Card counters know that before we bet or play using a balanced strategy, we must adjust the running count by the undealt cards. That is, convert the running count into a true count. Actually, in ancient times, I was taught to call “running count” the “whole count” and to this day Casino Vérité software uses the variable “wholecount” in its internal code. The point is, you take the whole count and divide to get the true count.

Most explanations of true count calculation simply say that the running count is divided by the number of remaining decks in the shoe. Blackjack card counting books generally provide a simple example, like a running count of +6 divided by three remaining decks yields a true count of +2 — and they leave it at that. As a result many questions remain. The attempt here is to answer some of these questions for those interested in more detail.

What is the true count divisor?

When using the FELT card counting strategy, we divide by the number of remaining decks. However, this is not true of all strategies. For example:

Ø  Revere Point Count and Hi-Lo Lite divide by remaining half-decks.

Ø  The 1998 version of Zen divides by quarter-decks remaining. The original Zen divided by full-decks.

Ø  The Mentor card counting strategy essentially divides by the number of double-decks remaining. More on this later.

Generally, there is not much difference in overall effectiveness. However, if you are not using fractional true counts for betting, there is a performance penalty for using half-decks in a level I strategy or quarter-decks in a level II strategy.

How are non-integer results handled?

Suppose we have a running count of +3 and 2 remaining decks. 3/2 = 1.5. However, nearly all counters use integers for betting and indexes. There exist four methods of converting to integers:

 © 2009 Norman Wattenberger