Eight counting systems, side by side
Every counting system is exactly the same deal at a different price: how much mathematical accuracy you buy, and how much mental load you pay for it. The strongest system is not the best one — the best is the one you can run without mistakes at a real table, and that is almost never the same system.
The full table of values
The table is generated automatically from the same values the drills in the course are graded against, so it can never say one thing while the training checks another. On a narrow screen, scroll sideways inside the table.
| System | Level | A | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 · J · Q · K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hi-Lo | 1 | -1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| KO Unbalanced | 1 | -1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| Red 7 Unbalanced | 1 | -1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| Zen | 2 | -1 | +1 | +1 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +1 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| Omega II | 2 | 0 | +1 | +1 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +1 | 0 | -1 | -2 |
| Hi-Opt II | 2 | 0 | +1 | +1 | +2 | +2 | +1 | +1 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| Wong Halves | 3 | -1 | +0.5 | +1 | +1 | +1.5 | +1 | +0.5 | 0 | -0.5 | -1 |
| Uston APC | 3 | 0 | +1 | +2 | +2 | +3 | +2 | +2 | +1 | -1 | -3 |
What "level" means
A system's level is simply the largest absolute value it gives a card. In Hi-Lo every card is worth -1, zero or +1, so it is level 1. Zen also has ±2, so it is level 2. Uston APC has values up to ±3.
Going up a level buys real accuracy: a system that tells a four from a six describes what is left in the shoe better, and so predicts better. But the load does not rise in a straight line — it rises steeply, because every card now needs a value retrieved from more options, at a speed that does not change. Wong Halves takes this to the limit with half values, which demand fractional arithmetic in real time.
An accurate system run with mistakes earns less than a simple one run correctly. A counting mistake does not lower the edge — it turns it into something else entirely, because the big bet goes in at the wrong moment.
Balanced and unbalanced
A balanced system ends at zero after a whole deck. That property is what makes the true-count conversion possible, and with it comes a self-check: anyone who did not finish at zero knows they made a mistake.
KO and Red 7 are unbalanced on purpose. They give up the conversion — and with it the division by an estimate of the decks left, the hard part of the method — and instead work against a calculated starting point and a fixed "pivot" that tells you when the edge has passed to you. It is a sensible trade for someone who struggles with estimating the decks left, and it is common as a first system. The price is losing the self-check, and less resolution in borderline decisions.
A neutral ace, and a side count
In Omega II, Hi-Opt II and Uston APC the ace is worth zero. That looks odd, since the ace is the most important card for the player — but there is logic to it: the ace plays two different roles. It makes blackjacks, so it matters for betting, but it is less relevant to the playing decisions themselves. A system that neutralises it in the main count sharpens playing decisions, and gets the ace information back through a separate side count.
A side count means a second number held in your head alongside the first. It doubles the load, which is why it is considered a tool for experienced players only.
Which system to choose
- Your first system: Hi-Lo. Not because it is the strongest, but because it is the most taught, the best documented, and the easiest to get off the ground with.
- If estimating decks is your difficulty: KO or Red 7, which drop the division.
- Once Hi-Lo is completely automatic: Zen or Hi-Opt II, for a real gain in accuracy.
- Wong Halves and Uston APC: only for someone already running level 2 without mistakes. Otherwise it is theoretical accuracy worn away by practical errors.
And one point that tends to be missed: switching between systems is a skill in itself. Anyone who learned Hi-Lo and moves to Zen is fighting values that have become automatic, and that is a period of mistakes. It is worth switching deliberately, with practice, and never in the middle of a session.
Every system here, in the same course
The advanced tracks of the course train KO and Red 7 at level 1, Zen, Omega II and Hi-Opt II at level 2, and Wong Halves and Uston APC at level 3 — including a level that trains the switch between systems itself.