Flashcard Drills Setup
The Flashcard Drills are designed to aid in resolving the second problem facing card counters - not playing accurately against the strategy tables. These drills can also be used by basic system players. The process consists of displays of dealer up cards and player cards followed by you selecting the correct move under the displayed circumstances according to the selected strategy and situations. The following describes the screen:
Hands
First, we need to set the hands to be displayed.
Ø Default Hands - A set of typical hands will be displayed.
Ø Illustrious 18 - When set, you will be drilled only in the most important situations. The Illustrious 18 is a set of situations which expert, Don Schlesinger determined are of the highest value in playing BJ. Actually, the drill displays 17 of these as the Insurance decision is not relevant to the Flashcard Drills.
Ø Hands with Indexes - Only those hands that have indexes assigned by the selected strategy are tested.
Ø Drill Errors - When set you will be presented with all of the tests that you have failed to pass during this session.
Ø Play Errors - When set, you will be tested for errors that you have made while playing the game.
Ø Drill and Play Errors - This is a combination of the above two.
Ø Mask - You can also set a Mask by clicking on the Set Mask button. This provides the ability to specify exactly which hands you wish to test and allows you to easily change them.
Situations
Flashcards will be displayed to test for all of the situations that you have set. This is used in two ways. First, only flashcards that are relevant to the selected situations will be shown. Secondly, responses are valid only for the selected situations. For example, if you tell CV not to show flash cards for splits, then SPLIT is not a valid response. Even the obvious player 8,8 against dealer 5 is STAND instead of SPLIT if you do not select the SPLIT situation.
Count
If you are not using a card counting strategy, ignore this option. For card counters, the count affects the correct responses to the flash cards. You set the counts to be tested in the Count group.
Ø Zero - Here we always test a true count of zero.
Ø Random - This will change the count for each flashcard pseudo-randomly. The card count will be displayed in the center of the screen. The randomness is NOT evenly distributed over all counts. Instead, random true counts are generated in a bell curve centered on zero for balanced counting systems or around the pivot point for unbalanced systems.
Ø Set to - You can also set a constant true count using the SET TO box.
Ø Index Test - This option reverses the function of the drill. Instead of being asked what action to take, you are asked for the card counting table index for the cards shown. With this option, you must select only one situation in the options below.
Cards
Here you can specify the number of cards in the player hand that will be displayed for each test.
Testing Mode
Ø Warn on Error - The standard mode. You will be presented with tests and warned when you receive any errors. You must correct the error to continue
Ø Errors at End - You will be presented with tests but no warnings will be provided. You will see the accuracy rate at the end of the drill.
Ø No Tests - You will not be tested at all. You will be presented with the tests only at the set speed.
Timer Mode
You must select one of the timer modes below to control the presentation of the tests:
Ø Automatic - In this mode, you are given a limited amount of time to respond to tests. If you do not respond on time, the text on the correct button turns red and is underlined and an error is logged. You must press this button to continue the drill.
Ø Count Down - In this mode, you are given an unlimited time to respond to a test.
Ø Count Up - This is the same as COUNT DOWN except for the handling of the total time field as described later.
Ø Count Down and Stop - The drill is halted when the timer expires.
Ø Number Box - The box with a number in it can be changed to specify the number of tests that take place in one drill.
Control Bars
Note: all speeds and times are measured in seconds and displayed below the control bars.
Ø Speed - In Automatic Timer Mode, this field specifies the amount of time that you have to respond to a test.
Ø Alarm - In Count Up or Count Down Timer Modes, this field specifies the total time allowed for the entire drill (all tests). At the end of this time, an alarm will sound. The tests will continue.
Ø Decks - Moving the Decks bar down will increase the number of decks. This control has meaning only in card counting systems where the number of decks effects strategy decisions.
Gorilla Mode
This mode is used for a type of team play called Gorilla. There are several forms of Gorilla play. In this case, a card counter betting small calls in the GP (Gorilla Player) when the count hits a high value. The GP bets high but does not know how to count. He plays a modified Basic Strategy. However, for certain hands he waits for a signal from his teammate before playing. In Gorilla Mode, a new WAIT button is displayed. If the displayed hand has an index, WAIT is the correct response. Click WAIT and you will be told how to bet. Then bet according to the signal.
Reset Stats
Click to wipe out all previous flash card stats to start over.
Launch
Click to start the drill.
Errors
Click to see the errors that have been made.
Internet Tests
ITests (Internet Tests) are a set of standardized, pre-configured drills. Your Ratings will be compared with those of other players via the Internet after each test. You can set the speeds before starting an ITest. But, all other options will be forced to the definition of that test. At the end of the test, click update to compare with others. The three ITests are:
Flash 1: Default Hands, two card hands, count forced to zero
Flash 2: Two card hands, count is random
Flash 3-5: Multi-card hands, random count, number of different index numbers is used to determine if this is test Flash3, 4 or 5.
