Practice :: ::
Almost all practice at home is 4-deck, face up, anywhere between one and four hands.
I'd say only a small fraction (5% ?) of practice hands at home have been dealt face down 1D, and long after learning to count. Thinking back, it seems that counting was so entrenched in my brain, and so much counting was done in clumps, that the transition seemed pretty smooth. As I said earlier, this was not because of brain capacity, it was just due to playing so many, many hands.
Also, as part of practice, I always finish counting down the remainder of the deck below the cut card, to check for accuracy.
No one on the thread has yet made a major comment that the noise, scenery, distractions, CWs, pit critter & dealer conversations are formidable, compared to practice at home. Somebody on this site once recommended that when practicing at home, play the teevee & the radio loudly, carry on a conversation with whomever might be there, and practice reciting the alphabet backwards while counting without moving your lips.
I can't do this exact routine - no teevee. :-)
Good luck
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