Help with KO

[SweetLou15]

Longtime BS player, preparing for my first KO sessions in Vegas in 3 weeks. Have put in many, many hours in my KO homework. I will only be playing DD games on my trip. I have a few questions and would appreciate some input:

(1) When in a negative count of say -5 or worse, especially closer to -10, I've been quite hesitant about doubling down a 10/11 against an upcard of 2-4. If the odds are some low cards are expected shouldn't I fear the dealer making his hand and not double?

(2) I guess a similar question arises with splitting pairs in a deeply negative count. Splitting 7's against a 2/3 seems dangerous.

This is a great forum. I thank all you guys for the valuable info you so freely shares. Best of luck to you all.

 

[sagefr0g]

Longtime BS player, preparing for my first KO sessions in Vegas in 3 weeks. Have put in many, many hours in my KO homework. I will only be playing DD games on my trip. I have a few questions and would appreciate some input:

(1) When in a negative count of say -5 or worse, especially closer to -10, I've been quite hesitant about doubling down a 10/11 against an upcard of 2-4. If the odds are some low cards are expected shouldn't I fear the dealer making his hand and not double?

(2) I guess a similar question arises with splitting pairs in a deeply negative count. Splitting 7's against a 2/3 seems dangerous.

This is a great forum. I thank all you guys for the valuable info you so freely shares. Best of luck to you all.

learn the basic strategy departure matices for those above and any others that are 'bothering' you. should help put your uneasyness to rest.

 

[21forme]

How negative you are, depends, or course, on your IRC. -5 means nothing by itself. In any case, I suggest you follow the indices in the book. Also, follow the wong-out points. You shouldn't be playing in a very negative count.

 

[SweetLou15]

I'm going to be playing with two buddies, one of them who will be working KO as well. We try to stay within the MGM system to work our comps, especially since my host hooked us up with a freebie. I feel a need to give them our action. I'm willing to wong out once in a while to fake a phone call, text message or bathroom break if the count is too negative. Being that its a DD game I know it wont be long for next shuffle. Cant wong out too often and want to be able to play for an extended time, plus for three of us to find seats together is tough. I'm there to celebrate my 40th birthday and trying to use KO to my advantage rather than just BS.

 

[21forme]

I feel a need to give them our action.

Having this kind of loyalty is a mistake, in my opinion. If they suspect you of counting, they will back you off in a heartbeat. Just like the cards, you need to take advantage of what's there, while it's there. For example, there's one place where I've been using comped rooms about 2x/month, yet I haven't played there in almost a year. Apparently, there's a disconnect between marketing and gaming, and I'll use it to my advantage until it stops.

 

[Diver]

MGM, using KO indices

I stopped by Luxor last month and the penetration on the S17 DD was pretty bad. At Mandalay Bay, the minimums on DD go up in the early evenings, depending on the crowd, leaving only one $25 minimum table until the wee hours. Otherwise, there are always several $50 min games open.
You can always learn the KO Full matrix if you want more index deviations from basic strategy to remember than what KO Preferred calls for. But the examples you cite don't show up even there, so there must be a good reason, given the attention and scrutiny applied to this and other systems. My sense from working with KO for about a year and mostly with limited weekend play is that the betting strategy is the key to better outcomes on the whole. But you either have to be saavy enough with statistics to run your own sims or else trust that the scrutiny applied to the various systems has identified the most advantageous plays, taking into account that's pretty relative since very often it means least disadvantegous.

 

[sagefr0g]

.......You can always learn the KO Full matrix if you want more index deviations from basic strategy to remember than what KO Preferred calls for. But the examples you cite don't show up even there, so there must be a good reason, given the attention and scrutiny applied to this and other systems. My sense from working with KO for about a year and mostly with limited weekend play is that the betting strategy is the key to better outcomes on the whole. But you either have to be saavy enough with statistics to run your own sims or else trust that the scrutiny applied to the various systems has identified the most advantageous plays, taking into account that's pretty relative since very often it means least disadvantegous.

right and then just be aware that hey your going to lose more hands overall than your going to win so heck just go ahead and play the hand correctly win or lose. at least you know that for double downs your should overall win more of them than you lose at some given positive count and the rest you'll be winning at least at the best rate possible.