Easier Way to Learn KO Worth It?

[Syfted]

Hi all.

I'm your average joe basic strategy punk who figures it's about time to learn to count. I've got nothing better to do over the summer anyway =p

I'm drawn to the KO count because of its simplicity. I figure it's a good count to start with, but something really messes me up.

When a count goes negative, I say in my head "neg 2, neg 4, neg 2, neg 1..." so I know the count is negative. But being an East Coast junkie, I figure I'm going to be spending a lot of time playing 6/8 decks down in Jersey. So when I use the KO, I have to start the count at -20 or -28, and work up from there as the low cards fall.

Problem is, saying "neg twenty, neg twenty-two..." in my head takes all day, and I'm never going to be able to get through a deck quickly like that.

So my alternative strategy is to count A/10 as +1, and 2-7 as -1, but start the count at +28. That would make it a lot easier- but, as I progress to more advanced counts, I'm going to be all backwards.

Should I pursue my positive count idea, or should I stick with the old way?

 

[eandre]

Move everything 40 numbers...start running count at 20 and the key count to 36 and insurance/max bets 43(+3 true count )...6 deck. You will not deal with neg numbers. A word of advice since ko tends to under bet a tad on "early" shoes...start raising bets at the 25-30 running count range to improve profits.

 

[Syfted]

Brilliant and very helpful. Thank you, sir.

 

[aslan]

There are many ways. What I do is make 100 equal to zero. Therefore, in six deck my IRC is 80, my KC is 96, and my PP is 104, as opposed to -20. -4, and 4. Some people switch to single digits when they get into positive territory, so instead of 101, 102, 103, they say 1, 2, 3. I like it, but some people don't like large numbers. I think it was Fred Renzy here on the forum who suggested this counting technique.

 

[EasyRhino]

I also reverse the count. Negative is positve, positive is negative. It's just easier intuitively for me.

But I have to be careful when talking to other people.

But it doesn't solve the problem of flipping your math from negative to positve once you cross zero. Using an appropriately large offset to your initial count can work fine.

 

[Quper]

One way I do it is count in 2 different languages, if it is in minus I count in english and if it is possitive I count in Swedish. So if you have atleast good knowledge of the numbers in one language, you can test it and see what you think