Whether you play blackjack in a private game or at brick and mortar casinos, money management is every bit as important as understanding the rules of 21 and how to apply proper strategy. If you don’t know how to look after your bankroll, then all the blackjack knowledge in the world isn’t going to save you – especially when the cards aren. A glance at money management terms First, when we talk about bankroll, we can refer either to the total amount of funds one is willing to put at risk playing blackjack, or to a trip bankroll, which represents the total money amount one brings with him/her during casino visits for a single trip.

It doesn’t matter how awesome you are at memorizing basic strategy. If you can’t successfully manage your bankroll, the house will eventually clean you out, for they essentially have an unlimited bankroll, whereas you do not. Playing blackjack becomes a lot more stressful when you blow your rent money, your car note, or your entire paycheck at the blackjack table. Avoid the trap of becoming a gambling degenerate by adhering to some basic money management rules.

Money management actually begins at home, before you leave for the casino. It’s very easy to get caught in the moment when gambling, and chasing losses will quickly have you making a beeline for the atm machine. In light of this, it’s best to only bring a set amount of cash with you, and leave all credit/ debit and ATM cards at home. That way you won’t be tempted to risk more money than you’re willing to lose.

1) Set a win goal and a loss limit. I can’t tell you what these should be, but don’t risk more than you can afford to lose. Pro tip: The smaller your win goal, the more likely you are to meet it and leave a winner. I usually set mine anywhere between 10%-50% of my session buy in. Don’t allow your emotions or your ego to affect your play decisions. “All or nothing.” “One more hand and I’m out.” “I can win it back!” are all self sabotaging games that one plays on one’s mind. This lack of discipline inevitably leads to ruin. Warren Buffet once stated, “He who cannot control his emotions, cannot control his finances.”

2) Pay yourself first. You won a session, great for you. Don’t just add your winnings to your bankroll. Pay something off with that money. Pay your utilities, your car note, your groceries, etc. You can’t lose it back if you’ve paid off your creditors. Do this first before continuing to play.

3) Time your play. The average optimal attention span for most people is about 90 minutes (hence the length of most films). Casinos know that playing beyond your attention span will result in small errors in your play which will add up to big losses for you in the end. Their goal is to get you to play longer by distracting you with an environment where time seems to stand still; where there are no clocks, no windows, and an endless supply of free alcoholic beverages. Although I don’t recommend stopping in the middle of a heater (a streak of winning hands), wear a watch or set an alarm on your phone, and know when you’re playing in attention overtime. If you are losing, leave the table at your exact end time, no ifs, ands or buts. Stick to your time limit and you will a better chance to live to fight another day.

4) Don’t use your entire bankroll for one session. You cannot win every session. Therefore, rather than buying in at a table with all of your cash, break your bankroll into a minimum of three session amounts for that day. That way, if the cards aren’t in your favor, you will know when to get up, get some air, food, rest ,etc, and return to a new table refreshed and ready to play a new game.

Having the discipline to walk away from the blackjack table at the right time is what separates the long term winners from the losers. If you still feel the urge to play that day, why not visit our FREE Online Blackjack Game and play in practice mode? That way, you’ll be honing your skills without risking your cash.

Professional gambling syndicates are usually reserved for casino and horse-race tracks that gather investors who pool their money and invest together. They are usually successful because the public loves to gamble and casinos have a house edge to back them up. Pari-mutuel races usually hold 17% for expenses. That’s a nice way to go!

Blackjack Bankroll Management App

For professional gamblers, the numbers aren’t nearly as strong. A solid blackjack card counter expects to hold somewhere close to a 1% edge over the house. Advantage players who use shuffle tracking methods can expect a much higher edge, similar to a blackjack team that employs the “Big Player” approach where the counters are managing the count on several different tables at minimum wages and the money player comes in and bets the table maximum only when the count is just right. When this method is applied the players’ (team) edge is well over 2%, and that’s why a team can attract investors.

In addition, the return can be very quick. Teams of six to eight players can double a modest bankroll in less than a week when everything goes well with only about a 5% element of ruin (total loss of bankroll). Ken Uston, one of the best big players and team administrators ever seen, played off and on for ten years and only lost three bankrolls – one due to theft and one due to a lack of training. The real blackjack odds only beat the teams once!

You as an Individual Blackjack Player

If you are trying to build a bankroll for yourself to try and exploit the bonuses found at online casinos, you might start small and try one online casino after another, bucking the house edge but savoring the big bonuses offered. Keep in mind that they have to try and balance what they offer and the percentage allowed (often only 10% of each wager with 30x rollover) at blackjack to still make a profit. You’ll have an uphill climb every time, but some luck and a steady increase of wagers when winning and determination might make you some money.

Playing in land casinos after learning basic strategy would be similar to playing online, but you won’t have the bonuses. It will be fun, and you’ll get some comps back if you play in North American casinos, but to make any real headway you’ve got to put the time into mastering a card counting system, even if it is just a simple Aces and Fives count.

Once you have the edge, even a tiny part of one-percent, you’ll gain an average hourly income. The trick is to keep most of your winnings in your bankroll so it can grow. Counting cards for a living is a tough go because you have to earn enough to grow your bankroll and pay your living expenses. It’s much easier to have a regular job and keep your gambling bankroll separate.

Remember that with a 1% edge over the house you will have substantial ups and downs, but you can only expect to make 1% of your overall wagers in the long run. That means if you wager $10 to $50 and have an average wager of $20, you’ll make about $20 in profits for every 100 hands you play. The larger your bankroll, the smaller element of ruin you’ll have, but a good rule of thumb is to assume you need 400-units of your minimum wager to keep from ever busting, assuming you reassess your bankroll and minimum and maximum wagers after every session. This means you’ll always have less than a 5% element of ruin, which if continually recalculated, means you really have very little chance of losing your entire bankroll. Of course your win rate won’t be high enough to get to large wagers very quickly, that’s why team play and shared bankrolls are so powerful.

Playing and Sharing Blackjack Bankrolls

Obviously there are several things that go into having a successful blackjack team or partnership. Trust is one aspect, because you’ll be dealing with the emotions of gambling and real cash. Another important aspect is player ability. No sense going partners with someone who can’t win because they don’t play well enough. The third most important aspect is time. Sharing a bankroll allows each individual player a common fund of cash and the average wager can be slightly higher (10 to 20%), so having several players in action tends to smooth out the bumps and gets you to your financial goals quicker.

Two-player and three-player partnerships are common, and easy to maintain. Each player invests their cash for a shared pool to play to, and wagers are increased as the bankroll grows. Often a small hourly rate is paid to each player so there is incentive to play instead of letting the other guy do all the work. If all investments are equal, the win is evenly split when the goal is reached. Occasionally the partners may just continue taking an hourly rate indefinitely, ideally seeing the bankroll grow and their hourly pay increase steadily over time.

The other way of investing is more popular with larger groups, but money is invested with the goal of doubling the bankroll and players continue in action until the goal is reached. That’s why players need to have money and time to invest.

Big Player Teams

Poker Bankroll Management

Team play is the toughest for casinos to pick up on, and also the most lucrative for players. With this type of gambling team, several investors put their money into a shared bankroll and administer a team of players. A team of six or eight players can breeze through a town like Atlantic City for a week and hardly be noticed. With eight players, six will be counters, each on different tables playing the minimum wager on six-deck shoe games and keeping the count, and two players will bet the big money, when the counters call them (discreetly) into positive-count shoes. This allows a $10 minimum wager on all hands by the counter and $500 to $1000 hands by the Big Player when the team has the edge.

Blackjack Bankroll Strategy

It is the huge bet variation and large average wager that both fools the casinos and makes the team money. There can be six counters on different tables and two big players wandering about at any time either in one casino or split between two casinos. Even with eight players, if the Big Player can get in just a few hours of play each session with an average $500 wager, teams can double a bank quickly.

Administering a Blackjack Team

If you want to put together a few investors and players and give it a go, here is an idea of how one team of five counters and one Big Player might be financed:

• Two outside investors put up $2000 each
• You and Five counters put up $1000 each
• Play until bankroll is doubled
• No bankroll funds are used for personal expenses
• $10,000 total bankroll allows initial top wager of $100 to $200

That top wager of $100 looks pretty small and would indicate that doubling the bankroll would take about 200 hours (your Big Player will get in less than half as many hands as your counters) to achieve, but that’s deceiving. As the bankroll grows, the big player’s wager increases. Although the game is streaky and no definitive rates are guaranteed, a team of players could see this:

The Big Player wagers a percentage of the bankroll that equals the player’s edge (counters call them in at 1 to 2% edge). After 10 hours the team bankroll is $11,500, allowing wagers to climb to $150 to $250. After 10 more hours the bankroll is $14,000 allowing wagers of $200 to $300. Another 10 hours brings the bankroll to $16,000 and wagers are raised to $250 to $400. These numbers are slightly inflated, but a good run of luck would see the next 20 hours doubling the bank.

That’s 50 hours of play for a $10,000 win. The bankroll is shared 50-50 with investors, so each person who invested gets paid first: investors get $1000 each and you and five counters get $500 each. The other half of the win is split-up by hours played. The Big Player usually gets double hours, so with five counters and the Big Player there are 350 hours invested and $14 per hour. That makes $24 per hour for the counters total with their investment return, and you as the Big Player and investor make $34 per hour. Want to reinvest with a little higher bankroll now that you see the possibilities?

Obviously a team that has two sets of three counters and a Big Player at different casinos can double the bankroll faster and increase the overall pay rate for players.

Poker Bankroll Management Calculator

The most important part of building a professional card counting bankroll is reaching a fair split with players and investors. You have to have people you can trust with lots of cash, and they have to be able to play the game under stressful situations.