CHAPTER 3
The Advanced Omega II is very powerful, and one of the reasons is because of the ace side count. Not only are we keeping track of the running count over the course of the shoe, but we need to keep a separate accounting of the aces that have been dealt and how many are left in the shoe. For every surplus ace that is in the remaining shoe, we add two points to the running count. For every deficit ace that is left in the shoe, we subtract two points from the running count. For example, in an eight deck shoe, let’s say there are two decks in the discard tray, leaving six decks remaining. We’ll put the running count at +18. To figure out the true count of the shoe, we have to divide the running count into the number of remaining decks. 18/6= 3. So when we use our indices, (like when to hit or stand when we have 15 and the dealer is showing a 9), we always use the true count, not the running count. If the true count was at three, I would be betting $300 on each of my two hands. However, let’s say that 12 aces have already been dealt out of the shoe and are in the discard tray. If there are two decks in the discard tray, there should be eight aces in the tray. Since there are 12, that means we have a deficit of 4 aces in the remaining shoe. That is not advantageous for us. Each deficit ace is worth -2 points, so that means we have to subtract eight points from the running count. 18-8 = 10. So our ace adjusted running count is now 10, and our true count 10/6 is less than 2. So instead of betting 300 per hand, I would only be betting 100 per hand. (Side note, we only use the ace adjusted running count into true count for the betting ramp, we ignore it for the regular indices)
To relieve some pressure from my brain to mentally keep track of the excess or deficit aces, I used a count system on my right hand to keep track of the aces dealt. I contorted my fingers and thumb and hand into different ways to keep track of 32 aces. I kept my right hand under the table or under my arm to hide what I was doing. One day I had him playing with a friendly guy for about five hours and when he got up to leave he reached out to shake my hand. The ace side count was at seven, and for 7 I have my hand shaped like a gun with my index and middle finger sticking out and my ring and pinky fingers tucked in. I didn’t want to lose track of the aces so I just shook his hand like that. A look of concern and empathy graced his face as he shook my hand, and he tenderly asked, was it a work accident? He obviously thought I had lost two of my fingers. I just laughed it off and said I’m OK. When he looked down and saw that I was just shaking his hand with my two fingers tucked in his look of concern changed to dismay and then irritation!
I had all the pieces of the puzzle figured out, but I needed to put it all together. I needed to have a coherent and smooth strategy that worked anywhere, anytime, no matter how much confusion, noise, fast dealers, or irritating horrible playing table partners there were.
Next Monday I will explain the holy grail that got me there.