This
is a very simple lesson -- I'm going to show you how to
memorize your chosen basic strategy perfectly. So perfect,
in fact, that you won't have to think about which play
is proper; you'll just do it automatically. That skill
is developed through a lot of practice; many hours of
repetitious exercises which will leave you knowing basic
strategy as well as your own name. (I didn't say this
was easy, just simple ).
But
we can make those hours of practice a little more fun and somewhat
interesting -- even challenging -- by using different methods
of training. If you're a competitive person the timed exercises
will appeal to you; it's a lot of fun to see if you can post a
new "personal best" in each of them. But don't worry, you don't
have to be a Type A personality to learn perfect basic strategy.
Just take your time and do as many exercises in a day as you want
and if you keep at it on a regular basis, the knowledge will come.
Remember, you are learning a skill here which you will be able
to use for the rest of your life. Spending a few dozen hours now
may return hundreds of hours of profitable play in the future;
seems like a fair trade to me. Let's
get started.
Flashcards
- By now, you should have a set of these made up and are using
them on a regular basis. Start timing yourself as you go through
all of them; a good goal is to recite all the rules perfectly
and get through your pack in under two minutes. The time pressure
works well in "forcing" you to learn, so record your results so
that you can see your progress. If you have a stopwatch, so much
the better, because you can use it not only with the flashcards
but with many other exercises as well. Don't go out and buy one,
though; the approximate time is all we're interested in here,
so a wrist watch will do just as well.
Basic
Strategy Reconstruction Exercise - Print out the form below
and run off a bunch of copies. You will notice that it is just
a "blank" of the form we used in Lesson 1 to create the rules
for each of the player's starting hands. The object here is to
write in the rule for each hand and then check for accuracy. Remember
the old saying; "I see, I forget; I write, I remember"? (Or something
like that -- never did write it down). That's what this exercise
will do for you. Time yourself as you do it and see if you can
get under 60 seconds with 100% accuracy.
Player's
hand
Decisions
5 thru
8
_______________________________
9
_______________________________
10
_______________________________
11
_______________________________
12
_______________________________
13 thru
16
_______________________________
17 or
Higher
_______________________________
A,2
_______________________________
A,3
_______________________________
A,4
_______________________________
A,5
_______________________________
A,6
_______________________________
A,7
_______________________________
A,8-A,9
_______________________________
2,2
_______________________________
3,3
_______________________________
4,4
_______________________________
5,5
_______________________________
6,6
_______________________________
7,7
_______________________________
8,8
_______________________________
9,9
_______________________________
10,10
_______________________________
A,A
_______________________________
Basic Strategy Decision Exercise
- Here I've made up a lot of player's
starting hands along with a dealer's up card. Use your
"Basic Strategy Matrix" from Lesson 1 to make a "correction
copy" and mark it as such at the top. Then, just go down
the columns of another copy and fill in the proper play.
Use your correction copy to check for accuracy. Speed
is of the essence here, so work towards a goal of completing
this in under two minutes with 100% accuracy.
(Indicate
proper play under "Decision") S=Stand H=Hit P=Split Pairs D=Double
Player
Dir
Decision
Player
Dir
Decision
Player
Dir
Decision
8,3
A
____
2,3,6
4
____
A,4,2
3
____
6,6
4
____
9,9
7
____
7,6
3
____
5,4
6
____
10,3
3
____
8,2
A
____
7,7
7
____
9,8
7
____
8,8
10
____
9,6
8
____
A,7
2
____
10,7
2
____
7,5
3
____
A,4
5
____
9,3
3
____
A,2
5
____
6,4
10
____
7,4
A
____
3,3
4
____
A,4
5
____
6,3
7
____
9,2
10
____
10,8
6
____
A,6
5
____
5,5
9
____
6,8
7
____
A,9
6
____
A,7
6
____
9,7
8
____
10,4
5
____
6,3
4
____
A,2,5
6
____
9,9
9
____
5,2
2
____
3,6
4
____
2,4
2
____
10,2
3
____
7,8
9
____
6,5
2
____
9,9
7
____
10,3
3
____
7,7
2
____
10,4
9
____
A,4
4
____
3,4
5
____
6,5
9
____
10,5
7
____
4,4
6
____
A,6
2
____
5,2
10
____
A,2,4
6
____
4,4
6
____
8,8
8
____
10,2,A
3
____
10,10
5
____
A,A
7
____
8,2
10
____
8,6
7
____
8,3
10
____
6,6
6
____
7,9
10
____
5,5
10
____
5,4
2
____
10,2,A
3
____
A,5,A
3
____
A,7
3
____
A,2,2
6
____
2,2
7
____
3,3
2
____
2,6
4
____
A,5
4
____
7,8
7
____
9,A
6
____
6,6
2
____
9,9
7
____
10,6
3
____
3,7
9
____
2,5,4
2
____
7,7
6
____
3,3
2
____
10,4
6
____
A,A
9
____
5,5
9
____
9,3
5
____
2,2
2
____
A,6
3
____
A,2
6
____
9,4
4
____
10,6
7
____
9,8
7
____
A,3,4
9
____
6,6
3
____
A,4,A
2
____
A,4,2
6
____
9,4
2
____
7,5
3
____
8,8
10
____
A,4
10
____
2,2
6
____
5,5
8
____
6,4
9
____
3,3
7
____
A,8
6
____
8,3
A
____
6,6
2
____
5,2
2
____
9,9
10
____
2,9
10
____
A,4
6
____
7,5
4
____
9,7
5
____
2,3,4,A
6
____
7,7
9
____
5,4
3
____
A,A
A
____
9,3
7
____
7,4
10
____
The Importance
of Speed - I stress speed in my classes because the
ability to do anything quickly and accurately means you
know it well. The play of your hand must be "automatic"
because once you learn how to count cards, you'll be too
busy counting to think about the proper play. Make sense?
Card
Practice #1 - Now, with a copy of your Basic Strategy
Matrix next to you, get out a deck of cards and try this
exercise. Deal one card up for the dealer and then two cards
for your starting hand. Play that hand according to proper
basic strategy and, without playing out the dealer's hand,
push all the used cards off to the side and do it again.
Keep going until the deck is used up, shuffle and repeat.
This exercise will get you used to making playing decisions
in a casino-style setting. Refer to your Matrix as often
as you must in order to assure yourself that you are making
the proper play.
Card
Practice #2 - Some player hands, like A-7 are difficult
to learn. So set up a practice like the one above but leave
the player's hand the same and change only the dealer's
up card after each round. Continue to hit or double as before.
This exercise is particularly good for getting you used
to playing "soft" hands (those which contain an Ace) properly.
Time is not important here but accuracy is.
Card
Practice #3 - This is a variation on the practice above.
On this one, keep the dealer's card the same -- say a 6
-- then deal two cards for the player. Play out the hand
and then move just the player's cards off to the side. "Stack"
your deck a bit by putting in a lot of pairs so you can
get used to splitting properly.
Good Online
Casinos Homework
Spend
at least a half-hour each day on your flashcards and time
yourself.
Do
a minimum of one "Basic Strategy Reconstruction" each day.
Time yourself and record the results along with the date
right on the form.
Do
a minimum of one "Basic Strategy Decision Exercise"
each day and mark both the date and time it took you to
complete it on the form.
Spend
at least a half-hour each day doing the 3 card practices.
Work on those hands which are the most difficult for you
to learn.
School's
out. Any apples?
As always,
if you have any questions, e-mail me at
aceten1@mindspring.com
and Ill get back to you ASAP.
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