Now some people will say that the comparison should force the average bets to be the same. I disagree. The problem with weak counts is that they force a large spread. And, unless you want to play with silver dollars, the average bet can be forced higher. However, I ran a sim with the same average bet anyhow. In this sim, the Basic Strategy player bets $15 a hand.

·         WS (perfectly played) will win 39.7% of the trips and go bankrupt 54.5% of the trips.

·         Basic Strategy will win 41.9% of the trips and go bankrupt 40.0% of the trips.

The Basic Strategy player is still bankrupting less often and winning more often, even though he is betting $15 a hand, while the WS player bets $5 for most hands.

Ease of Use

I would also like to make a comment on the claims of ease of use. Some of these strategies advertise that you can learn to beat the casinos in two days. This is the height of irresponsibility and sounds like the worst of gambling scams. The weak systems still involve counting cards and making bets correctly based on the count, all the while playing the hands correctly in a casino environment. You simply cannot master these skills to the point of beating a casino in two days.

I receive rather a lot of calls for advice on strategies. Most often, I had suggested K-O before creating REKO. However, I have also suggested Basic Strategy many times even though it is a losing strategy. In my mind, if you do not wish to learn a simple, valid counting strategy, then you are better off with Basic Strategy than a very weak system, as the risk is lower.

Getting Your Feet Wet

I should add that some simple systems might be useful for getting used to the concepts of card counting. My problem is the fantastic claims of easy winnings claimed by some system developers.

 © 2009 Norman Wattenberger