Blackjack: All I want for Christmas is....

Am I the only person on all these blackjack forums who plays strictly pitch games?

CV Data is a fine product. But there are many terms one needs to learn in order to figure how to best apply it to their particular game. Round, Truncate, 95th percentile, or Floor until you can't stand it anymore. My term is simple...percent. It's exact. There is no guessing.

There is one person who can write programs for the percentage or column counts. But I need the program to run for myself. By comparison to CV Data, it's very simple. It only sounds complex because I'm a pitch guy in a forum of shoe players.

Verite is a great tool for learning to play. But I would like to be able to watch it play instead of actually playing sometimes. Again, with percentages and columns instead of all the other guestimates.

The must be more than one programmer in this world that understands percentage and columns counts. Anywhere I can purchase this type of product?

I do not need someone to tell me why I should guess instead of play exact ratios. I've already had 5 years of that. I need someone who can write the program and sell me the CD. Anybody out there?

My directive is not to train newbies or try to be the smartest guy on a forum. I'm simply motivated to win.

So if a blackjack programmer with an open source simulator happens to read this. Here is what I'm seeking.

The difference isn't a few cents per hour over the course of 200 million to a billion hand sim. The difference is in the thousands of dollars in the 1 to 2 million hands I hope to play in my remaining lifetime.

So I break it down this way. 48 is the anchor. Then you have 4 Aces. 48 cards + 4 cards is your 52 card deck. Now 48 is equally divisible by 24,16,12,8,6,4,and 2. Therefore, it is easy to establish ratios and/or percentages. Hence, the elimination of Rounding, Flooring, Truncate, 95th percentile and TC (true count). But you still need running count for those pesky 15,16vs10,A hands, 12v4, 13v2,3 - split decisions, and double downs 10,11. Otherwise, the percentage breakdown is 50%, 57.14%, 60%, and 66.67% or reversed 42.86%, 40%, and 33.33% instead of index generations. For instance, 15vs7.8.9 might be a TC of 9,9,6. My index would be 67%.

The solution is in the tag values assigned to the cards...and that is why I need the sim. But it remains an equal balance of 24 negative and 24 positive tags. Running different scenarios with incomplete information is too much of a risk.

I play straight up. So the SIM needs to work accordingly. Hence, if I bust, the SIM wouldn't finish the dealers hand. There is no need. Large bets will vary between 1 and 2 hands depending on the Aces remaining. For instance 60% large remain vs 40% small would be 2 hands with 2+ Aces remaining. But one hand if only one Ace remains. However, 67% would be 2 hands if at least 1 Ace remains. The 57.14% to below 60% is a set up one hand bet with the minimum doubled if at least 2 Aces remain.

Whatever formula goes into Sim needs to be wiped out and started over with this specific game in mind. For instance, splits are minimal, and Double Downs are far more conservative. Why? Because I'm playing a game of people with cards. Therefore, it's vital to identify advantages over 1 to 2 million hands as opposed to thresholds over 200 million to a billion hands.

I remember reading some of Eric Farmers posts at BJTF. But I can't find his link. Eric, if you're out there and interested, please contact me. I'm not expecting anything for free.

Norm writes: My reply: "CVData requires 16 licenses to run in development mode and around 350 files" was in response to your request for the source code so that you could modify it. It simply isn't possible for you to modify it as you don't have the development licenses. It's fairly simple to mod CVData to sim this as it's close to something I simmed many years back. But, I was attacked for years after running that sim.


Moses replies: I'm not going to even address the OP. It's so ridiculous, it's off the charts. But the above statement has been my feeling all along. Why not simplify it? Now you say I'm the only one still paying single deck. Then why am I sitting at home for 3 weeks over the holidays because the tables are full at 15 casinos? And that is just in one city. There are still many small towns throughout Nevada that offer the game. Seems to me it could be you who is missing an entire market.

IF you went with percentages it would eliminate the need to round, floor, truncate, 95th percentile, Stat round, True count resolution, true count division, deck resolution, deck estimate, full deck, half deck, quarter deck, exact. All those words in order to guess in exchange for one to be precise. Percentage.

Imagine the arguments that would be resolved. Of course, there would still be some discussion because it's new. As Peter Griffin stated, "great engineers have the ability to understand complex equations. But the best know how to make complex simple again." So do you want to be great or the best?

Actually, I will address the OP. For one thing, keeping a count with your chips is suicide. Now some 150 posts later, all you experts managed to miss that sentence? Geesh. Norm, I thought your goal was quality not quantity. Secondly, play out 10K hands on Verite exactly the way you play or advise others to play in a casino to see if YOU can even do it before expecting others to be flawless.

I've got to go along with KJ and Bosox in that a little common sense can go a long way. HiLO is as good as anything for a shoe because it's 312 cards. That's a long time to wait for a mistake to correct itself. In a single deck, with a percentage count, a rare mistake might be made in the 5th round. If so, no big deal, they shuffle after 6. T3 and Tarzan are trying to live in the perfect world. Key word being "live." Don't forget to do it.