Reference
Count profiles and conventions
Tags per observed card
| Rank | Dragon 7 — Jacobson system 2 | Panda 8 — Shackleford |
|---|---|---|
| A | 0 | +1 |
| 2 | 0 | +1 |
| 3 | 0 | −2 |
| 4 | −1 | −2 |
| 5 | −1 | −2 |
| 6 | −1 | −1 |
| 7 | −1 | −1 |
| 8 | +2 | −2 |
| 9 | +2 | +4 |
| 10 | 0 | +1 |
| J | 0 | +1 |
| Q | 0 | +1 |
| K | 0 | +1 |
Both profiles sum to zero over a full deck. Running counts start at zero. Baccarat point values (A=1, 2–9 face, T/J/Q/K=0) are a separate concept from these tags.
- Dragon 7 — Jacobson system 2 (v1): bet at true count ≥ 4. Source: Eliot Jacobson, Wizard of Odds, accessed 2026-09-07. Winning Banker three-card total of seven; pays 40:1 net.
- Panda 8 — Shackleford (v1): bet at true count ≥ 11. Source: Michael Shackleford, Wizard of Odds, accessed 2026-09-07. Winning Player three-card total of eight; pays 25:1 net.
True count convention
- rawTC = runningCount ÷ (unseenCards ÷ 52), full precision.
- Displayed to two decimals; threshold comparisons use the unrounded value.
- The integer bucket is the mathematical floor, including for negatives (−0.25 → −1). This is the app's teaching convention, not a claim about source notation.
- unseenCards = totalCards − observedCardCount. Cards removed face down (hidden burns) stay in the denominator because the observer never saw them. Physical cards remaining drive dealing and cut detection, not this denominator. Jacobson's Dragon 7 text uses 'remaining' language; this app does not claim to reproduce either study's profitability figures.
- Zero unseen cards → true count unavailable; the drill ends instead of clamping.
- Deck estimates are graded within ±0.5 deck; the true-count bucket is then graded from your own estimate so arithmetic and estimation are scored separately.
Shoe simulation preset
- 8 decks, seeded Fisher–Yates shuffle, dealt without replacement. Suits are preserved but do not affect scoring.
- Burn: the first card is shown; A and 2–9 remove that many additional cards, zero-value ranks remove ten. In realistic practice those removals are face down and never enter your count.
- Cut marker: 14 physical cards behind the marker by default. If the marker appears during a hand, that hand finishes and one final hand is dealt. If it appears between hands, only the next hand is dealt. A hand never starts without six physical cards available.
- Dragon 7 needs a winning Banker three-card seven; Panda 8 needs a winning Player three-card eight. Ties and two-card totals never qualify. Rules follow the published EZ Baccarat draw table.
- Changing burns, penetration, or estimation changes practice conditions only. Nothing here recalibrates a betting system or projects profit.
What a correct decision means
“Bet” is correct when the true count locked before the hand meets the profile threshold. It means your answer matches the published system, not that the wager was favorable, and the hand's outcome never changes the grade. The trainer shows no edge, income, or readiness figures by design.