Counting Practice

Does anyone have any counting drill or practices that i could use to increase my counting speed? Right now i am stuck on running down a single deck in about 40-45 seconds. I read that i need to be around 25 seconds before be effective. Any tips?

You're doing just fine. Counting down in deck in x seconds is meaningless. Playing in a casino is all the practice you need.

Soldier530,

Obviously what revereman said is spot on. X seconds are for $#%^ if you can't count live at the tables. Swing by your local casino, don't bring any cash, and try backcounting.

These 2 pointers will also help bring your speed down dramatically:

1. Hold the deck upside down, so you are looking at the faces of the cards and not their backs.

2. Now fan through the cards instead of flipping over one at a time. Additionally, practice counting in pairs. So instead of counting each single card at a time, learn to see (for Hi-Lo) 2,4 as +2, and 10,A as -2, and so on and so forth.

If you practice in this way, you'll cut your time in half in about a week if you want to.

Ian

Ok. Thank you for the input. I will just take my game to the casino and start practicing back counting and maybe play some low limits just to tighten my skills up.

Being in the game or around the game would be the best practice. :)

Again thank you for the help and tips!

I agree that playing in a casino is the best practice but must disagree with the statement that the speed you can count a deck is meaningless.

25 seconds to count a deck of card is a well established benchmark arrived at by peopled with much more knowledge then myself. From my experience once you feel comfortable counting at a casino without much effort you will be able to count a deck in 25 seconds. Or the other way around, once you can count a deck in 25 seconds you will be ready to be able to count without much effort at a casino.

You will almost never need to be able count that fast but it is a drill to improve you skill for counting. I have had a few dealers that came close to the deck in 25 seconds in live play.

I also agree with the other posters comments about hold the deck face up during the counting drill. You are measuring how fast you can count cards not how fast you can turn them over. Count cards in pairs and groupings is also a way to make things easier and increase your speed.

My recommendation is to get to counting a deck in 25 seconds before betting any large amounts of money at a casino. It is only human nature to want to start using your new skill in a casino but I would suggests you pratice more on this drill. It is one of the best measure of your skill level.

Im not in a hurry to get to the casinos so i think i will just continue to collect advice and practice my counting for now. I practice about an hour every day so i dont think it will take that long to feel comfortable enough to try my skills at the tables. I will take your advice and count the cards face up though. I have been flipping them over and it dies take longer.

Thank you again!

Thanks to your guyses help im down to 28 seconds already. :)

Every book wrtten says you need to be able to count a deco in about 25 seconds. And the all say that one shouldn't hit the casinos until you can consistently do so

The CVBJ software, (see "www.qfit.com"), is an invaluable practice aid. The counting drills are far more effective than counting down a deck,(at least in my opinion). And the playing practice is very realistic.
If you don't have it, get it. It's worth every cent.

If he can count down a deck in 40 seconds, that means he has some proficiency at it. He will get down to 25 seconds (which I still think has no validity, but let's assume that it does), much faster in a casino than at home flipping cards. The dealer can't make any moves until each player make a decision, so if he hesitates, too bad. Makes him seem like he doesn't know what he is doing. I've never counted down a deck at home and have always done just fine, although I imagine I was slower when I first started playing. And I'm just a regular guy. If he gets a really fast dealer, he should just change tables. I do agree with others that he should play for small stakes until he gets totally comfortable in the casino environment.

But maybe you were referring to identifying art DECO paintings in the casino, and you might be right on that one. :)

every time i try and install it it tells me that i need to update my OS.

Try and flip over one card at a time, w/o counting. I can barely do 25s. I have never had a problem in any casino keeping up with any dealer. 2 at a time, flipping the deck when I start I took 27s. This is one step to being able to count in a casino, w/o being obvious.

hoo-rah soldier on the 25s. You have now graduated to first grade. There is so much more for you to learn, I'm sure u already know that. Get it all down, but Revereman is right about getting out there. Especially if you don't have many other commitments, i.e. family, debt, rent/mortgage.
Good Cards,
Tripsix

Contact Norm Wattenberger at support@qfit.com. He should be able to help and is very prompt with replies.

20 seconds is a better benchmark, but noobies never realize that that countdown is done face up, 2 or more cards at a time.

You only need to count cards fast enough to keep up with the dealer, which includes making any necessary true count conversion. I do not believe that this requires less than 25 seconds per deck. And I doubt that most respected books, or most successful card counters, would so state.