KO, or also known as knockout, is a common system used by blackjack card counters. There are a number of other systems out there such as Hi-Lo, Hi-Opt 1 and Hi-Opt 2. The basic concept of card counting is to start at a reference point such as 0. When certain cards are shown on the table, you add or subtract to this number until the count is at a desired level that would give you a greater edge.

KO算牌法，也被称为Knockout算牌法，是算牌手常用的算牌法之一。除此以外，还有许多其它的算牌法，比如Hi-Lo算牌法、HiOpt-I算牌法、HiOpt-II算法牌等等，所有这些算牌法的基本概念都是：设定一个参考计数值，从初始值开始（比如0），当每一张牌出现后，在这个计数值上相应的加上或者减去这张牌对应的计数值；直到某一个数值范围，而在这个范围内，你将获得更多的优势（更大的胜率）。

There are two different categories of card counting. One is a balanced system, where you start off at 0 and count the cards and should end up with a total of 0 when the last card is dealt. If the count isn’t 0, then you did it wrong! The other category is unbalanced card counting, where the end total is not necessarily 0. Knockout (KO) is an unbalanced card counting system.

算牌法可以分成两种，平衡的和不平衡的。前者是“由零开始，到零结束”；后者是“由零开始，非零结束”（或者“非零开始，到零结束”）。KO算牌法就是一种非平衡算牌法。

KO Card Counting Strategy

KO or Knock Out strategy begins with the fact that when the whole deck is used up, the count should not end up being zero. Normally there are an equal amount of points that apply to certain valued cards, but in this case, we would give the seven cards a positive 1 count. When a seven is seen on the table, you are adding one point to your starting reference count of 0 to give 1 point now.

一般来说，算牌法计数值表会给不同的牌面平衡地赋值，但在KO算牌法的规则中，多了一个7被赋予+1，这也就导致了最终的计数值无法回归到零。

The Hi-Lo counting system is one where there are equal points that add up to 0 when the last card is dealt. KO Knockout gives the 7 card that extra point, so at the end of a deck of cards, your final count should be 4. This is because of the four 7 cards in the deck. Multiply the number of decks by 4 to get your final count when playing with multiple decks of blackjack cards. The reason for this small variation is the convenience in not having to make conversions to the true count value. Below is a table of what count number you should add when you see one of these cards being dealt.

Benefits of KO Card Counting

KO算牌法的优势

The system is not that difficult to learn. For example, in the KO count table above, if a 7 card is seen, add 1 point to your total. If an 8 card is dealt, don’t add anything to the count and if an ace or ten point card is seen, then subtract a point. Keep in mind, you need to do this in your head and you have to pay attention to all the cards on the table, even the dealer and other player cards.

KO算牌法并没有那么难学，小于8的牌减去1、大于9的牌加上1，就这么简单。

The Knockout card counting system is designed to be easier on the player when trying to keep track of the true count and the running count. The running count is actually the important number here and it depends on how many decks are being used. The true count is the number that you are adding up in your head. To find the running count, just divide the true count by the number of decks being played. For example, if you have a count of +8 while playing with a shoe having 8 decks of cards, your running count would be converted to only +1.

（上文中的真值和计数值的概念搞反了，这里的翻译已修正。）在算牌法中有两个很重要的概念，一个是计数值、一个是真值。计数值是指从一盒牌第一张牌开始你在脑中按照算牌法要求计算的那个值；真值是用计数值处以牌盒中剩余牌副数的值。比如，计数值是+8，牌盒中还剩余8副牌，那么真值就是+1。

The benefit of this system is you don’t have to keep doing the running conversion. It is easy for novice blackjack players who are just learning how to count cards and there really isn’t much different between the Hi-Lo card system and the KO counting system either.

KO算牌法的优势是你不需要进行计数值和真值的转换（存疑？），对于算牌新手来说很容易使用。事实上，KO算牌法和Hi-Lo算牌法的区别并不大。