In what order do you count?

[ACE]

Interested in what order people track shoe games?

Do you keep track after the first cards come out, then track the seconds?

Do you wait until all hands are out before play starts?

Do you go hand by hand as play starts?

Interested to get some opinions as to what works for people.

 

[The Mayor]

Interesting question. I have a firm rule. I only count the cards after the dealer has exposed them. For example, if a person flashes his cards because he wins a side bet, I do not count them, but if he doubles down and places his cards face up, I then count them. I always wait, even if I see the cards, for the cards to be finally turned up on the table. This is my personal way, just discipline. The only exception I make is in pitch, when I am considering an insurance play, I will then take any information that comes my way.

--Mayor

 

[MrPill]

Ace,

In a face up game I will wait until all players have the first two cards dealt out, or close to it. As you get more proficient with your count, you gain the ability to look at a table full of cards and eliminate the cards that cancel each other out on sight in a level-1 or an unbalanced count. This may happen with one players cards, or it may be the 2 cards from one player and the 2 cards from the player next to him.

And then don't forget the dealers up card. Sometimes I will also use this to cancel out a players card in the running count.

This process should take you only a few seconds.

Pill

 

[MrPill]

Mayor,

Shoe game. See my other post in this string.

Pill

 

[ACE]

Thanks Pill. Essentially what I have been doing is what you describe. I have been dealing 7 hands to myself out of my 6 deck shoe. I give myself 2 seconds before I wipe the cards away. What I am getting fairly good at is quickly maching up the aces/faces and low cards as well as not even looking at the 7 - 8 - 9.

The "good" thing is the friends I tend to always play with are very slow players, so it gives me a bit of extra time, though through practice I hope not to need it.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Theef]

In a face-up game I count every card as it is dealt. As a backup I try to remember what the count was at the start of the hand, and if I get confused I count them again after they're all dealt while the ploppies are taking their sweet time.

In a face-down game I count my own hand and every other card as it is turned over. If I glimpse another player's cards I count them and curl one of my toes to remind myself not to count them again when he turns them over. Even if the guy's hand sums to zero, so double-counting it wouldn't matter, I give myself the curled-toe signal for the sake of consistency.

Counting the cards as soon as you see them is harder than waiting until they're all dealt for some people, but it's much more reliable in my experience. Otherwise, sooner or later you'll run out of time and have to count six cards in a half second between the dealer's fingers while he's scooping them up.

 

[SammyBoy]

This is the method I use as well. If I can see the ploppy's cards next to me I count them also while he is still holding them.

 

[jnubro]

I use my left hand to store the count after all hands are collected. I let this hand rest on my thigh under the table and use a combination of finger,knuckle and wrist positions. Whether the fingers are in a very slight push vs. pull state indicates whether the count is pos vs. neg, thumb=1...pinky=5, any one or two finger combination makes a number from 1-9, raised vs collapsed knuckle and wrist position takes care of tens. Sounds harder than it is...works for me, anyway.
I find it indispensible for keeping the "main" count accurately between each hand. I adjust my left hand stored count during play only for blackjacks and busts since these cards are removed from play. I only mentally adjust the left hand stored count for any cards that I happen to spy including my own hand.
When a round is over I quickly count all the cards as the dealer reveals them but do so based on zero and just add the positive or negative number to whatever my left hand stored count is. I reconfigure my left hand for the new stored count and relax.
I find this method enables me to socialize while playing because I only have to count in spurts instead of trying to keep track of which cards I haven't already counted while trying to remember the current count. I found I couldn't resist adjusting the count for cards I happened to spy; but then I couldn't always remember which cards I didn't count yet and what the running count was before I lost track.