KISS 2 / KISS II Card Counting System

First of all, KISS stands for "Keep It Short and Simple", so we are not talking about the band or anything. This is actually one of the easiest systems to learn other than a peculiar and curious requirement for the 2 point cards. It is actually quite powerful as well with good betting and insurance correlations with a fairly nice efficiency as well. This is also a level I (single level or level one) card counting system, which tends to be the easiest to learn.

This system was made popular in the book "Blackjack Bluebook II", written by the author Red Renzey. The KISS II count system is formulated to make it simple for the user but it can be added upon to gain more of an edge over the house such as in the KISS III count system. There is actually a KISS I system as well but it is not taken as seriously and it is only used by players who barely ever play. Essentially, it is useless to serious card counters and blackjack experts.

The KISS 2 count improves as the number of decks decrease, so it works great with single decks. The only majorly complicated part of this system is that suit awareness requirement, particularly with the number 2 cards. You need to count 0 when you see a red two and count +1 when you see a black two. Of course it does not matter whether you choose to count the red or the black cards, as long as you are consistent with it through the whole deck. This is denoted in the indexes below as 0/+1 on the chart. The table below lists the count values assigned to each type of card in the deck.

This is also an unbalanced count system, which is a little bit easier to learn and is more convenient as you do not need to do calculations and conversions between the running count and true count. Although you still need to do a quick calculation of your starting count value, which depends on how many decks you are using. Normally you multiply -2 by the number of decks to get your initial count. For example, in a six deck game, your starting count would be -12 before any cards are dealt. Once the count goes above zero, then it is better to gauge when to start betting. Normally at this point, your edge would be somewhere around 1% above the house edge or more.

KISS II is great for beginners and works well even with the factor that you need to keep track of the suit with the 2 point cards. Just remember that when the count is high and positive, you should be increasing your bets and when the count is low or negative, you should lower your wagers and bet the minimum to prevent losing when the casino has an edge over the players.