Deck estimation.

[Freightman]

Don't stress it, just be within a half deck segment each time and your results wont be affected. Also a good way that I use is to always eyeball the midpoint of the discard rack when all cards are placed in there before a shuffle, NEVER ASSUME how the cards look stacked together in the discard rack before a shuffle, because that will throw off your TC conversion because you won't know where the quarter point, half way point or 3/4 point is during the shoe. The reason is each casino uses a different size discard rack so you can't just assume where the cards will line up. Also depending on the time of day, the cards might look thicker than usual cause of the humidity and the amount of wear and tear throughout the hours of play and might stack higher than usual.

So what I like to do before playing my first shoe at a casino, is watch a table until the dealer shuffles and see all the cards stacked up together on the discard pile and EYEBALL the midpoint. Then use that information and measure accordingly to get your TC.

Interestingly enough, if this is a steady store for you, a variation of this theme is as follows. Obtain a number of discarded decks either sold or given away by the store in question. Keep a number of dollar chips - then measure .25, .5, .75, 1.0 etc deck segments against various heights of accumulated chips. Soon enough, you will accurately determine deck estimation based on eyeball measurement of discards against chip height.