Having trouble improving my hilow count. Using couple of computer programs for this purpose but progress is slow. Can anyone get the time down to under 30 seconds???
I want move out with my bankroll but can only use OPP/Speed now.
Help
Don't get hung up on "under 30 seconds", it's not really necessary.
Cobbson
Take a 52 card deck face down and turn them over onto a table.
Get Norm's excellent Blackjack Verity Practice Drills app at www.qfit.com. It has several varieties of practice drills as well as the tables for most count systems. At $15 it is a steal.
Having an app on your phone is a great way to practice. I use it every time I am waiting for something (other than traffic) so I get in constant practice without taking time from other activities.
BJayCobbson gave you the best advice so far. I've never counted down a deck in my life and I have done just fine. Counting down a deck in your home has absolutely no correlation to casino conditions. If you have an aptitude for card counting, speed will come naturally, as BJ wrote. Good luck.
Do you practice cancelling out pairs of cards dealing from a deck of cards? It helps speed quite a bit.
There is so much going on at the table, both information to process and distractions, that whatever you can practice away from the table and do on autopilot gives your brain that much more bandwidth for the things you can't practice.
I'm not disagreeing with BJayCobbson. Accuracy first, then speed will come. Given that Kingfish is going to learn to count, then doing it away from the table can still be beneficial. The format in CVBJ is flexible and there are many options like players coming and going that can be used to simulate real life conditions. CVBJ allows peeking at the count to measure your accuracy, and then when you have perfected accuracy you can ratchet up the play speed to meet or exceed real playing conditions.
This method is crucial for a hilo-counter and it should allow you to bring down the time per deck to 25 seconds or below:
Your count starts with Zero, when you see two low cards you increase by two, when you see one high and one low card you keep it the same, when you see two high cards you reduce by 2. When you come across neutral cards you just ignore them and wait to see the next high-low pair to readjust your count again.
Francis Salmon
... when you see one neutral card and one high card, or one neutral card and one low card? :-)
Don
I said to ignore neutral cards and simply move on to the next card. That way, one has to deal only with pair numbers (while counting through a deck or in live-conditions during the initial deal).
Francis Salmon
You wrote: "I said to ignore neutral cards and simply move on to the next card. That way, one has to deal only with pair numbers (while counting through a deck or in live-conditions during the initial deal)."
The assumption is that you're counting them in PAIRS. So, you don't "move on to the next CARD." You're looking at the PAIR, neutral-low, or neutral-high (+1, or -1) and NOT as individual cards.
Again, you wrote:
"When you come across neutral cards you just ignore them and wait to see the next high-low pair to readjust your count again."
That simply isn't correct.
Don
Counting the cards in pairs is one thing and that's probably what most people do but my suggestion is slightly more sophisticated.
I advise to form group of cards that will add up to either 0 or +2 or -2. In most cases these groups will consist of two cards but depending on the number of neutral cards you come across they can comprise some more. I found this method very efficient not only for counting through a deck but also for perusing a table covered with cards or during the initial deal with fast dealers.
Francis Salmon
That seems as if it would be and is confusing to keep track of the cards. I've never heard of that before now.
...to count, with enough experience your brain will become hard-wired and you will seamlessly and effortlessly arrive at the count by scanning the exposed cards, without any thought on your part.
It's like riding a bicycle and swimming. Once you have it down pat, it takes no real conscious thought or effort. YMMV. Trust me on this.
Cobbson
