Table Scanning vs. card counting.

I dont do card counting at casinos.. dont want to look like im concentrating on it and all- I basicly play basic strategy but I add in a 'table scan' factor when other players are at the table.. if theres 4 or more of us Ill look and see 'gee, everyone has 2 card-20's.. Im betting I dont get one..hit me" .. itsnot card counting but its maybe a mini-count? Does this actually assist the player at all? .. if you see the last 4 cards out of the shoe before your turn are all 10's or low numbers.. can you make a mental check in your mind saying ok its more likely then not that the next card will be high/low/any?... or is this just fooling ones self?.. Im not keeping a running literal count but I can say ok last round there was a bunch of tens and this round seems to have alot of them too.. and go from there.

Doing a quick table scan is definitely helpful if done wisely. I could picture amateurs overcompensating for the scan count. My advice would be to know just a few borderline plays. The Illustrious 18 would be a good source. I would only deviate from basic strategy with those hands with an index value of +/- 1, depending on how many large/small cards you see. I would only bother with this in single and double-deck.

Quote: Malaru

I dont do card counting at casinos.. dont want to look like im concentrating on it and all- I basicly play basic strategy but I add in a 'table scan' factor when other players are at the table.. if theres 4 or more of us Ill look and see 'gee, everyone has 2 card-20's.. Im betting I dont get one..hit me" .. itsnot card counting but its maybe a mini-count? Does this actually assist the player at all? .. if you see the last 4 cards out of the shoe before your turn are all 10's or low numbers.. can you make a mental check in your mind saying ok its more likely then not that the next card will be high/low/any?... or is this just fooling ones self?.. Im not keeping a running literal count but I can say ok last round there was a bunch of tens and this round seems to have alot of them too.. and go from there.

If you are not counting cards, there is no good time to raise your bet and if you flat bet you can't win. Your table scanning method is a very rudimentary form of card counting and I suggest you use it to determine when to raise your bets. When you see a higher proportion of low cards dealt, bet an extra half unit or full unit. This is by no means a winning method or a break even method but it could be a "lose less" method. Just remember the more decks in use the less meaningful the information will be.

Who knows, this could interest you in card counting which by the way is still alive and well.

Quote: benbakdoff

Your table scanning method is a very rudimentary form of card counting.

Yes, rudimentary, informal, undisciplined and impusive... but fun and it probably won't hurt too much. We all remember the low cards we received better than the low cards other players received.