Drill time

Accomplished and well-practised counters -
what are some mental strategies you employ to hold the count in between hands and in distracting environments?

Does anyone use mnemonics, or repeating the number (as in thinking +4,+4,+4,+4,+4,+4, between counts) or anything else?

As I've been practising by playing/counting 6 deck shoes, I've been recording my accuracy to track my progression. Using hi-lo, I'm still off by 1-2 at times (usually every other shoe, I'm off by 1 or so). I understand I'm still training, and I'm striving for perfect count each shoe, but feel there must be must be specific mental techniques that I can use in addition to repetitive drilling and more repetitive drilling.

Do you think mastery is defined by boredom and fluid simplicity to keeping perfect count, judging the true count and betting accordingly (and convincingly in a gambler's character in a distracting environment)?

All thoughts/comments welcome -

Well.. I count in 2 different languages. Use one language for the negative count and another for the positive count. I'll never have to worry about losing track of whether the integer is plus or minus

I wouldn't worry too much about being 1 off on the running count as you're not able to match all that closely the denominations of chips to the optimal betting charts. That and it's a bit of an inexact science. You can win hand after hand in small/negative counts and lose every hand in high counts. I know-I've been there. At the casino there's no way of checking your count for accuracy anyway. If you're within 1 at the end of the shoe you should be fine IMO.

What a great idea! Curious, what languages do you use?

English & Thai

I think the best method would be to sit at the first base, play your basic strategy, and then use the rest of the time (while others are playing), to count the cards.

I figured this is the best way to focus on counting and playing separately (you don't wanna screw up your play, while trying to check others' cards).

The reason you sit at the first base is, you get done with your play first, so you divide the time for that hand into two. If you're the middle player, you'll be thinking of your play strategy, while trying to count the first base player's bust cards, when dealer just sweeps those cards into the discard box very quickly.

I'm still pretty new to counting so my question may not well apply to more accomplished and practiced counters, but if you sit a first base for the counting and playing advantage you mention might it not be pretty difficult to get a count if the dealer has a back door blackjack? If that happens and you have not begun to count until you have played your hand, he/she may scoop the cards up pretty fast. Seems fast to me, anyway. Or, do you mean count the cards as they fall to the table so the table before any actual play is already counted? I have been waiting until the first pairs are on the table to count anything so I can cancel out.

Well actually I'm not a counter, but very interested in the subject and I think about strategies/techniques while I am playing. When I mentioned about the first base (play first, then count) strategy, I didn't think about dealer getting blackjack. That's a very good point. So, it might make more sense to count the first two, and then focus on your play and then count the rest of the hits of other players.

On the other hand, this past weekend, I was at a very crowded casino, sitting at the third base, and couldn't even see the dealer's up card (she continously kept making her hand a fist and put it to the right side of her cards). It kind of frustrated me, and obviously it would've made me pissed if I actually was a counter. So, first base still might sound like a better option.

But again I am not at all experienced, I'll let the experts speak on how they go about the counting process.