Settings - Advanced
Click on one of the ten tabs at the top of the screen for different folders containing sets of option settings. If you have difficulty finding an option, press the Locator button. This screen is entered from menu OPTIONS - SETTINGS and contains expert methods as follows:
Improving the Odds
Ø Peek at dealer down card - With this option, the dealer down card flashes on the screen for a half second. You will occasionally find that you can see the dealer down card as it is dealt. Whether or not this is considered cheating in a casino depends on how much effort that you put into seeing the card. The number to the right is the percentage of times this will occur. Laws against using optical devices exist. There is a Hole Carding strategy included in the QFIT folder of the Playing Strategies. Selecting this strategy will check your hole-carding play and track errors.
Ø Peek when dealer peeks - Peek at the dealer down card as above; but only when the dealer checks for a Blackjack. The number to the right is the percentage of times this will occur.
Ø Peek to the Left/Peek to the Right - These options allow peeking at and counting of the face down cards of players next to you.
Ø Peek under mouse - Allow peeking under any face down card by moving the mouse over the card. You can only peek at a hand once. The cards will be added to the running count and the true count recalculated.
Ø Randomize Card - When set, you can peek at random cards at your right or left according to the above option.
Ø Randomize Hand - When set, you can randomly peek at hands to your right or left. These options complicate card counting, as you need to remember if you counted the cards.
Ø Team Play - Team Play refers to the practice of sitting down at a Blackjack table only if the card count is favorable. A few team members bet low at different tables. When one of the tables has a good card count, the team member at that table signals another player who wanders from table to table making large bets. In this manner, the large bettor will always be playing at a good table. When this option is set on, the message "Looking for a good table" is displayed and CV will play without showing any cards until a good card count is reached. At this point, the shoe will be set to the remaining decks and you will be allowed to bet. You can leave the table at any time by selecting menu FILE - SHUFFLE. CV will then look for a new table with good odds. You can enter a number in the box to the right of this option from 1 to 15. This is the true count that must be reached before you can play. Note: This option will be ignored in tournament play or if a basic strategy has been selected. If you wish, you can use the pop-up stats at the bottom of the screen, or move the cursor over the discard tray to see the count.
Ø Warped Tens and/or Aces - On rare occasions, you will find a dealer who warps cards when peeking under Tens and/or Aces. All cards end up warped if the cards are not often replaced. However, Tens and Aces will be warped differently as they will, sometimes, be face up when bent. If this option is set, you will occasionally notice that the upper left of the dealer down card is bent. That means that the card is a Ten or Ace. Tens and Aces will only be bent about 25% of the time. For Tens to be bent, the 'Dealer peeks on Tens' option must also be set and for Aces to be bent, the 'Dealer peeks on Aces' option must also be set. Note: This option is only valid in 'Head-On Mode'.
Distractions
Ø Players come and go - This option means that, occasionally, other players will appear or leave. This is one of the more annoying distractions in a real casino.
Ø Counter's Nightmare - This option greatly increases the difficulty of card counting by constantly varying the card handling style. The following options are changed randomly: Cards dealt face down, Don't toss cards, Double Down card dealt face up and deck biases. Setting the Players Come & Go option and Randomize player speed option will further increase the difficulty.
Ø Delay Shuffle – Do not shuffle the cards until the bets are placed. This forces you to realize when the dealer is about to shuffle.
Ø Blurred Cards – Just as it says, in the Ultra-Real table formats the cards will be blurred to make counting and play more difficult.
Dealer Errors
This is another attempt at casino realism and is important particularly in newer casinos. Players tend to trust the dealer. If you catch dealer errors you may lose a significant portion of your edge. When set, on occasion, the dealer will make an error. The amount is not wrong (except when Blackjack payoff errors is set.) However, sometimes the dealer will not pay on a close winning hand, will not pay Insurance, will bust an un-busted hand, will bust your many card 21, will stand on a many card 16 or not bust himself on a many card 22. When this option is set, a new button appears on the control bar at the bottom of the screen labeled FOUL. Press it if you think that you saw an error. If you miss an error, at the beginning of the next hand, you will be notified and shown the error. If you do find an error, CV will change history by correcting the log entries for all hands since the error. You can set the types of errors the dealer can make.
Use the scroll bar at the bottom to control the volume of dealer errors.
