Memory Technique for Basic Strategy

[zengrifter]

Learning blackjack strategy the easy way
spenen.se

Black-jack is a quite popular game at casinos. If you don’t know what black-jack is or don’t know the rules read more at wikipedia. You can increase your odds in black-jack by learning basic strategy, but many avoid it because they believe it looks to hard to memorize. That’s what I thought, but then I decided to find an easy way to memorize it, and this article is the result of that.

...continued here - (Dead link: http://spenen.se/2006/07/22/learning-blackjack-strategy-the-easy-way/)

 

[Reachy]

Is this for real?

Or has someone hacked ZG's account? Doesn't sound like him to me.

Just curious.

Cheers

Reachy

 

[ScottH]

Or has someone hacked ZG's account? Doesn't sound like him to me.

Just curious.

Cheers

Reachy

Those aren't zg's words, he just posted part of an aritcle by spenen.

 

[Reachy]

I only asked because some posts on another thread about this seemed to suggest that just learning the charts was easier than this particular method.

I guess people learn in different ways.

Cheers

Reachy

 

[ScottH]

My review.

I only asked because some posts on another thread about this seemed to suggest that just learning the charts was easier than this particular method.

I guess people learn in different ways.

Cheers

Reachy

I don’t encourage you to play at casinos or try to make money by playing black jack. Regardless how hard you try; the odds will still be against you, and if you start counting cards etc you’ll probably be thrown out and loose all the money you’ve won.

I don't agree with this at all. I think most AP's on this forum wouldn't either.

Now to the system. I think this way of memorizing BS is much more complicated than just flat-out memorizing the charts. If it's easier for anyone then go for it, but to me memorizing the charts is WAY EASIER!

If you look at the BS chart for 20, it says to always stand. That seems easy enough to remember. But here is how the article shows you to remember to always stand with 20.

"1010 = doze dice
10S = s = Stand
You see a dozing dice wake up and struggle to stand up, but finally manages to do it."

I personally find it much easier to remember, "With a 20, always stand." Then to use the "You see a dozing dice..." line to remember the same thing.

Like I said, if anyone actually thinks it's easier to learn this way then go ahead and do it. My personal opinion has to say it's much easier to simply learn the charts. I really don't like the system at all.

 

[Reachy]

It didn't take me long to learn the charts

I got them 95% down in a couple of hours. With all the free training software available it's so easy to drill yourself. I practice daily and now I'm as near to 100% as I think I can get.

Cheers

Reachy

 

[spenen]

I personally find it much easier to remember, "With a 20, always stand." Then to use the "You see a dozing dice..." line to remember the same thing.

For me it's the opposite =D, I remember the pictures much better. If I for example associate every each card with a unique picture I can memorize a deck in order, if I don't think in pictures I can remember 5 cards at most.
But wouldn't you say that, for some, it would be easier to remember the 22 association links than the around 250 positions in the table?

Like I said, if anyone actually thinks it's easier to learn this way then go ahead and do it. My personal opinion has to say it's much easier to simply learn the charts. I really don't like the system at all.

I totaly agree. When I begun writing this article I didn't want to make a system that everybody would use, I only wanted to create an alternative way for those who feel like they remember pictures better than tables.

I got them 95% down in a couple of hours. With all the free training software available it's so easy to drill yourself. I practice daily and now I'm as near to 100% as I think I can get.

You are lucky to have a good memory .

In the end I don't think the method for learning the table matter. When you've played enough blackjack you don't have to think everytime you get your cards, you make the right decition automatically, no matter if you learned the table by practicing a lot or by learning associations.

So in that sense this method isn't for advanced players, because they (probably) already know the table, and therefore don't have to memorize it again. But many people do have problems memorizing these kind of abstract data and need diferent methods to be able to remember it.

For me this method is the best. Even though I don't play blackjack frequently I can, with some time to recall the images, recall 100% of the table. If I practice the speed for a hour or two I can easily find out what to do in 2-4 seconds.

 

[Reachy]

Not criticising

Spennen

I hope you don't think I'm being critical. I think your system has its place and many people will benefit from it.

Good luck

Cheers

errmm... forgot my name! Oh yes, Reachy.

 

[Doc]

It all depends on how your brain best memorizes or organizes information.

I have a job where I have to be able to absorb and recall large amounts of information very quickly and accurately. As such, I have spent time (and my job actually provides some training on this) determining how I best absorb large amounts of information. Some people do this verbally, others visually, others kinesthetically, etc. I learn best kinesthetically followed by visually. As it was difficult for me to actually put my hands on bits of basic strategy, I learned the charts visually. I look at the charts (colors help) and just remember what the chart looks like. When I have to make a decision, I just picture the chart in my head and read the answer. Some people can do this, others cannot. I don't learn very well verbally, so the approach presented in the linked article would not work very well for me, but if you are a verbal learner, this approach would likely be your best bet.

 

[shadroch]

I used a method where I picured Yankees as the cards.
Jeter=2,Berra=8,Mantle 7,ect,ect.
So I'd split 2s-Jeter to Mantle. JJM.
When I showed it to a nonYankee fan,he converted it to Jesus,Joesph and Mary.
Whatever works best for you,is the best method.

 

[bnoc848]

y not do it the way every one else does it, memorize the chart and go on hitorstand.net to practise. i did that way and took me a week and i got it 100% now

 

[shadroch]

You are aware H/S program has numerous errors.yes?
As I said,whatever works best for you.

 

[sagefr0g]

I have a job where I have to be able to absorb and recall large amounts of information very quickly and accurately. As such, I have spent time (and my job actually provides some training on this) determining how I best absorb large amounts of information. Some people do this verbally, others visually, others kinesthetically, etc. I learn best kinesthetically followed by visually. As it was difficult for me to actually put my hands on bits of basic strategy, I learned the charts visually. I look at the charts (colors help) and just remember what the chart looks like. When I have to make a decision, I just picture the chart in my head and read the answer. Some people can do this, others cannot. I don't learn very well verbally, so the approach presented in the linked article would not work very well for me, but if you are a verbal learner, this approach would likely be your best bet.

i memorize it two ways. three times a day i write the chart out by hand. once or twice a day i verbalize it silently in my head. for me the trick is pretty much repetition.
i like to do the mental verbaliztion technique while i'm following the wife around in the grocery store and when i'm jogging.
best regards,
mr fr0g

 

[bryan_in oregon]

Basic strategy in the bathroom

I keep a basic strategy card in the bathroom and one in the car if my wife is driving. It's getting burnt in to the brain.
Hmmm... ever thought of a basic strategy card tattoo on the fore arm....

 

[zengrifter]

Spenen's BS technique was designed for memory hobbyists and makes use of a menumonic device system called "Peg". His approach would make it possible to learn BS cold in 10 minutes by anyone that already knows Peg.

Menumonic systems are not sufficiently appreciated by card-counters, who mostly use rote repetition to learn. zg

 

[ScottH]

Menumonic systems are not sufficiently appreciated by card-counters, who mostly use rote repetition to learn. zg

Hmm, do you actually use mnemonics zg? I don't use them, but I can see how it could make things easier once learning the so-called "peg".

I just don't see how mnemonics are really practical for anything card counting related besides BS. I couldn't imagine how many paragraphs and stories you would have to remember to learn 60+ indices!

By the article it seemed like you had to memorize MORE by using the "peg" system. Instead of learning the one SHORT sentence, "Always stand with 20." you had to memorize an entire paragraph about dozing dice!

I don't know much abou the "peg" system so maybe I am being a little too critical of it, but even with that system you still have to memorize things! There is no way around it.

 

[spenen]

I just don't see how mnemonics are really practical for anything card counting related besides BS. I couldn't imagine how many paragraphs and stories you would have to remember to learn 60+ indices!

For example I have one picture or association for every each playing card. Ace of spades is a pirate, ace of clubs a knife etc. With the help of that I can tell what cards are missing in a deck by just looking through the cards in the deck one by one. In other words, if I play a game where you see all the thrown cards I can remember all the cards that lays in the pile with thrown cards, and remember exactly what cards the other players have picked up from that pile.
In some games that's really an advantage .

By the article it seemed like you had to memorize MORE by using the "peg" system. Instead of learning the one SHORT sentence, "Always stand with 20." you had to memorize an entire paragraph about dozing dice!

Yeah but only a few set of rules like how you can extract the data out of the pictures.
If we take pi for an example. Imagine the associations I wrote in the article were for memorizing 150 decimals of pi (every constant in the words the associations are built from represents one decimal), now what do you think would be trickies to remember? 150 decimals of pi, or the 23 sentences?

I don't know much abou the "peg" system so maybe I am being a little too critical of it, but even with that system you still have to memorize things! There is no way around it.

You should be critical, there are many scams and so out there, and I think the only way for you to know for sure is to try it out . And sure, you have to memorize things, but the main idea with peg is to make numbers into pictures, which (for most people) are easier to remember than by just repeating them. So you don't memorize sentences, you only memorize some key events in a story. Think about how much you remember of a movie you've just seen, then think about how much you remember after reading a 20 digit number.

 

[Sonny]

I don't know much abou the "peg" system so maybe I am being a little too critical of it, but even with that system you still have to memorize things! There is no way around it.

The peg system is more often used for card sequencing in blackjack. Magicians also use it to remember the order of cards for certain tricks. I made a few posts about this a while back:

http://www.blackjackinfo.com/bb/showthread.php?t=1972&page=2

Many of the world's memory experts use it as well as several blackjack teams. It does take some work to memorize all of the pegs, but it can make things much easier at the tables.

-Sonny-

 

[QFIT]

I know people that use mnemonic systems for Ace-prediction. In fact, CVShuffle supports it both for drills and the game. You can have the cards branded with the mnemonic names to aid in memorization while playing. Personally, I think table visualization works much better for strategy tables. But, as zg says if you already know peg....

 

[ScottH]

For example I have one picture or association for every each playing card. Ace of spades is a pirate, ace of clubs a knife etc. With the help of that I can tell what cards are missing in a deck by just looking through the cards in the deck one by one. In other words, if I play a game where you see all the thrown cards I can remember all the cards that lays in the pile with thrown cards, and remember exactly what cards the other players have picked up from that pile.
In some games that's really an advantage .


Yeah but only a few set of rules like how you can extract the data out of the pictures.
If we take pi for an example. Imagine the associations I wrote in the article were for memorizing 150 decimals of pi (every constant in the words the associations are built from represents one decimal), now what do you think would be trickies to remember? 150 decimals of pi, or the 23 sentences?


You should be critical, there are many scams and so out there, and I think the only way for you to know for sure is to try it out . And sure, you have to memorize things, but the main idea with peg is to make numbers into pictures, which (for most people) are easier to remember than by just repeating them. So you don't memorize sentences, you only memorize some key events in a story. Think about how much you remember of a movie you've just seen, then think about how much you remember after reading a 20 digit number.

I might look into "peg" more. Even though I don't need it to learn BS it might come in handy for other things. I know that "peg" obviously works great for some people so I think I will look into it and see how I like it.

I think table visualization works much better for strategy tables.

That's partially how I did it too. I combined visualization and common sense to learn the BS chart.