A report (book) by Arnold Snyder
This isn’t your mother’s cookbook. Instructions in The Shuffle Tracker’s Cookbook don’t cover pastry recipes and browning techniques, but new research on things like slug values, tracking e.v., exploding slugs, danger zones, edge work, over-betting in tracking, and updated ace location techniques. In this 110-page Blackjack Forum Professional Report, Arnold Snyder gives the down and dirty inside story on this powerful, but dangerous, form of card counting, known as shuffle tracking. (Hint: Card counting is to shuffle tracking as opening a can of chicken soup is to making a perfect bouillabaisse—shuffle-tracking is a gourmet form of play.) Shuffle tracking is also a highly advanced discipline, at which most blackjack professionals have been unable to make money. Snyder explains why in detail. In addition, he explains why “recipe tracking” simply doesn’t work, and why it is disastrous to your bankroll. Snyder first published his findings on shuffle tracking in Blackjack Forum in 1994.
This 100-page-plus report incorporates in its entirety that early information, but also goes much farther, providing techniques never-before disclosed. Included are numerous practice and testing methods for players who want to learn shuffle tracking; methods for analyzing and comparing the profit potential of various shuffles; the cost of errors; why shuffle tracking is way below all casino radar; and why Las Vegas is still a skilled shuffle-tracker’s promised land.
Table of Contents
Introduction …………………………………….. 1
Initial Practices, Drills & Requirements ……………. 4
Cutting a Standard Deck …………………………… 4
6-Deck Card Numbers ………………………………. 5
Cutting a Lying Stack …………………………….. 6
Estimating the Discard Stack ………………………. 8
Card Counting ……………………………………. 9
Part I: The Theory of Shuffle Tracking …………….. 10
Terminology …………………………………….. 12
Let’s Map a Shuffle ……………………………… 14
The Tops and Bottoms Map …………………………. 26
Estimating Your Advantage ………………………… 30
Author’s Comments Today on Part I …………………. 32
Part II: Mastering the Mysteries of the Map ………… 34
How Much Can You See? ……………………………. 34
The Properties of Riffles ………………………… 39
The Stepladder ………………………………….. 43
The Fan Riffle ………………………………….. 46
Other Shuffle Actions ……………………………. 49
Burying the Tops/Bottom Jump ……………………… 49
Bottom Pile Cut/Burying the Bottoms ……………….. 50
Cutoff Integration ………………………………. 50
Top Plugging ……………………………………. 50
Author’s Comments Today on Part II ………………… 51
Edge Work ………………………………………. 53
Part III: Trade Secrets of the Shuffle Trackers …….. 55
The Second Pass …………………………………. 55
Mapping Multiple Passes ………………………….. 57
4-Pile Criss-Cross R & R …………………………. 58
Dealer Selection ………………………………… 59
The Lopsided Break ………………………………. 59
Cutoff Tracking …………………………………. 62
“Strong Hand/Weak Hand” ………………………….. 63
The Best Counting System …………………………. 63
Sequential Tracking ……………………………… 64
Imperfect Riffles ……………………………….. 65
Keying the Aces …………………………………. 67
Steering the Aces ……………………………….. 67
Stripping ………………………………………. 68
Multiple Riffles ………………………………… 68
# Cards Between Keys …………………………….. 69
Steering to the Dealer …………………………… 69
How Many Key Cards to Use ………………………… 70
Ace Cutting …………………………………….. 70
Keying With Counting …………………………….. 71
Sequence Tracking Teams ………………………….. 71
Double Steering …………………………………. 71
Identifying the Keys …………………………….. 72
Remembering the Keys …………………………….. 72
Author’s Comments Today on Part III ……………….. 74
False Keys ……………………………………… 74
The Cost of Steering …………………………….. 74
The Value of an Ace ……………………………… 76
Lay-and-Pay vs. Pick-and-Pay ……………………… 76
Part IV: Estimating Your Advantage ………………… 78
6 Decks, 26-card Slug, Hi-Lo ……………………… 79
6 Decks, 26-card +Count Slug, Hi-Lo ……………….. 80
Flat Value ……………………………………… 81
6 Decks, Hi-Lo, Running Count Distributions ………… 83
6 Decks, Hi-Lo, Post-Marriage Values ………………. 84
What does a second pass do? ………………………. 85
6-Deck Chop and Flat Values, Hi-Lo Count …………… 86
Estimating Your Advantage Within a Slug ……………. 88
Danger Zones ……………………………………. 90
Known Marriages …………………………………. 91
6 Decks, 52-card +Count Slug, Hi-Lo ……………….. 92
Common Misconceptions ……………………………. 93
Exploding Slugs …………………………………. 95
A Quarter-Deck Off ………………………………. 96
Over-betting …………………………………….. 98
More is More ……………………………………. 100
Deck Penetration ………………………………… 102
Part V: The Value Charts …………………………. 103
How to Read the Charts …………………………… 103
6 Decks, Hi-Lo Count, Slug Values …………………. 106
8 Decks, Hi-Lo Count, Slug Values …………………. 109
4 Decks, Hi-Lo Count, Slug Values …………………. 112
2 Decks, Hi-Lo Count, Slug Values …………………. 113
Last Update 04/05/05