBS variations and which level of "aggression" used in SC. Their ad says it has anywhere from 70% to 95% of the edge of "professional level" strategies. KO Rookie is not "professional level." My estimate is closer to 35%. It is also hardly "revolutionary." It is based on the same principle as Jake Smallwood's QWIK Count developed 18 years ago. Also, it is virtually identical to Kim Lee's Drunk Count developed on the spot when asked to come up with a simple count. Cacarulo and I came up with a strategy based on the same principle. But in order to get a decent SCORE, we had to add so many twists it was more complex than HiLo:)

All of these strategies (and OPP) are based on the well-known fact that there are about 2.7 cards in an average BJ hand. This has been mentioned dozens of times on the forums, is in the 1983 version of Blackbelt in the section on Depth-Charging, I believe is in several issues of BJF (e.g. December 1989.) is in Blackjack Attack (e.g. page 46.) It is in Michael Dalton's old BJ Encyclopedia. It has been a standard stat in CVData and CVSim since the first version. It is one of the many methods of estimating deck depth in pitch games. For an interesting twist, Kevin Blackwood uses the same principle as a method of calculating depth while simultaneously determining if the dealer is preferrential shuffling.

I understand the need for hype in advertising. But I thought the exaggerated claims were unfortunate and the risk level very high, even if the players didn't have to spend $700-$800 to learn the strategy. I also don't like the claim that you can learn how to beat the casinos in two hours (or on the way to the casino in the car as claimed in one OPP post.) That's simply irresponsible. Beating a casino takes hard work and I have a big problem with system sellers that claim casinos are easy pickings.

There is one other, relatively minor, aspect I'll mention only because it is interesting. SC uses a CBS (Counter's Basic Strategy.) How many of these people will actually continue to use the strategy? The majority of people that try counting eventually revert to non-counting. My guess is that a far higher percentage of SC players will revert due to the low investment in time, their inability or lack of will to learn KO, and the very weak power and high risk of SC. But they will have learned a CBS. If they revert to the CBS, they will be playing a BS that is not only incorrect, but higher variance than Basic Strategy.
 

shadroch

Well-Known Member
#13
QFIT,or someone who understands it,
Could you rewrite that last paragraph so that it is a little more understandable.
Now that its available in a book,will you review it and run sims,based on the book?
 

ScottH

Well-Known Member
#14
shadroch said:
QFIT,or someone who understands it,
Could you rewrite that last paragraph so that it is a little more understandable.
Now that its available in a book,will you review it and run sims,based on the book?
This counting system has you learn a special BS just for counting. It is different than the normal BS. So if they learn the BS for the system and give up on it, they will be playing BS wrong.
 

KenSmith

Administrator
Staff member
#15
The idea of a Counter Basic Strategy (CBS) is that you will be betting more money in plus counts, so you learn a single strategy that's tweaked for plus counts. If you're going to use one strategy all the time, but vary your bets with the count, you'll win more money with CBS than regular basic strategy.

QFIT is concerned that people will learn CBS, and then stop using the count, therefore costing themselves money by using a strategy for a purpose it wasn't intended.

Despite all the controversy, I think Speed Count delivers exactly what it promises. Yes, it's weaker than the other systems (so far I've seen credible estimates of 70% of the Hi-Lo numbers), but it's also easier to learn.

Now, I think I would have to agree that for almost all players, paying close to a thousand dollars for this system during their seminar would not be a prudent decision. But now that they've published it in an inexpensive book, I think this product fills a niche that needs filling.
 

QFIT

Well-Known Member
#16
On the question of will I review it. Not likely. I'm not doing any more reviews since I get attacked whenever I warn people about such systems. For example there are suggestions on BJFO that if you buy my software I will out your name and that my software may maliciously destroy your PC. It's amazing the things some people will say.

On the sims, I ran 2,000 sims of the similar OPP strategy and posted them at http://www.card-counting.com/cvcxonlineviewer.htm. OPP is the last strategy on the list. All these sims use optimal betting and all common combinations of rules, decks, spreads and penetrations are simmed to remove any possibility of bias. OPP has about 35% of the SCORE of HiLo on average. My sims agree with Cacarulo's. The SC sims were rigged to make HiLo look bad. For example, they had the HiLo player raise his bet at TC 0. This results in very poor results since you are raising bets with negative EV. They also had no indexes and no Insurance for HiLo and yet claimed they were comparing against a "professional level" strategy. HiLo with no indexes and no Insurance is not pro level. They also used betting ramps that created far greater risk for SC than HiLo and didn't mention risk. They have been told numerous times that there figures are wrong and yet continue to put a slide up at seminars claiming that SC is nearly as strong as pro strategies. You don't get to count sevens the same as tens, with no indexes and no Insurance and get nearly the results of a pro strategy.
 

QFIT

Well-Known Member
#18
With the small bankroll possessed by most recreational players that is true. Basically because it requires a large spread to make up for its weak efficiency. Another problem is you really can't add effective indexes should you wish to in future. This is not just because counting the sevens the same as the Tens makes for a very poor playing efficiency; but because the crude method of balancing the count would require different indexes depending on the number of players. And indexes become less accurate the more players at the table with such systems. Unfortunately, recreational players more often play at full tables. I believe the OPP and SC sims run by their respective authors were all heads-up. My OPP sims were 2, 3 or 4 players for 1, 2 and 6 decks which I think is more realistic.

I also don't think it makes sense to compare SC/OPP with HiLo, as both authors do. Of course they are simpler than HiLo. They should be compared with KO, which is just as strong as HiLo but far easier. (The SC ads also grossly exaggerate the difficulty of HiLo claiming that it requires you to calc a TC than calc a TE than multiply by the edge per TE, add the game edge and multiply by your bankroll to calc your bet every hand. No one does that.) OPP is slighly better than half as effective as KO-Rookie even without using a CBS. (KO-Rookie has no indexes and no Insurance.) Frankly I think KO-Rookie is easier than OPP/SC. The SC ads claim that SC is easier because there is no cancellation of high and low cards. KO doesn't "require" cancellation - it's an optional advantage. Fact is with KO many hands count as zero. Far more hands are zero than with SC/OPP. Plus, you need to subtract the number of players and the dealer at the start or end of each round. Everyone is different and it may be easier for some people than KO. But why compare it to HiLo?
 
#19
KenSmith said:
I've added the book Golden Touch Blackjack Revolution by Frank Scoblete to the BlackjackInfo store.

This book presents the new "Speed Count" devised by Dan Pronovost. Speed Count really is the simplest method I've ever seen to get an edge at casino blackjack.

If you are already comfortable with another counting system, this isn't for you. The simplicity of this system does have a cost. It's less powerful than either Hi-Lo or KO, other popular but simple counting systems.

But, man, is it ever easy! And it really does deliver what it claims, creating a player advantage against typical casino blackjack games.

If you've ever tried to learn a card counting system and given up in frustration, take a look at this book.
the claims are exaggerated and it requires a large bankroll
 
#20
KenSmith said:
The idea of a Counter Basic Strategy (CBS) is that you will be betting more money in plus counts, so you learn a single strategy that's tweaked for plus counts. If you're going to use one strategy all the time, but vary your bets with the count, you'll win more money with CBS than regular basic strategy.

QFIT is concerned that people will learn CBS, and then stop using the count, therefore costing themselves money by using a strategy for a purpose it wasn't intended.

Despite all the controversy, I think Speed Count delivers exactly what it promises. Yes, it's weaker than the other systems (so far I've seen credible estimates of 70% of the Hi-Lo numbers), but it's also easier to learn.

Now, I think I would have to agree that for almost all players, paying close to a thousand dollars for this system during their seminar would not be a prudent decision. But now that they've published it in an inexpensive book, I think this product fills a niche that needs filling.
$25 is not inexpensive (most paperbacks are under $20), and you cant say "well its cheaper than the $800 seminars" because the people who pay $800 for a counting seminar probably already have bought a bunch of other get rich quick crap from tv and obviously arent going to be able to count cards because they arent even smart enuf to know $800 is a ripoff for ANY counting system. im getting it thru my library just to read it to see how much it is exaggerated..
 
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