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The Ace/Five Count

The Ace/Five Count

Introduction

Basic strategy blackjack Often, players inquire about straightforward methods to counter the small house edge in blackjack without drawing attention as card counters. This usually stems from a desire to extract comps and offers from casinos. Below, I present what I believe to be the simplest card counting approach to help achieve this objective while favoring the player.

How It Works

  1. Determine your minimum and maximum bets beforehand. Typically, the maximum will be 8, 16, or 32 times your minimum, or any power of 2, but you are free to select any betting spread you prefer.
  2. At the start of each shoe, set your bet at the minimum and keep a count starting from zero.
  3. For every five you observe, increase your count by one.
  4. For each ace you see, decrease the count by one.
  5. If your count is two or higher, double your last bet until you reach your maximum.
  6. If your count is one or lower, stick to the minimum bet.
  7. Always apply basic strategy to make your playing decisions.

This approach is particularly effective for games featuring six or eight decks. I suggest playing only in environments with generous Strip rules, which include:

  • 4-8 decks
  • Blackjack pays 3 to 2
  • Dealer stands on soft 17
  • Double after split allowed
  • Late surrender allowed
  • Re-splitting aces allowed
  • 75%+ penetration

Such games are commonly found in Las Vegas, although you may find that a higher minimum bet is needed. In low-stakes areas, dealers often hit on a soft 17, which can negatively impact the player's chances by about 0.22%.

Simulation Results

The results presented here were derived using Norm Wattenberger's Casino Vérité software. The aforementioned rules were applied, utilizing six decks and a 75% penetration. Personally, I consider Casino Vérité to be the most sophisticated and precise blackjack simulation software currently available. It allows for testing virtually any card counting strategy under an array of conditions and rules.

Ace/Five Count Statistics

Spread Player Advantage Average Initial Bet SCORE
1-8 0.30% 2.7 3.1
1-16 0.45% 4.2 5.3
1-32 0.57% 7.1 6.5

SCORE stands for Standardized Comparison Of Risk and Expectation, a term introduced by Don Schlesinger. It quantifies the advantage squared divided by the variance. Additionally, SCORE can be viewed as the anticipated hourly profit per hand for a player with a $10,000 bankroll, who adjusts his bets following the Kelly Criterion, aiming for a 13.5% risk of losing everything. For comparison purposes, a Hi-Lo counter with a 1 to 8 spread under identical rules yields a SCORE of 8.40, in contrast to the 3.1 achieved by the Ace/Five count.

Source: \" Blackjack Attack,\" third edition by Don Schlesinger.

Earlier Strategies

Following the publication of this segment, someone claimed that I had appropriated the concept from Edward Thorp. It is true that Thorp did outline a comparable strategy in his 1969 book, titled \" Beat the Dealer ,\" in the fourth chapter named \"A Winning Strategy.\" However, Thorp's technique focuses on tracking the number of fives left relative to the total number of cards remaining. Subsequently, in 1971, Lawrence Revere introduced a strategy closely resembling Thorp's in his book titled \" Playing Blackjack as a Business ,\" specifically in chapter 7 named \"The Revere Five Count Strategy.\"

Practice

Enhance your card counting abilities with our training tool.

Acknowledgments

  • Norm Wattenberger: For the simulation findings, leveraging his Casino Vérité software.
  • Don Schlesinger: For his numerous contributions to this page.