BlackjackInfo Blog » Card Counting

New Efficiency Calculator Added

KenSmith — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:48:34 +0000

Thanks to some Flash wizardry by ChemMeister ICountNTrack, the site now has a Card Counting System Efficiency Calculator.

You can plug in any set of card counting tag values, and calculate the Betting Correlation (BC), Playing Efficiency (PE) and Insurance Correlation (IC).

Just what are these values? They tell you

How effectively a card counting system predicts what you should bet (BC).
How effectively the system allows you to vary your strategy decisions (PE).
How effectively the system indicates when you should take insurance (IC).

The idea behind these calculations originated with Peter Griffin, and are detailed in his seminal work on the mathematics of blackjack, “The Theory of Blackjack”

As a point of reference, here are some values for popular counting systems:

Counting	Tags										Values
System	A	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	T	BC	PE	IC
Hi-Lo	-1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	0	0	0	-1	0.97	0.51	0.76
Hi-Opt I	0	0	+1	+1	+1	+1	0	0	0	-1	0.88	0.61	0.85
Wong’s Halves	-1	+0.5	+1	+1	+1.5	+1	+0.5	0	-0.5	-1	0.99	0.57	0.72
K-O	-1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	0	0	-1	0.98	0.55	0.78

Using the new Efficiency Calculator at BlackjackInfo, you can calculate these values for any card counting tag values that you want.

Jury rules against Caesars Palace and Griffin Investigations

KenSmith — Sun, 19 Jun 2005 18:16:00 +0000

The James Grosjean and Michael Russo case against Caesars Palace and Griffin Investigations is done, and the jury ruled in favor of Grosjean and Russo, awarding $100,000 in actual damages. Caesars chose to settle with the plaintiffs before the punitive damage portion of the jury deliberations, but Griffin did not. The jury awarded an additional $25,000 to the plaintiffs from defendant Griffin for punitive damages.

For those unfamiliar with the case, Grosjean and Russo were legally hole-carding at the game of three card poker, and were detained by Caesars and accused of card-bending, based on their listings in Griffin Investigations subscription-based service for casinos. Griffin was found by the jury to have been guilty of libel and defamation for having listed the two as cheats with no evidence.

A Las Vegas Review Journal article about the case can be found here:
Caesars settles, Griffin Investigations owes punitive damages

Advantage players are a versatile bunch

KenSmith — Fri, 18 Feb 2005 16:21:00 +0000

An item in today’s Las Vegas Mercury discusses various casino advantage players and their tactics. It covers a broad spectrum including card counting, hole card play, sports betting, poker, and even craps.

The article starts with a few paragraphs about Eliot “The Mayor” Jacobson, whose new book The Blackjack Zone is available at the BlackjackInfo store.

Stanford Wong weighs in on his new passion, beating the game of craps, long thought by advantage gamblers to be unbeatable.

Bob Nersesian, the Las Vegas attorney who in recent years has taken on several high profile cases representing advantage players is quoted as well.

Kevin Blackwood joins the BlackjackInfo team

KenSmith — Thu, 13 Jan 2005 03:54:00 +0000

I’m excited about this addition to the site. Kevin Blackwood, author of The Counter and the upcoming Play Blackjack Like the Pros has agreed to bring his considerable talents aboard and help populate the new Card Counting section of the site.

Already available is an article entitled World’s Greatest Job. Check it out!

Jimmy Dime, card counters, lawsuits and more

KenSmith — Mon, 22 Nov 2004 22:27:00 +0000

An article in today’s Las Vegas Sun starts out talking about Jimmy Pine, aka “Young Jimmy Dime” who was a participant in the recent World Series of Blackjack’s second season. The story goes on to cover a laundry list of blackjack topics: Card counters, backrooming, lawsuits, and of course a few bits of WSOB2.

Imperial Palace forced to pay up: $400K to detained advantage player

KenSmith — Sat, 06 Nov 2004 14:52:00 +0000

My recent post about a $99,999 judgement against Imperial Palace casino in Las Vegas included only the actual damages awarded in the case. Since then, the case has returned to the courtroom where the jury awarded an additional $500,000 in punitive damages. Law caps the punitive damages in this case to $300,000, so the plaintiff James Grosjean stands to collect $1 under $400K for the incident that occurred in Nov 2001.

James Grosjean is the author of ‘Beyond Counting’, an excellent book covering advantage play techniques that have never been published elsewhere. (It’s regrettably out of print now.) Grosjean was also one of the 25 players who competed in the the first season World Series of Blackjack on GSN.

Here’s a link to the Las Vegas Sun’s coverage of the Grosjean/IP case:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/gaming/2004/nov/05/517780711.html

Speaking of World Series of Blackjack, I’m in Las Vegas this week for the filming of WSOB season 2. This time, 40 players compete for $500K in prize money. The thirteen shows will air beginning January 11th, 2005.

Max Rubin tells casino execs: "Don’t sweat the money"

KenSmith — Sat, 30 Oct 2004 02:01:00 +0000

An article by John Grochowski in today’s Chicago Sun Times describes an interesting session at the recent Global Gaming Expo. The session was called “Game Protection: Advantage Players”, and one of the speakers was Max Rubin, an author, casino consultant, and expert on advantage players and their tactics.

His view was definitely in the minority from the sounds of the article, but he advocated that casinos spend a lot less time chasing card counters, and more time focusing on the basic business of offering blackjack.

Here’s the whole article:

http://www.suntimes.com/output/grochowski/wkp-news-bet29.html

LV Review Journal: Are gamblers being fleeced?

KenSmith — Mon, 25 Oct 2004 16:22:00 +0000

An editorial in Saturday’s Las Vegas Review Journal references the suit I mentioned a few days ago, and features this telling quote:

“The gaming industry’s viability — and the state’s economy — hinge on the premise that gamblers get a fair shake. Even the slightest hint that fancy shufflers and other glittering casino technologies can be used to swing the outcome of games is a black eye for Nevada.”

Here’s the whole story:

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Oct-23-Sat-2004/opinion/25062234.html

In other unconfirmed news, I hear that the Imperial Palace was on the losing end of another suit filed by the same attorney, Bob Nersesian. The jury is said to have awarded $99,999 to a gambler who was illegally detained in a backroom at the Imperial Palace. I’ll post a follow-up if I see this story make the newspaper or other media.

What is the "Rule of 6"?

KenSmith — Fri, 22 Oct 2004 20:06:00 +0000

I recently got this question via email: “What is the rule of 6?”

Casinos that deal single-deck blackjack often instruct their dealers to use the “rule of 6″ to decide when to shuffle. This means that the number of players plus the number of rounds between shuffles should add up to 6. If there are 5 or more players at the table, you’ll get one round and then a shuffle. (Ick.) Four players get two rounds, Three players get three rounds, Two players get four rounds, and a single player heads-up will get 6 hands between shuffles.

So, now you know.

Attorney sues casinos for using card counting systems

KenSmith — Wed, 20 Oct 2004 04:18:00 +0000

Las Vegas attorney Bob Nersesian has filed suit on behalf of a gambler at a casino in Reno, NV, seeking to stop the casino from using the automated MindPlay blackjack table for a practice known as ‘preferential shuffling’. That’s when the casino shuffles away any player-favorable situations. The suit alleges that the casino used an automated system to indicate to the dealer when to shuffle, thus altering the natural odds of the game.

The article by Rod Smith appeared in today’s Las Vegas Review Journal, and has since been picked up by the Associated Press. Here’s a link to the LVRJ article: http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Oct-19-Tue-2004/news/25027617.html