A few questions

rush334

New Member
Hi there, I'm new to card counting and I have a few questions:
1) Is it better to sit at a table with less players or more players?
2) I'm starting out with a fairly small bankroll so what's a good betting spread for me?
3)How do you know how much to bet? Let's say my minimum bet is 10$ how much sound I bet with a TC of 1 or 2?

Thank's a lot for all the help
 

LIB

Active Member
I recommend "Blackjack Attack" by Don Schlesinger and J.L. Kelly's "A New Interpretation of Information Rate". The latter will give you a grasp of proportional betting, whereas the former will give you less mathematically detailed and yet far more practical information that you'll find more applicable - no kidding! You can also find informative articles pertaining to optimal betting at bjmath.com. bjmath.com offers basic math and statistics guide as well if you feel a need. I never tried that portion of the website because I just bought a Statistics textbook and studied that thing word by word early on but that's just because I'm a psychotic anal pain.

By the way, by no means am I attempting to be elusive with you. I just think you could benefit from tapping into that area yourself and making that knowledge yours especially considering what sort of information any given count is able to give you; It's a merged figure, a ratio, that gives you an aggregate picture. By it's nature it provides more accurate account of how advantageous one can find himself when the time comes to bet as opposed to an extreme precision play.
 

StandardDeviant

Well-Known Member
LIB said:
I recommend "Blackjack Attack" by Don Schlesinger and J.L. Kelly's "A New Interpretation of Information Rate"...
These are indeed good sources, but if I may, an easier intro for a beginner would be Blackbelt in Blackjack by Snyder or Blackjack Bluebook II by Renzy.

Just one girl's opinion...
 

Nynefingers

Well-Known Member
As usual, I'm going to have to recommend Qfit's online book: qfit.com/book/

I read it before just about anything else and the knowledge I gained from it has served me well. And it's free :grin:
 

DMMx3

Well-Known Member
rush334 said:
Hi there, I'm new to card counting and I have a few questions:
1) Is it better to sit at a table with less players or more players?
2) I'm starting out with a fairly small bankroll so what's a good betting spread for me?
3)How do you know how much to bet? Let's say my minimum bet is 10$ how much sound I bet with a TC of 1 or 2?

Thank's a lot for all the help
1) less is more
2) depends how small. something like this: spread somewhere from 1-8 to 1-16, with your base unit being 1/1000th of your bankroll and your big bet being 1/100th. This gives you somewhere in the neighborhood of a 5% chance of going bust. (Of course it depends on a lot of other factors, which you will discover in the books. Blackjack Attack is probably the best read. Not terribly long, and has everything you need.)
3) If minimum is 10, and you are spreading anything like I suggested above, with a TC of 1 you are probably breaking even (or winning or losing very slightly, depending on the game and your exact playing strategies), so you don't want to raise your bet until TC of 1.5 or 2. At 2 you should probably bet 20 or 25 dollars.

Good luck, and READ A BOOK!
 

rush334

New Member
DMMx3 said:
1) less is more
2) depends how small. something like this: spread somewhere from 1-8 to 1-16, with your base unit being 1/1000th of your bankroll and your big bet being 1/100th. This gives you somewhere in the neighborhood of a 5% chance of going bust. (Of course it depends on a lot of other factors, which you will discover in the books. Blackjack Attack is probably the best read. Not terribly long, and has everything you need.)
3) If minimum is 10, and you are spreading anything like I suggested above, with a TC of 1 you are probably breaking even (or winning or losing very slightly, depending on the game and your exact playing strategies), so you don't want to raise your bet until TC of 1.5 or 2. At 2 you should probably bet 20 or 25 dollars.

Good luck, and READ A BOOK!
Thanks, so lets say I want to start off small with a bankroll of 1000$. If I'm playing at a 5$ table then I should bet minimum until reaching a TC of 1.5 or 2, then I should be betting 10-15$ right? And with a TC of 3 would a 25$ bet be ok?? Also, which position is best to play from? THe person that has to act first or last? Thanks for all the help
 

LIB

Active Member
Betting ramp depends on the game. Once again, it may be your better interest to look into some readings pertaining to that issue.

Not sitting on the first seat would be easier for playing decisions and insurance decisions as you would have some time to think in case you have difficulty counting, but that shouldn't matter. Some folks seem to be under the impression that a third baser has some sort of control over the flow of cards almost exclusively when they lose. Your call, captain.
 
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