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Lesson 7 · Card Counting
Hi-Lo is the system this course teaches, and for almost everyone it is the right answer. But it is not the only one — and knowing what the alternatives buy you, and what they cost, is part of counting well.
Two questions separate all four: does the count balance to zero over a full shoe, and how many distinct tag values do you have to hold at a dealer’s pace?
Balanced systems (Hi-Lo, Hi-Opt II, Omega II) sum to zero over a full shoe, so they need the true-count division. KO does not balance — it starts at an IRC instead and you bet straight off the running count. Less arithmetic at the table, slightly less precision.
Level-1 systems use +1, 0 and −1. Level-2 systems add ±2, which reads the shoe more accurately and roughly doubles the mental load. Accuracy you cannot sustain at table speed is worth nothing.
Hi-Opt II and Omega II count the ace as 0. That sharpens their read of ten density for playing decisions, but the ace matters enormously for betting — so real play adds a separate ace side count, which this app does not train.
| System | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10–K | A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hi-Lo | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | −1 |
| KO | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | 0 | 0 | −1 | −1 |
| Hi-Opt II | +1 | +1 | +2 | +2 | +1 | +1 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 |
| Omega II | +1 | +1 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +1 | 0 | −1 | −2 | 0 |
| System | Type | Level | Ace | Starts at (6 decks) | Effort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hi-Lo | Balanced | 1 | Counted | 0 | Entry |
| KO | Unbalanced | 1 | Counted | −20 | Entry |
| Hi-Opt II | Balanced | 2 | Neutral (side count) | 0 | Advanced |
| Omega II | Balanced | 2 | Neutral (side count) | 0 | Advanced |
Everything above is a property of the tag set itself. Figures like betting correlation and playing efficiency are deliberately left out: they vary with the simulation assumptions behind them, and a number without its source is not a fact.
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Train it in the Counting Lab →