Supplementing Income

[tennis101]

Hello - I'm new to the forum so if this post is not supposed to be on this thread, please move.

I'm going to be in Las Vegas from December to May working on a certain project. I'm hoping to play BJ for at least 20hrs a week to suppliment my income. I hope to make at least $300 a week.

My question is, how much BR would I need or at least how much a session to at attain my goal and also, would I be able to attain this playing table minimum?

I try to play BS most of the time.

Thanks much.

 

[weavin42]

Questions

Are you counting cards? You mention that you play bs most of the time, why not all of the time? What is your risk tolerance, which counting system do you use, what games are you planning on playing (rules and # of decks)?

You would need a win rate of $15/hr. If you are playing 20 hours a week, that is roughly 2000 hands per week (at 100 hands/hour), and 48000 for your 6 month stay. For hi-lo the N0 is ~40000 hands so you should be able to over come any negative variance due to standard deviation with a fixed bet spread.

If you are not counting, forget about it. I hope this helps, any more info you can provide about the games you are going to play and such could help to fully answer your question about bankroll requirements.

 

[tennis101]

Are you counting cards? You mention that you play bs most of the time, why not all of the time? What is your risk tolerance, which counting system do you use, what games are you planning on playing (rules and # of decks)?

You would need a win rate of $15/hr. If you are playing 20 hours a week, that is roughly 2000 hands per week (at 100 hands/hour), and 48000 for your 6 month stay. For hi-lo the N0 is ~40000 hands so you should be able to over come any negative variance due to standard deviation with a fixed bet spread.

If you are not counting, forget about it. I hope this helps, any more info you can provide about the games you are going to play and such could help to fully answer your question about bankroll requirements.

Thanks for your response. Actually, I thought BS was playing simply BJ following the strategy that casinos recommend until I read the threads and realized that it involves card counting. I'd never considered this before but I'm willing to learn before I leave. Any advise?

I'm usually successful when playing single or double deck with manual shuffling. I want to discipline myself to avoid tilting so I plan on sticking to a certain unit and maybe increasing it when I'm running hot. Did I miss anything or I answered all your questions.

Thanks again

 

[weavin42]

Basic strategy is the best way to play given the rules of the game to minimize the house edge just based on hitting, standing, doubling or splitting.

You can generate a BS chart on this site based on the rules of the game you are going to play.

The odds for blackjack are dynamic, that is to say they change depending which cards have been dealt. This is where card counting comes into play. It allows you to track the cards and determine if the remaining cards are in the player's favor (faces and aces) or the house's favor (little cards). With card counting you will still win and loose the same the number of hands (well, roughly but that's another story). Where the real edge comes in, is you will be betting more when the odds of the game based on the remaining cards favors the player.

With some practice anyone can learn to do this. There are many different systems to choose from based on what you want out of playing and how complex you want to get.

Hi-lo is pretty much the "standard" count but there are others that are easier and nearly as powerful (like KO).

If this is something you are interested in, it would take about 2 months to get "casino ready". The best place to start would be to learn BS for the game you are going to be playing perfectly. Next in the counting sub-forum read through the stickied threads. There is a lot of good information there to get you started counting. Including a comparison between different count systems. Once you have selected a count system, get the book that goes with it. There is a lot of information the can be learned from "good" blackjack books.

My final thought to leave you with is that blackjack is a long term game, the swings can be crazy at times. It is not a get rich quick scheme, it can be a real grind. Professional players have loosing years, it's just part of the game.

I hope this helps, any more questions there are a lot of people around here that are willing to help if you decide to continue.

 

[bluewhale]

Hello - I'm new to the forum so if this post is not supposed to be on this thread, please move.

I'm going to be in Las Vegas from December to May working on a certain project. I'm hoping to play BJ for at least 20hrs a week to suppliment my income. I hope to make at least $300 a week.

My question is, how much BR would I need or at least how much a session to at attain my goal and also, would I be able to attain this playing table minimum?

I try to play BS most of the time.

Thanks much.

don't play blackjack, get a second job.

 

[shadroch]

You can make a sure $300 a week getting a PT job delivering pizza. Forget BJ.

 

[EasyRhino]

Tennis, I'm going to join everyone else in backing you off from the idea:

1) Most importantly, the volatility in the game is ridiculous, even if you are card counting perfectly. Weavin's numbers indicate that there is only a pretty good chance that you would end up ahead by the end of your gig. And in between the fluctuations would be too big to consider "drawing income" off of.

2) As mentioned, basic strategy is just the "correct" way to play each hand for a non-card-counter. We usually recommend that all blackjack players, even recreational ones, learn basic strategy, as it reduces the house advantage substantially. And it's a prerequisite before you learn to count.

3) To match the desired "hourly rate" of $15/hour, you would need something like a $80/$100 maximum bet (min bet would be table minimum). Again, bigger max bets = bigger volatility. One simplistic rule of thumb is that your max bet should not exceed 1% of your total gambling bankroll.

 

[moo321]

You can make a sure $300 a week getting a PT job delivering pizza. Forget BJ.

$300 a week for 20 hours is a little generous for delivering pizzas, considering the price of gas.

 

[shadroch]

$300 a week for 20 hours is a little generous for delivering pizzas, considering the price of gas.

My nephew delivers pizzas from 11:30-2:00 and from 6:00-8:30 Mon-Fri.
He makes $7.50 an hour plus tips,and each delivery now pays a $1 fuel surcharge.He claims that he rarely walks out at the end of the night with less than $100. He is set to graduate next year and jokes about having to take a pay cut when he goes into the real world of business.

 

[EasyRhino]

A coworker worked as a bartender at some trendy club when he was in school at UNLV and made ridiculous money. Which was almost all cash, of course.

 

[toastblows]

Any and all tip jobs should pay more than $15/hr. Christ even waiters around here (no where close to vegas) can make $20-$25/hr on a good shift. And we are tight wad midwestern customers, not vegas drunks who have no concept of money......:cool2:

 

[InPlay]

Hello - I'm new to the forum so if this post is not supposed to be on this thread, please move.

I'm going to be in Las Vegas from December to May working on a certain project. I'm hoping to play BJ for at least 20hrs a week to suppliment my income. I hope to make at least $300 a week.

My question is, how much BR would I need or at least how much a session to at attain my goal and also, would I be able to attain this playing table minimum?

I try to play BS most of the time.

Thanks much.

How about getting yourself some Hoe's or Hoe and pimping her out ? There is good money in this line of work it won't interfer with your real job. Aso male escort services pay well if you get the drift.

 

[EmeraldCityBJ]

Hello - I'm new to the forum so if this post is not supposed to be on this thread, please move.

I'm going to be in Las Vegas from December to May working on a certain project. I'm hoping to play BJ for at least 20hrs a week to suppliment my income. I hope to make at least $300 a week.

My question is, how much BR would I need or at least how much a session to at attain my goal and also, would I be able to attain this playing table minimum?

I try to play BS most of the time.

Thanks much.

A win rate of $15 per hour is probably more than doable with a BR of $10-15k if you're smart about game selection.

The areas of concern are:
1) You'll have to learn to count or use some other advantage play technique to achieve an expected win. If you just play basic strategy, you're guaranteed to lose in the long run. If you're flat betting $10 per hand 20 hours per week for six months playing basic strategy, your expected loss is likely going to be around $2000-3000.
2) You're looking to "supplement" your income. If by "supplement", you mean that you'd like to have a steady flow of $300 per week every week for six months, you're not going to achieve that with Blackjack. The game has wild swings, and you'll have some weeks where you'll win $2000 or more and other weeks where you'll lose $2000 or more. If you play long enough, eventually the numbers will average out to something close to $300 per week, assuming that's your expected win rate. Even six months (or, 520 hours if you play 20 hours per week) is not enough to get into the "long run" to where the numbers will closely resemble your expected win. Assuming a win rate of $15 per hour, after 520 hours, I estimate that you'll probably win somewhere from $1000-15000 about two-thirds of the time. I would guess that about 10% of the time, you'll have lost money at the end of the six months. Blackjack is a game about the long run rather than short bursts of steady income. If you have money to invest in a BJ bankroll, can put in the hours, and can accept the risk of losing the entire bank, it's worth giving it a go. If you're wanting for a reliable source of steady supplemental income, you should look elsewhere.

 

[Mr. T]

Hello - I'm new to the forum so if this post is not supposed to be on this thread, please move.

I'm going to be in Las Vegas from December to May working on a certain project. I'm hoping to play BJ for at least 20hrs a week to suppliment my income. I hope to make at least $300 a week.

My question is, how much BR would I need or at least how much a session to at attain my goal and also, would I be able to attain this playing table minimum?

I try to play BS most of the time.

Thanks much.

You are a sucker.You have been reading too many posings here.
There is no easy money to be made. Winners like to talk about their winnings here while the losers retire quietly to lick their wounds.
Your best way to supplement your income is to deliver pizza. You can make $300 a week there depending on how hard you work.
It doesn't matter how much your bankroll is as playing BS most of the time your bankroll will diappear faster than you think

 

[ihate17]

The ATM myth

Sometimes I think the casinos think that counters turn those casinos into their personal ATM machines, and some of the recent TV shows can lead the public to reach this same conclusion.
As others here are trying to tell you: It just does not work that way and if you are saying that you would like or need, an extra $300 per week, a part time job involves no risk and you will reach your goal.

Attempting this by playing blackjack you will encounter a world of financial peeks and valleys and about half the time the valley comes before the peak.

If you want $300 per week, in 5 weeks you should make $1,500. Understanding that with the variance of blackjack, it could take years to average out, but simplified, a 5 week period of making $300 per week could look something like this:
Week 1 $-800
Week 2 $+1,100
Week 3 $-1,800
Week 4 $+500
Week 5 $+2,500

So you won $1,500 in 5 weeks but can you handle the fact that you were down $1,500 after 5 weeks and there was no gaurantee that you would reach your goal in another two weeks?

The fact that currently you do not count or employ other AP techniques, means that the longer you play, the more you will lose, since all blackjack games (except for the occassional promotion) are negative EV (expected value) to the none counter. So a partime job making $300 per week, working during the time that you would lose money playing blackjack is worth more than $300 per week to you.

ihate17