This is one for the blackjack connoisseurs out there. When Arnold Snyder wrote Blackbelt in Blackjack: Playing 21 as a Martial Art back in the early ’80s, he introduced some creative twists on old methods. Among them was the presentation of one of the first "unbalanced" card-counting systems, the Red Seven, which was a simplified approach to the recognized card-counting methods then, as well as now. (Huntington Press later published the unbalanced K-O count in Knockout Blackjack—The Easiest Card-Counting System Ever Devised by Olaf Vancura and Ken Fuchs.)
Several years later, a second edition of Blackbelt in Blackjack was published with another innovation aimed at simplification, Snyder’s take on the classic Hi-Lo count system (also called "High-Low"), for which he introduced Hi-Lo Lite. Its recommendations are solid, but sometimes cause confusion relative to the question asked here. The short answer is Snyder’s tables aren’t using true-count numbers; they’re calibrated on the true-edge technique. It’s addressed on pgs. 69-72 of the later edition, but following is additional clarification provided for this answer by Snyder himself, who writes:
"True edge is just another method of adjusting to a true count.
"Most blackjack counting systems adjust the running count to true count by "count per deck," meaning you divide the running count by the number of decks remaining. Stanford Wong uses this method in Professional Blackjack.
The "true edge" method adjusts the running count to true count by "count per half deck," meaning you divide the running count by twice the number of decks remaining.
"I advise players to use this method for the Hi-Lo because the number obtained by dividing your running count by twice the number of decks is the actual percentage your advantage has increased (or decreased).
Example: 6-deck game, with 4 decks dealt (2 decks remaining). Running count equals +8. Your true edge is +8 divided by 4 (twice the number of decks remaining) = +2, i.e., your advantage has gone up 2%.
"If you were using Wong's Hi-Lo with true count (per deck) in this same situation your true count is 8 divided by 2 (number of decks remaining) = +4. But to estimate how much your advantage has gone up with Wong's true-count method, you have to multiply +4 times .5% (the value of each point in the count) = 2%. Both true count and true edge provide the same answer, but get there in slightly different ways with the true-count method requiring an extra step.
"In the Hi-Lo Lite strategy charts in Blackbelt in Blackjack, if I say an index is +2, that’s a true-edge index that corresponds to the counting technique taught in the book. You don’t have to do any additional tweaking.
"Whether or not you follow the reasoning isn’t pertinent to being able to implement the system. The important point to take away is that you shouldn’t use a true-edge conversion method with indices in books that are based on true count and vice versa. Generally, you'll find that the true-edge indices in Blackbelt in Blackjack are about half the index values in Wong's Hi-Lo charts in Professional Blackjack, because those tables are based on the true-count method. When learning any system, be sure to use the method as it’s explained."
