Best counting system for short sessions?

[Lucky11]

I was curious if there is even much advantage when only playing about 2 shoes to count and what the most consistent system would be for such an application?

 

[SplitFaceDisaster]

I was curious if there is even much advantage when only playing about 2 shoes to count and what the most consistent system would be for such an application?

In blackjack, 2 shoes is nothing. It takes thousands of hands/hundreds of hours to get to the "long run", to where you have a high probability to be winning since the edge with card counting is so small. To give you an idea of what I`m talking about, 94% of the time you`ll be winning after 500 hours of play (on 6 deck shoes). As far as what count systems get to that "long run" more quickly, those will be the count systems that are multi-level (explained in the article below if you don`t know what that means). I can`t speak for everyone, but I think the last thing most people want to do on here or talk about is the debate about what count system you should use or is best, etc. That horse has been beaten to death in blackjack forums imo. Most on here would probably tell you to pick one of the more simple count systems when starting out. Then if you want to go to one of the stronger ones later on, you can always do so. After all, keep in mind that there are plenty of blackjack professionals that use the simpler count systems like hi-lo, etc. There`s a good article about different count systems below; it`ll give you a better idea of the reasons why I say what I did about that. Mainly it has to do with the fact that more complex counts take a lot longer to perfect (meaning that your error rate will probably be higher also, at least in the beginning), and for all that work you put in, the difference in how the counts match up to each other performance-wise is not that big.

http://www.blackjackforumonline.com/content/hundred.htm

 

[Lucky11]

In blackjack, 2 shoes is nothing. It takes thousands of hands/hundreds of hours to get to the "long run", to where you have a high probability to be winning since the edge with card counting is so small. To give you an idea of what I`m talking about, 94% of the time you`ll be winning after 500 hours of play (on 6 deck shoes). As far as what count systems get to that "long run" more quickly, those will be the count systems that are multi-level (explained in the article below if you don`t know what that means). I can`t speak for everyone, but I think the last thing most people want to do on here or talk about is the debate about what count system you should use or is best, etc. That horse has been beaten to death in blackjack forums imo. Most on here would probably tell you to pick one of the more simple count systems when starting out. Then if you want to go to one of the stronger ones later on, you can always do so. After all, keep in mind that there are plenty of blackjack professionals that use the simpler count systems like hi-lo, etc. There`s a good article about different count systems below; it`ll give you a better idea of the reasons why I say what I did about that. Mainly it has to do with the fact that more complex counts take a lot longer to perfect (meaning that your error rate will probably be higher also, at least in the beginning), and for all that work you put in, the difference in how the counts match up to each other performance-wise is not that big.

http://www.blackjackforumonline.com/content/hundred.htm

Thanks I'll check it out

 

[ZenKinG]

I was curious if there is even much advantage when only playing about 2 shoes to count and what the most consistent system would be for such an application?

Lucky, please do yourself a favor and dont become one of the many neophyte counters that just end up failing because they dont understand the game at all. Your bankroll is nowhere ready to beat this game. Go work two jobs and play on the side when you can mostly to just get a feel for the casino environment, BUT only after you practiced hundreds of hours on Casino Verite. If you're not willing to sacrifice to practice and save up to do all of that, you were never going to succeed anyway.

Go buy CVCX and Verite software and stop worrying about which count to use. Hi-Lo is fine for shoe games and if you ever want a better count, you can then learn Wong Halves, which uses basically the same tag values and index numbers, so it's a natural progression without losing much time learning something new. If you eventually start playing strictly double deck games, learn Zen or Hi-opt II with the ace side count, but at the end of the day you're still splitting hairs really and just sick with HiLo or Halves.

Go pick up Blackjack Attack by Don Scheslinger and Professional Blackjack by Wong and read everything you can from established players on these forums. Most importantly try to understand the game for yourself and understand why it's beatable. Be careful and leery of anyone advocating that they win all the time or that you need super multi level counts with a side count of aces. An understanding of all the math that has been done by people who vigorously studied this game will eventually teach you how to decipher from the frauds out there.

With all that being said, to make any real momey at this, youre going to need a sizeable bankroll, discipline, and a passion for playing the game because it's going to take A LOT of hours to overcome the variance of this game. Just remember, the casinos still offer this game for a reason. It's not easy, but at the same time it's beatable and profitable.

Good Luck.

 

[xengrifter]

learn Zen or Hi-opt II with the ace side count, but at the end of the day you're still splitting hairs really and just sick with HiLo or Halves

Hilo or Zen...
...but if an accurate TC adjustment is beyond you, choose Red7 or UBZEN.

 

[wipewith100s]

I was curious if there is even much advantage when only playing about 2 shoes to count and what the most consistent system would be for such an application?

How short. lol. I could help you there.