Looking for Android app for exercising cards played memory

[JT23456]

I have pretty good cards played memory - but not my wife. We are both 73. Looking for an app or other software that would help card memory - any ideas?

[zenbiddist]

I have pretty good cards played memory - but not my wife. We are both 73. Looking for an app or other software that would help card memory - any ideas?

 

Good question!

 

An excellent habit to form is to name each pip. Rather than simply call for a "spade please", say "three of spades". It trains your mind to observe pips.

 

I practice recalling the opponents' pips best when I play in person. Before I turn over my card, I repeat the pips internally twice. It starts to happen automatically after a while:

"Two, four, queen, ace"

"Three, seven, king, eight"

 

Simply remembering "low, low, king, low" often backfires if later in the hand you check their system card and it says "odd pip = blabla, even pip = blabla" :)

 

I'll follow this thread and see if other people have better techniques or a link to effective software

[1stpanda]

Just download one of the many spades apps and play. It's a fun game, and since probably 30% of the tricks are won by ruffing you get great practice counting hands and watching spots.

[Vampyr]

BBO solitaire would work well for this, I think.

[PhilG007]

Count to 13 four times :) Seriously,the secret is to keep practising. Eventually it will become second

nature. I speak from experience :)

[barmar]

BBO solitaire would work well for this, I think.

Yeah, just playing bridge is the way to do it. The solitaire games on BBO provide a way to play lots of hands without bothering other players with your practicing.

[mycroft]

It only works, however, if that's what you are concentrating on. Not the bidding, not the score, not the hockey game, not the random life around you, not "oh, I have to get off in two stops", not the Ugly American (sorry, but he was) who thinks he is entitled not only to both armrests, but to the three inches of the other side of the armrest as well/accidentally "sleeping" and dropping their hand on your leg/whatever.

 

Given that I tend to play BBO solitaire when I have 5-30 minutes to kill and usually something else going on, it doesn't do much for my counting skills.

 

Having said that, *after* you have some semblance of counting skills, being in a heavily distracting environment and still trying to concentrate on it is a good way to improve your ability to concentrate at the table, with the post-morteming at the next one, the griping about the claim that will eventually lead to a director call, but only after it gets louder and louder, the people knocking your chair getting coffee,...

 

One problem with BBO solitaire from a counting perspective is the robots' unusual carding schemes (or lack thereof). It's hard to work on internalizing count signals (and recognizing falsecarding) when you're defending against "what's a signal?"

[huskers1]

I have pretty good cards played memory - but not my wife. We are both 73. Looking for an app or other software that would help card memory - any ideas?

 

I use the Counting I & II software created by Mike Lawrence. He partnered up with Fred G. to create the software. Not sure how much it costs but I have found it to be very beneficial. Plus, you learn more than just counting. His website http://www.michaelslawrence.com should provide you with the necessary information.

[TimG]

I believe the critical part to card memory is to put it in context of the whole hand.

 

I was once told of a study done with chess masters. They were presented with a board with some pieces on it and given some number of seconds to memorize the position, then asked to duplicate the position. Players were very good at recalling the positions that came from actual games, not so good at memorizing the random assortment of pieces.

 

I believe the same sort of thing applies to bridge. If a player notes a card played because of its significance in the hand, that is much more likely to be remembered than if the cards being played are considered a random assortment of cards. If you look at a lead and notice that it is the lowest outstanding spot or that there is one lower outstanding (and note the importance of that) you are more likely to remember the card played than if you just try to remember it was the three and make the connection three tricks later. That sort of thing.