First outing

Had fun playing for an extended period of time. There were antes but all splits and doubles were free. Had a high running count of 15 on a big shoe. My first attempt counting resulted in me losing about $85. I misplayed of course and made many mistakes which I expected. My only question is to survey others about the question of stamina. I noticed after one shoe my brain was completely spent and I couldnt even count cards let alone tell what hands I had. I know it’s a loaded question considering everyone is different and it is a muscle at the end of the day, but I’m curious for the average player how many hours did it take for you to build up your stamina to go from one shoe to two, etc… Without your brain dissolving?

I could only count three hours a time at most. After that, I could not even properly verify if the chips were correctly paid out for me. 
 

Also, I find this description confusing to me, "There were antes but all splits and doubles were free." When you double, do you put down additional chips of yours onto the felt? In Free Bet Blackjack, player does these for free. 

It was free bet blackjack, so no additional chips to double or split. And stand on 17

It felt like my money went a lot further than it would without the free play. But I’m sure math would prove otherwise. But it was fun either way.

The house edge on free bet BJ is much higher than regular blackjack due to the push 22 rule and that's assuming you played the correct basic strategy.

The cost of the ante was probably even worse, depending on the size of your bet. For example, a $1 ante on a $100 bet is a 1% penalty, which is huge. The penalty is 4% on a $25 bet and 10% on a $10 bet.

https://wizardofodds.com/games/free-bet-blackjack/

Re-reading your initial post, it appears that you were trying to count this game. What data did you base your bets on? It is extremely likely that you were raising your bets while still at a significant disadvantage.

I practiced counting 6D shoes on my kitchen table for about 4 months before my first casino card counting session. I’m guessing I practiced on average an hour a day, 5-6 days a week.  Some days more, some days less. On  my first trip, I was able to count for about out an hour  before feeling like I should take a break. 

My point is that Free Bet blackjack is not blackjack. The (dis)advantage and standard deviation at each true count are different than for blackjack. The basic strategy is also different and I doubt you had any indices to use. So how did you know how much to bet and how to play your hands? On top of that, if the ante was $1, then your were playing with a significant additional penalty. You said your lost $85. If you played more than 85 rounds then your loss can be entirely attributed to the ante and you're probably lucky that you didn't lose more.

Free Bet with Pot of Gold can be countable just fine and doesn't catch much heat

Strong negative counts are strong pot of gold counts (more hard 11s)

Yeah, card counting takes a mental toll, especially early on. It took me a few weeks of practice to handle longer sessions without my brain frying. Start small, build up slowly, and take breaks when needed. Your brain’s like a muscle — the more you work it, the longer you’ll last. Just don’t overdo it at first!

Agreed, but the OP is clearly new and I strongly suspect that he was playing Free Bet as if it were ordinary BJ, and we know he was playing a game with an ante.

Thank you for the good feedback fellas. And to answer your question Gron, I was playing the game completely wrong, I was using an h17 strat when it was s17 with no index play and no proper betting ramp. So I consider myself lucky. However I plan on going back when I’m not such a dumb degen. S17 with a few index plays and a KO count will be an improvement over my failing to do division under pressure. win or lose at least I won’t be as dumb as my previous visit. Jumped the gun. I unfortunately only seem to learn the hard way, so it’s a valuable misfortune.

Where are you playing?