new and trying to get better

hello one and all,

ive been reading the posts the last week or so. i learned bs for 21 and hi-lo about 4 years ago to play out on the indian res. i havent played for about 2 yrs and im trying to get back into the action now that the res has live bj instead of a computer screen.

heres a prob that im facing, w/ the computer in the casino it announced your total so i didnt have to worry about the adding (yeah i know its not much to do but im afraid to lose count during the times i get 4 or more cards in my hand espec. w/ an ace or 2.) i want to play live where the real money is. im practicing playing out full hands vs. my fiance as dealer who remains silent. through 4 decks ive ended @ m1 each time. yes they are full decks. i know i sound really stupid right now, hence my name, (strangely enough my iq is over 135).

im asking one and all to pls write to inform me of tips and tricks to learn to help my accuracy. by the way, hey sighguy, how often do people really keep the count w/ the placement of their shoe, cigarette, etc?:)

thank you all for your time

damn you all that tell me to keep the count verbally.:)

well, time for me to comntinue practicing. take care you all and good cards to you.

"mongo is only hard sixteen against dealers up card ten in game of life." -copyright 2003

Instead you should keep a pad of paper on the table and keep the count on that. Seriously though you were asking for that one. I used to have the same problem but as I continued to play at the tables this problem has seemed to corrected itself. Try keeping the count with as many distractions as possible. The last time I was out I was able to have a pretty good conversation with the dealer and order my grapefruit juice without losing the count.

I guess it comes down to practice. At first I was having problems keeping the count while making decisions, then I couldn't do it when I had to add more than 4 cards. Try this, give yourself an ace and the dealer a random card with no hole card. Start counting and give yourself a second card and play it out, maintain the count. Sweep away everything but the Ace and the dealers up card, play the hand out again. Keep the count the whole time. Shuffle up but this time give the dealer a different up card. I think this will be a very difficult drill for you but once you master it you should be OK. Good luck.

hey sporkboy,

yeah i know i asked for the dumb comment. actually im disappointed, i was expecting much more and them being much worse. thanks for the tip, ill definetly (bad spelling) start that.

talk to you later,
mongo

In Million Dollar BJ, Ken Uston explained a simple system to keep a side count (of aces, not that it matters) without counting mentally. It involved moving & tilting one foot in a fixed pattern, then using to the other foot, etc. You can learn to do a quick Aces Adjustment fairly easily. He also suggested using the location within your betting square where you stack your chips as a way to communicate to a partner.

Instead of me explaining it, probably best for you to read it. Alternatively, I suppose you could do the Hokey Pokey or the Timewarp, again.

i never thought about feet to just keep track of the aces. that actually seems to possibly work (notice the "seem" and possibly"). once im playing again and playing correctly 100%, ill def. look into the ace count. as for right now im trying to keep w/ the basics of the basics and move up from there. im one of the intelligent few beginners who realize:
a) i DO NOT know it all-hence me asking this board
b) i will NEVER know it all
c) dont jump into the difficult counting systems (yet) -K.I.S.S-
d) learn,learn,learn

^^In Million Dollar BJ, Ken Uston explained a simplesystem to keep a side count (of aces^^

unfortunatly i lost my job about 6 months ago and am having a hard time acquiring books to further learn so itll take awhile to get MILL DOLL BJ and trust me the public library is of no help. only has 2 books by Wong and 1 book by Revere. i looked at a few other books but the ideas are either to old and will bring to much heat, or they have been proven entirely false (i.e. it does have GAMBLING SECRECTS OF NICK THE GREEK- i HAD to read that though).

pls keep sending me tips though, they are much appreciated.

may the schwartz be with you