How to keep the count in your head

[madscout1996]

I was playing the other day at one of my regular places and I was so focused on the count in my head that I reacted a little slowly to one of my hands. Dealer showed a 6, and I had a three-card total of 12. But it took me a long time to realise what my cards were because of the count in my head. I don't think the dealer was saying the hand totals out loud at the time. It probably took me a second longer than normal to wave the dealer off, but it still got me worried.

I also notice that I sometimes have a hard time conversing with other players and the dealer while keeping the count in my head. And I use Red 7, so there's only one number to keep track of! What tricks to you all use to keep that number (or numbers) in your heads, amidst all the distractions?

 

[Coyote]

This will be easier with more time spent in actual play and with practice. Just keep plugging along.

 

[Daggers]

You can look for something that is the same number as your count such as the number of chips of the table, number of chairs, how many people are sitting within a certain radius. I just imagine the number in my head, i don't say it in my mind i just see it there so i can concentrate on other stuff.

 

[Gamblor]

Mumble the count under your breath w/o actually moving your mouth of course. It will help you remember the count when distracted by other things.

 

[revrac]

Picture the number like a big sign in front of you. Once i heard this trick it made it much easier to do other things such as have a conversation and not lose count (same thing works well for sequencing). If you are just "saying" the number in your head and then have a conversation you are more likely to forget as your using the same part of your brain. If you picture it, you can go talk for an hour and do something and come back and bring the picture right back up.


Imagine it like floating in front of you: 12

 

[tthree]

Practice counting at home with interactive distractions. Carry a conversation with someone while you count. Do a crossword puzzle while you count. The more brain power required to do the other thing mutitasked to counting the better.

I just keep mentally saying the count over and over again in my head.

 

[London Colin]

Imagine it like floating in front of you: 12

I think this may be one of those things you either can or can't do, depending on your genetics (like rolling your tongue, or whatever).

Certainly, I've never been able to do it, and just give myself a headache when I try!

 

[Daggers]

I think this may be one of those things you either can or can't do, depending on your genetics (like rolling your tongue, or whatever).

Certainly, I've never been able to do it, and just give myself a headache when I try!

I think that might be part of it but part of it is also people learn different ways such as auditory, visual, or kinesthetic learning. Find out which you are and try and use that to your advantage. If you are an audio learner, say the number in your mind. If you learn visually, look somewhere that has that number. And if you learn kinesthetically, tap the count out with your finger, foot, toe, or whatever. You can actually teach yourself to learn a different way through practice and training. I've taken classes on this before.

 

[silky28]

I do pretty well with memorization but every once in a while I lose the count. It usually comes down to forgetting if I counted the card the dealer flips over. If I am unsure I just play it safe and take +1 off my running count.

 

[London Colin]

I think that might be part of it but part of it is also people learn different ways such as auditory, visual, or kinesthetic learning. Find out which you are and try and use that to your advantage. If you are an audio learner, say the number in your mind. If you learn visually, look somewhere that has that number. And if you learn kinesthetically, tap the count out with your finger, foot, toe, or whatever. You can actually teach yourself to learn a different way through practice and training. I've taken classes on this before.

There's a rather wonderful old interview with Richard Feynman in the BBC archive which sort of covers this ground ....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/feynman/10705.shtml

Not sure if the above can be accessed from outside the UK; I found it on YouTube too (but in slightly poorer video quality).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj4y0EUlU-Y

 

[Coyote]

I think that might be part of it but part of it is also people learn different ways such as auditory, visual, or kinesthetic learning. Find out which you are and try and use that to your advantage. If you are an audio learner, say the number in your mind. If you learn visually, look somewhere that has that number. And if you learn kinesthetically, tap the count out with your finger, foot, toe, or whatever. You can actually teach yourself to learn a different way through practice and training. I've taken classes on this before.

I read a book in the 90s called Power Learning that addressed this very process. It is probably out of print now or altered in some way but may be worth a search.

 

[BJgenius007]

I was playing the other day at one of my regular places and I was so focused on the count in my head that I reacted a little slowly to one of my hands. Dealer showed a 6, and I had a three-card total of 12. But it took me a long time to realise what my cards were because of the count in my head. I don't think the dealer was saying the hand totals out loud at the time. It probably took me a second longer than normal to wave the dealer off, but it still got me worried.

I also notice that I sometimes have a hard time conversing with other players and the dealer while keeping the count in my head. And I use Red 7, so there's only one number to keep track of! What tricks to you all use to keep that number (or numbers) in your heads, amidst all the distractions?

Using the second language to count. You will never mess up with your count again!

 

[silky28]

Using the second language to count. You will never mess up with your count again!

HAH! I like it! I will bust out the medieval Latin I've learned in University hehehehe

 

[21gunsalute]

Using the second language to count. You will never mess up with your count again!

Just use Roman Numerals.

 

[aslan]

Somebody, please help me. Ever since I read this thread I keep seeing this giant 12 in front of me all the time. I cannot make it go away. If I close my eyes, it is there. If I driving my car, it's like riding the rear bumper of a giant 12. Yesterday, I went to max bet because I thought the count was 12. My buddy said, "WTF! The count is -2. Get out!" Luckily I won that hand. This is getting out of hand. The pit boss IDed me and I told him my age was 12. He threw me out and wouldn't cash my chips.

But seriously, you may find that if the dealer is quite fast, you will have no trouble keeping and remembering the count. It's those god-awful slow as molasses dealers that make you lose the count. There is simply too much time between rounds and between hands. You have to train yourself to catch yourself when your mind begins to wander. Then you will have no trouble remembering the count. If you start to lose it, immediately call it to mind and "look" at it in your mind. Keep looking until it appears clear again. The mind is a wonderful tool; you can train it to do most anything if you're willing to put forth the effort. Heck, there's a guy on the board who uses a five count system; you think YOU have trouble!

 

[blackjacktilt]

Somebody, please help me. Ever since I read this thread I keep seeing this giant 12 in front of me all the time. I cannot make it go away. If I close my eyes, it is there. If I driving my car, it's like riding the rear bumper of a giant 12. Yesterday, I went to max bet because I thought the count was 12. My buddy said, "WTF! The count is -2. Get out!" Luckily I won that hand. This is getting out of hand. The pit boss IDed me and I told him my age was 12. He threw me out and wouldn't cash my chips.

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

 

[revrac]

Somebody, please help me. Ever since I read this thread I keep seeing this giant 12 in front of me all the time. I cannot make it go away. If I close my eyes, it is there. If I driving my car, it's like riding the rear bumper of a giant 12. Yesterday, I went to max bet because I thought the count was 12. My buddy said, "WTF! The count is -2. Get out!" Luckily I won that hand. This is getting out of hand. The pit boss IDed me and I told him my age was 12. He threw me out and wouldn't cash my chips.

But seriously, you may find that if the dealer is quite fast, you will have no trouble keeping and remembering the count. It's those god-awful slow as molasses dealers that make you lose the count. There is simply too much time between rounds and between hands. You have to train yourself to catch yourself when your mind begins to wander. Then you will have no trouble remembering the count. If you start to lose it, immediately call it to mind and "look" at it in your mind. Keep looking until it appears clear again. The mind is a wonderful tool; you can train it to do most anything if you're willing to put forth the effort. Heck, there's a guy on the board who uses a five count system; you think YOU have trouble!

See it works! Thinking back, it may of actually been one of your posts Aslan where I heard that trick, Thanks! It is funny, since then i've used it for a few other things as well and some not even blackjack related. I'm god awful with peoples names, i can remember every phone number anyone I've ever known has ever had even if they've changed it several times, but can meet someone multiple times and not remember their name. In the past year, whenever i meet someone new and they tell me there name i try visualize it in big letters in front of me and it has definitely improved my ability to recall their names later.

 

[aslan]

See it works! Thinking back, it may of actually been one of your posts Aslan where I heard that trick, Thanks! It is funny, since then i've used it for a few other things as well and some not even blackjack related. I'm god awful with peoples names, i can remember every phone number anyone I've ever known has ever had even if they've changed it several times, but can meet someone multiple times and not remember their name. In the past year, whenever i meet someone new and they tell me there name i try visualize it in big letters in front of me and it has definitely improved my ability to recall their names later.

Very cool. It is especially good to remember phone numbers, but be sure to connect them with their first names. They hate it when you can't remember their names.

 

[London Colin]

See it works!

It works for those who can do it. But no amount of practice is going to make it work for those of us whose brains aren't wired up that way. We have to find other techniques.

 

[Friendo]

Odinnatzatb, dvenatzatb, ...

I actually tried Russian for negative counts. For some reason, many languages have horrifying multisyllabic names for numbers above 10.

I'm definitely not a visual person, but seeing the number, in big chunky 3-d, sitting there in front of me, helps.

Agree that slow times are the hardest times to keep the count. I have flat-out forgotten the count 4 times: slow dealers were the cause in two cases, but the other two were during fills. I hate fills.