switching back to hi-lo???

[kewljason]

After several years of using hi-lo, I switched to the RPC last spring (2007), looking for a slight increase in profits that supposedly comes with a stronger count. Now this year I'm headed towards winning more money than in any of my previous 3 years of counting. But, I have surpassed my hours played already with 2 months left in the year as well, so my win rate appears to be about the same. (within a few cents)

My problem is I have never been able to master the RPC to the point that I can count as fast as with hi-lo. Yes I can count adequately enough when looking at each card as it hits the felt, but I've never gotten back to the point that I can walk through the casino and glance at the table and come up with the count in a fraction of a second as I used to. I also preferred to count that way at the table as well, rather than looking at each card as it is dealt. It's been about 18 months and over 1800 hours played since I made the switch, so figure it's not a matter of still learning the system. Since the win rate for the shoe games that I mostly play in practically identical, I am thinking of going back to Hi-lo, which seems less "taxing" to me.

any thoughts on the subject or anyone else ever taken a similar route.

[FLASH1296]

RPC is not the best choice.

You need to balance power with ease of play.

I would suggest ZEN if you play shoe games and Hi-Opt II if you play pitch games.

[kewljason]

The Zen count is also a level 2 count with tags very similar to RPC. I don't see how that is what I'm looking for. ???

[FLASH1296]

Sorry.
My error.
I thought that R P C was a 3-level count.

[iCountNTrack]

Mate, I think that was a terrible switch from your part. Once you master a counting system you should just stick with it. The increase in edge using RPC is really marginal about 0.1% at he most according to all current simulations. If i were i would invest my time in something else like shuffle tracking.

[blackjack avenger]

Sounds like you cancel 2 or more card combinations with hi lo but you do not do that with RPC? Work on canceling with RPC.

Occasionally arriving at a table late and scanning the opening hand before the dealer picks up the cards is not that difficult nor important in the long run. It should not happen that often nor does the occasional RPC error due to the speed of the situation invalidate the strength of higher level counts.

RPC is better, especially with wonging. It is better by about 5% which is a lot!

If you play every weekend and if RPC improves your play by 2% that means you could take a weekend off and make the same amount as with hi lo or play that extra weekend and pocket the extra income.

How can one make the argument to drop a higher level count in order to use hi lo so one can employ other techniques? One is trading one task for two which to me does not sound easier.

Flip the argument, if you use hi lo and shuffle track you may be doing no better then just using a stronger count. Of course this is variable dependent.

The error argument:
So to prevent the possibility of an error using a higher count you should use a lower level count with built in errors!
With hi lo you are:
over counting the 2
under counting the 5
missing the values of 7 and 9
This is why hi lo is not as strong as the higher level counts because of these built in errors.

Once you get past the math which count to use is a personal decision. If you don't think the extra effort is worth it then it is no crime in switching back but RPC is superior.