Blackjack card-counting methods easy to pick up

Let's go to the mailbag this week, as readers have questions on blackjack, video poker in Las Vegas and taxes.

I'm fairly new to blackjack. I mastered basic strategy through study and by playing thousands of hands with online strategy trainers. What next? The ace-five count? Is it powerful enough for a six-deck shoe? The speed count? I like [Frank] Scoblete and I've read good things about the speed count.

Scott Z.

I highly recommend both of the card-counting techniques that you mention. Both are based on selective card tracking, which means they don't give you the accuracy of a running count of every card that's dealt, but neither do they require MIT-caliber concentration and mathematical skill.

Check out "The Wizard Ace/Five Count" at Mike Shackleford's Website, www.wizardofodds.com. As the name suggests, it's a technique that requires tracking only aces and fives. Shackleford says it's most effective with six-deck games and that player-friendly rules (i.e. dealer stands on soft-17) will yield a 0.22 percent player edge.

Scoblete details the Speed Count in his book, Golden Touch Blackjack Revolution, which you can preview at www.goldentouchblackjack.com. It's an easy technique to learn and use.

My game is $1 Jacks or Better video poker. Is there a good source to determine which Vegas casinos are full-pay? I find that these games are becoming scarcer every month.

Jack S.

Gambling expert Anthony Curtis' Web site, www.lasvegasadvisor.com, has a link to vpFREE's listing of the video-poker pay tables available at Las Vegas casinos. It is still the best resource I know of for this type of information.

It has been my experience that your best bet for finding full pay Jacks or Better and other video-poker games is at the locals-oriented casinos, not necessarily the mega resorts on the Strip.

The IRS ruling that says slot players must report jackpots greater than $1,999.99 was initiated in 1982. Do you think there has been any inflation in the last 25 years? If so, there needs to be an adjustment upward of that $1,200 figure which generates a W-2G.

Jim B.

I agree with gambling expert Jean Scott, who partnered with Marissa Chien on the fine book Tax Help for the Frugal Gambler (Huntington Press). Scott observes: "Don't look for the feds to raise the $1,200 threshold that triggers a W-2G. With the non-compliance of gamblers already widespread, plus 'sin activities' always providing a good taxation target, we're much more likely to see them lower that paperwork figure."

John Brokopp is a local free-lance writer.