Quote:
Originally Posted by louis
Most all of the advantage comes from varying the bet according to the count, and playing perfect basic strategy. Deviating from basic strategy is not going to add much in the games you find today. If you are going to play single deck, then varying from basic stratgegy is worthwhile.
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Very true. As I mentioned in an earlier post the importance of index numbers decreases as the number of decks increase.
The said, even with 6-deck shoes there are still important strategies which an advantage player would well to remember (either because they occur frequently or because they provide so much extra value). The most important 18 basic strategy adjustments (in terms of the increase to expected value) are know as the "illustrious 18", which is a term coined by the the Illustrious BJ guru Don Schlesinger (author of the canonical
Blackjack Attack).
The illustrious 18 for a simple hi-lo count on a 4D S17 game (i.e., 4-deck, dealer stands on soft 17), along with the applicable index numbers at which the relevant strategy adjustments become +EV are given here in decreasing order of importance:
Illustrious 18 Indices. If you only use the first 3 (insurance, and 16s and 15s versus 10s) I think (if memory serves correctly) that that represents as much as two-thirds of the value to be gained from basic strategy modifications. Or something like that.
If you're playing a game which permits surrender there are 4 other adjustments (christened the "fab four" by Schelsinger) which also frequently come into play, although I forget the exact details (but it has to do with 15s and 14s versus dealers As, 9s 10s). I have no idea of their importance relative to the 18 (although I'm sure Google would help).