Question For Those That Need Reading Glasses

[Bushido]

I am an older guy that must use reading glasses. If I am sitting at first or third base the cards at the other end are starting to fuzz out. Do you guys have a
pair of glasses made just to play BJ with or do you just use your everyday glasses? Thanks...

[Norm]

Tell your Optometrist what you want. You can get two pairs of glasses tuned to different depths. And they have some new techniques.

[Bushido]

I was thinking about getting a pair just for the BJ table...Thanks for the reply Norm...

[WRX]

There are reading glasses, and "reading" glasses. I have a pair made to focus at 62 inches. My ophthalmologist took my prescription for distance glasses, and just backed it off a notch.

[chemyst]

You should get bifocals. They focus close for reading(approx. arms length) AND
also focus for distance. They're very common for older people. My Dad wears them.

Chemyst

[Renzey]

I am an older guy that must use reading glasses. If I am sitting at first or third base the cards at the other end are starting to fuzz out. Do you guys have a
pair of glasses made just to play BJ with or do you just use your everyday glasses? Thanks...

What strength reading glasses do you normally use? My normal readers are 2.75. But for B/J, I use store bought 1.00 readers. They work nicely anywhere at the table as well as backcounting from 12 feet away. Try a pair for 10 bucks.

[greg16394]

What strength reading glasses do you normally use? My normal readers are 2.75. But for B/J, I use store bought 1.00 readers. They work nicely anywhere at the table as well as backcounting from 12 feet away. Try a pair for 10 bucks.

What is your eye-sight without glasses ? It's interesting to count from 12 feet away.

[Shoofly]

What strength reading glasses do you normally use? My normal readers are 2.75. But for B/J, I use store bought 1.00 readers. They work nicely anywhere at the table as well as backcounting from 12 feet away. Try a pair for 10 bucks.

I buy readers at Dollar Tree for $1.00. They have various strengths. I buy them by the handful and stash them all over the house. I am never more than a few steps from glasses.

[Renzey]

What is your eye-sight without glasses ? It's interesting to count from 12 feet away.

My distance vision is 20/25 (modestly worse than 20/20). I still drive and do all distance viewing without any glasses. But I find that with 1.00 readers, my distance viewing improves up to a distance of about 200 feet. With 1.25 readers, I'm fine at the table, but backcounting from a slot machine across the aisle is not as good as with 1.00's.

[PinkChip]

Hmmm, reading the cards from a distance of 12 feet, that is 4 yards or nearly 4 meters, sounds very unrealistic to me. Even if you have very good eyes: what if the sight is blocked, e.g. by the backs of the players? Then you have to move closer to the BJ table, don't you?

Of course recognizing face cards is easier than recognizing other cards. But you have to distinguish between 6 and 7 (using Hi-Lo count) or between 7 and 8 (using KO count) and do not see all pips when the cards are partly covered by other cards.

Another point is, and I have never read anything about this in any card counting book:
Does it matter what types of cards the casino is using? I mean I know and possess many
types of playing cards, mainly Bicycle and Bee. There are Standard Indices (small, but with large pictures on face cards), Jumbo Indices (large and wide, but the images of face cards are much smaller), and Tech Index cards (large but narrow indices, a good compromise and looking much better than the Jumbo Index cards).

Do expert card counters have any preferences regarding this? I have the impression
(at least from the movies "Rain Man" and "21"), that in the 1980s Standard Index cards
were prevalent and nowadays Tech Index cards, wheres the Jumbo Index is more often
used in Poker (and European casinos). What are your experiences?

[21forme]

Of course recognizing face cards is easier than recognizing other cards.

Not true if you read the pips.

[PinkChip]

Yes, but reading the pips from 12 feet distance? Is that possible with enough certainty? I can surely identify a face card from this distance provided that the image of the jack, queen or king is at least partially revealed. Which is not always the case.

[21forme]

Reading pips from 12 feet is pretty easy and my eyes aren't great. With practice, it becomes pattern recognition, not a count of individual pips as you see the card. I find picture cards more difficult from a distance - good thing they all count the same.