diff --git a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/genotyper/GenotypeCalculationModel.java b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/genotyper/GenotypeCalculationModel.java
index 875793b57..e809d940c 100755
--- a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/genotyper/GenotypeCalculationModel.java
+++ b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/genotyper/GenotypeCalculationModel.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ public abstract class GenotypeCalculationModel implements Cloneable {
     protected EmpiricalSubstitutionGenotypeLikelihoods.SequencerPlatform defaultPlatform;
     protected boolean GENOTYPE_MODE;
     protected boolean POOLED_INPUT;
+    protected int POOL_SIZE;
     protected double LOD_THRESHOLD;
     protected int maxDeletionsInPileup;
     protected boolean VERBOSE;
@@ -53,6 +54,7 @@ public abstract class GenotypeCalculationModel implements Cloneable {
         defaultPlatform = UAC.defaultPlatform;
         GENOTYPE_MODE = UAC.GENOTYPE;
         POOLED_INPUT = UAC.POOLED;
+        POOL_SIZE = UAC.POOLSIZE;
         LOD_THRESHOLD = UAC.LOD_THRESHOLD;
         maxDeletionsInPileup = UAC.MAX_DELETIONS;
         VERBOSE = UAC.VERBOSE;
diff --git a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/genotyper/UnifiedArgumentCollection.java b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/genotyper/UnifiedArgumentCollection.java
index c0fa1830d..99be73636 100755
--- a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/genotyper/UnifiedArgumentCollection.java
+++ b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/genotyper/UnifiedArgumentCollection.java
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.cmdLine.Argument;
 public class UnifiedArgumentCollection {
 
     // control the various models to be used
-    @Argument(fullName = "genotype_model", shortName = "gm", doc = "Genotype calculation model to employ -- EM_POINT_ESTIMATE is currently the default, while EM_ALL_MAFS is under development", required = false)
+    @Argument(fullName = "genotype_model", shortName = "gm", doc = "Genotype calculation model to employ -- EM_POINT_ESTIMATE is currently the default, while EM_ALL_MAFS is under development.  An exception will be thrown if an attempt is made to use EM_POINT_ESTIMATE with a pooled genotype calculation.", required = false)
     public GenotypeCalculationModel.Model genotypeModel = GenotypeCalculationModel.Model.EM_POINT_ESTIMATE;
 
     @Argument(fullName = "base_model", shortName = "bm", doc = "Base substitution model to employ -- EMPIRICAL is the recommended default, but it's possible to select the ONE_STATE and THREE_STATE models for comparison purposes", required = false)
@@ -43,6 +43,9 @@ public class UnifiedArgumentCollection {
     @Argument(fullName = "pooled", shortName = "pooled", doc = "Does the input bam represent pooled data (so that genotypes can't be called)?", required = false)
     public boolean POOLED = false;
 
+    @Argument(fullName = "poolSize", shortName = "ps", doc = "Number of individuals in the pool", required = false)
+    public int POOLSIZE = 0;
+
 
     // control the output
     @Argument(fullName = "genotype", shortName = "genotype", doc = "Should we output confident genotypes or just the variants?", required = false)
diff --git a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/genotyper/UnifiedGenotyper.java b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/genotyper/UnifiedGenotyper.java
index b23ce086e..610ff6359 100755
--- a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/genotyper/UnifiedGenotyper.java
+++ b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/walkers/genotyper/UnifiedGenotyper.java
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.walkers.LocusWalker;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.walkers.ReadFilters;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.BaseUtils;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.Pair;
+import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.StingException;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.cmdLine.Argument;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.cmdLine.ArgumentCollection;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.genotype.GenotypeWriter;
@@ -88,6 +89,10 @@ public class UnifiedGenotyper extends LocusWalker<Pair<List<GenotypeCall>, Genot
      **/
     public void initialize() {
 
+        if ( UAC.POOLED && UAC.genotypeModel == GenotypeCalculationModel.Model.EM_POINT_ESTIMATE ) {
+            throw new StingException("This was an attempt to use an EM Point Estimate model with pooled genotype calculations. This model does not work with pooled data.");
+        }
+
         // get all of the unique sample names
         samples = new HashSet<String>();
         List<SAMReadGroupRecord> readGroups = getToolkit().getSAMFileHeader().getReadGroups();
diff --git a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/playground/gatk/walkers/BaseTransitionTableCalculatorJavaWalker.java b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/playground/gatk/walkers/BaseTransitionTableCalculatorJavaWalker.java
index cf24922ff..379f709c1 100644
--- a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/playground/gatk/walkers/BaseTransitionTableCalculatorJavaWalker.java
+++ b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/playground/gatk/walkers/BaseTransitionTableCalculatorJavaWalker.java
@@ -11,10 +11,9 @@ import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.cmdLine.Argument;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.*;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.genotype.GenotypeMetaData;
 
-import java.util.List;
-import java.util.LinkedList;
-import java.util.ListIterator;
+import java.util.*;
 import java.io.PrintStream;
+import java.io.PrintWriter;
 
 import net.sf.samtools.SAMRecord;
 
@@ -26,27 +25,37 @@ import net.sf.samtools.SAMRecord;
  * To change this template use File | Settings | File Templates.
  */
 @By(DataSource.REFERENCE)
-public class BaseTransitionTableCalculatorJavaWalker extends LocusWalker<ReferenceContextWindow,BaseTransitionTable>{
-@Argument(fullName="usePreviousBases", doc="Use previous bases as part of the calculation, uses the specified number, defaults to 0", required=false)
+public class BaseTransitionTableCalculatorJavaWalker extends LocusWalker<ReferenceContextWindow,Integer>{
+@Argument(fullName="usePreviousBases", doc="Use previous bases of the reference as part of the calculation, uses the specified number, defaults to 0", required=false)
     int nPreviousBases = 0;
 @Argument(fullName="useSecondaryBase",doc="Use the secondary base of a read as part of the calculation", required=false)
     boolean useSecondaryBase = false;
 @Argument(fullName="confidentRefThreshold",doc="Set the lod score that defines confidence in ref, defaults to 4", required=false)
     int confidentRefThreshold = 5;
-@Argument(fullName="pileupMismatchThreshold",doc="Set the maximum number of mismatches at a locus before choosing not to use it in calculation. Defaults to 1.", required=false)
-    int pileupMismatchThreshold = 1;
+@Argument(fullName="maxNumMismatches",doc="Set the maximum number of mismatches at a locus before choosing not to use it in calculation. Defaults to 1.", required=false)
+    int maxNumMismatches = 1;
+@Argument(fullName="minMappingQuality", doc ="Set the alignment quality below which to ignore reads; defaults to 60", required = false)
+    int minMappingQuality = 60;
+@Argument(fullName="minQualityScore", doc = "Set the base quality score below which to ignore bases in the pileup, defaults to 30", required = false)
+    int minQualityScore = 30;
+@Argument(fullName="usePileupMismatches", doc = "Use the number of mismatches in the pileup as a condition for the table")
+    boolean usePileupMismatches = false;
+@Argument(fullName="usePreviousReadBases", doc="Use previous bases of the read as part of the calculation. Will ignore reads if there aren't this many previous bases. Uses the specified number. Defaults to 0")
+    int nPreviousReadBases = 0;
 
     private UnifiedGenotyper ug;
     private ReferenceContextWindow refWindow;
+    private Set<BaseTransitionTable> conditionalTables;
 
     public void initialize() {
         ug = new UnifiedGenotyper();
         ug.initialize();
         refWindow = new ReferenceContextWindow(nPreviousBases);
+        conditionalTables = new HashSet<BaseTransitionTable>();
     }
 
-    public BaseTransitionTable reduceInit() {
-        return new BaseTransitionTable(nPreviousBases,useSecondaryBase);
+    public Integer reduceInit() {
+        return 0;
     }
 
     public ReferenceContextWindow map( RefMetaDataTracker tracker, ReferenceContext ref, AlignmentContext context ) {
@@ -56,36 +65,133 @@ public class BaseTransitionTableCalculatorJavaWalker extends LocusWalker<Referen
         return refWindow;
     }
 
-    public BaseTransitionTable reduce( ReferenceContextWindow map, BaseTransitionTable confusionCounts ) {
-                                            // todo -- refactor
+    public Integer reduce ( ReferenceContextWindow map, Integer prevReduce ) {
         if ( map.isValidWindow() ) {
             List<SAMRecord> reads = map.getPileup().getReads();
             List<Integer> offsets = map.getPileup().getOffsets();
             ReferenceContext ref = map.getMiddleReferenceContext();
-            String forwardContext = map.getForwardRefString();
-            String reverseContext = map.getReverseRefString();
+
             for ( int r = 0; r < reads.size(); r ++ ) {
-                if ( includeRead(reads.get(r) ,offsets.get(r)) ) {
-                    confusionCounts.update(createConfusionContext(reads.get(r),offsets.get(r),ref,forwardContext,reverseContext));
+                if ( useRead( reads.get(r), offsets.get(r), ref ) ) {
+                    updateTables( reads.get(r), offsets.get(r), map );
+                    prevReduce++;
                 }
             }
         }
 
-        return confusionCounts;
+        return prevReduce;
     }
 
-    public void onTraversalDone( BaseTransitionTable table ) {
-        out.printf("%s%n", makeHeader() );
-        table.print(out);
+    public void onTraversalDone( Integer numValidObservedMismatchingReads ) {
+        logger.info(numValidObservedMismatchingReads);
+        out.print(createHeaderFromConditions());
+        for ( BaseTransitionTable t : conditionalTables )
+            t.print(out);
     }
 
+    public void updateTables ( SAMRecord read, int offset, ReferenceContextWindow map ) {
+        List<Comparable> readConditions = buildConditions(read,offset,map);
 
-    public boolean baseIsConfidentRef( RefMetaDataTracker tracker, ReferenceContext ref, AlignmentContext context ) {
-        Pair<List<GenotypeCall>, GenotypeMetaData> calls = ug.map(tracker,ref,context);
-        if (calls == null)
-            return false;        
-        return ( ! calls.first.get(0).isVariant(ref.getBase()) && calls.first.get(0).getNegLog10PError() >= confidentRefThreshold );
+        boolean createNewTable = true;
 
+        for ( BaseTransitionTable t : conditionalTables ) {
+            if ( t.conditionsMatch(readConditions) ) {
+                t.update(read.getReadBases()[offset], map.getMiddleReferenceContext().getBase());
+                createNewTable = false;
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+
+        if ( createNewTable ) {
+            BaseTransitionTable t = new BaseTransitionTable(readConditions);
+            t.update(read.getReadBases()[offset],map.getMiddleReferenceContext().getBase());
+            conditionalTables.add(t);
+        }
+    }
+
+    public boolean useRead( SAMRecord read, int offset, ReferenceContext ref ) {
+
+        if ( Character.toUpperCase(read.getReadBases()[offset]) == ref.getBase() ) {
+            return false;
+        } else if ( read.getMappingQuality() < minMappingQuality ) {
+            return false;
+        } else if ( ! BaseUtils.isRegularBase( (char) read.getReadBases()[offset]) ) {
+            return false;
+        } else if ( read.getBaseQualities()[offset] < minQualityScore ) {
+            return false;
+        } else {
+            return true;
+        }
+    }
+
+    public List<Comparable> buildConditions( SAMRecord read, int offset, ReferenceContextWindow map ) {
+        ArrayList<Comparable> conditions = new ArrayList<Comparable>();
+
+        if ( nPreviousBases > 0 ) {
+            if ( read.getReadNegativeStrandFlag() )
+                conditions.add(map.getForwardRefString());
+            else
+                conditions.add(map.getReverseRefString());
+        }
+
+        if ( useSecondaryBase ) {
+            conditions.add(getSecondaryBase(read,offset));
+        }
+
+        if ( nPreviousReadBases > 0 ) {
+            conditions.add(read.getReadString().substring(offset-nPreviousReadBases,offset));
+        }
+
+        if ( usePileupMismatches ) {
+            conditions.add(countMismatches(map.getPileup()));
+        }
+
+        return conditions;
+    }
+
+    public String createHeaderFromConditions() {
+        String header = "True_base\tObserved_base";
+
+        if ( nPreviousBases > 0) {
+            header = header+"\tPrevious_"+nPreviousBases+"_bases";
+        }
+
+        if ( useSecondaryBase ) {
+            header = header + "\tSecondary_base";
+        }
+
+        if ( nPreviousReadBases > 0 ) {
+            header = header + "\tPrevious_"+nPreviousReadBases+"_read_bases";
+        }
+
+        if ( usePileupMismatches ) {
+            header = header + "\tNumber_of_pileup_mismatches";
+        }
+
+        return String.format("%s\t%s%n",header,"Counts");
+    }
+
+    public int countMismatches(ReadBackedPileup p) {
+        int refM = 0;
+
+        switch (p.getRef()) {
+            case 'A': refM = BasicPileup.countBases(p.getBases()).a;
+                break;
+            case 'C': refM = BasicPileup.countBases(p.getBases()).c;
+                break;
+            case 'G': refM = BasicPileup.countBases(p.getBases()).g;
+                break;
+            case 'T': refM = BasicPileup.countBases(p.getBases()).t;
+                break;
+            default:
+                throw new StingException("Exception in countMismatches - this has been called for a non-reference base. Base character from pileup was " + p.getRef() );
+        }
+
+        return p.size()-refM;
+    }
+
+    public char getSecondaryBase ( SAMRecord read, int offset ) {
+        return BaseUtils.baseIndexToSimpleBase(QualityUtils.compressedQualityToBaseIndex( ( (byte[]) read.getAttribute("SQ") )[offset] ) );
     }
 
     public boolean baseIsUsable ( RefMetaDataTracker tracker, ReferenceContext ref, ReadBackedPileup pileup, AlignmentContext context ) {
@@ -101,102 +207,19 @@ public class BaseTransitionTableCalculatorJavaWalker extends LocusWalker<Referen
             }
         }
 
-        return mismatches > pileupMismatchThreshold;
+        return mismatches >= maxNumMismatches;
+    }
+
+    public boolean baseIsConfidentRef( RefMetaDataTracker tracker, ReferenceContext ref, AlignmentContext context ) {
+        Pair<List<GenotypeCall>, GenotypeMetaData> calls = ug.map(tracker,ref,context);
+        if (calls == null)
+            return false;
+        return ( ! calls.first.get(0).isVariant(ref.getBase()) && calls.first.get(0).getNegLog10PError() >= confidentRefThreshold );
+
     }
 
     public boolean refIsNotN(ReferenceContext ref) {
-        return ref.getBase() != 'N';
-    }
-
-    public boolean includeRead ( SAMRecord read, int offset) {
-        // todo -- do we want to filter out individual reads?
-        return ! readWindowContainsNonBaseCharacters(read,offset,read.getNotPrimaryAlignmentFlag());
-    }
-
-    public boolean readWindowContainsNonBaseCharacters( SAMRecord read, int offset, boolean isNegative ) {
-        byte[] bases = read.getReadBases();
-        // System.out.println("readWindowContainsNonBaseCharacters");
-        if ( ! isNegative ) {
-            for ( int i = offset; i <= offset + nPreviousBases; i ++ ) {
-                char base = Character.toUpperCase(convertIUPACByteToChar(bases[i]));
-                // System.out.println(base);
-                if ( ! ( base == 'A' || base == 'G' || base == 'C' || base == 'T') ) {
-                    return true;
-                }
-            }
-            return false;
-        } else {
-            for ( int i = offset; i >= offset - nPreviousBases; i -- ) {
-                char base = Character.toUpperCase(convertIUPACByteToChar(bases[i]));
-                // System.out.println(base);
-                if ( ! ( base == 'A' || base == 'G' || base == 'C' || base == 'T') ) {
-                    return true;
-                }
-            }
-            return false;
-        }
-    }
-
-    public Pair<String,char[]> createConfusionContext(SAMRecord read, int offset, ReferenceContext ref, String refFor, String refRev) {
-        char[] baseChars;
-        if ( useSecondaryBase ) {
-            baseChars = new char[3];
-        } else {
-            baseChars = new char[2];
-        }
-
-        baseChars[0] = Character.toUpperCase(ref.getBase());
-        baseChars[1] = Character.toUpperCase(convertIUPACByteToChar(read.getReadBases()[offset]));
-
-        if ( useSecondaryBase ) {
-            baseChars[2]  = Character.toUpperCase(BaseUtils.baseIndexToSimpleBase(QualityUtils.compressedQualityToBaseIndex(((byte[]) read.getAttribute("SQ"))[offset])));
-        }
-
-        Pair<String,char[]> confusionContext;
-
-        if ( read.getReadNegativeStrandFlag() ) {
-            confusionContext = new Pair<String,char[]>(refRev, baseChars);
-        } else {
-            confusionContext = new Pair<String,char[]>(refFor, baseChars);
-        }
-
-        return confusionContext;
-
-    }
-
-    private char convertIUPACByteToChar(byte iupacBase) {
-        char compBase;
-
-        switch (iupacBase) {
-            case 'A':
-            case 'a': compBase = 'A'; break;
-            case 'C':
-            case 'c': compBase = 'C'; break;
-            case 'G':
-            case 'g': compBase = 'G'; break;
-            case 'T':
-            case 't': compBase = 'T'; break;
-            default:  compBase = '.'; break;
-        }
-
-        return compBase;
-    }
-
-    public String makeHeader() {
-
-        String output = "Reference_Base\tObserved_Base";
-
-        if ( useSecondaryBase ) {
-            output = output + "\tSecondary_Base";
-        }
-
-        for ( int i = 0; i < nPreviousBases; i ++ ) {
-            output = String.format("%s\t%s", output, "Previous_Base_"+Integer.toString(i));
-        }
-
-        output = String.format("%s\t%s\t%s\t%s", output, "Hash", "N_Observations", "As_Proportion");
-
-        return output;
+        return BaseUtils.isRegularBase(ref.getBase());
     }
 
 }
@@ -204,161 +227,73 @@ public class BaseTransitionTableCalculatorJavaWalker extends LocusWalker<Referen
 
 class BaseTransitionTable {
 
-    final int N_BASES = 4;
-    final int A_OFFSET = 0;
-    final int C_OFFSET = 1;
-    final int G_OFFSET = 2;
-    final int T_OFFSET = 3;
+    private int[][] table;
+    private List<Comparable> conditions;
 
-    private BaseStringHash strHash;
-    protected int[][] confusionTable;
-    protected boolean useSecondaryBase;
-
-    public BaseTransitionTable( int prevBaseStringLength, boolean useSecondaryBase ) {
-        this.useSecondaryBase = useSecondaryBase;
-
-        if ( useSecondaryBase ) {
-            strHash = new BaseStringHash(prevBaseStringLength+2);
-        } else {
-            strHash = new BaseStringHash(prevBaseStringLength+1);
-        }
-
-        confusionTable = new int[strHash.hashSize()][N_BASES];
-        for ( int i = 0; i < strHash.hashSize(); i ++ ) {
-            for ( int j = 0; j < N_BASES; j ++ ) {
-                confusionTable[i][j] = 0;
+    public BaseTransitionTable(List<Comparable> conditions) {
+        table = new int[BaseUtils.BASES.length][BaseUtils.BASES.length];
+        for ( int i = 0; i < BaseUtils.BASES.length; i ++ ) {
+            for ( int j = 0; j < BaseUtils.BASES.length; j ++ ) {
+                table[i][j]=0;
             }
         }
+
+        this.conditions = conditions;
     }
 
-    public void update( Pair<String, char[]> confusionContext ) {
-        //TODO -- THIS [done]
-        String context = confusionContext.getFirst();
-        char[] bases = confusionContext.getSecond();
-        // secondary base is a part of the hash
-        if ( useSecondaryBase ) {
-            context = context + bases[2] + bases[1];
+    public boolean conditionsMatch(Object obj) {
+        if ( obj == null ) {
+            return false;
+        } else if ( ! (obj instanceof List) ) {
+            return false;
+        } else if ( this.numConditions() != ((List)obj).size() ){
+            return false;
         } else {
-            context = context + bases[1];
+            boolean eq = true;
+            ListIterator thisIter = this.getConditionIterator();
+            ListIterator thatIter = ((List)obj).listIterator();
+            
+            while ( thisIter.hasNext() ) {
+                eq = eq && thisIter.next().equals(thatIter.next());
+            }
+
+            return eq;
         }
-        System.out.println(context);
-        confusionTable[strHash.hash(context)][strHash.hash(bases[0])] ++;
     }
 
     public void print( PrintStream out ) {
-        long totalCounts = countOverTable();
 
-        for ( int hash = 0; hash < strHash.maxHash(); hash ++ ) {
-            for ( int ref = 0; ref < N_BASES; ref ++ ) {
-                char[] contextBases = strHash.inverse(hash).toCharArray();
-                String output = Character.toString(strHash.invert(ref));
-                for ( int b = contextBases.length-1; b > 0; b ++ ) {
-                    output = output + "\t" + Character.toString(contextBases[b]);
+        for ( char observedBase : BaseUtils.BASES ) {
+            for ( char refBase : BaseUtils.BASES ) {
+                String outString = observedBase+"\t"+refBase;
+                for ( Comparable c : conditions ) {
+                    outString = outString+"\t"+c.toString();
                 }
-
-                output = String.format("%s\t%f\t%d\t%f",output,hash+(double)ref/4,confusionTable[hash][ref], ((double)confusionTable[hash][ref])/totalCounts);
-                out.printf("%s%n",output);
+                out.printf("%s\t%d%n",outString,table[BaseUtils.simpleBaseToBaseIndex(observedBase)][BaseUtils.simpleBaseToBaseIndex(refBase)]);
             }
         }
     }
 
-    public long countOverTable() {
-        long count = 0l;
-        for (int hash = 0; hash < strHash.maxHash(); hash++ ) {
-            for ( int ref = 0; ref < N_BASES; ref ++ ) {
-                count += confusionTable[hash][ref];
-            }
-        }
-
-        return count;
+    public void update(char observedBase, char refBase ) {
+        table[BaseUtils.simpleBaseToBaseIndex(observedBase)][BaseUtils.simpleBaseToBaseIndex(refBase)] ++;
     }
 
-}
-
-class BaseStringHash {
-
-    // character-level mappings and inverses for
-    // recursive hash
-
-    final int A_HASH = 0;
-    final int C_HASH = 1;
-    final int G_HASH = 2;
-    final int T_HASH = 3;
-    final char INV_0 = 'A';
-    final char INV_1 = 'C';
-    final char INV_2 = 'G';
-    final char INV_3 = 'T';
-
-    int stringLength;
-
-    public BaseStringHash( int stringLength ) {
-        this.stringLength = stringLength;
+    public void update(byte observed, char ref) {
+        update( (char) observed, ref);
     }
 
-    public int maxHash() {
-        return hashSize()-1;
+    public int numConditions() {
+        return conditions.size();
     }
 
-    public int hashSize() {
-        return (int) Math.round(Math.pow(4,stringLength+1));
+    private Comparable getCondition(int offset) {
+        return conditions.get(offset);
     }
 
-    public int hash( char b ) {
-        switch(b) {
-            case 'A':
-                return A_HASH;
-            case 'C':
-                return C_HASH;
-            case 'G':
-                return G_HASH;
-            case 'T':
-                return T_HASH;
-            default:
-                throw new StingException("Incorrect base type sent to base hashing function, was: "+b);
-        }
+    private ListIterator getConditionIterator() {
+        return conditions.listIterator();
     }
 
-    public int hash ( String s ) {
-        return recursiveHash(s,0);
-    }
-
-    public int recursiveHash( String s, int offset ) {
-        // System.out.println(s+"\t"+offset);
-        if ( offset == s.length() ) {
-            return 0;
-        } else {
-            return (int) Math.round(hash(s.charAt(offset))*Math.pow(4,s.length()-offset-1)) + recursiveHash(s, offset+1);
-        }
-    }
-
-    public String inverse( int h ) {
-        return recursiveInverse(h, 0);
-    }
-
-    public char invert( int h ) {
-        switch(h) {
-            case 0:
-                return INV_0;
-            case 1:
-                return INV_1;
-            case 2:
-                return INV_2;
-            case 3:
-                return INV_3;
-            default:
-                throw new StingException("Non-primitive base-string hash code sent to invert. Expected [0,1,2,3]; received "+ Integer.toString(h));
-        }
-    }
-
-    public String recursiveInverse(int h, int k ) {
-        if ( h == 0 ) {
-            return "";
-        } else {
-            double quaternary = Math.pow(4,stringLength-k);
-            int coef = (int) Math.floor( h/quaternary );
-            return Character.toString(invert(coef)) + recursiveInverse(h - (int) Math.floor(quaternary), k+1);
-        }
-    }
 }
 
 
@@ -409,7 +344,7 @@ class ReferenceContextWindow {
 
     public String getForwardRefString() {
         String ref = "";
-        for ( ReferenceContext c : prevRefs.subList(0,nPrevBases+1) ) {
+        for ( ReferenceContext c : prevRefs.subList(0,nPrevBases) ) {
             ref = ref + c.getBase();
         }
 
@@ -418,7 +353,7 @@ class ReferenceContextWindow {
 
     public String getReverseRefString() { // todo -- make sure we want to flip this done (yes we do)
         String ref = "";
-        for ( int base = prevRefs.size()-1; base >= nPrevBases; base -- ) {
+        for ( int base = prevRefs.size()-1; base > nPrevBases; base -- ) {
             ref = ref + prevRefs.get(base).getBase();
         }
 
@@ -472,4 +407,4 @@ class ReferenceContextWindow {
         return windowSize;
     }
 
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/playground/utils/PoolUtils.java b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/playground/utils/PoolUtils.java
index 288c52ebc..569621d13 100755
--- a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/playground/utils/PoolUtils.java
+++ b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/playground/utils/PoolUtils.java
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import java.util.ArrayList;
 
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.Pair;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.QualityUtils;
+import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.BaseUtils;
 
 /**
  * Created by IntelliJ IDEA.
@@ -26,6 +27,33 @@ public class PoolUtils {
     public static final int BASE_T_OFFSET = 3;
     public static final int BASE_INDEXED_ARRAY_SIZE = 4;
 
+    public static Pair<List<SAMRecord>, List<Integer>> splitReadsByIndels( List<SAMRecord> reads, List<Integer> offsets, boolean returnBases ) {
+
+        List<SAMRecord> baseReads = new ArrayList<SAMRecord>();
+        List<SAMRecord> indelReads = new ArrayList<SAMRecord>();
+        List<Integer> baseOffsets = new ArrayList<Integer>();
+        List<Integer> indelOffsets = new ArrayList<Integer>();
+
+
+        for ( int r = 0; r < reads.size(); r ++ ) {
+            SAMRecord read = reads.get(r);
+            int offset = offsets.get(r);
+            if (BaseUtils.isRegularBase( (char) read.getReadBases()[offset] ) ) {
+                baseReads.add(read);
+                baseOffsets.add(offset);
+            } else {
+                indelReads.add(read);
+                indelOffsets.add(offset);
+            }
+        }
+
+        if (returnBases) {
+            return new Pair<List<SAMRecord>,List<Integer>>(baseReads,baseOffsets);
+        } else {
+            return new Pair<List<SAMRecord>,List<Integer>>(indelReads,indelOffsets);
+        }
+    }
+
     public static ReadOffsetQuad splitReadsByReadDirection(List<SAMRecord> reads, List<Integer> offsets) {
         ArrayList<SAMRecord> forwardReads;
         ArrayList<SAMRecord> reverseReads;
diff --git a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/BasicPileup.java b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/BasicPileup.java
index 1a190f189..8a415f4a9 100755
--- a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/BasicPileup.java
+++ b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/BasicPileup.java
@@ -386,7 +386,7 @@ abstract public class BasicPileup implements Pileup {
     }
 
     public static class BaseCounts {
-        int a, c, t, g;
+       public int a, c, t, g;
 
         public BaseCounts(int a, int c, int t, int g) {
             this.a = a;