How difficult is card counting in blackjack? Or should I say, how difficult is keeping the count in blackjack? The answer is……it depends. If you are using a basic level 1 counting system then all you have to do is add and subtract in units of 1. That hardly seems daunting and it isn’t when you put it as plainly as that. But there are numerous factors at work that can lead to a counter losing the count totally.
Firstly inexperienced counters get flustered by fast dealers, table talk and nerves that are brought about by doing something that they know full well that if they were to get caught then they simply would not be able to play the game in the same way and could even lead to them being prevented from playing at all.
But fatigue is the number one factor with regards to losing the count for skilled counters. Keeping the count at the start of the session is easy and especially so if it is a level 1 counting system. But the problem later on in that same session is that your concentration levels start to fall and you often can find yourself blindly staring at the table.
This kind of brain freeze is a classic warning sign with card counting and a sign that you need to end the session and quickly. Adding and subtracting in units of one may sound simple but doing it constantly for hour after hour after hour is a mental drain. You can easily reach a stage where you simply cannot think anymore. With shuffle tracking then it can be even worse because if you are not fully concentrating on where the high card segments have been dispersed to for the next shoe then you could easily end up signalling the BP into situations that were negative and not positive….not good.
So keep in mind that card counting is a mental exercise and as with all types of exercise then it eventually leads to fatigue and fatigue leads to errors and in gambling then errors means losing money.
see you soon
Carl “The Dean” Sampson
