Ken Uston developed several counting systems for a wide range of player talents. This system is practical for the beginning and intermediate card counter. It improves upon the Thorp/Braun system by grouping the card counting indices according to their corresponding playing card's direct impact on play. For example, we know the Thorp/Braun Plus-Minus system uses a ‘+1’ index for cards 2,3,4,5 and 6, a ‘0’ index for the 7,8 and 9, and a ‘-1’ index for the ace and all tens. Any positive index means as that corresponding card is removed, the shoe becomes more favorable to the player. It has been shown that a deck without any 7’s favors the player 2.05% with optimal play (from page 48 of Beat The Dealer, Edward O. Thorp, Vintage books, 1966 edition.)
In this respect, the ‘7’ should not have an index value of 0; it should be positive. Should we just incorporate this change straightforward, our counting system would be biased. That is, if we count down a full deck (or a shoe with several decks) the final count would NOT be zero. An accurate counting system balances to zero when all cards have been removed. So, examining the other cards, we find that removing the 2’s has the smallest impact on the player's advantage; just 1.75% with optimal play if all of them are removed.
In this system, the 2,8, and 9 are assigned a counting index of 0; 3,4,5,6 and 7 are all ‘+1’ and the ace and ten are both ‘-1.’
This system will balance to zero after all cards are removed. That is the four 3’s, 4’s, 5’s, 6’s and 7’s will increment the count to a total of +20. The four aces will bring the count down four to +16. The “tens” are the king, queen, jack, and ten, all of which bring the count down one point each. Since there are 4 kings,queens,jacks, and tens, the count is offset 16 points back to zero.
Most basic counting systems use one "basic strategy" which governs the play of hands, and use the count to control betting. More advanced systems will also use the count to signal a "departure" from the basic strategy; most often, however, these situation are rare.
For example, if the count grows highly positive, we can assume that our "hard hands" will most likely go bust do to the abnormal distribution of tens. Beyond some critical threshold, it seems to make sense to "stand" on a hard 12 versus the dealer up card of 3. This transfers the burden to the dealer, who will most likely bust. Also, soft hands are doubled more often. Rarely would we double with a 19 total from an ace-8 combination. With a high plus count, we would double this hand versus a dealer's 5 or 6 card. Likewise, should the count go severely negative, the player can adjust the play accordingly. Hitting on hard 16 would occur more often in this situation, since the likelihood of drawing a small card predominates.
In the Uston Basic Plus-Minus system, there is a "Basic Strategy", a positive strategy table, and a negative strategy table.
