How to Develop a Perfect Memory (22 page)

once into a person: 25, = BE = Brian Epstein. (2 = B; 5 = E).

Take another example: 111 = 3. It follows that 111111 = 33. Using the

DOMINIC SYSTEM, 33 translates into Charlie Chaplin (3 = C; 3 = C).

COMPLEX BINARY IMAGES

The efficiency of the system becomes even more apparent when you want to memorize a 12-digit binary number. Using the DOMINIC SYSTEM, an

ordinary 4-digit, base-10 number translates into one complex image. To

remember 2414, for example, you imagine weatherman Bernard Davey

drinking a pint of Guinness (24 = BD = Bernard Davey; 14 = AG = Alec

Guinness, whose action is drinking a pint of Guinness).

Exactly the same applies when you are dealing with binary numbers. If 011100

= 25, and 111111 = 33, it follows that 011100111111 = 2533. Consequently, if you want to remember 011100111111, you just have to memorize the complex image for 2533: Brian Epstein flexing a cane. (25 = BE = Brian Epstein; 33 =

CC = Charlie Chaplin, whose action is flexing a cane).

When you look closely at a photograph in a newspaper or a magazine, you

see a whole mass of tiny dots. Under a magnifying glass, they appear meaningless; it's only when you stand back that they 'condense' into a picture that makes sense. A similar process is going on here: you are reducing a whole series of meaningless noughts and ones into a single complex image.

Take another example. How would you set about memorizing

011011100111? It looks a fairly horrendous task until you start to break it down:

Stage 1:

Split the number up into groups of three digits:

011 011 100 111

Stage 2:

Ascribe the relevant code number to each group:

2253

Stage 3:

Using DOMINIC SYSTEM, translate each number into a letter:

B B E C

Stage 4:

Using the DOMINIC SYSTEM, translate the first pair of letters into a person, and the second into an action.

Betty Boothroyd - Playing guitar

(BB) (EC = Eric Clapton)

Your complex image is of Betty Boothroyd jamming on a guitar, which, I think you'll agree, is far easier to remember than 011011100111!

Here is a list of the 64, 6-digit binary numbers which you are now able to translate into characters (or actions). With these basic building blocks, you can go forward and tackle any large binary number.

Binary Code Letters Character

000000 = 00 = OO = Olive Oyl

000001 = 01
=
OA = Ossie Ardiles

000011 = 02 = OB = Otto Bismarck

000111 = 03 = OC = Oliver Cromwell

000110 = 04 = OD = Otto Dix

000100 = 05 = OE = Old Etonian

000010 = 06 = OF = Omar Sharif

000101 = 07 = OG = Organ Grinder

001000 = 10 = AO = Aristotle Onassis

001001
=
11 = AA = Arthur Askey

001011
=
12 = AB = Alastair Bumet

001111 = 13 = AC =Andy Capp

001110 = 14 = AD = Arthur Daley

001100 = 15 = AE = Albert Einstein

001010 = 16 = AS = Arthur Scargill

001101 = 17 = AG = Alec Guinness

011000 = 20 = BO = Bill Oddie

011001 = 21 = BA = Bryan Adams

011011 = 22 = BB = Betty Boothroyd

011111 = 23 = BC = Bill Clinton

011110 = 24 = BD = Bernard Davey

011100 = 25 = BE = Brian Epstein

011010 = 26 = BS = Bram Stoker

011101 = 27 = BG = Bob Geldof

111000 = 30 = CO = Captain Oates

111001 = 31 = CA = Charles Atlas

111011 = 32 = CB = Cilla Black

111111 = 33 = CC = Charlie Chaplin

111110 = 34 = CD = Christopher Dean

111100 = 35 = CE = Clint Eastwood

111010 = 36 = CS = Claudia Schieffer

111101 = 37 = CG = Charles De Gaulle

110000 = 40 = DO = Dominic O'Brien

110001 = 41 = DA = David Attenborough

110011 = 42 = DB = David Bowie

110111 = 43 = DC = David Copperfield

110110 = 44 = DD = Dickie Davies

110100 = 45 = DE = Duke Ellington

110010 = 46 = DS = Delia Smith

110101 = 47 = DG = David Gower

100000 = 50 = EO = Eeyore

100001 = 51 = EA = Eamon Andrews

100011 = 52 = EB = Eric Bristow

100111 = 53 = EC = Eric Clapton

100110 = 54 = ED = Eliza Doolittle

100100 = 55 = EE = Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards

100010 = 56 = ES = Ebenezer Scrooge

100101 = 57 = EG = Elizabeth Goddard

010000 = 60 = SO = Steve Ovett

010001 = 61 = SA = Susan Anton

010011 = 62 = SB = Seve Ballesteros

010111 = 63 = SC = Sean Connery

010110 = 64 = SD = Sharron Davies

010100 = 65 = SE = Stefan Edberg

010010 = 66 = SS = Steven Spielberg

010101 = 67 = SG = Stephan Grappelli

101000 = 70 = GO = George Orwell

101001 = 71 = GA = Gary Armstrong

101011 = 72 = GB = George Bush

101111 = 73 = GC
=
Gerry Cottle

101110 = 74 = GD = Gerard Depardieu

101100 = 75 = GE = Gloria Estefan

101010 = 76 = GS = Graham Souness

101101
=
77 = GG
=
Germaine Greer

Once you have familiarized yourself with the above (the recurring patterns make it easier than it looks), try memorizing a 60-digit binary number.

Daunting though it may sound, you only need to remember five complex

images, each one representing 12 digits. Choose a simple journey with five stages, and place each image at the corresponding stage.

For example, this is how I would memorize:

011101100100101101010110110010010101000000011100111011111001

JOURNEY

12-DIGIT

CODE LETTERS PERSON

ACTION

(STAGES) SECTION

NO.

(COMPLEX

IMAGE)

First

011 101 100 100 2755 BGEE

Bob Geldof Skiing

Second

101 101 010 110 7764 GGSD

Germaine

Swimming

Greer

Third

110010 010 101 4667 DSSG

Delia Smith Playing violin

Fourth

000 000 011 100 0025 OOBE

Olive Oyl

Playing records

Fifth

111 011 111 001 3231 CBCA

Cilla Black Weightlifting

A PREDICTION

If, in due course, a record is set for memorizing the most number of randomly generated binary digits, I predict that it will be in the region of 150,000. Using my system, three binary digits are being represented by one base-10 digit; if I manage to memorize 50,000 decimal places to pi, 150,000 binary digits should be feasible. Similarly, I can currently memorize a 100-digit base-10 number in approximately 100 seconds. I am therefore able to memorize a 300-digit binary number in the same time. The race is on...

24

HOW TO WIN AT

BLACKJACK

Soon after I had learnt how to memorize playing cards, it occurred to me that there must be a way of cashing in on my new found ability. Blackjack seemed like a natural target. It involved skill (unlike roulette or dice, which are based on pure chance), and I was already familiar with the game. I also felt there was a score to be settled: I had lost many more times than I had ever won!

I had always thought that beating the bank was a romantic but ill-conceived notion - the stuff of fiction and a sure-fire way of losing even more money. It might be possible in a Graham Greene novel, but never in real life.

Memorizing thirty-five decks of cards put a different complexion on things.

Today, I am barred from casinos all over Britain and France. One or two

will let me in for a drink, but if I get anywhere near the blackjack tables, I am back out on the street. They know that I have devised a winning strategy, and if I played for long enough, I could break the bank.

I don't want to encourage anyone to take up gambling - there are many other ways of making money - but my approach to blackjack is a good example of what can be achieved with a trained memory.

THE GAME

The object of blackjack is for the player to be dealt cards that add up to 21, or as close as possible, without 'busting'. The opposing dealer must draw cards totalling a minimum of 17. Whoever is closest to 21 wins that particular hand.

The skill, for the player, lies in deciding how many cards he or she should draw, relative to the degree of risk.

As is my nature (my stubborn streak again), I wanted to work out whether it was possible to gain an edge over the dealer. I proceeded to deal myself thousands of hands, analysing every possible permutation. After six months, I had studied 100,000 hands.

I never intended to deal so many cards, but once I had started, I was

overcome with a relentless urge to continue playing and amassing results. The only way to test theories satisfactorily was to carry out thousands of individual trials.

KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY

You may find the thought of devoting so much time to a card game abhorrent, or at least a trifle excessive. I often wondered at the time what was really keeping me going. I think I now know, and it is quite uncanny.

After I had carried out all these experiments, I came across a 1932 newspaper article about the game of bridge. In December of that year, the London
Evening Standard
published a series of five articles by Dr E. Gordon Reeve on the 'Reeveu' system for auction and contract bridge, invented by Gordon himself. In the article, he says the following:

Three years of illness gave me the opportunity to work out the

possibilities of scoring game. I dealt 5,000 hands, and each hand was

played by all four players - North, South, East and West, in all the

denominations respectively. Thus, the results of 100,000

combinations of hands were tabulated.

It was a strange feeling coming across such a precedent; it was also comforting to know that I wasn't the only person fanatical enough to be lured into the monotonous world of card permutations. But imagine the shiver that went

down my spine when I discovered that this man, whom I had never met (he

died in 1938), was in fact my grandfather.

CARD-COUNTING

One of the first discoveries I made during my experiments was realizing that I would usually win if low cards had been removed from the deck. Conversely, if high cards (10s, court cards, and aces) had been removed, the bank won the majority of hands.

By keeping a constant check or tally on which cards had been dealt, I was able to judge, at any stage during the game, whether or not the conditions were favourable. If they were good (lots of low cards removed), I would stake large bets; if they were poor (lots of high removed), I would place the minimum bet.

This strategy is known as 'card-counting'. Card-counters are rife throughout the casino world. They are the scourge of club managers, even though they are not doing anything illegal. Most of them are small-time gamblers who nibble away at clubs' profits. They never win large amounts, but they still annoy the management. If they are spotted (most tables these days are monitored by sophisticated closed-circuit TV), they are usually asked to leave, and politely told never to darken the doors again. (Casinos are private clubs, allowing the management to reserve the right of entry or to rescind membership.)

Known card-counters are also likely to feature in the
Griffin Book,
a three-volume tome compiled by a Las Vegas detective agency. It is circulated world-wide among casino managers, and lists a variety of undesirables, everyone from troublemakers to card-counters. I have never seen a copy, but I gather it includes photographs, stills taken from the security cameras.

HIGH ROLLERS

Set apart from the hoi polloi of small-time card-counters are a handful of supreme professionals, or 'high rollers'. They can make upwards of £500,000

tax-free, annually. Utterly dedicated to their work, these are the card-counting elite. They operate either on their own or in small groups, and are virtually impossible to identify. They are always on the move, flying from one country to the next, constantly changing their identities and adopting a variety of disguises. Most of them are American or Canadian. Two are based in England.

One, known as 'the Professor', lives in the Midlands and has been known to dress as a woman. The other, alas, has been forced to hand in his chips.

STAYING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE LAW (OF PROBABILITIES
)

After dealing 100,000 hands, I felt I had got to know the heart and soul of blackjack. Every aspect of the game had been dissected and held up to the light. I had developed a basic card-counting strategy to the point where the bank's overall advantage was reduced to a half of one per cent. In other words, for every £100 that I bet during the game, I would be returned £99.50,

providing my stake remained constant ('flat betting').

If, however, I substantially increased my bet when the cards were

favourable, I could realize a profit of £1 to £2 for every £100 of turnover staked. This might not sound a lot, but it soon adds up. If your initial stake is

£100, for example, you can turn over £10,000 in an evening. It was time to put theory into practice.

I began by joining as many clubs as I could, all over the country. Profits were modest to begin with, but there were other perks of the job. I embarked on a pleasant tour of the casinos along the south coast, enjoying what I call

'free evenings': my profit would cover the cost of travel, meals, and drink.

It wasn't long before I was targetting the Midlands and certain London

clubs, returning home every morning with a reasonable profit. The strategy was working. More important, the casino managers appeared to be tolerating my presence. I began to earn a good living, about £500 to £600 per week, and I was learning to ride the ups and downs.

I remember getting off to a particularly bad start on my first visit to a club in the Midlands. Within half an hour, I was £500 down. I decided that a good dinner was in order. After dining on a sumptuous steak, washed down with a delightful wine, I was pleasantly surprised to find that my dinner bill had been