Conditions for Counting Down A Deck

I'm currently learning a new count and I keep reading about how 'APs should be able to count down a deck in 20/25/30 seconds.'

When people say this, do they have in mind a standard method for counting down a deck? (e.g. cards face down, flipping them over one at a time). Or is it simply up to you how you do it?

I ask because if I flip them over in pairs my time suddenly goes from poor to very good.

Pairs is actually better than singles, because of the way the cards are normally seen.

But more importantly, people treat this "count down a deck in X seconds" like there's some prize for being the World's Fastest Counter. There's not. The exercise is meant as just that - an exercise. You should be able to count quickly enough so that at a table you can think about other things.

Does it really matter whether you can count in 27 vs. 25 vs. 23 seconds? Not really; if you play with other people at the table, you may not even need to count faster than 30-second decks to be effective. You can always slow down your play by taking more time to make BS decisions. Get your time down to a speed where it comes naturally to you, and then focus on more important things.

practice all ways...
1. flip one by one
2. flip 2 at a time
3. flip 3 at a time
4. turn deck facing you, and start counting in your hand

To me I can count a lot faster by 2 cards

At the casino I don't count til 2nd cards come out. Most the time they cancel out.

They said if you can count a deck down in 25 secs, you can keep up with fast dealers...

No prize for counting down fast

Even with the very fastest of dealers, there are delays along the way that allow you to stay up on your count. The cards come out one at a time. I don't even know how quickly I can count down one deck in number of seconds! I do know that I can count as quickly as the fastest dealer going and that's what truly "counts".

When the count truly counts... get it? I made a funny!

Don't just practice counting down decks. Actually deal a game of blackjack to yourself and try to keep the count.

Good advise. Even better is to hire one of the masses of ex-dealers @$2.00 /hr. to deal in real time. Currently they've got a lot of idle time on their hands.

Don't flip them over; you're allowed to start with them face up. Once you get used to not flipping them, you might find yourself about 10 seconds faster.

Annoy yourself by criticizing yourself for hitting soft 18 vs. dealer 10. :grin:

Why hold cards?

Just get CVBJ, go to counting drills, set it, and forget it!

You can set it slow or fast... and by fast I mean blurring fast!

If you can get down to the fastest setting it's probably like counting a deck down in 6 sec.

Level 2 in 24 sec is ok by me. = 0.46sec/card

Math guys check my math please.

Playing heads up at 200 hands/hr= 2.7x2=5.4cards x200 rounds= 1080 cards/hr
3600sec/hr-720sec for shuffling= 2,880 sec/hr of play time / 1080 cards/hr = 2.6666 sec per card.

So at 24sec/deck countdown you can count 2.17 cards per sec which is sufficiently faster then 1 card per 2.666 seconds that a FAST dealer can put out, while still giving you 11 seconds (an eternity) to make your playing decision if the dealer can deal as fast as you count.


BJC

Look at you, you just ruined an 18!:flame:

I have my mom come into my room every few minutes and ask me if I want a drink. Unfortunately, she doesn't have tonic water with lime.

Thanks guys for all your help and advice.

Moo's Point

Moo brings up an interesting point. There is a world of difference between simply flipping cards and keeping whatever counting/tracking system you may want to utilize and actually playing out hands AND counting down a deck(s). We can add to this further yet and add in the bells, buzzers, noises and distractions of live casino play to that even!

Something I noticed way back when is that even though I could count down the cards with some sort of reasonable proficiency, which I was practicing long before I ever strolled into an actual casino, I found that I could go off on the count due to the noises in a casino. The bells, the buzzers, the various boistrous noises, loud people nearby yelling their fool heads off, waitresses with large breasts, etc. Distractions that can have an effect on keeping an accurate count.

Flipping cards is easy. Flipping cards and playing hands while counting is harder. Cards flipping and playing proper strategy while noises and interruptions are going on is harder than that even. An oriental gentleman screaming "Monkey Monkey" at the top of his lungs right next to you while the drunk to your left is about to throw up all over your shoes as the waitress is shoving her breasts in your face while handing you your beverage and a slot machine nearby is clanging loudly from some little old lady who "hit the big one" and is also screaming like a lunatic and you never lose count and make the proper strategy move in a cool, collect manner while all this is going on against the fastest dealer in the house----THEN YOU ARE ON TRACK!