Books to help memorize cards (The Memory Book by Harry Lorayne)

[larrondo]

I wanted to learn how to remember cards better, particularly for stud games. I read a post here which recommended The Memory Book by Harry Lorayne. The first chapter, which presents a simple system to memorize lists of random objects, works to an impressive degree. I feel pretty confident that I can memorize a very long shopping list in a minute or two, which is a fine thing. However, the more intricate systems presented later in the book are more difficult. The section on cards is one that may well work if one put in a good deal of effort and study, but I'm not sure.

In a very abbreviated nutshell, it works like this: each card is assigned a name, which will have a corresponding image which you can easily visualize. All spades will be things which start with S, clubs will start with C, etc. The 9 of spades, for instance, is 'soap.' The Ace of hearts is 'hat.' You get a clear image of an object or person or place for each card. As a card is removed from the deck (say the 9 of spades is folded) you visualize a bar of soap mutilated (set on fire or melted or whatever.) If you are wondering how many spades have been folded, you run through the list of spades in your mind (soap, safe, sail, etc.) and you will 'see' the ones that have been mutilated, and will thus be able to remember the ones which have not.

That's the idea, anyway.

It seems to me like this may be difficult to put into practice. You need to memorize the name and corresponding image for all 52 cards so well that the association is instant, then mentally scroll through the list with great speed for it to work efficantly. I studied for an hour or two and ran this test: using only the spades (to make it easier) I removed 3 cards from the 13, then counted off the remaining 10. Using this system, I was able to remember what the missing 3 were, but not at the speed or ease which game conditions would require. Perhaps with continued study, I'd get there, or perhaps there is a better system.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Larrondo.