User Guide
Everything you need to install Hidden Ace, set up table rules, configure Kelly betting, and log cards correctly at the table.
📲 Installing the app
Hidden Ace runs as a web app you install to your phone's home screen. Once installed, it opens and behaves just like any other app, with no browser visible and nothing extra to set up at the table.
Visit the app in your phone's browser.
Use your browser's share or menu option to add it to your home screen.
We'll share a shortcut with you that handles phone vibrations.
Open it from the home screen icon every time after that.
⚙️ Game settings explained
Configure these on the first screen to match your casino table exactly. Getting these right matters, every probability calculation downstream assumes your configured rules are the real ones.
Casino standard: 6 decks (most common).
Set to: Match your table's shoe size exactly.
Casino standard: Most casinos use H17.
Set to: Check if your dealer hits soft 17.
Casino standard: Most casinos allow it.
Set to: Check if allowed at your table.
Casino standard: Rare in modern casinos.
Set to: Check if your table offers it.
Casino standard: 3:2 is the traditional, player favorable rate.
Set to: Whatever is posted at your table, 6:5 meaningfully changes the math.
Casino standard: Always offered.
Set to: Enable to get insurance recommendations.
🎯 Kelly betting configuration
These settings drive the bet size recommendation you get on every hand. Set them up once before you sit down.
Kelly fraction, choose your risk tolerance
Other betting parameters
Recommended: At least 100 times your unit size.
Set to: Your actual available funds.
Recommended: About 1% of your bankroll.
Set to: Your preferred base unit.
Recommended: 1 unit.
Set to: Table minimum divided by your unit size.
Recommended: 5 to 10 units.
Set to: The most you are willing to risk on one hand.
Recommended: -1 to -2.
Set to: Your tolerance for playing through negative counts.
🎮 How to use the app
On the first screen, select your table rules so they match your casino exactly, see Game Settings above.
Set your bankroll, unit size, Kelly fraction, and bet limits, see Kelly Configuration above.
On the main screen, use the gestures below: tap to build a card's value, scroll up to confirm it, scroll down to confirm the hand once enough cards are logged.
Game flow, end to end
👆 Gesture reference
Two gestures and one tap cover every card input you will ever need.
- Tap, adds one to the current card's value. Tap once for an Ace, repeatedly to build up to the card you are entering.
- Scroll up, confirms the card value you have just built and logs it as the next card in the current hand.
- Scroll down, confirms the full hand and requests your recommendation for the decision in front of you.
🃏 Card entry order and dealer detection
This is the part worth reading carefully. Hidden Ace figures out which card is the dealer's upcard automatically, based on the order you enter cards, not by you telling it directly.
Enter cards in the exact order they are dealt
As each card lands on the table, log it in the same order you see it dealt. Do not log your own two cards. The app only needs the cards dealt to everyone else at the table, in order, to correctly work out the dealer's upcard and the remaining shoe composition.
Worked example
Say four cards are dealt to other players before your turn, followed by the dealer's upcard, and you already hold your own two cards. You log the four other players' cards in order, then the dealer's card. With five cards entered in total, the app identifies the middle card of that sequence as the dealer's upcard. Your own two cards never enter this sequence at all.
🔄 Split-hand process
When the app recommends a split, it walks you through both resulting hands in sequence.
After a split recommendation, input the first card of the first split hand using the same tap and scroll-up gestures.
Right after logging that card, you will receive a recommendation for this specific hand: hit, stand, or double if DAS is enabled at your table.
On a hit recommendation, log another card and you will immediately get another recommendation. Keep going until you reach stand or bust.
Once the first hand resolves, input the first card of the second split hand the same way.
The same sequence runs again: log the first card, receive a recommendation, hit if instructed, repeat until the hand resolves.
💰 Kelly betting strategy
Hidden Ace sizes every bet recommendation using the Kelly criterion, scaled by the fraction you configured.
- Bet calculation: derived from the current true count, your configured bankroll, and your chosen Kelly fraction.
- Wong-out: recommended once the true count drops below the threshold you configured.
- True count: calculated using the Hi-Lo counting system, adjusted for decks remaining.
🔧 Troubleshooting
Make sure you are connected to the internet the first time you open it after installing, reload the page, and confirm you installed it to your home screen rather than just bookmarking it.
Check if our shortcut is installed correctly into your Shortcuts app.
Double-check your game settings match the actual table rules, verify every card you have logged is accurate and in the correct order, and start a fresh shoe if anything seems off.
This almost always means a card was logged out of order, or one of your own cards was accidentally included. Review the card entry order section above and restart the hand if needed.
Lower your Kelly fraction for smaller bets, double-check your unit size calculation, verify your configured bankroll, and adjust your min and max unit limits.