mistakes

[Mimosine]

if you're using a level one count you should be able to count down 6 decks straight in under 3 minutes with 1 mistake or less.
you should then shuffle quickly and repeat.
you should then shuffle quickly and repeat.

in counting through 936 cards in under 9 minutes I aimed to be off by +/- 1 in my drills. Once I hit that mark I stopped practicing that drill. Both speed and accuracy were important.

I then graduated, ultimately to the point where i would deal three hands and the dealer's hand. I would:
a) keep the count
b) ramp bets roughly in my head
c) make index plays
d) play the dealer's hand properly, ask for/take insurance, etc.

at this stage i aimed for accuracy and mechanics of counting/thinking rather than speed. Once i could play through a couple of decks with no errors at all at a reasonable pace I was set.

I have only ever played under conditions using this crude level of training that taxed my skills. and this was an incredibly fast dealer. i like fast dealers, but imagine someone dealing as fast as physically possible - that is the ONLY time i had trouble counting, talking, etc... and this has only happened one time. you should aim for as few errors as possible. on a few occasions when ordering a drink/paying for a drink or something else that stops the game, i'll hold fingers against my thigh to keep the count, or use some other quick method - like chips. though i would never use chips to keep count regularly. one of my bad habits is to play with my chips too much. now i just try to leave them alone - damn OCD!

 

[TENNBEAR]

Flash card counting drills in CVBJ is the one most effective tool I have used to improve my counting skills. Over time I keep increasing the speed and have got counting speed and accuratcy to where I am comfortable with talking, fast dealers, and distractions.

 

[rdorange]

Abacus Bob

Hey Bob, I used to use chips for keeping the count. It is telegraphing. Especially if you only use whites. It's kinda like having an abacus in front of you. It is obvious what you are up to. Why not just use your regular chips? Just have one stack, closest to you or somethin. You can even mix the colored chips in that stack so it doesn't look like anything special. Just don't change the amount of chips in the stack at the end of each round at the same time. Mix it up. Sounds like you need to practice a lot more so you can keep the count in your head and return to it whenever you need. Another chip mnemonic may be to use a single chip like a clock. 12 is zero. 11 is negative and so on, and 1 is positive and so on. Then you don't have to change your chip stacks, you only need to turn the chip or the top chip in a stack. Somewhere in the archives there are several great threads dedicated to remembering counts and using different mnemonics to accomplish keeping track of the count.

 

[shadroch]

As Bob says he only flat bets $10,and wongs constantly,I'm not sure why he would be running around with 20 white chips. Perhaps he can explain,and then we could help him better.