Ken Uston is a well-known blackjack expert, with his best-selling "Million Dollar Blackjack" introducing blackjack game players around the world to his ground-breaking counting systems. His Uston Advanced Point Count is certainly one of the more complicated counting systems available, but some argue the results more than justify the time it takes to master the strategy.

The Values

The Uston Advanced Point Count is a three-level counting system, requiring a bit more math than lower-level strategies. In this system the 2s and 8s in the deck are valued at +1; the 3s, 4s, 6s, and 7s are +2; the 5 is +3; the 9 is -1; the ten-value cards are -3; and the Aces in the deck are counted only for side counts. Players must keep track of the total value of the deck that has been played to determine playing and betting strategies for the remaining decks.

The Side Count

In addition to the three-level count and over 163 strategy variations, the side count of Aces is what makes the Uston Advanced Point Count system so advanced. Before each bet, the player must assess how many Aces are left in the deck. If there are likely a high number of Aces, the player must add +3 to the value count before he or she makes the true count conversion, and vice versa. Even with a great deal of practice, this balancing of Aces and the adjustments to value on top of true count conversions makes the system prone to mistakes.

Uston quickly retired this system for his own team of players. While it has very high playing and betting efficiencies, for most people the strategy has proved too difficult to justify the effort it takes to perfect it.