blackjacktilt said:
All about cover. Forgive my ignorance, but why would it be wrong with a min bet? I always assumed that strategy is strategy, and when you have the count you start deviating then. I know I need to plug holes in my game, and it's knowing things like this.
Thanks in advance Mr. Monkey.
Because you always have a minimum bet down in a neutral or negative count, and in a neutral or negative count the right play would be to split instead of surrender. As soon as the count is high enough to justify an increased bet, the right play would be to surrender.
It's possible (and perfectly legitimate) to key your index plays to the number of units you are betting, instead of directly to the count, especially in a shoe game where there is not likely to be a big change in count between the time you make your bet and the time to play your hand.
Let's say you have a S17, LS game. You could set up an index system like this:
Below zero:
Hit 13 vs. 2, 13 vs. 3, 12 vs. 4
Hit 9 vs. 3
Don't surrender 15 vs. 10, 16 vs. 9, 16 vs. A
Bets above min:
Stand 12 vs. 3, multicard 16 vs. 10
Double 9 vs. 2, 11 vs. A
Surrender 88 vs. 10
Bets halfway to max:
Stand 12 vs. 2
Insure
Double 8 vs. 6, A8 vs. 5, A8 vs. 6
Surrender 14 vs. 10, 15 vs. 9, 15 vs. A
Bets at max:
Stand multicard 15 vs. 10, multicard 16 vs. 9
Double 8 vs. 5, 9 vs. 7, 10 vs. 10, 10 vs. A
Split TT vs. 5, TT vs. 6
Surrender 14 vs. 9, 14 vs. A, 16 vs. 8
You can play like this if you want, and as long as your betting ramp is the normal kind used for shoe games you will be just fine, and what's more is you can use a different count and it will all be the same! This is the way I learn indices, and the exact index number is optional and can be learned at your convenience.