Why spread

[rmi227]

Isn't it better to bet you low bet when you do not have the edge and your Max bet when the odds are in your favor. This way just two bets. Please let me know how you lose anything playing this way. Thanks.

[sagefr0g]

Originally Posted by rmi227

Isn't it better to bet you low bet when you do not have the edge and your Max bet when the odds are in your favor. This way just two bets. Please let me know how you lose anything playing this way. Thanks.

the low bet or no bet is the way to go when you do not have the edge but if you only have one other higher bet for when the odds are in your favor you may end up either underbetting or overbetting the advantage. better to have proportional bets that fit the advantage according to the true count.

[Kasi]

Originally Posted by rmi227

Isn't it better to bet you low bet when you do not have the edge and your Max bet when the odds are in your favor. This way just two bets. Please let me know how you lose anything playing this way. Thanks.

That would be spreading at some ratio lol.

One way to lose everything, rather than anything, betting this way is by betting a very large amount when u have a very small advantage.

But of course, done right, it's quite likely u will win money.

[rmi227]

Please tell me how is it possible to overbet an advantage? An edge is an edge? Right? Thanks..

[ScottH]

Originally Posted by rmi227

Please tell me how is it possible to overbet an advantage? An edge is an edge? Right? Thanks..

If you bet too much for a certain advantage you will have too much risk. The highest EV play is to bet everything you have in any advantage situation, but if you think about it your risk of losing everything with this strategy is 100%.

[sagefr0g]

Originally Posted by rmi227

Please tell me how is it possible to overbet an advantage? An edge is an edge? Right? Thanks..

right an edge is an edge. realize though that even with an edge in blackjack one doesn't always win ones bet placed at an advantage due to normal fluctuation that is inheirent with respect to winning and losing a given blackjack hand. also realize that the advantage stems from the relative proportion of aces, faces & tens to the 2's, 3's, 4's, 5's & 6's. the greater the ratio of high value cards to low value cards that are left to be dealt the greater the advantage. so not all advantages are the same.
which would you rather do bet $100 at a high advantage or at a much lower relative advantage? keep in mind that you may well lose the bet even at the high advantage.
also the idea of what is overbetting or underbetting needs to be considered with respect to what level of risk you are willing to gamble with. there is an optimal level of betting that can be modeled after a math equation called Kelly betting that can help quide your decisions about what the appropriate way to bet is.

[rmi227]

Thanks for everyones response!!!!!

[EasyRhino]

I wish there was a newbie guide on proportional betting in a FAQ or something, but I don't know where one is.

If you're just trying to make money, in a vacuum, you'd want to bet the absolute minimum whenever you don't have an advantage, and then gillions of dollars whenever you have any sort of advantage. The problem is, we're human, and have limited bankrolls. If you bet too much with too small of an edge, you're going to hit a string of bad luck and lose everything.

It's been proven that optimum long-term bankroll growth occurs when you bet in proportion to your bankroll size. The formula is (bankroll)*(your edge)/(variance). Blackjack is a low-variance game, so it's something like bankroll*edge/1.2.

In other words, if you have a 1% advantage at a particular count, you should bet a little less than 1% of your total bankroll. If you have a 2% advantage at a different count, you should bet a little less than 2% of your bankroll.

Even with this scheme, if you pick your bet amount, and stick with it, (for instance, $10k bankroll, $10 bets with a 1% advantage) there is still a significant change of losing it all, around 16%. In fact, if you bet double what the optimum bet is calculated, then your risk of ruin is a guaranteed 100%. (I don't know why this is. Magical math stuff)

This is why people with nonreplenishable bankrolls, usually bet substantially less than "optimum", for risk management.

The quick rule of thumb is to figure out what your bet max bet is given your bankroll, and then work out the details on your min and spread from there.

[jee_pack]

Hey do you know of a calculator that can calculate your probability of ruin given very specific factors that you can change, like what betting sheme you are using?

[sagefr0g]

Originally Posted by jee_pack

Hey do you know of a calculator that can calculate your probability of ruin given very specific factors that you can change, like what betting sheme you are using?

if you have excell then Sonny's bet spread calculator should help:

http://www.blackjackinfo.com/bb/show...78&postcount=6