When Do I Bet High?

Ok I'm pretty new to card counting, I'm pretty good too. If I have a bankroll of $1000 and the minimum is $5. I do not want to get found out by the casino,:flame: so I just bet the $5. How high should the true count be, before I start laying down $100 dollar bets. I want to get the count as high as possible so that I can get a big, quick win, and leave as soon as the shoe is out.:joker:

I play 6 deck shoes, so if the count is up to +16 and there are about 100 cards left, then that's a true count of +8 right? I was thinking a true count of +8 would be high enough to start betting $100 per hand. How much does a true count of +8 actually raise my odds?

with $1000 br you will never place down $100 bets.

Before more questions are answeared which needs to be done.. read around this website and others to learn a little to truely understand the counting of the cards.

nck111488 said:

Ok I'm pretty new to card counting, I'm pretty good too. If I have a bankroll of $1000 and the minimum is $5. I do not want to get found out by the casino,:flame: so I just bet the $5. How high should the true count be, before I start laying down $100 dollar bets. I want to get the count as high as possible so that I can get a big, quick win, and leave as soon as the shoe is out.:joker:

I play 6 deck shoes, so if the count is up to +16 and there are about 100 cards left, then that's a true count of +8 right? I was thinking a true count of +8 would be high enough to start betting $100 per hand. How much does a true count of +8 actually raise my odds?

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Sorry to break it to you but you cant be that great of a counter if you think you can place $100 bets with a $1000 bankroll. In order to safely place $100 max bets you should have a bankroll of around 8 - 10k so you dont go broke before you reach the long run. With a true count of +8 (which you hardly ever see) you advantage is in the area of 3.5%, which will not guarentee the "big, quick win" you are dreaming about. With any given $100 bet at a TC of +8 you will expect to win $3.50 but you will win and loose in increments of $100 so you need to have a large enough bankroll to withstand the short term swings of the game. I highly recommend you read a book or two about risk/money management or search through some old threads on this site before you start placing those $100 bets. Its not enough to know how to count cards, you need to understand the variance involved with the game and how to find identify beatable games.

la_dee_daa said:

with $1000 br you will never place down $100 bets.

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With a $1000 bankroll, he probably shouldn't be making $5 bets, as part of a spread anyway, lol. But each to his own.

I ask alot of questions, always have, but, you know, one question I have never ever asked anyone is "how do you think I should bet my money?" lol.

I mean my wife tells me all the time but it's not like I asked her lol.

Kasi said:

With a $1000 bankroll, he probably shouldn't be making $5 bets, as part of a spread anyway, lol.

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That’s true. His minimum bet should be $0 and his max bet somewhere around $15. It’s going to involve a lot of standing around watching the game and not playing. It’ll be a lot of work for almost no profit (maybe $2 per hour) and huge fluctuations.

Kasi said:

I mean my wife tells me all the time but it's not like I asked her lol.

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I’m sure she has plenty of advice on how to spend it too, right? :laugh:

-Sonny-

Sonny said:

That’s true. His minimum bet should be $0 and his max bet somewhere around $15. It’s going to involve a lot of standing around watching the game and not playing. It’ll be a lot of work for almost no profit (maybe $2 per hour) and huge fluctuations.



I’m sure she has plenty of advice on how to spend it too, right? :laugh:

-Sonny-

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how do you calculate whats the size of your minimum bet and the maximum with the amount of money of the bankroll?

choubak said:

how do you calculate whats the size of your minimum bet and the maximum with the amount of money of the bankroll?

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This is explained in just about any good book on BJ. Different books will discuss how to spread your bets for the system that they are teaching. Most books cover HiLo, but there are books for just about any system you want to learn. Snyder covers Red 7 and Zen, Wong covers HiLo, Vancura covers KO, Renzey covers KISS, etc. That is the best place to start. You can also read through the Gamemaster's Blackjack School articles:

http://www.bj21.com/gamemaster/gamemasterclassicsindex.shtml

and the Frequently Asked Questions thread here:

http://www.blackjackinfo.com/bb/showthread.php?t=9666

As a general rule your minimum bet should be as small as possible and your max bet should be around 1% of your bankroll. With a $1,000 bankroll your max bet shouldn’t be much higher than $10. Since a shoe game usually requires at least a 1-8 spread with Wonging (or 1-12 for play-all) your minimum bet should be $1.25 (less than $1 for play-all). Obviously you can’t bet that small so you would not be able to play any hand where your advantage is too small or negative.

-Sonny-

If you guys bet so low all the time, how is it even worth doing. That is, unless you have a 250k br. if you're even getting as much as $10 per hour, how is that worth doing. I might as well keep my job. I just wonder how some college kids from the early 90's came out with over 800k one time, and you guys are talking about winning tiny bits of money.

Has anyone on this site actually won over 100k in a year? If so, how?

How often do people get banned from casinos. How long can I go wonging before they kick me? Don't you guys look obvious by watching for hours and all of a sudden start winning?

nck111488 said:

If you guys bet so low all the time, how is it even worth doing.

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With a decent sized bankroll a good player can make $30-$50 per hour. It’s often a much better rate than other forms of investing but it does take a significant about of time a effort. It’s not an easy path to riches, but for most people it’s a great way to earn a second income. That’s just the reality of solo blackjack play. There are some people who make a living playing blackjack but they also use more advanced techniques as well as card counting so they have a bigger advantage.

nck111488 said:

I just wonder how some college kids from the early 90's came out with over 800k one time, and you guys are talking about winning tiny bits of money.

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Those kids had a million dollar bankroll and a large team of players. The big bankroll allowed them to make a decent return and the large team allowed them to earn it fast. People have been using team techniques since the 70’s (and probably before) as a way to make blackjack a more profitable venture. Read anything by Ken Uston, Al Francesco, or Tommy Highland to get more info on that.

nck111488 said:

How often do people get banned from casinos. How long can I go wonging before they kick me? Don't you guys look obvious by watching for hours and all of a sudden start winning?

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I depends on the casino and the person’s playing/betting style. There are several threads about Wonging techniques and methods of camouflage. Just do a search for “Wonging” or “Backcounting” and you’ll find lots of information. As far as barrings, that’s not something you have to worry about just yet. You’ll learn more about heat once you get some solid experience.

-Sonny-

nck111488 said:

I might as well keep my job.

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The number of people who have won a living for multiple years in a row can probably be counted on one hand.

If you're card counting because you think you can get rich easily, forget it.

nck111488 said:

Don't you guys look obvious by watching for hours and all of a sudden start winning?

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There are certainly ways to get around it, but as a general answer, "oh hell yes."

"Watching for hours" doesn't necessarily mean breathing down a player's neck and moving your lips as you count. For example, if you find a penny slot machine with a view of a table, you can pretend you're playing slots while you backcount.

Be creative.