Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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78 of 79 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Should you learn this system?, September 4, 2001
I have racked my brain trying to decide if I want to learn the K-O count or the High-Low. I figure, why waste my time learning one system if I will eventually move on to another, more advanced system? Just start with the High-Low from the beginning!But I have finally made my decision, and I feel this advice might help others trying to make the same decision. Is the K-O good enough to learn, or should you look elsewhere? Well, I'm no expert, but I have come to the conclusion, after reading much about counting systems, that it really makes no difference which system you use. The difference in expectation is very small, not to mention the potential for error in the more complicated systems like Omega II or APC. Even in a simpler level-1 count like High-Low, there remains that god-awful true count conversion (more room for error and delay). Of course, if you really want to play professional blackjack, you might want to eventually (or even right from the beginning) move to a balanced count system. But I have decided that while I want to play blackjack with an advantage, I never want the game to become a chore. I don't want to hate playing it. Therefore, it is not necessary for the recreational/casual player to learn anything more than an unbalanced count. Even if it's not the K-O system, you shouldn't worry about learning an advanced balanced count.
The K-O system performs on par with all other similar systems, so the decision between which to learn is up to you (there is the Red 7 count and the Black Ace count, for example). Now, as far as this particular book goes, I think it is fantastically written and presented. I read another review that says the book is poorly organized, but I honestly don't understand where that person is coming from. The book presents the K-O in steps, and by the end you will understand it. (My only complaint is that there are a few incarnations of the K-O count, eventually all coming together to form the K-O Preferred system, and it is not always easy to know what exactly is involved with each incarnation.) It may be necessary to re-read it, but if you plan to seriously learn to count cards, then you should expect to read it several times anyway. Another complaint I saw was that the authors do not explain why they assign the values that they do to particular cards. But this is also simply not true. Vancura and Fuchs give you a chart that shows the player/dealer expectation when certain cards are removed from the pack, and it is on the basis of this information that they assign +1 to 2-7 and -1 to 10, J, Q, K, A. Anyway, if you are interested in learning a simple but powerful count that will perform well for recreational play, you definitely should read this book. It is wonderful. But not only that, the K-O is also considered a "professional" level count, so it cannot be written-off as a system not to take seriously. There is work to be done to learn it efficiently. And as Stanford Wong said in "Blackjack Secrets" (I believe it was that book), as long as you know a count that keeps track of low cards compared to high cards, then you are using a good system and do not need to move up to one that is supposedly more "powerful". (Of course, he wrote this before the K-O count was created, but I would still include it in his assessment). Besides, these systems that are "more powerful" are only theoretically so, and I think a lot can be said for the fact that because K-O is so simple, it may work more efficiently than even more advanced count systems.
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50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
If you're a recreational player, this is the book for you!, July 1, 1999
By A Customer
Overall, this is an excellent book for casual or recreational players who want a simple BJ system, based on card counting, that will provide them with a definite edge over the house. The K-O System presented in the book is a level-1, "unbalanced" system that is as easy to use as it gets. The authors, Vancura and Fuchs, cover the basics of card counting and casino comportment in a very clear, concise manner. So, unless your goal is to play at the pro or semi-pro level, this may be all the BJ book you need. My only real criticism of this book is the disingenuous way the authors exaggerate the power of the K-O System. It's a good system, but, Vancura and Fuchs to the contrary, it can not and does not compare to real powerhouse systems such as Carlson's Advanced Omega II System, or Uston's Advanced Point Count. And, actually, there wasn't any real need to overstate the power of the K-O System; considering its ease of use, it's plenty powerful for most players.
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36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A relatively easy-to-use card counting method that works, October 5, 2003
By A Customer
This book explains the Knock-Out ("K-O") set of point count values, which you use to determine when to raise your bet and by how much. Traditional card counting methods, such as the Hi-Lo, require you to compute a "true" count, which is the running count divided by the number of decks remaining to be dealt. But this type of computation can lead to errors since (1) you have to estimate the number of decks in the discard tray in order to be able to calculate the number of decks remaining to be dealt, and (2) you must then mentally divide the running count by the number of decks remaining. And you have to do all of this quickly enough so the casino personnel don't become suspicious that you are an advantage player; otherwise you risk being barred from playing blackjack at that casino.The K-O, like the Hi-Lo, is a one-level counting method in that the point count value for each card is either 0, 1, or -1. High cards (10s and Aces) are counted as -1, neutral cards as zero, and low cards as 1. As the count gets more and more positive, the remaining cards to be dealt contain a greater number of high cards versus low cards. This means your chance of getting a blackjack is higher than right after a shuffle, and thus you should increase your bet to take advantage of this opportunity. But with the K-O, as opposed to the Hi-Lo, you do not have to compute a true count. You simply add the 0, 1, and -1 values as the cards are dealt to calculate the running count. Then you use just the running count alone to determine your bet for the next round. There is no need to track either the number of decks in the discard tray or the number of decks remaining to be dealt, and, almost too wonderful for words, there is no headache-inducing, "dividing in your head" required! Amazingly, even with the simplicity of just using a running count to determine your bet amounts, the K-O provides about the same win rate as the Hi-Lo! I know this from running simulations on the excellent Blackjack 6-7-8 software written by Hal Marcus. By the way, I thought I died and went to heaven when I discovered the Blackjack 6-7-8 strategy cards. Just like the K-O count makes the betting decisions easier, these strategy cards make the playing decisions unbelievably easier. First of all, they look marvelous, and they feel like butter! But seriously, you just find the table that corresponds to the rules where you'll be playing, and then the large, easy to read, easy to remember, 3-letter, color-coded decision cells (including surrender, if you please) practically make the memorizing fun! If I have some time to practice, the Blackjack 6-7-8 software is the best, but when I keep putting it off until it's time to board the big bird from Chicago bound for Vegas, then I just whip out a strategy card, choose the table I want, and I can know it cold before the pilot says "fasten your seat belts, we're getting ready to land". Now could you increase your win rate by using more complex counting methods than the K-O? Sure, in theory, but more complex counting methods increase the chance of making errors which can quickly nullify the benefit of using such a counting method. With regard to the betting guidelines in the book, I would amend them to use a bet ratio of 1 to 8 for 2 decks (instead of 1 to 5) and 1 to 16 for 6 and 8 decks (instead of 1 to 10), since in my 30 years of experience I have found that most casinos are usually tolerant of these bet ratios. The authors' advice is valuable, their writing is easy to follow, and I like the humorous sidebars sprinkled throughout the book, such as the gumball analogy in Chapter 3 to explain why card counting works. But the K-O count methodology is simply superior, and that's really why I find it valuable to use the K-O count, along with the superb Blackjack 6-7-8 strategy cards from Stickysoft (search on: blackjack basic strategy), to make it as easy as possible for me to "get the edge" over the house!
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