Betting Levels

It seems that whenever I am betting big ($25) I lose during that session and that when I am betting small ($10) I win during that session. I am not worried about dealer cheating because I think that problem is way overdone.

I have read much about bankroll requirements and wonder if these requirements only work for someone who chooses a betting unit level and sticks with it or if it doesn't matter that you change betting unit levels throughout a trip. My thoughts based on my experiences is that one needs to choose a constant betting unit level and stick with it forever. I hope this question makes sense.

I can advise you only from my experience.

What your experiencing is normal. The problem is both psychological and betting when one is not yet comfortable with higher level of betting.

Psychological in that you do not appear to be yet comfortable. Also, scared money is always leads to poor decision making in how, overall, you approach the game.

First, you should not jump from 10 to 25 without a basis and only with a technical reason (based on the game and risk level presented)and not on greed basis.

Second, you should not attempt it if you do not have adequate bankroll.

You could approach it this way if it meets your taste. Play one session with the 5-10 chips. If you win or your cap becomes about 500, move to the 25 table for a separate and higher level session.

However, if you're mentally yet not feeling comfortable, your normal play could be affected. I know as I've been through that phase. The chips per se should be looked upon same as any denomination. Make sure that the bankroll is in accordance.

When I started to play 25 min. chips, I used to take a challenge by only taking 12 chips and try to make something out of it. There are times when that strategy works and you triple or quadruple your cap. However, other times I used to lose it all. But, then the question became, should I take another 12 chips and try again...

There is a lot of personal psychology associated with this game and it is a wide open situation. No two persons are alike in the psychology department for this game. The important factor is what makes one comfortable based on a good knowledge of the game, a realistic expectation in view of the limitations of the game and an uncanny ability to distinguish the very subtle line between satisfaction and greed or the inflated dream of making big money.

I hope the above helps. Season's greetings and good luck.

John I am pleased you posed the question as it has troubled me for some time. Now Barry Meadows (Blackjack Autumn) played daily for 2 months I believe, during this time his bet size and spread changed continuously depending on what he could safely get away with.The mathmaticians tell us that standard deviation is calculated by using the number of hands played and then the bet size, so if the bet size is not constant are our results not subject to inaccurate sd. We can expect an average number of winning hands per 100 but the cards do not know how many units we may or may not be staking per hand. Perhaps somebody could clarify. By Jingo.

But, the game of bj is an entirely different thing. Would you like to be operated by a brain surgeon who has learned how to operate from the books without real life experience? Yes, the best combination would be to have a surgeon who has both the theory and practice under his belt.

One hears countless arguments on the tinie-weeny percentage differences of doing one thing or another on the message boards probably by those who want to pretend that they really know the game of bj. Some are ready to jump at your throat to tell you how scientific and mathematical is the basis of what they know... These fools forget the larger picture! It is a game of chance! Nothing will change that! The luck factor reins supreme. What you may know is only a tiny part of the game in the larger scheme of the bj gaming. Do they have the psychological aspect downpath? Do they have self-control? Do they have proper money management? Do they have a balanced life and keep in mind that zealousness puts them on the path of failure in this kind of endeavor?

Funny is the topics that one hears of "ploppy's" or somebody to avoid being known to be a counter, etc. These do not appear to me signs of understanding of the game of bj but expressions of smugness and vanity and probably just some learning of cc... or the false sense of having written a book about bj... Who knows, the internet is a place of "champions" in every human endeavor! Buyer beware.

But, what was your question? May be another tiny bit of trifle statistics? There are many people who specialize in things of that nature... They will tell you to the 4th place of decimal in mathematical terms. Just you wait my friend. Season's greetings to you. Good luck.

This is a game that requires

I would advise not increasing to a bigger unit until you have decided that you will maintain this new size for a very long time and not lower it unless your (total) bank has a very sharp decline. While frequent resizing in proportion to the bank does increase log growth of bankroll, it also substantially increases your long run index. You must play a substantially larger number of rounds to have any certainty of being ahead. When betting larger you give back wins accrued with smaller bets faster. When betting smaller it takes longer to make up losses incurred while betting bigger. Stay away from this trap. I don't think you should ever downsize during a trip. Bring enough units to have a reasonable risk of trip ruin and just accept the occasional trip stake wipe out.

What kind of war o' words did I start? Anyhow, thanks for the replies Ferdinand, Jingo, and DD'. I pretty much knew what the response was going to be, but I wanted to make sure I was thinking clearly.

I was thinking about starting my trips with the smaller betting level and then if/when I win, I was going to step up to the higher levels and parlay that into more winnings.

However what I have been doing is starting with the large betting level and if/when I lose and psycholigically am not ready to lose more I step down to the smaller levels and it takes forever to win something back. At least if I start with the smaller units and win a little, I while have a cushion for when I step up to the higher levels.

Once again thanks for the replies.

Happy Holidays

Don't start big and go down, don't start small and go up. Figure an acceptable risk of trip ruin for the number of hours you plan on putting in for a given bet level. Then maintain those bets through the entire trip. Continue these bet sizes on future trips until you have a real bankroll to which you can size your bets and are bringing only a portion of it as a trip bank. You don't size bets to a trip bank. You size your trip bank to the bet sizes that were already determined based on your total bank based on the expected length of your trip.

note: even absolute optimal resizing of bets to the Kelly criterion increases the long run index 4X. What you are doing is likely far worse. You will be playing for years and years and feel like you are just spinning your wheels. Try to really win your money. Don't try to ride the wave of variance. It doesn't work.