Omega II Betting System

Blackjack author/player Bryce Carlson unveiled something called the Omega II blackjack system in 1992 with the publication of his book "Blackjack for Blood," and it was considered by many to be a strategy of play that ranked right up there with the best two-level blackjack systems of the time. Carlson himself called his Basic Omega II "the most accurate and powerful Level 2 count ever devised."

Carlson, who says he was taught to play blackjack by none other than the legendary Lawrence Revere, does something not a lot of blackjack authors normally do, which is that he goes through a section in his book where he painstakingly demonstrates how he came to the card values in the Omega II, and points out that when you are constructing the optimum blackjack count for betting purposes, playing purposes and insurance purposes, you are not necessarily going to come up with the same results for all of them. Any count system, he points out, has to be something of a compromise between all three, and he will take the reader step-by-step in explaining this.

In the Omega II, the 2, 3 and 7 are counted as +1, with 9's as -1. The 4, 5 and 6 are counted as +2, with all ten-value cards (10, J, Q. K) as -2. Aces and eights are neutral and are not counted.

This is a two-level blackjack betting system, because there are values of plus or minus 1 and plus or minus 2 in the count. True count conversion is done on the basis of half-deck multipliers. Without ace adjustment, you're looking at a system that has a betting efficiency rating of .92 and a playing efficiency figure of .67.

Carlson points out that to attain the ideal level of efficiency, card counters would have to keep a number of side counts, but that is simply not practical for the human brain to process all at the same time. So inasmuch as keeping a number of different side counts is, at best, a pipe dream, he suggests that a side count of Aces is not only the most practical, but really optimizes the count's performance as far as betting efficiency is concerned.

In fact, an Ace side count, according to Carlson, brings the Omega II to a quotient of .99 in betting efficiency, which obviously is not far from perfect. The ace adjustment that must be made is not much different than some of the other multi-level blackjack systems; you will add +2 to the count for every extra Ace and subtract -2 from the count for every Ace that it is "short." A notable distinction is that you would be doing this on the basis of a quarter deck, not a half deck or a full deck, as other systems might require.

There is some discussion in the book as to what can be gained by employing a three or four-level system as opposed to one that is two levels (such as the Omega II). Carlson's answer is, well, "efficient." He points out that the player needs to strike a balance between power and simplicity, and that the two-level system seems to find that balance rather nicely for those who want to take the time to learn it. Besides he says, he has played the Revere 14 Count, which is a four-level count, and the Omega II was more efficient overall.