Actually Memorizing the Cards Played

[dlow-]

Hi all,

I've never played blackjack at a casino, but recently episodes of Malcolm in the Middle and Monk have showed the main characters actually memorizing all the cards drawn and basically cleaning up, which is very appealing to me. I believe that with a little bit of practice (couple of weeks, probably) I could also remember which cards have been played and which remain in the shoe.

What I'm wondering is if being able to remember the cards drawn would really be such an asset. I don't know much about counting systems, but I would imagine that they are advanced enough to approximate the same thing with considerably less work. Is it worth spending some time to organize my memory such that I can remember all the cards played, or is it better to try to learn a good counting system (or not bother with blackjack at all?)? Does anyone here use the system of memorizing the cards played?

Thanks a lot for your opinion.

[Brutus]

An old friend could memorize all the cards, so that he knew the last card in a deck. good blackjack player too.

If you could get 100% deck penetration that would be something worth trying. but, no casinos do that. read up in this forum about the different methods, maybe even buy some books here.

[supercoolmancool]

I am not an expert but I think I remember a similar question asked and someone said that your advantage would be insignificant compared to just normal card counting.

[zengrifter]

Originally Posted by supercoolmancool

I am not an expert but I think I remember a similar question asked and someone said that your advantage would be insignificant compared to just normal card counting.

Correct. zg

[dlow-]

Thanks for the help! I should be more wary and not let TV shows get my hopes up on such things.

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by dlow-

Thanks for the help! I should be more wary and not let TV shows get my hopes up on such things.

The good news is that card counting is MUCH easier than memorizing cards, and it is very effective. Just don't believe the Rain Man story that you have to be a genius or that "nobody can count a six deck shoe."

-Sonny-

[Cass]

Originally Posted by dlow-

Hi all,

I've never played blackjack at a casino, but recently episodes of Malcolm in the Middle and Monk have showed the main characters actually memorizing all the cards drawn and basically cleaning up, which is very appealing to me. I believe that with a little bit of practice (couple of weeks, probably) I could also remember which cards have been played and which remain in the shoe.

What I'm wondering is if being able to remember the cards drawn would really be such an asset. I don't know much about counting systems, but I would imagine that they are advanced enough to approximate the same thing with considerably less work. Is it worth spending some time to organize my memory such that I can remember all the cards played, or is it better to try to learn a good counting system (or not bother with blackjack at all?)? Does anyone here use the system of memorizing the cards played?

Thanks a lot for your opinion.

I honestly dont believe anyone could memorize all the cards played out. Maybe on a single deck game. If you had a different basic strategy for each card that was played out so you would always be making the highest percentage play, i think it would be very profitable. To me this seems impossible.

[Mikeaber]

Originally Posted by Sonny

The good news is that card counting is MUCH easier than memorizing cards, and it is very effective. Just don't believe the Rain Man story that you have to be a genius or that "nobody can count a six deck shoe."

-Sonny-

Yeah, I know you can't count a 6D shoe . I tried this morning and hate to say that I only doubled a $100 buy in on a $3 table in 3 one hour sessions using a $3 unit and with a 1:10 spread. This is at a casino where more than one dealer has assured that counting a 6D shoe is impossible. Granted, this is far above the expected hourly profit, but, it was "honest". I mean, no large bets that were not on high counts and straight BS with the Preferred KO indices.

[zengrifter]

Originally Posted by Mikeaber

Yeah, I know you can't count a 6D shoe . I tried this morning and hate to say that I only doubled a $100 buy in on a $3 table in 3 one hour sessions using a $3 unit and with a 1:10 spread.

You MUST exit at -1 or lower! zg

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by Cass

I honestly dont believe anyone could memorize all the cards played out. Maybe on a single deck game.

Back in 1993 the memory expert Doninic O'Brein memorized 2080 cards (40 decks!) and was able to recite them with only 1 error. The current world record for number of cards memorized is 2808 (54 decks! ), although Dominic did make 8 mistakes that time. Still, that’s pretty f%&@ing amazing…

Originally Posted by Cass

If you had a different basic strategy for each card that was played out so you would always be making the highest percentage play, i think it would be very profitable.

Memorizing the cards is not the hard part. The hard part is knowing what to do with that information. Check out the bottom of this article for a fun story about Snyder’s Folly:

http://www.blackjackforumonline.com/content/sdcnt.htm

-Sonny-