Quote:
Originally Posted by
Bob21
One of my favorite chapters in your book, The Blackjack Zone is "The True Cost of Making a Mistake", where you basically say it's not that important if you make a mistake here and there. I'm sorry if I messed up summarizing the chapter, but I think you were basically saying you can still have a winning game and make some mistakes. As you know, this goes against almost everything you hear from the so-called bj pros, which is why I liked this chapter. But doesn't what you say in this chapter somewhat support that you don't need to know all the indexes, which somewhat lines up with Don's I18, because learning fewer indexes is kind of like making mistakes with the indexes you don't know. Anyway not a big deal..
I completely disagree. Mistakes have one-time fixed costs. Making a choice to learn less has a lifetime cost. APs get all over folks who make small errors, but then side with those who promote knowing less. This is the exact opposite of how I think about the game. Mistakes will happen, but we should all learn as much as we can and keep on learning.
Don could have written something like,
The I-18 is a good starting point. Don't card count in a casino knowing fewer indices that this. But, the I-18 is just a starting point. I encourage you to learn more.That is nearly the opposite of what he said:
"...if you have just mastered true count and were about to embark upon your study of the index-number matrix, I have saved you a great deal of work. Learn the plays in the chart and forget about the rest. You can trust me that you won’t be missing much."
Here is what Grosjean wrote about the I-18 in CAA:
" ... the counter cannot afford to just 'throw away' indices and money. Let's try to improve our perspective. In grade school, if you scored 100 on a quiz, your parents were satisfied. What if you came home and told them you got a 90, or a 75? In my high school, 75 was nearly a failing grade, and 90 was only a B. Some of us probably would have run away from home before showing our parents a quiz score of 85 ..."
Just as a point of reference, the phrase "you can trust me" is the opposite of what an intellectual should do when he pursues the study of a new subject. A good student doubts everything.