It was my understanding that the 43-49-8 was an AVERAGE based upon the million + hands in simulation. That would take into account all of the times the count skyrockets, plummets, and stays in the neutral. (There are a TON of material that gives the stats on each hand and how the % changes based upon the remaining composition). in other words, playing through an entire shoe.
If I understood all of THAT, then I would expect to have a HIGHER win rate if I played starting on a high count, and following it down. I base this on the expectation that the count FALLS when high cards come out, and therefore is favorable to us. I always assumed that this was the reason why ZG, Auto Monk and others have been screaming about never playing the negatives, and why there are 'walkaway' points for wong-out.
Somehow, I suspect that the 'real' pros are the ones who do the shuffle tracking, etc. so that they play ONLY when the 43-49-8 would be a 49-43-8 win for THEM.
I would be interested in knowing if anyone has kept the stats on this. I think QFIT (Man, I miss his input!) had some things on his sim that bears this out...