The KO system was developed by Olaf Vancura and Ken Fuchs and
described in their book "Knock-Out Blackjack".
“KO”, as it is
known, is
arguably as powerful as HiLo
but is easier to implement as running
count to true count conversions are not required.
A simple
variant, REKO, was developed
and published by Norm Wattenberger in
his excellent book "Modern
Blackjack", the first edition of which is available
free online.
A summary may be found at https://www.qfit.com/rekostrategy.htm
Unlike
true count systems which are more accurate throughout the entirety of a
shoe, both KO and REKO are running count systems.
As a result,
they both under bet early opportunities and overbet towards the end of
a shoe.
To solve this problem a true count version of KO,
referred to as True Count KO, or TKO has been
developed.
It solves the problem of underbetting early and
overbetting late in a shoe by calculating the player’s advantage
at any point in the shoe.
One
of biggest advantages of KO and REKO is that the player does not have
to estimate how many decks remain to the be dealt and do the mental
math to convert the running count into the true count.
Adding
the conversion from running count to true count in TKO seems
counter-intuitive.
Why add back the very thing that makes KO so
unique?
The answer lies in that the true count conversion creates value by finding more opportunities to bet with an advantage early in the shoe and minimizes overbetting later in the shoe.
The original formula to convert the KO running count to a TKO true count is as follows:
TKO = (RC-IRC-4*P) / R
RC =
Running Count
IRC = Initial Running Count
P = Decks played (seen)
R = Remaining decks (not seen)
Brett
Harris simplified the TKO formula if the IRC is the total number
of
decks multiplied by -4.
For example, in a six deck game, the IRC is
-4 x 6 = -24.
Harris reduced the number of mathematical
operations by half and the number of variables from five to three.
It is a remarkable improvement. In his formula:
TKO = RC/R+4
Though
simplified, the Harris TKO formula still requires a calculation.
The
EZ-TKO system completely removes calculations "on the fly".
The
system was inspired from postings by “Roger
Harris” who was an occasional contributor to BJ21.com back in
the 2000’s.
It is
similar to the system proposed by Daniel
Dravot in "The Color of
Blackjack".
Dravot designed a system which did away with true count conversions and
instead uses a grid system to scale bets based on the RC, True Count
and number of decks remaining.
In practice, a player need only memorize how their bet spread changes
depending on the number of decks remaining.
In addition to using the traditional KO Pivot point, EZ-TKO adopts and additional terms, called the Current Key.
If you prefer working with mostly positive numbers, use an IRC of 0. For 6 decks the pivot is then 24, and your Current Key starts at +12.
|
Decks Dealt |
Current Key using IRC=0 |
|
< 1 |
12 |
|
>= 1 and <2 |
14 |
|
>= 2 and <3 |
16 |
|
>= 3 and <4 |
18 |
|
>= 4 and <5 |
20 |
|
>=5 |
22 |
Resolution of the Current Pivot can be make more accurate if you can estimate half-decks instead of full decks. In that case, add +1 for each half-deck dealt.
At any given time, the Current Key is equivalent to a TKO or HiLo of +2, which is about 0.5% advantage for "classic" rules.
A simplified EZ-TKO bet ramp is as follows:
Bett the minimum when the current count is below the Current Key (TKO < +2)
Increase your bet when the RC is at the Current Key (TKO = +2).
Make an average bet when the current count is at least halfway between the Current Key and the Pivot (TKO = +3)
Make your maximum bet at the Pivot and beyond (TKO >= +4)
Simply continue to use the RC and appropriate KO or REKO index