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Blackjack Bankroll Management Strategy Guide

Faith Mortensen | December 24, 2020 | Updated on: January 4th, 2023

Blackjack Bankroll Management Strategy GuideEverybody wants to skip ahead at gaming tables and start winning, but you should consider blackjack bankroll management. Not only will you keep track of any winnings, but you also keep your bets in line with your budget.

Money management might not be exciting, but you can benefit from knowing how much you can lose. So, read our guide for a list of tips and premium online casinos to start winning at blackjack tables.

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Blackjack Bankroll Management Tips

Before you do anything, our experts recommend studying some aspects of 21. We strongly suggest learning the rules, house edge, and expected returns before committing an amount.

If you can pick a game with a consistent house edge, you can then plan your bets and budget.

Blackjack Bankroll Management Tips

1. Set Your Blackjack Bankroll Limits

When you’re deciding on a blackjack bankroll, you need to work out the expected losses before choosing your per-day budget. Using the house edge of about 1% on classic blackjack, you can expect the following with an average bet size of $5.

Then, the number of hands you’d play in an hour, say 50. If you’ve jumped ahead of us, this will work out as 0.01 x $5 x 50 = $2.50.

Let’s say you set a session bankroll of $150 for three days or $50 a day with those losses in mind. If you hit a losing streak and lose your bankroll in one day, walk away and try tomorrow.

2. Get a Basic Strategy

Now that you know the size of your bankroll, we recommend getting a basic strategy. At this stage, we recommend avoiding progression betting or the like. Instead, keep a list of your wins/losses in the short term at a good table.

Since this is a game of chance, your wins and losses will vary over multiple sessions. So, keep your bets consistent and have a backup plan in place before you start losing too much. By backup plan, we mean a method of walking away with at least one bet.

3. Set Specific Goals

When you have a blackjack bankroll and strategy, you need to limit yourself in time and money. Most blackjack players recommend playing for an hour at most and then trying another day.

Professional players also recommend keeping your bets to the table limit without meeting it exactly. So, if you’re playing low stakes with a limit of $5, keep it to $3 or less.

Average Bet Minimum Bankroll Maximum Bankroll
$5 $250 $500
$10 $500 $1000
$25 $1250 $2500
$50 $2500 $5000
$100 $5000 $10 000
$500 $25 000 $50 000

 

4. Card Counting Might Help

Not really, but it sounds like a good idea if you have a little extra wiggle room in your blackjack bankroll. Card counters will tell you that trying to do this online is nearly impossible, but live tables are a good idea.

For single hands, you can try the Ace-Five method, which starts at zero. Then, when you spot a five, you add one and subtract one for an ace. If your count is a positive two or more, bet higher. And bet lower on a count of one.

Best Bets for Blackjack Bankroll Management

Best Bets for Blackjack Bankroll Management

We’ll be honest here, money management can get complicated, and you might want to throw caution to the wind. However, professional gamblers highly recommend setting aside an amount of money and only using it for blackjack.

In the long-term, this can help you to keep your winnings away from yourself and only play with your budget. You also avoid the risk of ruin by cashing out any wins (if you haven’t taken a bonus).

That way, you can spend it on the weekend away (maybe to Vegas), some self-care items, or groceries (boring!).

Money Management in a Nutshell

When you’ve got your blackjack bankroll and limits, you can start testing it out for free at virtual tables. If you notice too many losses, switch up your strategy, and see where you can improve.

When you’re confident in your skills, you can then play blackjack for real money and see how far you get.

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