How fast and accurate are you with your count?

[RS]

Haven't counted down a deck in quite a while. I remember usually being in the 15-20 second range. It absolutely isn't the only nor best way to practice, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't ever do it. It's a good way to warm-up your brain.

Something I used to do to warm-up, while driving to the casino, is start at 0, then count by 1's up to 20 or 30, then down to -20 or -30 (M-20 or M-30). Then the same thing, but by 2's (all evens). Then by 2's but all odds. Then by 3's starting at 0, 1, and 2. Then by 4's, starting at 0, 1, 2, and 3. (I use Zen so biggest 2-card count is +4 to -4.) Surprisingly, this helped quite a bit.

For what it's worth, can do a Rubik's Cube in 90-120 seconds, although never bothered to learn the advanced way to do it.

[moo321]

Not even sure how to move through all the cards in 8 seconds but it sure beats any record I have seen. Can you spell Rainman......

Move at the speed of your hands, not the speed of your brain. You move the cards as fast as possible and force your brain to process. Don't think "count the cards, then fan more cards." Just start fanning them, and drag your brain along for the ride. It will get faster as you do this.

I'm definitely not the best. I think Daryl Purpose was like 4-5 seconds, but he may have had the deck spread face up.

[Bigdaddy]

Move at the speed of your hands, not the speed of your brain. You move the cards as fast as possible and force your brain to process. Don't think "count the cards, then fan more cards." Just start fanning them, and drag your brain along for the ride. It will get faster as you do this.

Similarly, for those pistol enthusiasts - it's like shooting the steel plate competition. When trying to improve your speed, you fire at each plate as fast as you can. Don't make the mistake of trying to line up each shot. That takes to much time. Your brain (and muscle memory) will automatically set the sights where they need to be...

[BigJer]

I'm definitely not the best. I think Daryl Purpose was like 4-5 seconds, but he may have had the deck spread face up.

He must have. NO ONE'S hands can turn over that fast. But still! 4 - 5 secs?!?!?!

[Stevie Wonder]

I'm consistently between 16-17 seconds. While canceling is more important, I've found thumbing through to help tremendously. When I'm running through, I read 2-4 cards at a time really increasing my scan/cancel speed.

[bejammin075]

Is it acceptable to do the count with the deck in one hand, shifting the cards to the other hand?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[moo321]

Is it acceptable to do the count with the deck in one hand, shifting the cards to the other hand?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's how you should do it.

[bejammin075]

I'm very rusty, it's been a few years. I can count Wong Halves (-2 1 2 2 3 2 1 0 -1 -2), with a balanced Ace-Ten side count (4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1). After some warmup, I counted 15 decks. Averaged 23 seconds. Best = 20 sec, worst = 27 sec. I miscounted 3 points out of 1800 points (15 decks x 120 points per deck). My hands max out at 16 seconds, so I can never count faster than that. If I don't have a side count, I used to easily stay at 18 seconds or less. With the side count and not rusty, I can average 21 seconds, sometimes getting down to 17 seconds.

[mofungoo]

Using Hilo I count between 10-14 seconds. I count 2 cards at a time, the last 6 or 7 cards I fan and count these together. Maybe one error per 50 decks.

Spreading half a deck like it would appear on a face-up table I get 2-3 seconds.

[Three]

I see several slower than 30 seconds. While speed is not a critical factor you shouldn't be 30 seconds or slower. Accuracy is paramount but you need to be comfortable keeping up with at least most dealers and hopefully the fastest dealers you face. If not you must control the game speed not the dealer. Slowing the game down does have a cost to your hourly win rate.

[moo321]

I'm very rusty, it's been a few years. I can count Wong Halves (-2 1 2 2 3 2 1 0 -1 -2), with a balanced Ace-Ten side count (4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1). After some warmup, I counted 15 decks. Averaged 23 seconds. Best = 20 sec, worst = 27 sec. I miscounted 3 points out of 1800 points (15 decks x 120 points per deck). My hands max out at 16 seconds, so I can never count faster than that. If I don't have a side count, I used to easily stay at 18 seconds or less. With the side count and not rusty, I can average 21 seconds, sometimes getting down to 17 seconds.

This is simply not an optimal approach for the amount of brainpower you're expending. Hi Opt II would perform better with similar effort.