Law/Counting crossover article
Worth reading:
Worth reading:
and his description of counting cards so clear!
Apparently Bill Clinton can watch tv, eat a meal, read the newspaper, hold a conversation and talk on the telephone all at the same time: it is a technique. I myself think it is a modern form of voodoo. Kind of like the up-to-date girl I once dated, who, while I made love to her, always insisted on demonstrating her powers of dexterity by talking to her mother on the 'phone, cooking a meal, ironing the clothes and balancing her weekly budget. I had to admire her cleverness, but couldn't abide the thought of a woman like that being Mother to my children.
I know it is a controversial issue, the old nature/nurture argument. From my own point of view I consider card counting as a means, not an end. A pedagogical tool, if you like, to achieve intense focus in the casino. I am positive this is already evident to many, many counters, so I only say it because I once trusted IN systems, thinking the SYSTEM was the answer...modern voodoo.
Imagine playing a game against someone who is half asleep. Dull. In the casinos we have a keen opponent, which is what an honest game requires. Some people find CHALLENGE entertaining, exciting and fun. Sometimes it appears casinos think that unless you are a drunk ploppy you must not be having fun. yet there is such a thing as SERIOUS fun.
That's all.
It is totally unbelievable that the author writes he knows someone who claims to be able to memorize 8 decks dealt randomly and be able to recall every card in the same sequence!?!. Amazing it is. I would have to witness this miracle myself to belive it to be TRUE!
Of course this brain also has a book he is trying to promote... anything for a sale.
Furthermore it is virtually impossible to know when an exact card, such as the ace of hearts, is going to be dealt by shuffle tracking it's exact location.
S.T. can only be used effectively by a weak dealer shuffle that allows for a CLUMP(not one single card)
to be located at an APPROXIMATE location.
No one wonder why casinos are paranoid, they are stupid enough to beleive this internet nonsense!!
SUCH RUMORS ONLY HURT US,NOT HELP US.
iF HOUDINI does exist, he is 1 in a million...if that.
It is totally unbelievable that the author writes he knows someone who claims to be able to memorize 8 decks dealt randomly and be able to recall every card in the same sequence!?!. Amazing it is. I would have to witness this miracle myself to belive it to be TRUE!
The "someone" is Dominic O'Brien, a well-known authority on memory and professional gambler. The casinos here in Britain are absolutely terrified of him.
The 8 deck memorization feat is carried out regularly at the world memory championships-its such a common ability its little more than parlour trick, its been demonstrated thousands of times by many individuals under controlled conditions.
Of course this brain also has a book he is trying to promote... anything for a sale.
Anyone who has read Dominic's work knows how valuable his information is-both generally and at the blackjack tables. You should research a little before making ill-informed comments on respected and pioneering theorists.
Furthermore it is virtually impossible to know when an exact card, such as the ace of hearts, is going to be dealt by shuffle tracking it's exact location.
S.T. can only be used effectively by a weak dealer shuffle that allows for a CLUMP(not one single card)
to be located at an APPROXIMATE location.
The article talks about ace or card location. Its a different technique to what you describe as "shuffle tracking" and involves locating a specific card via the nonrandom nature of the riffle. With a perfect memory and ideal conditions it is quite possible to predict a subsequent card with a hit ratio of 100%.
The method was created by Edward Thorp and is both empirically verifiable and scientifically valid.
I'm sorry Mr. May but being able to memorize 8 decks in sequence is a little more than a mere parlour trick.
I am interested in traveling to Europe and witness the World Class Memory Championship contest for myself.
No offence to you John, but I will find it amazing if there really are thousands of europeans who can memorize 8 decks. Please post were the contest is being held.
Thanks,
anon#7@USA
TV talk shows sometimes have people on who can memorize strings of 100 digit numbers in a minute or two. It is a memory trick and I see know reason why it couldn't be transfered to cards instead of numbers.
I think the reason why you post as 'anon' is not to let others know how closed minded you are. Never heard of key card locating or card steering? Must not exist then.
Unsurprisingly the Memoriad where O'Brien competed was in London. You can see more of how the tests were conducted here.
The ability to memorize decks of cards is not limited to Europeans, memoriads are held in the US also and similarly gifted individuals exist.
TV talk shows sometimes have people on who can memorize strings of 100 digit numbers in a minute or two. It is a memory trick and I see know reason why it couldn't be transfered to cards instead of numbers.
I think the reason why you post as 'anon' is not to let others know how closed minded you are. Never heard of key card locating or card steering? Must not exist then.
If the digits are just 0's and 1's, as they often are, you don't need a perfect memory just an understanding of binary-the language computers use.
It takes 8 binary digits to form a typical decimal number of 1-3 digits. You simply convert all those 0's and 1's to decimal and find you only have to remember a dozen numbers instead of 100. I've done this at parties.
I mention this because Domininic O'Brien has a genuinely advanced memory beyond this sort of trickery-he converts dry, lifeless data into a vivid, surreal and personal storyline, making it easy to recall.
If for no other reasons, then at least so we can all understand the distinctions between shuffle tracking, card sequencing, and card steering :)
It is rather ridiculous for me to explain to you why memorizing the sequence of 8 decks is an amazing talent. Any ordinary minded person would be very impressed to say the LEAST. I would even be TOTALLY IMPRESSED if I stumbled across a little fella that could memorize 1 deck. Perhaps you have a mind that is very difficult to impress. One where nothing is a big deal. Someone runs a rack of pool blindfolded using his sense of smell.
No big deal?
I, for one, am seriously impressed! I would have never guessed that this was really possible. Thanks, John, for pointing this out.
Can you recommend additional websites or books about this?
If you use octal (base eight, uses only digits 0-7) or hexadecimal(base 16 uses all 10 digits and letters a-f to represent 10-15), each group of 3(for octal) or 4 (for hexadecimal) binary digits converts to a single octal or hexadecimal digit. No carrying is necessary.
Go to the popular psychology section of one of those mega-bookstores you find in the States and you will see a whole shelf devoted to advanced memory techniques. They all basically promote the same method-turn data into a vivid imagery and construct a story around that imagery.
I don't know whether Dominic's stuff can be easily obtained but if it can't you might try purchasing his "How to develop a perfect memory" and "Learn to remember" from amazon.
I remember struggling with assembly language in the 80's, which always used hexadecimal notation. Could never understand it.
Now I have a few more brain cells maybe I could manage it.
Being able to recite the exact sequence of cards through 8 decks would not give old Dominic an advantage. He'd also have to USE the information. He'd have to incorporate what he's seen dealt into a system which would indicate advantage and also indicate deficiencies and excesses of cards.
Do the casinos in Britain fear Mr. O'Brien because he has proven to be an advantage player or because they happened to spot him on news shows?
Being able to recite the exact sequence of cards through 8 decks would not give old Dominic an advantage. He'd also have to USE the information. He'd have to incorporate what he's seen dealt into a system which would indicate advantage and also indicate deficiencies and excesses of cards.
The key word here is "sequence". Dominic doesn't bother with multi-paramater counts-they don't help much with the British game.
However, he was using location strategies before they were widely publicized. To someone with his skills card location is significantly more powerful than the crude methods used by most practioners of this art. With the standard British shuffling practices he'd be winning money virtually at will.
Dominic gained a fairly universal barring from the British casinos long before he decided to blow his cover or begin writing. I believe he still plays on the continent.
I wish the sceptical critics would lose the sarcastic tone. This is probably one of the finest living blackjack players we are talking about.
Someone was posting a few years back about memory. Here is a demo I saw multiple times by a world-famous chess player George Koltinowski:
First, there is a test known as the "knight's tour". The idea is to move the knight from square to square on a normal 8x8 chess board, with the stipulation that the knight must visit every square one time, and can not land twice on _any_ square.
"Kolty" had an incredible memory and he gave this demo many times.
He would take a large chessboard, and ask members of the audience to give him an "identifier" for each square. A 10-digit phone number, a social-security number, an employee number, a license-plate number, a name, anything you choose.
After being given these 64 different "things" he would then cover his eyes, and give a knight's tour naming each square the knight would hit, using the names given by the audience. To check, he had a helper with a big marker that would mark off each square (the chess board was on a big sheet of paper) as he named it. His helper had more trouble finding each square than Kolty had so he would give both the "name" of the square and the algebraic coordinate (ie a1-h8, files are a-h, ranks are 1-8) so that his helper could find it easier. This would leave you shaking your head.
I also saw him take a deck of cards, run thru it quickly (as you might do in counting down the deck) then hand it to someone and recite the cards in order. I have no idea if he could do more than 1 deck, but he most likely could based on the 64 squares
I was simply browsing old posts here and ran across this 2001 thread. There are people with incredible memories. I've had the pleasure to know at least two...
I believe George died years ago, but I'm sure there are web references to him scattered around the chess world...
Dees is all da tools used in da bunko racket.
