Betting Strategies

[mrbill]

I'm interested in what betting strategies people use.

I'm not quite sure what to call what I use at $5.00 tables.

First bet is $5.00. Every time I win I add $5.00 to the bet. If I lose, I reset to $5.00. I also reset to $5.00 whenever an even happens that would change my first card. That includes shuffling, dealer change, new player to my right or a player leaves to my right. I also add $5.00 to my bet after a push. The highest I've ever gotten is $55.00.

If I've gotten a BJ at $5.00 I will change my first bet to $7.50 after a loss.

I play pretty much basic strategy although I don't have the charts memorized. I probably double on some things that basic strategy say I shouldn't, such as doubling 7 or 8, but I've done pretty good with those.

[Mikeaber]

This sounds a lot like the Dahl system...well somewhat anyway.

Basically, with Dahl, you start out with $10. If you win, you pull back to $5. If you win that one, you are on the road. You increase the bet by $5 each time up to a pre determined limit. Usually that limit is set somewhere around 4 or 5 wins in a row and then you "reset" to the beginning $10 bet again.

This one is a little more conservative than a positive progression. It plays out okay in the simulators. About the same as "flat betting."

But like ALL betting strategies, it's a Rob Peter to pay Paul situation. Sooner or later, you are going to get into a streak that will hurt you more than straight flat betting will hurt you.

So why not just "flat bet?" Well, if you do that, over the long haul, you are going to get eaten up by the house advantage. That advantage isn't much, but it will take it's toll. However, your objective is to play for 2 to 4 hours and not go home broke. I understand that attitude for I have it myself <grin>. I've found "flat betting" to be the best way so far to accomplish that if you do not wish to count cards.

You can add a little adrenalin pump by watching the cards and trying to determine when there are going to be a lot of face cards hitting (say after you see a couple of hands pass without many face cards in the mix!) When you see that happen, you can increase your bet...and probably loose it but it was a rush increasing it

[BlackjackRebel]

mrbill, if you want to see a little more info on a positive progression betting strategy similar to what you are doing, read Walter Thomson's 21st Century Blackjack. He took Dahl's theory and put it to an empirical test. The results are interesting but take them with a grain of salt because his experimental sample was mighty small. (5,000 hands) I think his book is much better than Dahl's but I would still like to see someone take that idea and put it to a much larger test to see if the results are replicated.

[mrbill]

I don't see that on Amazon or the blackjackinfo.com book link. Where would I find it?

[BlackjackRebel]

The Gambler's General Store in Las Vegas has almost any gambling title you might want in stock. They do mail order. I loaned my catalog to a bar owner who wanted to set up a weekly hold-em game and needed some things but I will get it back in a few days. I'll post their phone number then.

[Mikeaber]

I'm not sure which of the two below Blackjackrebel might be referring to. Maybe neither. Still worth a check out.

Gambler's General Store. Address. 800 S. Main St. Location. Downtown. Phone. 800/322-2447, 702/382-9903
www.gamblersgeneralstore.com


The above might be what you are looking for.

or, it might be:

Gambler's Book Shop
630 SOUTH 11th STREET / LAS VEGAS, NEVADA 89101
Store Hours: Mon-Sat 9am-5pm. Closed Sunday.
TOLL FREE ORDER LINES: 1-800-522-1777 & 1-800-634-6243 -- Phone: 702-382-7555 / FAX: 1-702-382-7594
http://casinogambling.about.com/gi/d...blersbook.com/

[colin563]

Twenty-First Century Blackjack Walter Thomason
Its on Amazon here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...403796-1808954
its a excellant read on the history of progressive betting,
when you mention the word progression you usually get shouted at :D as if its a BIG nasty word as it gets a lot of peoples back up as per the argument here "Card counting can give you an edge. Progressions do not give you an edge" click on Progressions at the top of the page here http://www.bj21.com/frames/index.html

for me the best book on blackjack is
Blackjack Bluebook II Fred Renzey
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books

I use Pro-1 ( http://www.highstakes21.com/ ) and had considerable success with it, and have won more than I have lost, there is another system thats cropped up at another forum called the Star system* that has been showing some positive results that you might want to check out
*You can get it here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gamblingstrategies/files/

Take care and be lucky

Cheers

Colin

( BTW I nothing to do or a affiliate with any author or publisher or site and none of the links in this post are affiliate links )

[Newb]

Right now I use negative progression aka The Martingale system.

I have several reasons for doing so. The main being I don't know how to count...yet. Heck I am still trying to master B.S. One of the other reasons is it is alot more fun to have 320$ on a turn of the cards than 5$.

Even though from what I have read it works out the same as flat betting I think I have done better, Might just be the numbers havn't caught up with me yet.

I start with a minimum of $500 BR start at $5 on a $500 limit table and double up losses. Early in the game I will double up to $80 Which gives me 5 hands to win. Then increase it as my BR increases.

Yes those who know more than I say it is a bad system but hopefully I will learn the better ones soon.