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Thread: Count each card individually as soon as they drop on the table or count pairs???

  1. #1


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    Count each card individually as soon as they drop on the table or count pairs???

    Hey buddies!

    I have just started learning counting and it's AWESOME! I am making less and less mistakes and upping the pace each day :-)

    But I wonder what technique is best to use and practice to become a winner at (land based) casinos over here...

    Right now I practice at online live casinos and I find it WAY easier to not count each individual card as soon as the dealer starts dealing them..... but to wait until each seat has been dealt one card and the dealer starts drawing to second to the first seat and so on.....

    So I basically begin counting as soon as the second 'hole card' has dropped at seat 1 and I then 'chase' the dealer and count the 'pairs' at each seat.

    By counting the pairs I find it WAY less stressful and I can easily 'cancel out' high and low cards to a 0 count and move on to the nex seat/pair, if you now what I mean...?

    If I try to count each individual card as soon as they drop I find it a bit of a 'rabbit race' or chase if you will...

    But then live casinos are quiet slow and I wonder if the pace at the real blackjack tables will allow me to wait and count 'pairwise'...

    How do you guys count (at local casinos)? Each card on the fly, or pairwise?

  2. #2


    1 out of 1 members found this post helpful. Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Not only should you count pairwise, but you should really wait until all the pairs on the entire table are dealt. That permits you to do even more canceling. If the first player has, say, J,Q, and the next has 3,6, why bother thinking "-2, zero," when you can just cancel all four cards and get on with your life! :-)

    Don

  3. #3
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    Practice by counting down decks of cards (face-up).
    When you can repeatedly do so with 100% accuracy,
    you progress to 2 cards at a time. Rinse and Repeat.
    When you can do that in about a half-minute, progress
    to grabbing 3 or 4 cards at a time. Practice. Practice.
    Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice.

  4. #4


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    One strange habit of mine that I've been unsure whether to re-train over is that I count pairs as the cards come out, so lengthwise the first card of each hand then the dealer up-card then the second card of each hand.

    Anyone have any opinion whether what I'm doing is fine the way it is or whether counting whole hands is really that much cognitively easier that it's worth the switch?

  5. #5


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    I agree with Don. I don't usually wait for the entire table to be dealt. But I do wait for at least two or three spots to get both their cards, because there is a lot of canceling that can be done which makes it much easier and faster to count.

  6. #6
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    Counting individual cards creates "room for error", it slows you down,
    and it makes your swiveling eye-movement more visible to pit critters.

  7. #7


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    Quote Originally Posted by ZenMaster_Flash View Post

    Counting individual cards creates "room for error", it slows you down,
    and it makes your swiveling eye-movement more visible to pit critters.
    I'm still going by two but I'd imagine what you've said still applies. I guess I'll make the switch.

  8. #8


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    Quote Originally Posted by NotEnoughHeat View Post
    I'm still going by two but I'd imagine what you've said still applies. I guess I'll make the switch.

    2's,3's,4's, but never 1

  9. #9


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    I have a much better time waiting for the 2nd card to come out. If i get a split hand i usually try to lock the count in my head and then just play the hand out and then go back and count the cards i got as the dealer finishes the rest of the table. Much easier than trying to play the hand while counting IMO. I also let the dealer draw completely out before i count theirs. If think i made a mistake, i will go backwards on the table as the dealer pays out and hopefully catch the cards. If i managed to miss a card or am not 100% sure i play conservative and take the lower number (+4 or +5? i take +4 if i am not 100% sure.) im still learning myself but this seems to work well.

  10. #10


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    I recommend counting as the 2nd card hits the felt.

    The MOST important thing is that you always count the cards the exact same way, in the same order. This avoids double-counting, or not counting, a card.

    This is much more important in face down games, where counting errors are more common.
    The Cash Cow.

  11. #11


    1 out of 1 members found this post helpful. Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Quote Originally Posted by bec88 View Post
    I have a much better time waiting for the 2nd card to come out. If i get a split hand i usually try to lock the count in my head and then just play the hand out and then go back and count the cards i got as the dealer finishes the rest of the table. Much easier than trying to play the hand while counting IMO. I also let the dealer draw completely out before i count theirs. If think i made a mistake, i will go backwards on the table as the dealer pays out and hopefully catch the cards. If i managed to miss a card or am not 100% sure i play conservative and take the lower number (+4 or +5? i take +4 if i am not 100% sure.) im still learning myself but this seems to work well.
    The closer you get to the end if the shoe, the worse this approach is. Assume for a moment a nicely dealt deep cut shoe. The closer you get to that cut card, the more volatile that deck becomes. There is a greater probability for needing an index play, which you may well miss with your approach - or the wrong index play.

  12. #12


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    My counting is just like the OP's. I tend to do a bit of acting/conversation as the round is finished, the dealer picks up cards, deals first round and then start counting right behind the dealer as he lays down the 2nd card. Sometimes, I can be a little more behind the dealer so the cancelling process can start.

    the most problems regarding losing the count happens when I have a max bet out, then splitting and resplitting plus a double or two. If it's a fast paced game, I have sometimes lost the count as I am calculating, making decisions regarding playing decisions and such. A time or two, I know the count is positive but unsure what it is after my spli/doubles, so I will still have a big bet out but now I am playing BS for playing decisions because I lost the exact count.

    i just have to get better at it. I must remember to slow it down a bit but then it appears that I am counting before completing my splits and such.

  13. #13


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    Quote Originally Posted by moo321 View Post
    I recommend counting as the 2nd card hits the felt.
    Great, I'm put to a decision again! Would you mind giving a bit of an explanation behind your stance?

    I don't have too much going for why I should keep doing this aside from this is what I'm used to. So it'd definitely take an extra nudge to send me to the other side but a small nudge back to keep me here.

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