As an ex-card counter then I am aware of just how easy it is to lose the count. This may seem staggering when you are only adding and subtracting in units of one or at least this is all that it is with level one counts. But anyone who has ever counted cards for a lengthy period of time in terms of playing hours will know that a sort of brain freeze happens after a certain length of time. You have been adding and subtracting one at speed for so long that the cards start to merge into one and you are staring at the table rather than counting.
When this happens then you have three basic options. Option one involves stopping playing and going home. If you have reached your cut-off point then you need to stop playing and have a rest. Option two also involves stopping playing but only for a while. Maybe go to the bar and simply have a break or go and watch television in the lounge area and come back later hopefully refreshed.
Maybe you were not in the best state mentally at the start of the session although if this were the case then you really should not have been playing at all. But if you have travelled a fair distance to get to a casino then going home may not be a very appealing option for you. The third option involves simply letting the shoe go and starting again from the next shoe or you could treat the cards that you didn’t count as cards unseen and act accordingly. Losing the count is not a disaster as long as you are not doing it too often.
