How Much Should I Bet On Blackjack

How Much Should I Bet On Blackjack Rating: 5,0/5 7429 reviews
Greasyjohn
I would like to know, precicely, what the definition of 'unit' is. In the glossary at Bj21 it defines it thus: Unit. This generally means a card counter's minimum bet. When a counter is spreading $25 to $200 and says he won 10 units, he means he won $250. Although if he is speading $50 to $200 with only an occasional $25 bet, he might be talking about $50 units.
I have noticed some confusion and misunderstanding in a couple of threads in the forums here, so I was hoping for clarification. I've always used the term to define the number of my minimum wagers, like the definition above. But I think some define units as the table minimum bet. This would be contrary to the definition above. Why the discrepancy?
RS

Here is a general rule: always buy-in with at least 50 times the minimum bet. If you've never gambled before, you'll want to figure how much you can afford to bet on each round of blackjack, craps, roulette, or slots for your playing session. You'll have to make sure you can afford at least the casino minimum, which is never less than $5 on the Vegas Strip and downtown, but $10, $15, or $25 at many casinos. Unlike most other variants of Blackjack that can and do award a range of bonus winning payouts, players do get to decide just how much they wager on the side bet, as opposed to being forced to have to play that side bet for a fixed stake. Hi Low 13 Blackjack. Another Blackjack game that you may stumble across when playing online is the variant.

It varies from game to game, but in general my goal is to make sure that I am betting as little as possible (preferably $0) when the count is highly negative, a bit more when the count is in a neutral range, and as much as I can get away with when the count is highly positive (Hi Lo TC +4 or greater). Simple division should tell you that you could bet on at least 200 hands of blackjack ($1,000 divided by 5). But remember that blackjack games online can also involve doubling and splitting, each of which requires to you bet twice as much on a single hand as usual. Blackjack insurance bets can also raise your online betting requirement.

Nobody refers to a unit as being the table minimum..at least they shouldn't be. They either refer to unit as:
- The minimum bet you make
Or
- The first increased wager (ie TC +2). In other words, the amount you bet for every 0.5% advantage.
In reality, the term unit is a weird one. For someone spreading 1-100 ($5-$500), it doesn't really make sense to say they won 1,000 units ($5000) since that's really just 10 big bets.
I prefer to use the term 'big/max bets' instead of 'unit' when saying 'I won X number of (units/max bets).'
Greasyjohn

Nobody refers to a unit as being the table minimum..at least they shouldn't be. They either refer to unit as:
- The minimum bet you make
Or
- The first increased wager (ie TC +2). In other words, the amount you bet for every 0.5% advantage.
In reality, the term unit is a weird one. For someone spreading 1-100 ($5-$500), it doesn't really make sense to say they won 1,000 units ($5000) since that's really just 10 big bets.
I prefer to use the term 'big/max bets' instead of 'unit' when saying 'I won X number of (units/max bets).'


So if you're betting $25 to $200 (a 1-8 spread) and you said you won 10 units, or $250, this is very straight forward. What other way than this is there to define units (if the table minium bet isn't the answer)?
kewlj

How Much Should I Bet On Blackjack Game

Most of those books from the 80's and 90's define unit as your minimum wager. I used this definition as well for a long time, until I learned what I now refer to as the Munchkin/big player definition of unit, which is basically the second of RS's definitions....amount wagered per increment of advantage and that increment of advantage is usually .5% advantage, although some do 1%. I call it the Munchkin/big player definition because they are the two posters that I learned it from. Munchkin is obviously Richard Munchkin and big player is a poster on several blackjack sites. He was a long time member of a pretty famous team and is a member of the BJ HoF.
It turns out that definition: amount wagered per increment of advantage is the definition that most professional players and most of the different teams used ranging from the various MIT teams, to Tommy Hyland's teams, to Al Francesco's teams (ken uston), to the various European teams. If you get your hands on one of the manuals from one of these teams, this will be the definition of unit that is used.
To explain it a little better I will use an example. Lets say a player is playing a $25 minimum table and spreading $25-$500.
His ramp is:
$25 at all true counts below +1
$100 @ TC +2 (when he has about a .5% advantage, depending on exact rules)
$200 @ TC +3 (1% advantage)
$300 @ TC +4 (1.5% advantage)
$400 @ TC +5 (2% advantage)
and max bet of $500 @ TC +6 or greater, which is about 2.5% advantage or better)
The player's unit is $100, which is what he bets per increment of .5% advantage. The $25 wager is NOT the unit. It is just the minimum wager. The minimum wager is usually a fraction of the true unit.
At a $15 table the player could use the same ramp and unit ($100 per increment of advantage). At a $50 minimum table he could also use the same ramp and unit. All that would change is the minimum wager.
Keep in mind, this was just an example used to illustrate the point, far from an optimal spread and/or ramp.
Again this is the true definition of unit that most profession players and team's use. But most of the books and recreational players use a definition more in line with minimum wager.
Sonuvabish

Blackjack Side Bet Odds

I would like to know, percicely, what the definition of 'unit' is. In the glossary at Bj21 it defines it thus: Unit. This generally means a card counter's minimum bet. When a counter is spreading $25 to $200 and says he won 10 units, he means he won $250. Although if he is speading $50 to $200 with only an occasional $25 bet, he might be talking about $50 units.
I have noticed some confusion and misunderstanding in a couple of threads in the forums here, so I was hoping for clarification. I've always used the term to define the number of my minimum wagers, like the definition above. But I think some define units as the table minimum bet. This would be contrary to the definition above. Why the discrepancy?


How Much Should I Bet On BlackjackThe unit is the lowest bet you make. It can be less than the table minimum if you do not at least double your bet when you reach +.5% advantage. If $1 was your unit at a $5 table, the table minimum is 5 units.
The table minimum is often the same as the betting unit because you can make no smaller bet, and you will be frequently making that bet. It's not a causative relationship, and some people get irritated when you equate the table minimum to a betting unit. However, I see nothing wrong with it.
If you usually bet more than the table minimum in unfavorable counts, your betting unit is not the table minimum.
Some people ignore what they bet in unfavorable counts, considering it a fractional unit or a partial wong. They consider their first increase in bet at the earliest advantage as their betting unit.
Greasyjohn
Thanks Kewlj, RS and bish for your detailed and thorough answers. Very informative.
Wino
Thanks for the info. I enjoy learning something new everyday. :-)
Wanda Wilcox: “I can’t stand people. I hate them.” Chinaski: “Oh, yeah?” Wanda: “You hate them?” Chinaski: “No, but I seem to feel better when they’re not around.” Barfly, starring Mickey Rourke
Bet

One of the most often asked questions from players about blackjack strategy, is 'how should I bet?' You've got severaloptions and I'll discuss them in this article and offer my recommendation.

How Much Should I Bet On Blackjack Today

Flat Bet Blackjack Strategy

This means betting the same amount all the time. Most players don't like to bet this way because they figure if the dealer wins more hands then them they'll never win any money. Also, playersfeel it's boring betting this way. They prefer the thrill of sometimes betting more in the hopes that when they do so, they will win the hand and make a nice profit.

Here are the facts on the flat betting blackjack strategy. If you bet say $5 on every hand in a standard multiple deck game the house will have an edge of 0.5% against theskilled basic strategy player. That means you will lose on average 0.5% of every wager you make. So if you bet $10 on every hand and average 80 hands per hour you will have made a total of $800worth of bets. The casino expects to earn 0.5% of the $800 or $4.00. Of course, the more likely result is that you'll win or lose much more than $4 after an hour of play. But on average you canexpect over time to lose at the rate of $4 per hour.

Let's take an example of a player flat betting $10 on every hand. It's is a conservative betting strategy that leads to a relatively low theoretical loss rate. The fluctuation in this player'sbankroll will also be low which means the likelihood he'll have a big winning or losing session is not great.

Watch 'Why You Should Never Make the Blackjack Insurance Bet with Blackjack Expert Henry Tamburin' (March 2016)

In this video blackjack expert Henry Tamburin explains why a basic strategy player should never make an insurance bet. He gives details on three different situations that a player may encounterand why he considers blackjack insurance to always be a sucker bet.

Progressive Betting Blackjack Strategy

This is where things get interesting. The Progressive betting blackjack strategy is when players vary their bets in some way from one hand to the next rather than alwaysbetting the same amount on every hand. There are all different types of betting progressions but they all have one common denominator. You either decrease or increase your next bet dependingupon whether the hand you just played won or lose.

Win progressions encourage you to increase your bet size after a winning hand. For example, you make a minimum bet of $10 and if you win, you raise your next stakes on the hand to $20.

There are all different kinds of win progressions. The most common is a 1-2-3-5 progression. This means you increase your bet by the above multiples after each winning hand butas soon as you experience a loss, you start the progression over with a 1 unit bet.

Proponents of win progressions will tell you that you'll win more money if you win 5 consecutive hands compared to the amount you lose if you lose 5 consecutive hands. Of course, what theydon't tell you is that you never know when that 5 consecutive winning hand streak will occur.

There are also betting progressions in which you increase your bet following a loss. These Martingale type betting progressions are dangerous and you should never consider using them.

There are also hybrid betting progressions, which have you increase your bets following a win, but after two or three success wins you lock up some profit and gradually regress your bets. Thecreativity of progressive bettors is never-ending.

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First of all, the blackjack strategy for betting progressions does not change the 0.5% house edge one iota. There has never been a correlation between the hand just won (orlost) and your chance of winning the next hand. In other words, using the criteria of the result of one hand (W/L) to base how you bet on the next hand has no scientific validity. So bettingprogressions, in the long run, don't work in the sense that they won't improve your long-term chances of winning.

But here's what betting progressions will do. First off they increase the fluctuation in your session bankroll compared to flat betting. This means you can win more using abetting progression compared to flat betting but you can also lose more. Secondly, betting progressions will increase the amount of money you wager per hour compared to flat betting. If a $10bettor uses a 1-2-3-5 betting progression, his average bet will $20. Over an hour he will average $20 times 80 hands or $1600 worth of bets. The casino's expected win is 0.5% of $1600 or $8. Inother words, a $10 progressive bettor stands to lose twice as much per hour as a $10 flat bettor.

Here's a tip to save you some money in the long run if you insist on using a betting progression. Instead of starting your progression at $10, start at a lower amount (ie. $5). This will reduceyour average bet to $10 per hour and cut your hourly theoretical loss rate in half.

But in the long run flat betting and betting progressions don't work in the sense they won't change the house edge against you and you will lose in the long run. So what betting system works?That, my friends, is card counting.

Betting When You Have The Edge (Card Counting)

With card counting, you know when you have the edge based on the change in the composition of the decks and therefore you'll know when it's the right time to bet more. Sounlike betting progressions that are based on whether you win or lose the previous hands, card counting is based on the mix of cards that were played on previous hands. If more small valuecards were played in previous rounds, there are more big value cards left in the unplayed cards, and the edge shifts from dealer to the player. This would be the best time to bet more.

But I'm a realist. Not a whole lot of average blackjack players have the time or mental concentration during play that is required to master one of the popular point count cardcounting systems. These are readily available in blackjack books. But even though millions of blackjack books have been sold since Ed Thorp's classic book, Beat The Dealer (circa 1962) firstrevealed card counting to the masses, the number of players who can successfully win money in the long run at blackjack number in the hundreds and thousands.

So what's the answer to betting at blackjack for the average player? I asked Don Pronovost that same question about four years ago. Don is a software developer that markets blackjack trainingsoftware. He spent the better part of two years and a trillion computer simulated hands looking for the solution to this dilemma. What he developed is Speed Count.

Speed Count is unlike any conventional card counting system. It's much simpler to master and requires much less concentration when you play. And unlike progressive betting systems, Speed Countwill give you a verifiable advantage over the casino You can read about Speed Count in Frank Scoblete’s book, Golden Touch Blackjack Revolution.

Now that you know the scoop on betting at blackjack, I wish you many aces and faces the next time you play.

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Henry Tamburin has been a respected casino gambling writer for the past 50 years. He is the author of theUltimate Blackjack Strategy Guide and was editor of theBlackjack Insider newsletter. You can read his latest articles on blackjack, video poker, and his personal playing experiences at https://www.888casino.com/blog/writers/henry-tamburin

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