Balanced and unbalanced card counting systems
As discussed in ‘Acquaintancewith card counting’, we know that high cards and low card are two important types of cards in counting system which play various roles in dealers’ hands and players’ hands. When more low cards have already been dealt with the remaining decks rich in high cards, this is favorable for player, while having dealt more tens and aces out of the decks would make this situation reversible. Thus, all blackjack card-counting systems keep track of the high cards versus the low cards. How high cards and low cards are value-assigned and classified is the main factor to make the difference between balanced and unbalanced counting systems.
A balanced card counting system is a system where the point values assigned to the cards balances out. That is, there are an equal number of positive and negative point values. When you count through an entire deck using a balanced system, you start your running count at zero. You expect to end your running count at zero. If you do not reach zero, then you have made mistakes. The most popular balanced system is Hi-Lo system. Actually, most professional-level counting systems are balanced point-count systems since the balanced systems are more accurate.
However, the difficulty in a balanced point-count system is that you must use the count to determine how much to bet and how to play your hand. First, the running count must be converted to a ‘true count’. Then, the player must memorize, and be able to apply, the correct playing and betting wager according to a true count. Though learning to keep a running count is not difficult for most players, using the count properly at the tables, however, may be such a mental strain that may result in many abandon in playing as advantage players. Besides performing division to calculate the true count, the player also need to accurately estimate the number of decks remaining in the shoe through estimating the number of decks in the discard pile. It seems to be a lot of work when applying the balanced systems.
Fortunately, in stead of the balanced systems, the unbalanced systems which are systems where the point values do not balance out, simplify and eliminate the extent of tasks such as division and decks estimation. When you count through an entire deck with an unbalanced system, you would not end a zero, even though you start with zero. Examples of unbalanced systems include the Red Seven Count and the KO Count. Most unbalanced systems begin at an "Initial Running Count"(IRC). Starting at an IRC other than zero means that the unbalanced system will finish at zero. Using an IRC also means that zero is the pivot point at which the odds change to favor the player. In unbalanced systems, a positive count still signals a player advantage. However, the drawback is that unbalanced systems sacrifice some accuracy to achieve simplicity.
As everything has its own merits and flaws, balanced card counting systems could produce more accurate and efficient while unbalanced card counting systems are rather easier to remember and track cards with less calculation. It is your favor to determine which one to use, but do remember that correct counting with a simple system is much better than frequently miscounting using a complex system.
Posts
CardCounting21.com teaches you to learn how to count cards in blackjack. Counting cards is the best method of improving your odds in blackjack. Our card counting software allows you to learn how to count cards at your own pace. By increasing the speed that cards display in the software, you can easily learn how to count cards and become an expert.