Fresh blackjack student on FirstRunning Count Tips/strategies

[Chef]

Hello all. First post so I'll keep it simple and straight forward. I decided to finally take Blackjack seriously after my last trip to Vegas. I know I know, you've heard it all before. New guy thinks he's going to be the next Don Johnson or something like that or become the king of Vegas and have a lavish lifestyle and be rich. Impossible? No. A pipe dream? Maybe I am, however, taking the steps necessary to become successful at this game, that most beginners do not take as seriously as they should.

The past 2 months, I have practiced basic strategy for at least an hour per day. 20 minutes or so as soon as I wake up to force the brain to work, and usually at night for 45 mins or so. I deal out 1-3 hands with a dealer up-card. I play all hands and then play the dealer's hand at the end to simulate game play. After doing this for 2 months now, I am somewhere near 105-110% accurate with my basic strategy on 1,2,6 decks.

Yesterday I decided that I was ready to begin learn to count and learn to hold a running count. Of course, because it is the beginning stage of this portion of my learning, establishing a running count is somewhat more difficult starting out than basic strategy ever was. I am able to count down a deck within 45 seconds, slow I know, but once I start dealing out hands, for some reason or another, adding or subtracting becomes a great challenge. In the book, Play Blackjack Like the Pros, Blackwood states to use the terms "mi 1" instead of "minus 1", because it is less to think about or to something of that nature. I try that but then 1/2 way through Im back to saying "minus". and shortly after that my count is off. I know I'm in the beginning stages of adding the running count into my game but are there any methods that you guys have used to simplify putting it all together? For instance, I heard somewhere online to start off a new deck/shoe at 10 so that your count most likely will stay in the positive, but to remember to adjust to the correct running count when finding the true count(which I am not ready for yet).

I'm not looking for quick fixes because there aren't any when learning this stuff. Rather, I'm looking for different approaches that some of you have used when introducing counting to your game. For example; Instead of learning basic strategy from the square box chart which confused the hell out of me, I typed out in word form, hard sets, split sets, and soft sets with explanations on the correct plays and found that much more understandable in written style that the boxed excel style. I've put some time into my education with regards to blackjack and because of that, I know that I'm realistically not ready and neither is my bankroll, for the tables for another few months at least. Just any tips or quick hints understanding the running count slightly easier would be greatly appreciated.

Chef

[Bodarc]

http://www.blackjackinfo.com/blackjack-school/

[NotEnoughHeat]

There's a few little tricks that can help your counting. If you're using high low, just plain ignore neutral cards (7-8-9). They don't exist.
While it can make a good drill counting cards 1 at a time, try counting in pairs (I personally do pairs of non-neutral cards). Your pairs (if you're excluding neutrals) will either be -2, 0 or +2. You'll be able to count a lot faster by breezing through those 0 combinations.

[Nikky_Flash]

I wrote out the parts that were difficult for me by hand , and taped it to my labtop , so everytime I checked my email or something , I made myself memorize more ,
As parts were memorized , I would cut it down with scissors , or remake it , and tape up a smaller portion next time.
for example , Soft plays were my difficulty ,
as I memorized A2 , and A3 , plays I either cut those off the bottom , or I wrote out again the chart for A4 - A7 , and taped it to my labtop - memorized those , cut it again , and again , until it was gone .
there was a encouraging force to not have a bunch of paper taped all over my computer , so that way I finished by basic strat -
the more and more you count , trust me the easier and easier it gets ... the power of the brain when trained to do something over and over again - is much stronger than you think it is ... even if you think you are having problems , as you sleep and eat , your brain is making new electric connections to account for all this blackjack counting and strategy ...
keep up what you are doing and you will be ok ,

[ohbehave]

Don't waste energy thinking "plus" or "minus" with each card, just the number. After doing it a while you just know which side of 0 you are on. Picture a number line with 0 in the center. When there is a pause in action I might remind myself plus or minus if the count is near 0 but not if its away from 0.

When the count is near 0 I'll sometimes look at a spot on the table I'll call "minus" then I can glance at that spot each time the count goes minus to keep myself reminded.

If you get Casino Verite you can practice hundreds of rounds a day quickly and it'll happen pretty fast.

[Three]

Learn to count cards in large groups at a glance. Cards that cancel each other out to zero disappear. Just a couple cards left to count. You might see a T,T a 9,7 a 6,5 a T,6 and the dealers upcard of 9. At a glance a HILO player knows these add to 0. The T,T and the 6,5 cancel. The T,6 hand cancels itself and the rest are neutral cards. With a modest amount of practice that is an easy cancelation counting 9 cards in a split second as 0.

[MidwestTom]

Find a partner that's just as interested as you are in learning/beating the game and take all of your skills that you've learned this far to the kitchen table . Play there for 2-3 months and then give the live low limit games a shot . Going to the tables underprepared ( can't finish an entire shoe effectively using hi-lo/ not able to calculate true count into your play/ getting frustrated and over betting/ undisciplined/ under funded) will do nothing but dig yourself in a hole before you get rolling . In the past 3 months I've taught some guys my age how to count/ramp accordingly/ and all and all play a discipline game and we're all playing a profitable game . Don't step in a casino with a itchy palm unless your at 100%

[mofungoo]

Turn a shuffled deck face-up and push the cards from your left hand to your right. Focus on counting 2 cards at a time, and practice, practice, and practice some more. I wouldn't try to go to the casino to count until I could count a deck in 25 seconds or less. Preferably less. Your accuracy must be 100%.

[Chef]

Well I have to say that I greatly appreciate all of the replies and comments so far and i can tell you guys that everything that you have mentioned has helped greatly in just the past 2 practice sessions I have had today. I decided to try and count in pairs and train my brain to automatically cancel out pairs that equal to zero. What a difference in the amount of time gained not have to individually count pairs that equal to zero. As automatic as basic strategy. I also find that I am now in a way scanning the table playing connect the dots if you will, trying to cancel out or double any pairs, so I'm left with a few single cards to count. I am starting out with a single hand against a dealer. Having a bit of mental confusion holding a count and then switching to basic and then keeping the running count. I'm sure you guys have been there with the brain trying to reject all of the action going on but the more I do it the more I can force the brain to accept it all. The speed is nowhere in sight right now. It's just the beginning part of this stage and I can tell that this may take a while longer than basic strategy, but prior planning prevents poor performance.

Thank again for all of the suggestions and tips everyone!

Chef

[Three]

Practice, practice practice. Everything will be second nature with enough practice.

[bossman]

If you find yourself losing the plus or minus, try counting the minus in Spanish or French or something and the plus in English. Actually, choose any two languages you are familiar with, because S,F, & E may not be your preferences.
As Tthree says, read the cards in pairs. Practice flopping the deck out by two card hands without looking at them as you do it. Then scan what you have all at once. When you can get the full six hand count in a couple seconds, you won't be an AP that studies every move the dealer makes.
From my perspective, why would you be intent on every card as it comes out???? Just a general appearing interest looks less like you are trying to keep an exact count. Nervous people make me nervous, and you don't want me paying attention.

[blyoy]

Everything will be second nature with enough practice.

[Casino Kid]

I've found this website to be helpful for practicing Hi-Lo counting: gamesodo.com/Games/13798/card-counting-practice

ADMIN EDIT: I removed the link, but left up the url. McAffee says it is a dangerous site. Proceed at your own risk.