Hello, I have Norm's book, Modern Blackjack, Volumes 1 and 2, and I recall reading a passage about one-level counts and two-level counts, and I'm trying to find it to re-read it. It has to do with the way the brain processes information differently, depending on the level of the count. Something to do with how the brain performs counting technique. Can anyone comment on this topic, or point me to where this passage is in the book? Thanks in advance...
Probably this on page 259:
Level I versus Level II
Beginning players are usually tempted to go for the more
complex strategies. I wanted to add a few words about stepping up
to a level II strategy. At first glance, the difference does not appear
great. You sometimes add or subtract two instead of always adding
or subtracting one.
However, adding one to something is not the same as adding
any other number, as adding one is simply counting. Your brain
doesn’t access an addition table or handle carries. (You sometimes
add a pair of ones, but this can be handled by counting twice.) The
difference sounds subtle, but not when you are keeping a running
count very quickly. Level I and level II strategies are handled in a
fundamentally different manner by the brain. Incidentally, the same
is true for early computers. An “incrementer” had a fraction of the
circuitry of an “adder.”
Another overlooked factor is the combination of limited
eyesight and strategy. Looking across the table, or back-counting
from behind a table, it is easy to discern high cards from low cards.
High cards are crowded with pips. In a level I count, all low cards
count as one. But, in a level II count, you need to discern the exact
card. Sixes and sevens may be counted differently, as well as twos
and threes or threes and fours. It is easy to mistake these from a
distance even with perfect eyesight, particularly if you are backcounting
a table with animated players. It doesn’t matter using a
level I strategy. But, misidentifying these cards in a level II strategy
will not only destroy its advantage, but result in less power than a
level I strategy.
"I don't think outside the box; I think of what I can do with the box." - Henri Matisse
moses,
You know perfectly well that by doubling all of the "Halves" tags you remove the fractions and find yourself with a Level 3 count.
This thread concerns itself with the differences in cerebral processing between Level One and Level Two counts, not Level Three.
Level Three simply exaggerates the likelihood of counting errors and the magnitude of the costly negative effects of errors made.
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