| Updated: September 30, 2024Money management is just as important to the blackjack player as is the right choice of a blackjack variation or the use of a good strategy. Skills, knowledge and even the ability to count cards would be pointless without a good money management plan – what bankroll should one dedicate for a blackjack session, what the minimum and maximum bets should be, and more.
Similarly to roulette, slots, or any other type of a casino game, blackjack is a negative expectation game, which suggests that in the long term, players are more likely to lose than to win. This is predetermined by the house edge, the mathematical advantage of casinos over their patrons that is built in every single game. It comes as a result of the rules and payouts guaranteed to favor the house rather than the players.
In blackjack, the only way to overcome the house edge is to count cards but even good card counters will not win every single hand because blackjack remains, after all, a game of chance. Winning and losing depends not only on players’ decisions but also on the probabilities for each hand. With a good money management plan, however, players will be able to make the best of their strategy and chance or limit their losses when luck is not on their side.
How Much Should You Bet?
The size of the bet for each following hand is one of the most important things for card counters whose goal is to make a profit when the odds are in their favor and risk the minimum when the odds are against them. But even players who are applying only a basic strategy should know how to determine the proper size of their bets.
The amount of money players should wager per hand depends on several things – most of all, the amount they are personally comfortable with and their entire bankroll. Card counters would increase their bet size whenever the deck is rich in high cards and reduce it when the deck has “cooled down”, i.e. when there are more low cards than high ones left. Most blackjack players, however, are not practicing card counting and, instead, they use basic strategy to determine their decisions during play. They too should have a good understanding of betting units and betting spread.
Betting Units
Betting SpreadBetting Units
It is easier to talk of betting units rather than the monetary value of bets when discussing money management. A betting unit could be described as the minimum amount of money a player would wager per hand. This could be the table minimum or a higher bet, depending on the personal bankroll. For example, the minimum wager a player would make is $10, so this would be the betting unit. Two betting units would be worth $20, three units would be $30, and so on.
As we have said above, the recommended bankroll for a gaming session is at least 50 times the minimum bet or 50 betting units. Using the example above, this would correspond to $500. A much safer alternative, however, is to start a game of blackjack with at least 200 betting units, which would be $2,000. While this may seem a lot for many, such a bankroll would be more effective in covering the hands you would inevitably lose.
If you play 60 hands per hour on average, this would mean you would spend $600 per hour on the blackjack table. A bankroll of $200 would be then quite inadequate, whereas a bankroll of $2,000 should last for more than three hours, even if you lose every single hand in the game – and that is, of course, highly unlikely if you use a basic blackjack strategy. The higher the bankroll, in terms of betting units, the longer you would play and the less likely you are at losing everything.
Betting Spread
Another term used in blackjack literature is the betting spread – this is the range of different bets you are making throughout the game. It is mainly used by card counters but it is also a helpful tool for money management in standard, basic strategy play. Typically, the player starts the game with 1 betting unit and at some point, he or she would decide to place a higher wager.
A good, conservative betting spread would be 1-10 where the minimum bet is 1 unit and the maximum bet is 10 units. Most players even prefer lower spreads of up to 1-5 or 1-8. In card counting, the betting spread is essential in guaranteeing better profits – players bet the minimum when the house has the advantage and they bet the maximum when the advantage shifts in their favor.
For those who are not skilled enough to track the deck and count the cards, the betting spread of little importance. Still, they could use it to control the money they are spending. Instead of betting your maximum when you feel you are “lucky”, you may try gradually increasing your wagers when you feel more comfortable in your knowledge of the game and your skill to perfectly apply a basic strategy.
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Betting Styles and Methods
Now that we have explained the importance of setting up a bankroll and explored how much we can expect to lose or win over time while playing blackjack, let’s take a look at several ways to place bets. Some of these betting methods are quite popular among recreational players, while others are applied only by blackjack pros.
Progressive Betting Systems The Up and Pull Method Betting for Card CountersProgressive Betting Systems
Progressive betting systems are extremely popular among gamblers – they can be used in blackjack, roulette, and many more. They are fundamentally wrong, however, since they make use of winning and losing streaks. Usually, these systems require players to increase or decrease their bets based on previous outcomes. The idea is that you could win a lot when you are on a winning streak. Your wins will eventually help you recover your losses.
However, consecutive wins or losses are impossible to predict and they only appear as “streaks”. This is one of the common misconceptions in gambling and blackjack pros know well that relying on streaks is not an effective strategy in the long term. Popular betting progressions include the Martingale, Paroli, D’Alembert, etc. There is even a betting system using the Fibonacci sequence of numbers although it has no relation to blackjack or gambling at all.
The Up and Pull Method
One of the betting styles is known as the Up and Pull Method. It is used primarily by recreational and beginner-level players and it is based on the so-called winning and losing streaks. Using it, players start their game with 2 betting units and if they lose, they reduce their bet to 1 unit. If another loss occurs, they start again with 2 units. On every win, the bet increases by 1 unit and whenever the player loses, he goes back to the start.
Although some players consider this way of betting a method, it is, in fact, a betting progression using the following sequence – 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, etc. The idea is to maximize the winnings from several consecutive wins and recoup any losses. This is why the Up and Pull is actually a progressive betting system, which we have already discussed. Since there is no mathematical proof of its effectiveness, it is avoided by professional blackjack players.
Betting for Card Counters
Card counters never use progressive betting systems but they do use methods to structure their wagers in a way that it can bring them the greatest profits. The good betting spread is instrumental in the success of any card counting system. For most counting systems, bets remain at the minimum at running counts of +1 or less. When the count reaches +2, players start increasing their bets by 1 unit – +2 count suggests betting 2 units, +3 count suggests placing 3 betting units, etc.
Others prefer doubling their current bet whenever the count increases by 1. For instance, 1-8 betting spread means that the player initially wagers 1 unit, then 2 units on a +2 count, 4 units on a +3 count, and 8 units on a +4 count.
Some guides on card counting recommend using large betting spreads such as 1-15, 1-20, or even 1-50 as they bring larger profits for the player. While this may be true, large betting spreads are also seen by casinos as a clear indication for card counting. This is why they should be avoided and players should stick to more conservative spreads of up to 1-5, 1-8 or 1-10.