Arnold Snyder
Red Seven – A Level I, unbalanced card counting technique optimized for betting found in Arnold Snyder’s Blackbelt in Blackjack. RGE Publishing, 1983. Probably the first of the easy strategies. There are many versions of Red 7 published in different editions of Blackbelt in Blackjack and Blackjack Forum.
Note: This is a suit-aware count — the 7 is counted differently depending on the color of the suit. I have always thought that this would increase errors. But many people have said they are quite comfortable with suit-aware counts. Some people count all the sevens as 0.5. This improves results somewhat, but is more difficult.
Zen Count – An advanced, Level II, balanced Blackjack strategy optimized for betting. This is perhaps the strongest Level II strategy, barely beating RPC. It was designed as a compromise between single-deck and multi-deck strategies. Zen was published in two flavors. In the first version, you divided by remaining decks to calculate the true count. In the latest version, you divide by remaining quarter-decks. The original version is stronger.
Card Tag Values
|
Strategy |
A |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
T |
|
Red 7 |
-1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
.5 |
0 |
0 |
-1 |
|
Zen |
-1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
-2 |
Specifics
|
Red 7 |
Zen |
|
|
Strategy Type |
Unbalanced |
Balanced |
|
Level |
I |
II |
|
Betting Correlation |
.98 |
.96 |
|
Playing Efficiency |
.54 |
.63 |
|
Insurance Correlation |
.78 |
.85 |
|
Ease of use |
7 |
4 |
|
Ace-Reckoned |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Compromise Indexes |
Yes |
Yes/No |
|
Suit Aware |
Yes |
No |
© 2009 Norman Wattenberger
