Sonny,
I agree with most of what you say for the AP, but I had the impression (maybe wrongly so) that TheReach might be somewhat new to blackjack gaming.........since he asked "what do they mean by a $10,000 bankroll". If I am correct regarding this, then my response was pretty much taylored to helping him avoid large percentage swings or large drawdowns in his bankroll that would have a tendency to limit correct strategy play (ie not being able to double down, double down after split, etc). Without a sufficient bankroll, a large drawdown could certainly make someone gun shy to "push out" the correct bet for the plays described above.
16 hours of gaming with a 960 unit bankroll is sufficient.........but I didn't limit the example I gave to only 16 hours of gaming. Quit actually, for 4 days with 4 sessions per day, it is probably quite a bit more than 16 hours. A session is not necessarily defined as a one hour session. It could possibly be as short as possibly 1/2 hour, but could be possibly as long as 3 or 4 hours, maybe even longer (I know that I have had some of my own sessions last as much as 5 or 6 hours). And if the session was as long as 3 hours or so, then with 4 of them per day on a four day trip, that could be as much as 48 or so hours of gaming. Then your 960 unit bankroll has a higher ROR, certainly more than "miniscule". Session "length" could be defined a number of different ways. TheReach could decide that he wants to play a minimum or specific number of tables, which he might choose to leave from each after a certain amount of time, or by how much he has possibly lost, or even by how much he has been fortunate enough to win. Then he might also decide that his session will be 3 or 4 hours long.......possibly the length of time between meals and/or shows or whatever.
I too just got back from a trip to LV for a weekend in which I got in about 28 to 30 hours of blackjack play. I also took about a 600 unit TRIP bankroll with me.
I'm not in agreement with you regarding taking all of one's OVERALL bankroll on a trip, even if it a longer one. If your overall bankroll is sufficiently large enough, then even a trip length of a week should not be all of your bankroll. If your bankroll is "limited", then one should adjust the basic betting unit downward to a smaller one, OR play fewer sessions during each day, maybe only 2 (not 3 or 4), OR set a smaller session bankroll. As you point out, you don't want to run out of money on the 4 day of your 7 day trip. If you hit an unfortunate unlucky stretch, lose today's 4 sessions worth of bankroll, use tomorrow's bankroll today because you think your luck will change, then that is exactly what will happen. You will run out of gambling money early in your tirp.
Of course, if you have run out of your planned session bankrolls (or daily bankrolls) early in your trip, then your EV hasn't been very positive, it has actually been quite negative. And there is no guarantee that your "realized" EV will go positive and you would become a winner and that by not playing the tables then you are misssing out EV. If one had their total bankroll with them when they experienced this losing streak, the temptation to dip into it and play with it to get caught-up on what has already been lost, is (at least in my opion) way to high of a risk for wiping out ones entire bankroll for the sake of being able to continue gambling for the remainder of the 2 or 3 days of the trip.
The purpose of the session bankroll is to control or limit your potential losses.
If you run out of your session bankroll in the middle of the session as you say, then your session should be OVER. That is why it is called and defined as a session bankroll. Besides, why would you want to dig into your next session bankroll to take advanatage of those similar opportunities that just caused you to lose this particular session bankroll? Take a break for awhile, go eat a meal, cool off, analyze what just happened during this session that caused you to lose this session bankroll. After that, begin a new session later on as originally planned. You also speak of advantageous tables and positive counts that might be missed. I am sure you realize that it just might have been those high positive counts and advantageous tables that "turned" on you and caused you to lose the session bankroll to begin with. How many times have you pushed out a max spread bet in a really high count, get dealt a two card 20, just to have the dealer either get a BJ or draw out to a 21? The count continues to be high or get even higher and you do it again thinking that you can't lose this hand, BUT you do. If you have lost your session bankroll in this situation, walk away from it NOW and begin a new session later, when the cards just might be going in your favor, rather than the dealer's.
One last comment, TheReach or anyone for that matter, never needs to buy in at a table with his/her full amount of the SESSION BANKROLL. If your session bankroll is $500, you can still buy in for $100 to $200, or maybe the amount that other players in that particular casino buy in for. If you happen to lose that initial buy-in, you can always go into the remainder of the session bankroll and use some more of it. Or if the situation calls for splitting up to four hands with an additional double down on three of them, then go into your pocket and get the extra cash you need. OR, if after losing the intial buy-in, you can get up from the table, look for another one that isn't quite as unlucky for you, and buy-in to that one with another $100-$200. Better yet, get up an walk away from the table when you are up. If your are "satisfied" with your winings (maybe you double your original buy-in amount) call off the session. End that session as a winning session. Then go back and play your next session, maybe the last one in the evening after dinner and show.
Sonny, I just wanted to clarify some of my positions regarding your responses. It may very well be that we are saying alot of the same thing, maybe just a little differently. And again, my original post was in response to TheReach, whom I perceived to be a relatively newer player (although I now realize that I may have incorrectly misjudged him).
Thanks for the good dialogue, Sonny. I hope that both of us were able to give some insight to TheReach in setting up a bankroll. As long as we were able to help him, it was worthwhile and good.