tallmanvegas said:
Strick Basic Strategy?? Ok, i would say more like decent (90%). I want to take my game to next level with advantage play. Im not looking for the most powerful system, just something in which i have an edge. I would rather play a perfect weak system than a powerful system with mistakes
tall man
Thing number one
: Get all your basic strategy down cold! Your game needs this like you need breathing!
Next
: You sound, as many avid blackjack players I know, as though you don't care much for the idea of "plus/minus" card counting -- or don't feel up to it. In that case, I believe your next step is to learn which
proper splits have a negative EV and which
improper doubles have a positive EV. Now, be ready and willing to jump in on all other players' positive EV doubles for less, whether they be proper basic strategy doubles or not. One particular ethnic group is notorious for making doubles for less, many of them not proper BS. When such a player sits down at your table, have some chips ready for action before the dealer deals his/her card. With regard to your own negative EV splits, it's a personal moral matter whether you want to sell half of them off to the player next to you, but there are plenty of takers out there.
After that
: The flat out easiest way to get a read on a shoe (6 dk.) is to simply add up the Aces/10's that have been dealt out when there are one inch of cards in the discard tray. With standard Bee decks, this will be 88 cards. A normal total at this point would be 34 Ace/10's. You need 30 or less to have a significant advantage on that remaining shoe (+1.4 TC).
It's best if you're doing this from the aisle, but if you're seated and already playing, your "one inch tally" will tell you when to keep your bet low the rest of the way (31-to-36), when to increase it the rest of the way (30 or less) and when to leave the table (37 or higher).
It's true, unbeknownst to you, a "good" count could turn bad later on and a "bad" count could turn good. But overall, you'll be playing with the composition of cards that were indicated by your "front one inch count". This "amateur" counting method requires no plus/minusing, nor maintaining of a count throughout the entire shoe.
It's absolutely imperative that you leave the table on those "37+" front count tallies. You said you play "purples", so you may not be all that free to walk around and find tables that have just accrued a "30-" one inch count after you've bailed out of a "bad" table -- but this is what you really need to be doing. In fact, your net edge depends upon it! You need to trade in negative shoes for positive ones. You also need to drop your base bet in size so that you have a 5-to-1 spread working. All those one unit bets represent lost money, so keep them down. Remember this axiom --
"Your desire to win must be stronger than your desire to play".
WARNING: Be advised that this is a very marginal way to gain a very marginal edge, and if you compromise almost any part the system -- no more edge! Also, be ready for mercilessly volatile swings. Twelve of your max bets are needed for a three or four hour outing. Welcome to the cruel and uncertain world of gambling for profit.
You'll fool around with these things for a while, then decide that attempted advantage play is just not for you -- or you'll become enthralled with it and want to learn a "real" system. But whichever you do, don't go in over your head. You can get buried with a tiny edge almost as easily as you can with a small disadvantage.
