Blackjack Progressive Betting Chart
- Blackjack Progressive Betting Chart Template
- Blackjack Betting Strategy Chart
- Blackjack Progressive Betting System
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.
Blackjack Betting Rule Of Thumb. If you are just a casual blackjack player who enjoys going to the casino every so often for a few hours of play blackjack, there is a very simple rule of thumb when it comes to betting. This rule of thumb does not depend on any betting or counting system and it works very well. Looking at the blackjack chart, the blackjack strategy card tells us to stand whenever you have 17 points or more in your hand, regardless of what the dealer is showing for an up card. Reduce the value of your hand by one point to 16, and the chart says to stand when the dealer’s up card is a 6 or lower.
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.
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.
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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Martingale Blackjack Strategy
The Martingale betting system is one of the simplest and oldest types of betting systems. It is also one of the more commonly known betting systems. The Martingale betting system is a type of negative progression betting and it is based on the probability of losing an infinite number of times. This betting system is usually applied to even money types of bets.
Using the Martingale system, you start by betting 1 unit. Every time you win a bet, you start all over again with 1 unit. If you lose the bet, you double the betting amount. You continue to double each bet you lose until you finally win a bet. After finally winning a bet, you start back over with the original betting amount of 1 unit.
By using this system, you are guaranteed a profit of one betting unit when you finally win a bet. This system will always turn a small profit unless you lose an infinite number of times.
Blackjack Progressive Betting Chart Template
Martingale Betting System Samples
For an example of the Martingale betting system let's say you are playing blackjack and starting your betting at $1 a hand. You lose your first bet, so your next bet will be $2 (the previous bet doubled). You also lose the $2 second bet, so your third bet will be $4. The dealer is running good and you also manage to lose your $4 third bet, making the fourth bet $8. On the fourth bet you finally manage to beat the dealer and get paid $8.
You lost the first 3 bets of $1, $2, and $4, so the total amount you have lost is $7. Since you won the fourth bet of $8, you have made $1 in total net profit. You've successfully made a profit of one betting unit, which is $1 in this example. After winning this bet you start the pattern over again, beginning with betting one unit.
Should I Use the Martingale Betting System?
If you are a blackjack player, we do not recommend using the Martingale betting strategy for several different reasons. The system is very risky and practically useless in most casino games. For this system to work flawlessly you must have a large bankroll. It's not uncommon to lose 7-8 hands in a row at blackjack. After losing that many hands in a row, all of a sudden you are risking very large amounts of money to gain one betting unit.
Another drawback to using this system for blackjack is that most blackjack tables have betting limits, such as $5 - $100. After losing several hands in a row, the table limit will no longer allow you to bet enough to continue using the Martingale strategy. You will never make much money by using the Martingale system in most blackjack games.
More Blackjack Betting Systems:
Blackjack Betting Strategy Chart
Some Online Casinos:
Blackjack Progressive Betting System
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