Blackjack Betting Advice

6 February 2021

By Jerry Stickman

The number of wins and losses are relatively even in the game of blackjack – 47 percent wins and 53 percent losses. Because of this fact, many novice blackjack players figure that can develop a betting scheme that will guarantee them winning sessions after winning sessions.

I once was one of those novice players. Looking back at that time I’ve got to tell you, I was really – well – stupid.

I knew basic strategy hands down. I had not yet learned about card counting, so that wasn’t part of my casino-attacking arsenal. I had read about up-as-you-lose betting progressions where you double your bet each time you lose and revert back you a one unit bet when you win.

This made sense to me, but it seemed too slow. So, I “improved” upon the progression. Rather than double my bet on each loss, I would TRIPLE my bet each and every time I lost.

Armed with great confidence, plus what I thought to be an adequate bankroll for the $1 games that were common, and not much else, I walked up to a table, bought in and started playing.

My system worked great for a time. I would lose one, two or three hands in a row and by tripling my bet with each loss, I made good money – more than by doubling on each loss.

It went something like this.

• I bet $1 and lost. (-$1)
• I bet $3 and lost. (-$4)
• I bet $9 and lost. (-$13)
• I bet $27 and won! (+$14)

This went on for close to one hour and my confidence (and cockiness) grew.
Then the nightmare started to unfold.

• I bet $1 and lost. (-$1)
• I bet $3 and lost. (-$4)
• I bet $9 and lost. (-$13)
• I bet $27 and lost. (-$50)
• I bet $81 and lost. (-$131)
• I bet $243 and LOST! (-$374)

I learned a HUGE lesson. The table maximum provides a great advantage to the house. On this particular game the maximum bet was $300. There was absolutely no way for me to recoup my losses in any short order at this table (even if I did have the bankroll to continue tripling my bets).

I put what was left of my bankroll on my betting spot and thought that surely, I could not lose a fairly even bet seven times in a row.

I assume you can deduce what happened. Yep. I lost everything I had at that table. And, I did it in fairly short order.

Betting systems do not work at blackjack. The house has safeguards built in to protect against them. Even if the limit had been three or four times what it was, it would have only taken eight or nine losses in a row to devastate my bankroll.

That is why casinos love betting systems at blackjack. They may work for a while but eventually they will reach the breaking point.

The casino has an almost unlimited bankroll compared to the table limits. They can afford a few short winning streaks. In fact, they are actually good for the casino’s business. People see players winning and winning and think that they, too can win. They tend to dismiss the moment to loss as “bad luck.”

But the casinos know it is not bad luck. It is the math!

May all your wins be swift and large, and your losses be slow and small.

Jerry “Stickman”

Jerry “Stickman” is an expert in craps, blackjack and video poker and advantage slot machine play. He is a regular contributor to top gaming magazines. You can contact Jerry “Stickman” at stickmanjerry@aol.com