New to card counting

[Tbone1020]

Im new to card counting what can i do to practice?

[gordon5432]

Originally Posted by Tbone1020

Im new to card counting what can i do to practice?

I'm new to counting as well, but I have a friend deal pretend BJ hands 30 or so cards out of a single deck as quickly as he can with noise in the background, then we check the dealt cards to see if my TC calculations were correct. Contrary to popular belief, counting in a SD game is actually trickier than in a shoe game because you constantly have to divide the running count by weird numbers like .6 in order to obtain the TC, which will sharpen your mental math. Also, make sure that you have basic strategy down to second nature because you'll never be able to concentrate on the count if you have to rack your brain over BS decisions.

[Sonny]

There are a lot of things to practice. First you must know BS cold. If you can't play every hand within a fraction of a second without having to think about it then you will have a lot of trouble trying to count and play at the same time. Next you can flip through a deck of cards as fast as you can while keeping the running count. Try flipping the cards two or three at a time as well. You should be able to do that in less than 30 seconds even with distractions like the TV, radio or angry girlfriend. Next you’ll want to practice counting while playing, and maybe deck estimations and TC conversions depending on what system you are using. There are some good practice websites in the Free Counting Resources thread at the top of this forum. You can also find some advice of practice techniques in the Frequently Asked Questions thread.

-Sonny-

[Tbone1020]

Thanks that helps alot!

[Mimosine]

go on ebay and buy a bunch of used casino playing cards.

If you're going to be playing 6 deck games, buy 6 matching decks, also buy a few single decks and keep them in your pocket. you can practice counting anywhere, at lunch, over coffee, on the can! watching the tube, wherever!

#1 Basic Strategy
#2 Counting speed and accuracy
#3 True count and deck estimation (if it applies to your system)
#4 Bet Ramping
#5 Insurance
#6 Index memorization

that would be my list of important things to learn and in the correct order.

buy a few books on counting, $25 will give you a good education and a lot to practice and think about. and if you decide to never count, $25 isn't much to spend

[Thunder]

The toughest thing for me when counting is dealing with distractions and forgetting the count as a result. Have your friend engage you in a conversation with the music blaring so you can barely hear him. Then after a minute or so, see if you still have the count right. While playing, you'll have to deal with distractions in the form of players talking to you, getting drinks from waitresses, dealing with security adding more chips to the dealers chip rack, people going apes on you because you hit your 12 vs. the dealer 4 while at 3rd base and as a result the dealer didn't break, buddies calling you on the cell, the wife/ g/f leaning over and kissing you while asking you how you're doing and sometimes casino heat.

[PrinceDragon]

True count and deck estimation are the most difficult to master.
Make sure you spend a great deal of time on these and be accurate.

P.D.

[Tbone1020]

Im using KO i tried using it with a 6 deck at home, it seems to work i would have 15 vs dealers 7 i wouldnt hit because the count was like +24 then i would end up winning overall KO seems to work for me But i havnt tried iot at a casino yet