OK. So it’s been far too long since my last installment of “How to Practice Blackjack”.
In Part I, I talked about Basic Strategy being the foundation of being a card counter. In Part II, I discussed some tips on keeping the running count accurately and quickly. Today, I’m going to give some practice tips for getting from the running count to the true count.
First off, remember that being a good card counter is just being able to multitask several processes very well. So if the individual processes are poor, then multitasking is going to be a nightmare. Meaning: MAKE SURE YOUR BASIC STRATEGY IS EFFORTLESS AND KEEPING THE RUNNING COUNT IS SECOND NATURE. A lot of people begin having issues when they start dividing by the true count, but if you separate the individual processes and master them, it’s not too complicated to put it all together.
So here’s some tips to practice the individual process of converting from running to true count.
1. Assuming you’re practicing for a 6 deck game, get out your discard tray and 6 decks of cards. Then write the numbers 1 to 30 on scraps of paper and place them in a hat, cup, whatever. Then, starting with less than 1 deck in the discard tray, start pulling numbers out of the hat and practice dividing the number by 6 (the number of decks remaining). Do this 20 or 30 times. Then, put one full deck in the discard tray and start over, dividing by 5. Do this for every deck increment until you’re dividing by 1 deck remaining. Wash, rinse, repeat. Over and over.
2. If you want to practice throughout the day, then while you’re driving, exercising, taking a shower, whatever, just start dividing random numbers by 6, then 5, then 4, 3, 2, and 1.
Before long, with these 2 drills, you should be able to divide any running count by any true count. The goal is to be able to do so in a quick second, without having to take too much energy away from keeping the running count and making your basic strategy (and eventually deviation) decisions. Keep practicing this over and over until there is never a time when you have to spend more than a second or 2 deciding the true count. Then, practice doing so WHILE playing basic strategy and keeping the running count.
If you want to take it to the next level, start the whole process over with 1/2 deck increments. So use a divisor of 6 decks, 5.5 decks, 5, 4.5, etc.
Before long, converting to true count will be just another quick process you’re doing while playing basic strategy and adding and subtracting by one.
Practice makes perfect (blackjack). And perfect blackjack makes money!
hello!thank you for your advices, it will help me,but please tell me how can i have a book about blackjack(“the winner’s hand” or “a pro’s way”?email me please.thank you!
THEBRAVE,
Not exactly sure what you’re asking for. Are those books you’ve heard of before?
TheBrave,
You should check out the videos on the website and consider attending a bootcamp. Books will help you (Standford Wong’s would be my recommendation) but education with out a mentor is dangerous when it comes to card-counting. You need someone that can check your confidence and give you a series of “next steps” towards becoming a pro. That is exactly why this website exists. Take advantage of it and spread the word!
lets say im playing a 6-deck shoe and my running count is +3 and there are 3 decks in the discard rack, i divided it by 3 so thats a +1 ..next game i still have a +1, do i still divide it ? help pls thankyou
klein,
Divide the running count by the amount of decks to get the true count only once, but do it EVERY TIME the running count or amount decks left changes.
So, in your scenario you have a TRUE 1. Lets say now that the guy to your left hits and receives a JACK and busts. Now the running count is 5 and now you have less than a TRUE 1, and so you treat it as a TRUE 0.
Another way I do to perfect the true count as far as 1/2 decks are concerned, and I did this the other night:
I opened up Microsoft Excel, and created a spreadsheet, of decks VS the running count – in my case up to +30.
For every point, I calculated what the TC would be at that stage in the game, so for example, a RC of 7 with 1 1/2 decks left would be 4.66 TC.
Because of me creating this spreadsheet, it was easier for me to recognise a pattern as far as the 1/2 deck dividors were concerned, so I highly recommend creating a spreadsheet for your personal use if like me, you find it difficult to divide be 1/2 decks.
Quick question on casinos now days. I was recently told that a lot of casinos are going to an infinate shuffle. meaning all the discarded cards are put into a new type of shoe that automatically reshuffles them back into the decks instead of a discard tray. In this case you are always with full 6 decks or however many they play with….is this true? and are a lot of casinos going to this that you know of or is this just a rumor?
JBarthel,
You’re referring to CSM’s. Those have been around for years, you cannot beat them with card counting, but they aren’t taking over. Players typically don’t like them. I was recently in a casino where they had about half CSM’s and half regular shoe games. The CSM tables were empty, and the regular tables were packed! Anyway, watch out for them, but they’re not going to ever take over.
I wrote a post about them here: http://www.blackjackapprenticeship.com/2008/07/07/shoes-shuffles-and-shoddy-machines/
Thanks a lot Colin for your response and the link. I literally just got done emailing ben about how awesome this site is and how much someone new like myself really appreciates everything you guys are doing. Keep it up!
Training is a part of life. I’ve been successful as a card counter for several years, but I don’t let my skills slide.