Count cards or remember cards?

I am good at playing cards. For one deck, I can remember
all the big cards, such as 9-A. Is it useful? If yes,
how can I use it in BJ?
Or should I just use hi lo theory to count cards instead
of trying to remember them? Which one is better?
Thanks.

If you are telling the truth, can you change that around some.

Say, try and concentrate on remembering ALL the 2, 3, 4, 5, & 6s; espeacially the FIVES!

Then WHY NOT the ratios of Small to Big cards?

Then you'll have a great advantage.

Instead of remember big cards, I should remember the small cards?
But I can't remember the total card number that have been played.
So should I just estimate the cards left, and get the ratio of small
cards?

Go back to www.bj21.com's mail page, and click on the icon *bjschool*: then go to class!

Learn to count hi-lo according to regular methods as described in Professional Blackjack etc. Once you have a few months experience with that, with your talent, you should be able to add side counts one at a time, or remember keys for ace sequencing. Don't try and reinvent the wheel.

ETF

New and "improved" count systems are being thought up all the time. If you can play single deck and remember every card that comes out, then screw any hi-lo or KO strategy or any other estimating count system. You have the best knowledge that will allow you to kill the game.

We've discussed this before. You _still_ have to make a play decision, in real-time, when the dealer gets to you in the game. I had mentioned my old math teacher that used the actual probabilities. He was capable of remembering every card. I gave another example of a chess player that could take a shuffled deck of cards, run through them in under 10 seconds, and then recite them back in perfect order. But using that to make a playing decision is not easy. My old math teacher chose to use the influence of removing a card on the outcome of a hand, something that most counting systems try to estimate in very gross terms. IE HiLo uses +1 and -1, a pretty gross "rounding" of this influence (actual values can be found at wizardofodds.com). It is hard to take a count of 10 types of cards and use that to come up with a playing decision or a betting decision...

I am perfectly aware there are people who can remember every card. Before Thorp invented card counting, they were the only people who could beat the games of that era -- single deck dealt down to the last card. The very best advice given by the greatest card minds in the world gave the house an edge over 2% off the top. They could not have overcome that 2% with games we have today.

Just knowing the cards dealt doesn't teach you what to do with that information. And there's no utility in remembering suits and ranks of face cards unless you're sequencing -- which doesn't work against every dealer in every casino.

Reinventing the wheel is ridiculous. The wheel works extremely well for a variety of application. Making improvements to the wheel should be encouraged, but that can only be done by people who have thoroughly studied many current types of wheels along with theory and applications.

ETF

I think you should proclaim your dealer status in every post, or change your handle to "Richard the Dealer," so people will know not to contact you privately and divulge personal information. It would also help people understand how much weight to give your "advice."

ETF

But, it is important not to be closed minded to a fresh idea. A subject that seems silly today will seem genious tomorrow when there is a book published about it.

btw, Im a dealer

This idea has been around for along time. Peter Griffin used to keep side counts of 5 or 6 denominations. Maybe more.

Arnold has a count system based upon keeping multiple side-counts It was called �Arnold�s folly� or something like that. He wrote an article on it.

...any fresh idea. Not just this topic. I have a counting system but I don't have any numbers on it yet. I need to be sure it REALLY works. It is a very unbalanced system.