When to stop... get while the getting is good :)

[Jeff Dubya]

Got to hit the nice Airway Heights casino (Northern Quest, A Kalispel Casino) in Spokane, WA yesterday.

My first playing session was just a hair over 2 hours. My bankroll was $200 with an average bet of $10. Splits were working for me, doubles were not. I had nearly perfect bs play until the end when I needed to get some food in me and I made two boneheaded mistakes that ended up costing me $20.

I was up $75-85 twice, but I ended up leaving the table down $35.

My second playing session was nearly 5 hours. My bankroll was $500 and my average bet was $25. By bs was 100% perfect, with the exception of two hands that I purposely played against strategy. I was up nearly $300 twice ($250) and I really had the goal of hitting that mark. However, I fell short and after a bit of bad luck and some stupid "it's almost time to go" bets at the end, I ended up leaving down $200.

Here's my first question to you.

When you play, how do you determine the point where you stand up and leave? Or when you are on a good streak followed by a turn of bad luck when do you get up and walk away?

I read Fred Renzey a lot, and in Blackjack Bluebook II he specifically states that setting arbitrary limits is not a good idea. However, what I am discovering for myself (and maybe this is just me) the more structured and disciplined my play is, the better I do. And when playing for profit, if I am going in with a roll of $500-1000 and playing conservatively, it really is easy to make a couple hundred bucks and walk away. But it's the walking away part I have difficulties with, and that's not good.

My guess is that people who play BJ for a "living" grind out money like this this. They grind it out clooect their profit (know when to say when), and start over. The bigger the bankroll, the bigger the potential profit. It’s all about chips, right, denominations be damned!

So I am just wondering how you all personally handle this issue. I would appreciate hearing your input!

 

[Jeff Dubya]

Also, I don't need a lecture on keeping my bets consistent. I know... I know... I know... I know... I know... I don't know why I did that. And until I STOP doing that, I really won't consider myself anything but a half-decent player.

 

[zengrifter]

My guess is that people who play BJ for a "living" grind out money like this this. They grind it out clooect their profit (know when to say when), and start over.

Wrong. Listen to Fred. zg

 

[rogue1]

yep

Listen to Fred. The one thing I do is to quit if I'm tired-my counting is affected thus take a break or quit for the day.
You might want to consider how big you're betting considering your BR.

 

[Mikeaber]

Also, I don't need a lecture on keeping my bets consistent. I know... I know... I know... I know... I know... I don't know why I did that. And until I STOP doing that, I really won't consider myself anything but a half-decent player.

Are you "counting" Manray or are you just relying on Basic Strategy? Considering that you posted in "General" category, I presume that you are not card-counting.

If that is the case, you've pretty much answered you own question. Flat betting is the way to go in my opinion as you really have nothing upon which to base an increase in your bets. And, since BJ played just with BS is a negative expectation game, I would be more inclined to leave when I reach some arbitrarily derived elapsed time constraint or when my session bankroll ran out.

 

[zengrifter]

Are you "counting" Manray or are you just relying on Basic Strategy?

Counting? He's still questioning BS! zg

 

[21forme]

I play until I'm too tired to play or I have to leave to get to work.
BTW, your bankroll is way too small for your betting level.

 

[eps6724]

BTW, your bankroll is way too small for your betting level.

Wouldn't this depend on if it's 'replenishable' or not?

 

[21forme]

Wouldn't this depend on if it's 'replenishable' or not?

Yes and no. If the question is when to stop, playing the way he does, he will not have a choice many times, as his on-person bankroll will be depleted.

 

[Cardcounter]

When it is time to quit!

It is time to quit when you have lost your thresehold of pain say you have lost $500 in the session. Don't keep chasing it because your mind is not all there. If you get hungry or thisty take a break playing on an empty stomach can spell disater. When you are hungry you can't concentrate as well and it may cause you to lose the count and make basic stragedy mistakes. It is also a good time to end your session when the count is negative, never end your session when the count is positive. Oh and I also prefer to keep my sessions under 2 hours.

 

[EasyRhino]

So, manray, your bankroll magically increased after a dinner break? Bad show, old chap.

Valid reasons to quit if you're playing recreationally:

1) Bored
2) Tired
3) Broke
4) Hungry
5) Late

"Broke" may be a fairly small amount of money, if you're recreational.

These are also valid reasons to stop if you're card-counting. But add in the following factors:

6) Fatigued
7) Degraded playing conditions
8) Hit your designated time limit (e.g. 1 hour)
9) Attracting too much attention
10) Have won an amount uncomfortable for casino

Note that win and loss limits aren't really covered in there, except for extreme cases.

 

[sagefr0g]

....
Here's my first question to you.

When you play, how do you determine the point where you stand up and leave? Or when you are on a good streak followed by a turn of bad luck when do you get up and walk away?

I read Fred Renzey a lot, and in Blackjack Bluebook II he specifically states that setting arbitrary limits is not a good idea. However, what I am discovering for myself (and maybe this is just me) the more structured and disciplined my play is, the better I do. ......

So I am just wondering how you all personally handle this issue. I would appreciate hearing your input!

just wondering manray if you are counting. if your not counting how are you deciding when to raise your bets?
but anyway deciding when to walk away is going to be influenced by things such as what method of play you are attacking the game with. if your not counting but just using basic strategy then i'd hit the road when i hit a combination of two nice satisfactory situations. that of having played enough to satisfy your recreational desire to play and that of having been lucky enough to have realized some profit. but that would just be if your lucky, unfortunately you may be unlucky as well before reaching the point where you have satisfied your desire to play.
if you are counting then you can continue to play as long as you wish as long as you have enough of your trip bankroll left to properly double down and split and also enough bankroll left to properly raise your bets according to the advantages that a given shoe may present. playing with less bankroll than meets those requirements is rather pointless for a counter. better to come back another day when you have a sufficient bankroll. but really a counter can walk away from the game at any time. however i doubt that any counter worth his salt would walk away from a positive count when he has sufficient funds on hand.
i personally like to leave a session when i'm up by at least my expectation or even better up by a standard deviation. unfortunately it doesn't always work that way but thats what gives me the most satisfaction as far as deciding when it is quiting time. sufficet to say a professional wouldn't call it quiting time in that way since a professional wants to get in as many hands as he is able to properly grind out.