I would get Stanford Wong's book Professional Blackjack and learn the Hi-Lo count. Make sure you know basic strategy like the back of your hand. You should know it like you know your multiplication tables. You don't even have to think about it. Once you know it then start learning to count.
Practice flipping through a deck of cards only identifying each card a +1 (cards 2-6) or -1 (10, J, Q, K, A) and ignoring the neutral cards. After you feel comfortable with this move on to actually adding the cards in your head as you flip through the deck. I always take out three cards and put them on the side. After finishing the deck lets say I have a running count of -3, then the 3 cards I removed from the deck had better be 3 low cards or else I screwed up and need to practice more. Once you can count down a deck in less than 30 seconds you are doing pretty well. It's time to add the Illustrious 18. Once that is memorized perfectly, continue to add more indices to your play.
Get a computer program like Casino Verite to practice. Best of luck!
