Things I did to improve my game
Some of these things you may have already heard but there are other things that can benefit you. If they work for an ADHD/Dyslexic then they can work for anyone. Some of this information I got through reading and some I developed on my own.
Accuracy first. As usual B.S. first. The speed will come fairly fast afterward. Getting speed is a rather easier part of this. You do not know B.S. until a bomb goes off next to you and you can still play it. I had also found that memorizing the deviations is much easier after mastering basic strategy.
GET CVBJ! Indispensable! You will not realize how inaccurate you might be until you use it! When I first started out I thought there was something wrong with the software. But through focusing and concentration I got it down. That meant stopping, pausing and checking the count. If the count was off then click on “File” then “Show Last Hand” and see were you went off. Then start from that count. The issue is training the brain to count right. After going through sometimes one shoe my head would hurt. LOL. Remember to focus! Focus! Focus! BTW, counting down a deck of cards and naming the last card is not the same thing as actual playing.
Deviations. Memorize only 2 - 3 a day. It makes them stick a lot easier. Don't try to memorize them all at once since you will get most of them confused. Also start with the "easy ones to memorize." For example, 16 vs 10; stand on RC>=0. Another easy one is splitting 10 against 4,5,6 against 6,5,4. That's it for one day! In the next day or two learn a couple more. Also, remember that the main importance in deviations are for betting! It appears – from Stanford Wong – that the main EV comes from betting and not from the playing deviations. That is you can make more money by using BS then varying your bets according to the count than just using deviations to make plays. To emphasize, the importance lies in keeping an accurate count; to bet correctly. Important: When memorizing a deviation chart make sure that the author mentions if whether or not the deviations are truncated! So, say an author has 13 vs 2 and the chart says to stand at TC0 then note if that is a truncated TC or if not. In Wong's PBJ his values are truncated. So in the previous case of a 13 vs 2 you would not hit until a TC-1 or less. A simpler way to put this is when the TC < 0 then you would deviate.
To speed up/get better, use CVBJ. This is your speed workout! First, one should not do this until they have been just practicing regularly for at least a month. Use the DD shoe face up. Also, using the 2D shoe the errors won't get carried on throughout a longer 6/8D shoe. Then boredom after checking the count with using the wrong count setting in. Using the 2D shoe enables you to go faster for that shorter period of time. (However, if you do see that the count is off then go back and see where you were off. You won't believe how consistently you might make a mistake in one area.) This is very good for speed work; take a short interval of intensity, take a short break, then repeat. Yes this does work in BJ as well as running track. Remember to focus! Focus! Focus! It might seem that you are focusing too much but the level of focus will come in handily later when distractions are put into the mix.
When playing on CVBJ turn up the speed until you have to focus fairly intensely. Not extremely intensely - to keep the count. Then play at that level until you are very comfortable. Then repeat. You will be going faster than 90% of the dealers in a fairly short time; 2 – 3 weeks most likely.
Play with fairly loud music on in the background. Make it louder than what's in the casino. After you master counting putting some music on serves as a distraction. In the beginning this was one of the harder things for me. Also, look up on YouTube 'casino background noise.' Play with the sound on while practicing. (There is something about the “white noise” in a casino that is different than the noise of music.) However I could, in a short period of time, keep the count accurately. Remember to focus! Focus! Focus!
There is also the issue of visual distractions for some players. One way around this is during practice is to notice the visual things around you. Be it pieces of paper or glancing out the window just come back and focus on what you are doing. That is when practicing BJ do this and not when you arrive at the casino. Also if there is a TV near by then turn it on – and turn off the sound - for visual simulation.
Eating. Get a snack every three hours or so along with plenty of water. It helps the brain stay sharp.
Have someone distract you while practicing. You might have them ask you a question. While you have music on in the background, see if you remember the count, then answer the question that was put forth to you. Try to talk to them while maintaining the count. Have then start off with a “So where are you from?” LOL. Then later extend the conversation to other things. Try “ordering a drink”. After you have gotten down the conversation some other questions to ask you are “What time is it”? Later, use more questions with numbers in it e.g. “how do you play a particular hand in B.S.? “ This of course is to confuse you with the count. Then check the count to see if you can still keep it. But remember to build up the length of the conversation and do not immerse yourself into it all at once. Just add one question at a time until you are still accurate with the count then add in another question. Remember to focus! Focus! Focus! Later someone can talk to you like a chatty dealer who won't shut the ^(*) up.
To stop getting confused when remembering if the count was a plus or minus keep the negative count in a foreign language. Yes that does seem to work. I have found that you will rarely be off.
Fatigue. After practicing for a while if your count gets off then stop and take a break - figure around 15 minutes. Also take note of how long it took you to get tired! Before that point is when you should stop during real play; figure around a shoe or two before. Don't worry about the length of play time for now. You will extend it at a steady pace. At one time I could only count maybe two or three shoes and now I am up to at least ten!
If you noticed that your game might have gone wrong in real play figure out what it was then practice at home. I have a lot of experience with this. For example, in the beginning if the count was say +7 and the dealer announced a card total of 16 then I would sometimes start the count at 16! Or if anyone tried to talk to me I would most likely lose the count.
Forgetting the count for no apparent reason. So at home I would just keep repeating the count to myself even more so. Or get up and do something for a very short time then try to remember the count. In play you will find yourself automatically correcting errors. Whenever a possible situation appears, in practice always try to remember the count first then check it. You want to work your brain.
In general what ever environment you experience in a casino practice it at home and make it much worse! So, if there are ploppies galore at the casino, when practicing at home setup the players in CVBJ to be bad players or slow players. The same goes for everything previously mentioned.
After getting speed down you might want to learn to play slower. What?!?! You said slower?!?!?! Yes I did! One of my favorite casinos has dealers that seem very slow. Though I love the rules there, my God, the dealers can be what seems like a slow motion death deal. Believe it or not, one can actually lose the count if the game is too slow. So every so often practice going slow – then simulate with a friend by putting in the chatter mouth dealer and see how the counting goes. Also, on CVBJ - in Settings, Speeds - check “Randomize Player Speed.” Myself with ADHD will almost die with a slow dealer. So it actually took some training for me to slow down to the speed of the dealer. But as usual, try to find a fast dealer as it means more EV. Semyon Dukach has this problem with slow dealers also. Mentioning that with a slow dealer he is more likely to lose the count.
Some of these things you may have already heard but there are other things that can benefit you. If they work for an ADHD/Dyslexic then they can work for anyone. Some of this information I got through reading and some I developed on my own.
Accuracy first. As usual B.S. first. The speed will come fairly fast afterward. Getting speed is a rather easier part of this. You do not know B.S. until a bomb goes off next to you and you can still play it. I had also found that memorizing the deviations is much easier after mastering basic strategy.
GET CVBJ! Indispensable! You will not realize how inaccurate you might be until you use it! When I first started out I thought there was something wrong with the software. But through focusing and concentration I got it down. That meant stopping, pausing and checking the count. If the count was off then click on “File” then “Show Last Hand” and see were you went off. Then start from that count. The issue is training the brain to count right. After going through sometimes one shoe my head would hurt. LOL. Remember to focus! Focus! Focus! BTW, counting down a deck of cards and naming the last card is not the same thing as actual playing.
Deviations. Memorize only 2 - 3 a day. It makes them stick a lot easier. Don't try to memorize them all at once since you will get most of them confused. Also start with the "easy ones to memorize." For example, 16 vs 10; stand on RC>=0. Another easy one is splitting 10 against 4,5,6 against 6,5,4. That's it for one day! In the next day or two learn a couple more. Also, remember that the main importance in deviations are for betting! It appears – from Stanford Wong – that the main EV comes from betting and not from the playing deviations. That is you can make more money by using BS then varying your bets according to the count than just using deviations to make plays. To emphasize, the importance lies in keeping an accurate count; to bet correctly. Important: When memorizing a deviation chart make sure that the author mentions if whether or not the deviations are truncated! So, say an author has 13 vs 2 and the chart says to stand at TC0 then note if that is a truncated TC or if not. In Wong's PBJ his values are truncated. So in the previous case of a 13 vs 2 you would not hit until a TC-1 or less. A simpler way to put this is when the TC < 0 then you would deviate.
To speed up/get better, use CVBJ. This is your speed workout! First, one should not do this until they have been just practicing regularly for at least a month. Use the DD shoe face up. Also, using the 2D shoe the errors won't get carried on throughout a longer 6/8D shoe. Then boredom after checking the count with using the wrong count setting in. Using the 2D shoe enables you to go faster for that shorter period of time. (However, if you do see that the count is off then go back and see where you were off. You won't believe how consistently you might make a mistake in one area.) This is very good for speed work; take a short interval of intensity, take a short break, then repeat. Yes this does work in BJ as well as running track. Remember to focus! Focus! Focus! It might seem that you are focusing too much but the level of focus will come in handily later when distractions are put into the mix.
When playing on CVBJ turn up the speed until you have to focus fairly intensely. Not extremely intensely - to keep the count. Then play at that level until you are very comfortable. Then repeat. You will be going faster than 90% of the dealers in a fairly short time; 2 – 3 weeks most likely.
Play with fairly loud music on in the background. Make it louder than what's in the casino. After you master counting putting some music on serves as a distraction. In the beginning this was one of the harder things for me. Also, look up on YouTube 'casino background noise.' Play with the sound on while practicing. (There is something about the “white noise” in a casino that is different than the noise of music.) However I could, in a short period of time, keep the count accurately. Remember to focus! Focus! Focus!
There is also the issue of visual distractions for some players. One way around this is during practice is to notice the visual things around you. Be it pieces of paper or glancing out the window just come back and focus on what you are doing. That is when practicing BJ do this and not when you arrive at the casino. Also if there is a TV near by then turn it on – and turn off the sound - for visual simulation.
Eating. Get a snack every three hours or so along with plenty of water. It helps the brain stay sharp.
Have someone distract you while practicing. You might have them ask you a question. While you have music on in the background, see if you remember the count, then answer the question that was put forth to you. Try to talk to them while maintaining the count. Have then start off with a “So where are you from?” LOL. Then later extend the conversation to other things. Try “ordering a drink”. After you have gotten down the conversation some other questions to ask you are “What time is it”? Later, use more questions with numbers in it e.g. “how do you play a particular hand in B.S.? “ This of course is to confuse you with the count. Then check the count to see if you can still keep it. But remember to build up the length of the conversation and do not immerse yourself into it all at once. Just add one question at a time until you are still accurate with the count then add in another question. Remember to focus! Focus! Focus! Later someone can talk to you like a chatty dealer who won't shut the ^(*) up.
To stop getting confused when remembering if the count was a plus or minus keep the negative count in a foreign language. Yes that does seem to work. I have found that you will rarely be off.
Fatigue. After practicing for a while if your count gets off then stop and take a break - figure around 15 minutes. Also take note of how long it took you to get tired! Before that point is when you should stop during real play; figure around a shoe or two before. Don't worry about the length of play time for now. You will extend it at a steady pace. At one time I could only count maybe two or three shoes and now I am up to at least ten!
If you noticed that your game might have gone wrong in real play figure out what it was then practice at home. I have a lot of experience with this. For example, in the beginning if the count was say +7 and the dealer announced a card total of 16 then I would sometimes start the count at 16! Or if anyone tried to talk to me I would most likely lose the count.
Forgetting the count for no apparent reason. So at home I would just keep repeating the count to myself even more so. Or get up and do something for a very short time then try to remember the count. In play you will find yourself automatically correcting errors. Whenever a possible situation appears, in practice always try to remember the count first then check it. You want to work your brain.
In general what ever environment you experience in a casino practice it at home and make it much worse! So, if there are ploppies galore at the casino, when practicing at home setup the players in CVBJ to be bad players or slow players. The same goes for everything previously mentioned.
After getting speed down you might want to learn to play slower. What?!?! You said slower?!?!?! Yes I did! One of my favorite casinos has dealers that seem very slow. Though I love the rules there, my God, the dealers can be what seems like a slow motion death deal. Believe it or not, one can actually lose the count if the game is too slow. So every so often practice going slow – then simulate with a friend by putting in the chatter mouth dealer and see how the counting goes. Also, on CVBJ - in Settings, Speeds - check “Randomize Player Speed.” Myself with ADHD will almost die with a slow dealer. So it actually took some training for me to slow down to the speed of the dealer. But as usual, try to find a fast dealer as it means more EV. Semyon Dukach has this problem with slow dealers also. Mentioning that with a slow dealer he is more likely to lose the count.
