Glitzensplizzle on my glockenspiel

[Tarzan]

There are lots of tricks to counting aces but most players don't deal with keeping it with anything more than a number line count. I am interested to hear what Tarzan says works for him while keeping track of a 3 column count rather than just a running count.

On the Ace side count for 2 decks, I go 1-2-3-4-4r-3r-2r-1r. At some point when four or less remain I think of them as X amount left rather than X amount played. On a 6 deck shoe I go 1-12 and then 12r-1r to cover the 24 Aces. Count it up and then count it down. I note this throughout any text I make on this as an “r” after the number to indicate number remaining rather than number played (which is also what I think of it as), such as:
4-0-6-1 @2----- One Ace has been removed from the deck.
6-0-5-3r @1----- Three Aces remaining in the deck.
14-0-12-11 @3----- Eleven Aces have been removed from the deck.
14-0-12-10r @3----- Ten Aces remaining in the deck.

I think of the (A) side count as something completely separate from the primary three groupings. These three primary groupings are sort of like a hamster wheel that runs continuously generating this set of three numbers. I think of Aces as something off to the side and very separate from this "hamster wheel" in my mind generating this steadily updated stream of three numbers. The reasoning for this visualization is that the Aces are not part of the reduction to lowest terms that occurs within the three groupings.

To answer Moses inquiry, when playing a 2D game the count seldom exceeds double digits (as in 10-0-10, 10-6-0, etc.) but in a 6D game the count can be things like 24-0-22-12r @3, 17-8-0-5r @3, 0-18-4-7r @2, etc. With the 6D game you are dealing with larger numbers and the count has the opportunity to go off the charts, down in the dumps or have an unusual situations within the deck composition such as a huge surplus or deficit of {6-9}, especially if it’s dealt deep. A 6D game dealt down to one deck can have a much crazier deck composition than a 2D game dealt down to one deck. With regard to Aces it's within 1/4 deck. If there are 2 1/2 decks in the discard rack and twelve (A) have been played then obviously you have two deficit Aces. If there are 3 1/4 decks in the discard rack and nine (A) have been played you have four surplus Aces. This is factored in to form my TC as previously described.