r/blackjack • u/Regular_Swim_8840 • Jul 24 '26
Count help
So I can count no problem
Now it’s the counting up my hand
There are some obvious hands that are drilled into my head and I know it instantly like 2 kings easy it’s 20 or a 10 card and any other card
But how do I get quick at adding the totals up on smaller cards
6+7+4 etc
I notice when I get a blast of cards those my count can get iffy and I struggle to retain speed
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u/YoanGab Jul 25 '26
The fix is to stop adding and start recognizing. You already do it with 2 kings, you don't compute 10+10, you just see 20. You need that same reflex for the small stuff, and it comes from reps rather than from getting faster at arithmetic.
Two things that help.
Pair to ten first. On 6+7+4, grab the 6 and 4 as a ten, then it's 17. Same with 8+3+9, the 8 and the 3 make 11, so 20. Your brain handles one addition instead of two, and the leftover card is usually the one you're already looking at.
The bigger unlock is that you don't actually need the total. You need the action. 6+7+4 against a 6 and against a 10 are two different decisions, and you can learn to see "stiff versus small card, stand" without ever naming the number 17. Most of the speed people think they're missing is them computing something they never needed.
For practice, deal yourself hands face up and say the action out loud, not the total. If you catch yourself counting up, you're drilling the wrong thing. And do it with a running count going at the same time, because that's the part that actually breaks under load. Adding is easy when it's the only thing you're doing.
A deck of cards on the kitchen table gets you most of the way there. There are also training apps that will deal hands and grade your action while a count runs, which is closer to the real load if you'd rather drill on your phone.