Is It A Good Idea To True Count KO--Or Not?

I'm grappling with whether it's a good idea to true count KO or not. (I'm playing 6D KO Full.)

There appears to be two schools of thoughts on this:

The first that says one of the flaws with KO it that it underestimates the advantage early in the shoe and overestimates the advantage late in the shoe--and that KO can be improved upon by true counting it. (Makes sense to me.)

The other that says counting the seven in KO improves playing efficiency, betting correlation and insurance correlation--and that more precise betting is possible with running counts in unbalanced systems--and therefore, you don't need to (or perhaps shouldn't) true count KO. (That makes sense to me, too.)

See what I mean--which way should I go?

Everyone's input is greatly appreciated!

Best regards,

FD

I hear TC KO is better than HiLo, so... yea, go for it!

Since unbalanced counts were invented for the sheer purpose of not having to true count, if more accuracy is desired with them, I would suggest "true fudging". With that, you simply pre-calculate the built in error at various shoe depths, then blindly use a "sliding" Key Count depending upon your current depth in the shoe.

With KO for example, by automatically using Key Counts of -7 early in the shoe, -4 in the middle, and -1 as you approach the shuffle, you'll always be raising your bets at a true count of just about +1.4. No number crunching on-the-fly is needed. This is also a good point at which to make basic strategy departures of 9 vs. 2; 11 vs A and 12 vs. 3.

With Insurance, just take it at "0" early on, at +2 thru the middle and at +3 near the shuffle.

As for playing the all-important 16 vs. 10, you'll just have to keep in mind that anytime the running count is at all above "normal", you should stand. "Normal" would be -20 off the top, -12 two decks in, etc. You should become atuned to what running count is normal at each particular shoe depth. (i.e. -20, -16, -12, -8, -4, -2).

KO does NOT have a better betting correlation than seven-neutral systems. The effect of removal for a seven is much lower than other cards (like the 5). In fact, Red 7, which counts the 7 as a half, has a better betting correlation in most games.

Side-counting sevens is what gives you a much better playing efficiency, because it helps you play hands like 12 v. 3 or 15 v. 10 correctly. In the first case, the seven is "low" in the second "high".

And as usual, I have to give the disclaimer that counting systems don't matter much for shoes.