Counting a Deck in 30 Seconds

I know the KO guys suggest you count the deck in pairs. It takes me about 20 seconds more to count each card individually because I can't cancel and ignore pairs of cards.

Does the 30 second rule apply to counting each card individually? Or do you count them in pairs?

yes, 30 secs still applies.

you should be able to run down a deck one at a time in less than 30 secs. I bet you'll be able to cut the time to 20 secs if you practice.

it shouldn't take you that much longer to count them individually. for me i practice both in pairs and individually.

here is the indivual count trick:

as you pull out any card with a non-zero value, you don't count it JUST YET, you wait for the next card with a non-zero value to come along, then you either cancle the two out, or you add 2 or subtract 2 from the running count.

here is a rough example how i count down a deck 1 card at a time:
IRC = 0, (what i say to myself is in the parenthases).

Q
8
6 (ok, IRC =0)
3
4 (+2)
5
8
9
T (+2), i just cancled out the 5 and T
A
K (0), i just subtracted 2.
9
J
A (-2)

etc.... you will never say to yourself +1 +2 +1 0 -1 -2 -3.. that would take tooooooo long, it's more like +2 ...... +4 .... +2 ..... +2 .....0.

hope this helps.

that's an interesting trick,although i do what you say not to and i'm finding the only thing slowing me down is that i can't physically turn the cards over any faster.

i haven't been practising that long so maybe i'm fooling myself.

Turn the deck over so the cards are face up. Push each card to the side, enough to read the next one. Without counting, this takes about 15 seconds for a deck. There should be nothing physical holding you back.

Otherwise, you can get some computer software (such as CV) that does the card handling for you.

cool thanks!
i have the demo ofCV and have been using the drills, but this is a great idea ... the computer screen gets to be a bit much after a while...

The true goal of what you are trying to acheve with counting a deck practice is to get you to where you can count the cards accuratly on automatic. Card counting is the ultimate in multi-tasking. You are counting down your card total, the dealers card total, counting every card that hits the table, recalling basic strateghy with indices, and adjusting your bet to the bet ramp, all this while you are talking to the guy next to you about the price of gasoline. Practice gets you to the point where it becomes automatic, not brains, not math skills, only with practice can we be able to get to the level we need to have a +EV. I have been counting cards for more than two years, and I still practice almost daily.

In pairs. zg

I count in pairs... BUT I STILL say "+1 +2 +1 0 -1 -2 -3". zg

Same here.

hmm, i guess i don't.

when counting live i cancel cards out as much possible or typically add/subtract in units of 2. of course if their is an odd card out, then i tack it on, but in practice with 1 card at a time, i only use even numbers (though i practice with odd numbers too, but still only count in units of two).

when practicing with pairs, i count every number.

I count them in pairs as the second card is dealt to each player, then the dealer upcard, then I count the hit cards one-by-one as they come out, and then I count the dealer's bottom card followed by hit cards. Sometimes with the dealer hit cards instead of counting them one by one I wait and see if anything cancels out, and add them all at once.

ditto for me too. Longest I can go nonstop is 8-9 hours, after that, I need at least 24 hours rest to recoup. I can't even count my fingers after 9 straight hours.

You want to be able to count down a deck in 30 seconds no question about that but the reality of it is you don't have to count faster than the dealer can deal.
Frank Scoblete suggests that you know the major indices like for insurance, 16v10,12v2,3 but that you really don't have to memorize a host of indices.
He writes that the important thing is getting the money out when the count says you should,end of story. I think he's right.

I personally started out doing it in 35 -40 seconds. I managed to slash off 10 seconds and now i am solid 25-30 seconds. I probably could do it faster, but its almost impossible to deal to yourself that fast. If you managed to do it in twenty seconds, dealing to your self, i am guessing that the most you could do is one deck 3 or 4 times before you get a serious ach in your fore arm.

I do it about 20-30 times a day in 25-30 seconds and that still leaves a small ache in my hand.

I just started counting last week and I find it a great help with pairs, I am just under 45 seconds.

I practice almost everyday for 1/2 hr.

If any of you are coming to upstate NY, I would like to put user names with faces!

part of how i practice the fuzzy count is getting used to how high cards look and how low cards look.
the image is always there infront of me any time i'm on my computer.