Good questions: Start on the first hand. No do not count the skip, bet on the next hand. We are still testing but Ron and I set a stop loss limit of 10. Give it a try and let us know how you make out.
We would switch. The only time we didn't switch was on a run of 5 or more in a row then switch to the other side starting at 1. Your's would have been a 4 in a row. The only runs that qualify for an OTR bet is a repeat run not a zigzag.