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Thread: Why practice 3 card counting combinations?

  1. #1


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    Why practice 3 card counting combinations?

    Was reading an article and saw that it recommended practicing counting triple card counting combinations(ie 3 cards at a time).

    Was wondering if that practice is targeted toward some specific situation(s)?

    I know that practicing two card combinations is mostly for the initial deal, to count down the table in pairs, and single card is for situations outside that.

    Guess I'm wondering if triple is supposed to be aimed at Heads-Up play against the dealer or is it because most hands end in 3 cards or less? Or is there something else I'm missing?

  2. #2


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    It helps expand the brain. Practice at 110% so when you do the real thing at 100%, it's easy. At least that's the only good reason I can think of, other than if you're not paying attention or you're back counting and need to count the entire table with possibly many hit cards dealt in an instant, it'll be easier then.
    "Everyone wants to be rich, but nobody wants to work for it." -Ryan Howard [The Office]

  3. #3


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    When playing, you are carrying multiple 'counts' in your head. The running count. True count. And the total of the cards you have to determine your next action. With multiple things going on, you really want to minimize any calculating. Better if you can just see a 'pattern' and know instantly that your cards total to 16 (or whatever), rather than having to go through the extra mental step of adding the hand. I'll bet you already have that instant recognition with the first two cards. Well, the idea is to be able to do that with 3 or even 4 cards.

    I once asked an experienced dealer how she knew the card totals so fast when she was picking up bets or paying out after she played out her hand. (You've probably seen dealers who can look at your 4-card hand and they seem to instantly know if you won or lost.) And yet, newer dealers have to pause and recount your hand. Her reply: "You see the patterns, and just know." As players, we want to see a group of cards and "just know." That leaves your brain free to be aware of other things, such as, "Am I being watched by a floor person?" You get the idea. Also, fewer mistakes if the brain can just recognize a total rather than having to calculate a total. There's already enough going on----minimize the calculating.

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    Only slightly tangential ...

    I teach MY METHOD of "counting down" a deck of cards.

    Take a deck of cards and remove 2 random cards.

    'Face Up' do a "running count." At first, count slowly.

    You are looking for accuracy. Later, speed will become

    important, but not initially.

    When you have completed 'counting down' 50 of the 52 cards, you

    must identify the possible two-card hands. Obviously, at that point,

    the hidden cards are turned face up. That part forces the student

    to think about the cards in a different fashion.

    When proficiency (defined as >95% accuracy) is reached in this

    slow-motion exercise, he must move to counting two (2) cards at a time.

    Success leads to counting three (3) cards, and then four (4) at a time.


    By then you can move to timing yourself. Thirty (30) seconds per deck

    is the long-accepted benchmark.

    By learning (my way) a very important skill is developed. That of being

    able to [seemingly] NOT look at the cards as they are dealt, but just

    scanning ALL of the dealt cards. BELIEVE ME. This is certainly a

    priceless
    skill for a card counter to master.

    Amateur Card Counters expose themselves to a skilled Pit Critter

    by the movement of their eyes and their rapt concentration on the

    dealt cards.
    Last edited by ZenMaster_Flash; 02-02-2018 at 04:48 PM.

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