Wonging/Back-Counting

Wonging, popularized by Stanford Wong, author of Professional Blackjack, refers to the practice of entering or exiting a shoe depending on the count, to avoid low counts. Back-counting refers to counting without playing, that is, delaying play until there is a good count, and is the same as Wonging-in. Earlier in this chapter there is a discussion on bet spread that showed that the larger the difference between the bets made at low counts and high counts, the better the SCORE. Well, if you do not play bad counts at all, you essentially have an infinite bet spread.

Ø  Advantages

·         Since you are playing few if any hands with a disadvantage, you can substantially reduce your bet spread. This means that you are less likely to look like a counter.

·         With a lower bet spread, and most hands played at an advantage, you can play with a smaller bankroll at a lower level of risk. This is very important if you have a small bankroll. For this reason, Back-counting is an important tool for many beginners.

·         Alternatively, you can increase your minimum bet without increasing your bankroll or risk. This allows you to play at higher minimum tables, which are greater in number and sometimes have better conditions.

·         Back-counting can turn a game with poor rules into a playable game. However, the gain in win rate with poor conditions will still be very low without a great deal of table switching.

·         In a large casino with partially filled tables, you can increase your hourly win rate.

Ø  Disadvantages

·         If you avoid playing hands at a disadvantage, you are going to spend most of your time looking for a new table instead of playing.

 © 2009 Norman Wattenberger