I can't wait for my copy of BIB to arrive in the mail.
So basically, he's alternating his bets each hand between $5 and $30? Then, when the count is high, he's either leaving them at $30, or increasing them to $55 or $80 or so?
If he was alternating bets like that during all negative counts, his average "waiting bet" would be $17.50, which would mean you'd want to spread to $175 or more in a play-all shoe game. Does he write to do something like only start opposition betting in a nearly positive count?