Staying Focused After A Loss

[Dieter]

suddenly switch to minimum bets and BS when you have lost the count and are now playing minimum bets. I lose count sometimes when pit or ploppies start a conversation.

Sounds like it exactly mimics what a basic strategy / betting progression player would do - Start over at a low bet after losing a big bet. If they were getting cocky and going "off book", revert to doing it "right".

[Blitzkrieg]

It sounds like you are not ready to do battle with the casino in 6D blackjack if you have problems hanging onto the count, maybe your trying to do to much with the ace side counting and spreading out to two hands when you lose the count sounds like a bad idea. I don't think you should get frustrated if you don't see aces & faces during a high count, I would rather see double down cards that push the count higher.

[Blitzkrieg]

I can count though, that's the thing. I can run down a single deck one flip at a time in 27-30 seconds, without any mistakes. However, it doesn't matter how FAST I am, I need efficiency ... I will be at a local place of mine later today and I will not participating in table talkk.. I can do it, I have to put all distractions aside and really FOCUS .. I will keep you all updated .

So you have corrected your problem within an hour of your original posting of losing the count 75% of the time in 6D and your going back to the casino later today? Let me know how much you donate.

[winnawinna]

First off you should never lose discipline and leave your game plan. If you do you aren't ready for casino play. If you can't handle talking to people then don't. If you lose count it is time to find another table or if you are near the end of the shoe play min bet until the shoe is over or you can ask for some lammers and take a bathroom break. You should never be expecting a certain card. Even the most likely card to show, a T, is more likely not to show. You do your action and react to the result with another action. Emotion should never come in other than maybe a show of emotion. You must realize some days you are just going to get killed. Time and time again the most unlikely things will occur to make you lose. If you can't handle it you aren't ready. If you can't trust the math that says its all about getting the bets down at the appropriate time. Anything can happen in the short run but you get enough hands in at a particular advantage and the results for that bet will approach expectation. That is unless of course you deviate from the plan as you have described.

Tthree is right on with this. If you are getting emotional and losing the count, you are not ready for casino play. I play like a robot at the tables...hitting when Im supposed to hit, raising my bets when the count gets high etc. We have the exact same chance of getting the high cards as the dealer during the high counts. Also with many shoe games, there are a lot of cards left during those high counts. With the pen the way it is these days, there is no guarantee that 75% of the remaining cards will be high cards. The high cards may be locked up behind the cut card that we will never get to during a shoe. You also need to be very fluent in keeping the count. That means having open conversations with other people. Also assign words to yourself that correlate to the count because if you have to speak about numbers like "I cant believe the dealer got 3 sevens in a row" etc, that cannot throw you off with remembering the count.

[winnawinna]

Tom you say that you will be playing later today and really concentrating "with no table talk" Well in my opinion you need to be having conversations with other people even if they are just a few seconds long while the dealer shuffles. One of my biggest advantages is being able to "take of picture" of the cards on the table and out it into my short term memory. This way I can still be distracted and keep the count.

[Three]

One of my biggest advantages is being able to "take of picture" of the cards on the table and out it into my short term memory. This way I can still be distracted and keep the count.

I do this. Sometimes it comes in real handy if the cards are swept away before you finish counting but I mostly do it so I am not staring at the cards while I am counting. Just get that image in your head and turn away and count the cards that are in the mental image. You can act like you are doing anything else like counting chips or watching TV. You just don't look like you are counting.

[Blitzkrieg]

I can count though, that's the thing. I can run down a single deck one flip at a time in 27-30 seconds, without any mistakes. However, it doesn't matter how FAST I am, I need efficiency ... I will be at a local place of mine later today and I will not participating in table talkk.. I can do it, I have to put all distractions aside and really FOCUS .. I will keep you all updated .

But your not playing SD, your playing 6D. It sounds like your trying to avenge a loss. Maybe by counting down 50 6D shoes without a mistake and playing/counting 10,000 player hands you may have a better shot of achieving the efficiency you seek in a 6D game before you hit the felt.

Instead of flipping one card at a time like you do for a SD, flip 2 cards at a time when counting 6D and count the cards in pairs. Or you can break 6D's into 6 piles and do a turnover and count down the 6 individual decks without any flipping for faster results, granted that you can do a turnover with the cards.

[stopgambling]

To playing winning is not just counting down decks . You have to play the under distraction, adversity with discipline and a well prepared game plan. Basically like a robot without much emotion. You would not play it exactly as in a book if necessary. How many hours have you devoted to the game? I have devoted around 300-500 hours before i even think I am ready.

[Ouchez]

To playing winning is not just counting down decks . You have to play the under distraction, adversity with discipline and a well prepared game plan. Basically like a robot without much emotion. You would not play it exactly as in a book if necessary. How many hours have you devoted to the game? I have devoted around 300-500 hours before i even think I am ready.

Hey! Emotion is good That is,, the right kind, controlled kind, COVER kind.

O

[SiMi]

Hi, Tom

Not trying to be a bummer here but...

It's really sobering when you realize that, even if the TC is +18, you still win only 44% of the individual hands at that count (per Norm's online book "Blackjack in Color"). There is just no way to accurately predict what is coming out of the shoe at any moment. If you do so, IMHO, you are distracting yourself and setting yourself up for unnecessary disappointment.

You get ahead by having the big money out when you have the edge so you can capitalize on 3:2 BJ, DD and splits, and NOT having it out when you do NOT have the edge. Trying to burn through the "bad" shoes with 2X min. bet doesn't seem like a good idea to me unless you have a monster spread that makes the 2x min.bet insignificant.

The edge in card counting is VERY thin and relies on the Long Run of Gaming Theory. It takes patience and a plan to see it pan out...

Best of luck to you!
SiMi

[MidwestTom]

First things first, you are not alone. This would happen to me quite frequently early on for a different reason, but the whole losing track of the count thing, happened often. I knew enough from previous years of play as a basic strategy guy, to simply default back to basic strategy until either I saw way too many big carts by comparison to little cards, or until a new shoe presented itself.

That being said, do not get caught up with the count in your head if you lose it. Always revert back to the last information you gathered. Say, you had a +6RC and lost track, you remembered you saw a few more big cards than little cards. Go ahead and err on the side of caution and start back at a +2 RC or +0RC depending on how you want to approach it, and begin again. You'll obviously want to adjust your play if you really get lost, but at worst you can start your information back at zero with a mild idea of whether the count previously was positive or negative, and then adjust your play accordingly.

I will say though, you are going to benefit heavily from practice as you seem to be encountering a mental block, more than anything, and those can be overcome with practice and repetition.



Solid advice.

Very solid advice.. I'm glad there was at least one person that posted something on the lines of losing the count, and although you lost count, you see a certain pattern in the cards and adjust your bet based on that.

[MidwestTom]

You get ahead by having the big money out when you have the edge so you can capitalize on 3:2 BJ, DD and splits, and NOT having it out when you do NOT have the edge. Trying to burn through the "bad" shoes with 2X min. bet doesn't seem like a good idea to me unless you have a monster spread that makes the 2x min.bet insignificant.

The edge in card counting is VERY thin and relies on the Long Run of Gaming Theory. It takes patience and a plan to see it pan out...

Best of luck to you!
SiMi

OK. After reading you guys posts from the day the 2 hand thing that I THOUGH was beneficial is obviously not going to pay off in the long run.. I get it. 1 hand only because 2x table min is too much of a risk ……

[MidwestTom]

Tom, so you are playing 6d and side counting aces?,, and you are losing the count often, hmmm,,,,I would say to you to switch to Hi-Lo, a simpler count that for sure gets the job done. There is also something called, Zoning, great athletes, golfers, and AP's often use this mental technique to become "One" with the game, I suggest you look into both these suggestions to stabilize your game.

Done with the two spot crap after facing the facts of what you guys wrote and chewed me up for all day.. Also very good point about simple hi-lo opposed to trying to side counting ace's.. I should have been reverted back to focusing solely on hi-lo