bankroll question...

I use a high/low counting system. When the TC is 1 or less, I will bet 1 unit. When the TC is +2, I'll bet 2 units. When it is +3, I'll bet 3 units, all the way up to 5 units. (I guess that's a 1-5 spread?)

For my bankroll I have 100 units. Is this ridicuoulsy small, or do I stand a chance? Did I hear somewhere that your max bet should be 1% of your total bankroll? Someone please help...

Also, what would a good buy in be for any one session?

Thanks,

Karl

Karl, I have read that your BR should be 20x your average bet, or that it should be 40x your average bet. Honestly, at this point I don't know which is correct. My guess is 40.

If you're going just to have a good time and flat bet you're BR should be 20-40x your bet. It all depends on you. Obviously if you want to last longer and weather possible flucuations 40x is the way to go.

If you're counting cards the situation is different. Most serious card counters would not advice betting more than 1% of your total bankroll, with that said if you're max bet is 5 units, your bankroll should be 500 units.

Professional counters like to use what's called the Kelly Criterion. Meaning that your bet should be in direct proportion to your advantage for that particular hand, depending on you current bankroll. A pro starting out with a fixed bankroll of $10,000 would bet $100 when he has a 1% advantage on the coming hand if he was using "full Kelly". Playing "half Kelly" is safer. Then after each session, he would readjust his percentages to his new bankroll.

Of course, you'd have to know how to calculate your advantage depending on what counting system you use.

I personally always go in with 20x my average bet.

I buy $200 in chips, make $10 my average bet, and I use a 1-5 spread (2 decks) I'll quit either if I lose all $200 or when I double up ($400). But I usually only make $100 profit since I cap myself at $300 and play with the remains i.e. if I have $350, I take $300 away and play $50 till I lose it all or double it up)

I ALWAYS DO THIS, and I haven't lose yet. I guess when you set standards it prevents you from getting greedy. Also, I think a big reason why I haven't lost yet is because I usually don't play long, maybe 2 hours at most so it doesn't account for long term flucuations.

I consider all that Kelly betting and mumbo jumbo for professional players, I only play to make a small profit and than I'm out the door.

agreed, but only if your a professional player. The reason pros do this is because they don't have a disposable income, meaning that they don't get pay checks every 2 weeks like most people. So because their bankroll is there only source of income they have to be extremely cautious.

But if you're like me, someone who plays BJ for fun and some extra pocket money, then 20x your average bet is the standard play

200 Average Bet

Rule
bankroll should be at least 200 x bigger than average bet, any other advice you get on this is completely INCORECT.

My bankroll is 270 times bigger than average bet.
High blood preasure runs in family.....

trip bankroll should be about 30-50 times bigger than average bet.

BJStanko, I think he was talking about "trip BR". At least that was my take. I agree with you pretty much on that...I use a 20x BR per trip, but I flat bet and know you are an advantage player requiring more than that.

As you may know I just got interested in Blackjack, and have just started Card Counting. Now, as a beginner, just to play for a couple hours every few months, could I brin in 100 bucks for a min bet of 10 bucks and be able to surivive? What abou 5 bucks minimum? LOL, it would be scary for me to bring more than 100 bucks to a casino. JW, never really played casino blackjack. yet.

I guess it depends on how long you want to survive <grin>. I can flat bet $5 all day long on a $100 BR usually and be pretty close to even unless luck takes a turn South! With a $10 minimum on a $100 BR, you are really looking at only 10 more loses than wins before bottoming out.

Try it on the practice site here on the front page of the forum. See how long you can make it last. That'll give you a pretty good idea.

With a $100 bankroll,you shouldn't be playing $10 bets,imho.
Suppose you lose 2 hands in a row,and have a 9 against the dealers 6 on the third hand.Will the knowledge that a loss on a double down will cost you 25% of your remaining bankroll affect your play?
With a $100,you should seek out a game with $3 minimums.

Risk of Ruin

There is no perfect answer to the question of minimum bankroll. It really depends on your own level of the risk you are willing to take. To me the most important thing is survival at blackjack. Therefore I will have a bankroll of at least 1000 units and will never risk more than 10 units on my largest bet which is 1%. To me anything more than this is gunslinging. My risk of ruin is only around 2%. On the other hand if you sit down with only 25 units your risk of ruin is around 50%.

Of course the other side of the coin is that it will take my 1000 unit account about 2 years or more to double while a 25 unit account can double in about 2 playing sessions.

So the question you must ask yourself is am I in this to make a slow consistent amount of money? Or a quick and large dollar amount with a high risk of losing it all?

could not have said it better myself....

It is totally up to the individual, because there tecnically isn't a standard bankroll you should have, mainly recommedations.

For me, I like to bet aggressive (i.e.higher risk of going broke but faster payoff) appose to the grinding way (i.e. low risk of going broke but slower payoff)

With a $100 bankroll,playing $10 a hand is pretty risky.
Suppose you lose two hands in a row,right off the bat;
next you doubledown against a 6 and lose. Next hand you get Ace-six against a 4. You should DD,but you might be a bit gun shy.Scared money never seems to win,and it just seems you should have a little bigger roll to get you thru the lean runs.
When I play $10,I cash in with $200,and have a C-note in reserve.Rarely get down to it,but I have.
With only $100,I'd stick to $5 bets.

Damn NYbear....That's my formula! However, here of late, I'm thinking I need two or three C-notes in reserve!