Advantage?

[prankster]

Hello all. I have a question. If I'm playing with just me and one spotter what is our advantage in a 6 deck shoe game? Rules: LS,DAS,DAT. They say counters have a 1-2% advantage on average. So if the 2 man team only bets large into positive counts what is your advantage? Thank you.

[Sonny]

It will depend on your bet spread and your Wonging technique. Are you both spotting and playing or is it just one spotter and a BP? If you are playing with one BP then the advantage will be the same as a regular backcounter, about 1-1.5%.

-Sonny-

[prankster]

Thank you Sonny. Doesn't a regular backcounter play with a greater advantage than a counter sitting at the table playing all hands?

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by prankster

Doesn't a regular backcounter play with a greater advantage than a counter sitting at the table playing all hands?

He plays with a somewhat higher advantage but he also plays much fewer hands per hour. This is usually balanced by the fact that he can afford to make bigger bets. Even though the advantage of the two strategies might be roughly the same, the EV can be much different. That's why it is important to look at the EV and SD rather than the % advantage.

For example, a 1:10 spread might get an advantage of 1.6% for play-all and only 1.1% for a backcounter, but the EVs might be $16.6/hour for play-all and $55.15/hour for backcounting. That's a huge difference.

-Sonny-

[prankster]

So simply stated, if a counter is backcounting or working with one teammate who calls him in when the count is elevated he/they should expect to make more money than a counter who plays alone and just sits down to the table and plays all. Right? Thanks again.

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by prankster

So simply stated, if a counter is backcounting or working with one teammate who calls him in when the count is elevated he/they should expect to make more money than a counter who plays alone and just sits down to the table and plays all. Right?

Right. The difference between play-all and backcounting is incredible, as shown above. That simple change can turn a $16/hr game into a $55/hr game. And if both players backcount individually they can theoretically make at least twice as much money as the spotter/BP scenario.

-Sonny-