CVData and CVCX V6 Blackjack Simulators

New versions of the CVCX and CVData Blackjack simulators are now available. If you are unfamiliar with these products, you can obtain information on the CVCX page and CVData page. Version 6 changes are outlined below. Note: Only added features are mentioned. (For blackjack game, practice and drills, see CV Blackjack Game.)

Advanced Blackjack Simulator

Side Bets

As side bets are constantly evolving, this is a major area of concentration in custom definition, betting, templates, and debugging:

• The existing Custom Bonuses Mix and Match function, that looks for bonuses in user selected cards from the player and dealer hands, has the following additions:

• The following custom side bet templates have been added for modification and simulation:

• “F” for any face card has been added to 15 custom bonus dropdowns.
• "K-O" and "J-O" for one-eyed jacks and one-eyed kings have been added to 15 custom bonus dropdowns.
• The side bet and main bet have been disconnected. There is a new side bet betting screen with the following:
• Fixed bet, bet same as main bet, or bet according to count using a new custom table. This allows you to bet at both high and low counts but not in between.
• Bet according to a side count
• Increase the bet when splitting
• Include side bet in IBA (Initial Bet Advantage) calculations. This affects risk calculations.
• Bet after the deal. This provides a new table that allows the bet to be set according to the dealer upcard.
• No bet after deal if dealer has a BJ option
• On the Nuances-Other Stuff tab, the Zombie and Push 22 rules have been added. These two are also supported by the index generator.
• An envy bonus can be specified in custom bonuses. This is when a player is paid a fixed bonus when another player wins a large bonus. So, the more players, the more likely you will get this bonus.

Hand Logs

The largest problem with creating custom side bets is debugging. The log of hands has been upgraded to support debugging of complex areas like custom side bets

• Added to the hand logs:
• Betting side count
• Playing side count
• Name of bonus or side bet item won (e.g. three eights, two pair)
• Bonus bet and won amounts separated
• Bankroll (if session data is turned on)
• If a column is all the same, it is removed
• Bonus filter added. If you have a side bet, like Lucky Ladies, there will be several possible bonus hands. A dropdown will allow you to display all hands, all winning hands, or hands for just one of the possible bonus hands. The dropdown list is customized to the bonus hands won in the current log.
• You can now set the log length.

Debug Functions

• The V5 Nuances-Debug screen has been difficult to use. Changes:
• In the past, you had to enter a comma delimited list of numbers from 1 to 52 denoting the cards at the front of the shoe. In V6, you click a suit key and then a card key. The suit key locks.
• When you enter a card, debug is turned on automatically
• If you have the hand log turned on and debug turned on, when you click Start Sim, threads will be temporarily set to 1, one round will be run, the Summary displayed, and the hand log will be launched automatically.

• Also to improve debugging of side bets, a new screen has been added to the results: Won/Lost-Side Bet Probabilities. This screen presents the results in the form Mike Shackleford, Eliot Jacobson, and others use from combinatorial analyses. This can be used to compare flat betting results with tables on the Wizard of Vegas or elsewhere to verify your settings before you add counting and betting.
• All new and old side bet templates now have names for each possible bonus (e.g. trip aces, pair of Queens, 678) to support the Side Bet Probabilities screen and hand logs.

Index tables and generation

• For hit stand, you can use the running count instead of the true count for select indices. This is more accurate for some decisions. Right-click on the index, select Special and select running count.
• In the Split tables, you can specify two indices (e.g. 4/6) for splits and resplits.
• In the DAS tables, you can specify two indices (e.g. 4|6) for S17 and H17.
• Split if not suited - This option says to split if the cards are not the same suit and hit if they are. It is used for bonuses like the Spanish 21 bonus for trip suited sevens. Right click on a cell in the split table, click Special and select P$ - split unsuited.
• For Hit/Stand CD indices, an additional column is displayed in the composition dependent indices for suited hands. These only take effect if two cards are of the same suit. Enter S, C, D, H, or A for Spades, Clubs, Diamond, Hearts, or Any suited pair. This is used when trying to win bonuses like suited 678.
• The first column in the composition dependent indices tables can be used to turn off a CD index by entering an X. In this manner, you can test removing lines without losing the contents of the line.
• If you ask the index generator to generate H17 and S17 and DAS and nDAS, it will add all of them using the above.
• The index generator can now generate decimal indices for Insurance. These indices can be by number of decks, player hand total or player hand exact cards.
• The simulators also support the above three insurance types.
• In V5, if you asked for CVIndex chart, only a chart for the last index generated was available. Now all indices can be charted and a dropdown on the charts screen allows you to switch between indices.
• The archives for CVIndex now include the index charts.
• CVIndex now supports multi-threading with a huge increase in speed when generating many indices.
• In the past, when asking for H17 and S17, or nDAS and DAS indices in the same sim, the generator only generated different indices it thought important. It now makes no assumptions.
• The screen displayed during index generation can display more decisions and more clearly indicates what is happening to better support multi-threading.
• All of the above are supported for hole-carding, partial hole-carding, next-carding, and partial next-carding strategy generations.

Et cetera.

• Down Under Blackjack - Down Under Blackjack is a game developed in 2017 that is very countable with effort. Basically, you are provided with a hint to the dealer down card. Down cards are classified as blue (2 to 5), red (6 to 9) or gold (10 or Ace). On the bad side, if the dealer reaches a score of 22, All wagers left standing will push except a player blackjack, any total of 21, or 2 10 point cards. These will win. Other than that, standard blackjack rules apply. Simulation and strategy generation, including indices, are supported. Since you have some information about the dealer down card, but not exact information, this is simulated like partial holecarding, where the player sees the down card, but isn't quite certain what it is. Strategy tables, without indices, are included in the Player Strategies QFIT folder. These were generated with CVData.
• The Betting Strategy Sit Out screen now has a Wonging reentry delay option. When allowing reentry to a shoe, this sets the minimum number of hands that must pass. This is the fake phone call option.
• You can now call CVCX from CVData with a betting strategy that uses half counts.
• Calling CVCX from CVData results handles optimal betting better when switching between numbers of hands at different counts. For example, switching between 1, 2, and 4 hands.
• CPU threads enormously affect sim speed. A threads advisor has been added that determines the CPU cores and threads present and suggests to the user thread settings. In CVData, the mini chart on the Summary page has a new selection in the dropdown list to plot current CPU usage. Note: The Windows Task Manager CPU usage is notoriously inaccurate. But then, there is no accurate measurement due to the many CPU levels (base frequency, turbo boost, max boost 2, max boost 3), hyperthreading efficiency, and now asymmetric processors. CVData looks at the processor idle task percentage and subtracts from 100%. This will be a lower number than that displayed by Task Manager, which displays 100% when there is much processor capability left.
• The Sort button in the archives used to only work for CVCX sims. It now supports CVData and CVIndex sims. Default is date descending, putting new sims near the top.
• You can now set multiple MRI functions in one sim. Only hands that fit all criteria will be included in the most common results tables.
• You can now delete a range or multiple selection in define/edit playing strategies, define betting strategies, & open configuration screens.
• In the Open configuration screen, a list of recently opened configurations is displayed for quick selection.

Blackjack Simulator, Sim Library & Risk/Goal/Bankroll/Trip Ruin/Optimal Bet Calculator

Philosophy

V6 has a philosophical change. When CVCX was created, it was designed based largely on Blackjack Attack Chapter X. It was a parallel simulator with no predefined betting. All betting was handled post sim. Since BJA included backcounting, it was added post sim. That is, it assumed a player left when you entered. Obviously this is really not a valid assumption and means the result is an estimate. This always bothered me, although players do come and go in casinos. There was also a find table delay when wonging out. This also used an estimation technique. In V5, the ability to set up Wonging pre-sim was added with all the CVData many options to provide accurate results in complex scenarios, including the find table delay. The old estimation method was still there if the user wanted. Later, two hand play was added post-sim as it became more popular. This was also an estimate; but close. In V5, two hand starting at a specified count was added post-sim. This was less accurate as there is no way to do this post-sim with great accuracy, particularly as results depend on the playing strategy used. Further, if you used both backcounting and two hands starting at a certain count at the same time, an estimate was piled on top of another estimate.

As two hand  play and backcounting have become more popular, this has become unacceptable. You can now set one hand, two hands, or two hands at a specified count before the sim as well as complex wonging scenarios and the results will be accurate. (Three to seven hands still requires CVData.) So, V6 provides accurate Wonging and two hand play without using estimation techniques.

Having said that, there is value to the estimation techniques. They allow you to instantly change backcounting levels or one to two hands to get an instantaneous feel for the effects. So, an option exists to allow use of these estimation techniques. Limitations have been added: You cannot use both estimate techniques at once or switch the number of hands during play. This requires a new sim. You can still change penetration by the card and decks and rules post-sim and see instant,  accurate optimal ramps and results, with Wonging and number of hands specified before the sim.

Other

• Substantial improvements to optimal betting calculation included as described at: CVCX update.
• When running different sets of decks in the same sim, you can now override the double down rules for single deck as they are usually worse.
• Fourteen standard bonuses have been added. Click Bonuses on the Rules Page Blackjack/Bonuses tab.
• The Wonging screen now has a Wonging reentry delay option. When allowing reentry to a shoe, this sets the minimum number of hands that must pass. This is the fake phone call option.
• For hit/stand decisions, you can use the running count for select indices.
• For Split, separate indices allowed for split and resplit.
• S17 and H17 decisions allowed in same table as in CVData.
• Delete range or multiple selection in define/edit playing strategies & open configuration
• Threads advisor included & cpu usage displayed
• Frozen bets are saved and restored if the Freeze Custom Bets option is selected
• When CVCX is launched and the sim file does not include a sim with the saved deck & rule settings, it will find a sim and change the settings.
• CVCX now supports decimal indices for Insurance. Indices can be by number of decks, player hand total or player hand exact cards.
• On custom bets, hitting enter twice will cause the cell to be copied to all cells below. Double-clicking the cell has had the same effect – but I found this more convenient.
• Twelve mini-question marks have been added to the widgets and option boxes that display specific help for each box.
• Minor usability changes.

Note: Only recent additions are described on this page. For full feature sets see CVData Features and CVCX Features.

Download

For demo downloads, go to the Downloads Page. See the Updates section.

Orders

Upgrades from earlier version are available. To order, go to the Orders Page.

Futures

I don't like to talk about future additions. But, I will say that CVData and CVCX remain live products.