Blackjack System
- The Parlay Betting System in Blackjack The Parlay system of betting is based on a long-held concept of gambling: play with the house’s money whenever possible. What does this mean, exactly?
- Blackjack is a very popular game amongst both the offline and online gaming communities mainly because the player is required to make several decisions every hand which will affect the outcome of.
- Blackjack systems are mainly progressive which can be split into two classes – Positive and Negative Progressive systems.
- The five key elements of this blackjack betting system are 1) the basic strategy, 2) using the betting strategy, 3) constantly puring your playing environment, 4) always preventing losing streaks, and 5).
Blackjack Betting System Test. Blackjack systems are tested with Blackjack simulators. An enormous number of hands are dealt following the rules of a system to see the results. For this test, I simulated.
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There are lots of bad blackjack betting systems that can, if they are presented in a way that camouflages their weaknesses, may seem to be a sure money-making method. Sometimes, when the pattern of losses and wins follows a predictable and specific pattern, they can effectively increase player’s winnings or minimize the losses. But since predictability is not in blackjack, more frequently the player may get the opposite result.
Progressive-2
“Level two” progressive betting system is the simplest. The player should decide on a maximum and a minimum amounts for bets. The player makes the smaller bet after a loss, and the larger one after a win. For example, you choose $5 as a minimum bet and $15 as a maximum amount. You start with the smaller amount. If you win you bet $15 and then continue to wager $15 until you lose. After the loss you go back to the minimum bet of $5. This is a really simple strategy, but it is considered an advanced betting system.
5 lose 5 win 15 win 15 lose 5
In theory and in practice, the player who uses this system maximizes his profits on winning streaks and minimizes them on losing ones.
However, the player always makes the larger wager on the losing hands. And overall, the outcome of a 100-hand session that is played by the progressive-2 will depend on how the cards have come out. If the player has often winning streaks, he will come ahead. But, the belief that streaks happen with certain regularity is a superstition.
Progressive-5
The progressive 5-level system is also a simple system, based on a 1, 2, 3, 5, 1 progression (another popular one – 1, 2, 3, 6, 1). For example: you are playing blackjack using this system. Your bet is $5, so you should bet $5, 10, 15, 25 and then $5 again. If the hand loses you will go back to the original $5 bet.
The progressive 5-level is successful when lots of hands win and does not hurt the player if he loses lots of hands as well. For example, you put a $5 starting bet and if your first three hands lose but the next three win, you would be ahead with $15 after 6 played hands.
Hand | Bet | Result | NetGain |
---|---|---|---|
1 | $5 | lost | -$5 |
2 | $5 | lost | -$10 |
3 | $5 | lost | -$15 |
4 | $5 | won | -$10 |
5 | $10 | won | $0 |
6 | $15 | won | $15 |
However, the system fails if certain sequences, like: win, loss, win, loss, win, loss happen. In this case, it would be better to make an equal bet each hand. Nevertheless, there is a risk when you take attempts to earn from three winning streaks or even more. In fact, in spite of the involved risk, the risk is minimal when the player uses the basic strategy and makes an equal bet on each hand. Online blackjack implies winning streaks and also losing streaks, so when using the progressive betting systems you may enhance your chances of profits.
In fact, the five-level progressive system will increase the player’s profits on winning streaks and minimize them on losing ones.
Overall, it is a system the outcome of which will vary unpredictably from a net profit to a net loss depending on how the cards come out.
I had a look at the web site and also found what little he says about the theory behind his system makes it sound like card counting. However I'm deeply skeptical of anything that claims to 'blow old fashioned card counting away.' I think we can file this under 'If it sounds too good to be true is probably is.'
Update: The web site in question vanished sometime after the publication of this question.
I don't put a lot of emphasis on betting systems. In the long run you will lose the same percentage of money bet no matter what system you use. So my advice is use a system that maximizes the fun of the game.
The simple answer is no, it neither helps you nor hurts you. However, you will have less bankroll variance by betting two hands of x as opposed to one of 2x. Card counters are an exception to the simple no, they may play multiple hands to draw more cards out of a deck rich in good cards, thus improving their odds.
Al Kaufman Blackjack System
Second question, does the number of hits one takes effect the outcome? For example, if I have five cards that total 15 against a dealer's 10, am I pressing my luck by taking a sixth card? In other words, are the odds of busting on a 5-card 15 the same as busting on a 2-card 15?
Thank for the compliment and I'm happy to help your bankroll last longer. When I gamble for fun I keep playing until it isn't fun any longer. Usually the fun ends when I have lost too much or have played too long. With the ups and downs of blackjack it takes hundreds of hours before regression toward the mean will cause actual results to look like expected results. Furthermore, the player who puts a conservative cap on their winnings is never going to experience the fun of a long hot winning streak. Keep in mind this is just what works for me. You should do what you are comfortable with. Everything I have to say about money management can be summarized by the following two rules (1) don't gamble with money you can't afford to lose, and (2) don't gamble if it isn't fun.
Regarding your second question, there is something to be said about the composition of a hand. The fewer the decks the more this is true. My blackjack appendix 3A and appendix 3B show the exceptions to single- and double-deck blackjack, based on the composition of the hand. These appendices show that the more cards that are in your hand the more inclined you should be to stand. Regarding your 15 against a 10 example, there are two situations in single deck blackjack where you should stand when the 15 is composed of 5 cards, A+A+A+6+6 and A+A+3+5+5. Note that in both of these situations either two fives or two sixes have left the deck which are the two most helpful cards for the player. The two situations where you should be the most inclined to stand if you have a multiple card hand are 16 against a 10 and a 12 against a 3.
I have said numerous times that there is no long-term way to beat a game with a house edge. If there were a true 50/50 game with no house edge it would be impossible to guarantee beating or losing to it under real world conditions. The results always approach the house edge in the long-term. It is not just computer simulations that back this up but the fundamental laws of probability.
About video blackjack, that may be the way of the future. I have seen fully electronic tables with video display at the World Gaming Expo. I have also seen tables that with cameras can track every bet and every play each player makes. This enables the house to accurately comp players and alert them to card counters. These tables look and feel like any other blackjack table, so you card counters may be out of business if these tables are successful.
I’m not familiar with it. Ken Fuchs co-wrote Knock-Out Blackjack so he can’t be all bad. However I just hear the word progression and I’m immediately skeptical.
Progressive betting systems, like yours, will turn a good session into a great one without the risk of catastrophic loss as with regressive systems like the Martingale. However progressive systems will turn a choppy neutral session into a bad one. Consider what would happen if you alternated between a win and a loss the entire session. The wins would all be at $15 and the losses at $30. Funny you should mention the ’Weakest Link.’ I tried out for that show during the summer and didn’t make it. It is probably just as well because I’m not that witty in real life and doubt I could come up with a good rejoinder to one of Ann’s jabs.
The name for this system is the Martingale. Ignoring ties the probability of a new loss for a hand of blackjack is 52.51%. So the probability of losing 8 in a row is .52518 = 1 in 173.
If you can’t double or split that adds 1.9% to whatever the house edge is otherwise. This just goes to show that you should always have double or split money available if you need it.
I’ve been playing blackjack for quite awhile using basic strategy, mostly betting an even unit each hand. Occasionally I will increase the bet because I 'feel' like I am going to win the next one. I would think that just about all recreational players bet on feel once in a while at least. I was reading through some of your past Ask the Wizard columns and saw your calculation of the probability of a string of losses in the August 4, 2002 Column. You know those emotional thoughts that pop in head while gambling (well maybe not your head), 'I’m due for a win!'That column seemed to put the mathematics to that 'feeling' a player can get. In that columns’ example of a player losing 8 consecutive hands of blackjack the odds were (.5251^8 or about 1 in 173). My question though is what does that really mean? Is it that when I sit down at the table, 1 out of my next 173 playing sessions I can expect to have an 8 hand losing streak? Or does it mean that on any given loss it is a 1 in 173 chance that it was the first of 8 losses coming my way?
I know, I know, its some sort of divine intervention betting system I am talking about and no betting system affects the house edge. I’m still curious though. Besides every once in awhile throwing down a bigger bet just adds to the excitement and for some reason it seems logical that if you have lost a string of hands you are 'due' for a win.
I have no problem with increasing your bet when you get a lucky feeling. What is important is that you play your cards right. Unless you are counting cards you have the free will to bet as much as you want. As I always say all betting systems are equally worthless so flying by the seat of your pants is just as good as flat betting over the long term. When I said the probability of losing 8 hands in a row is 1 in 173 I meant that starting with the next hand the probability of losing 8 in a row is 1 in 173. The chances of 8 losses in a row over a session are greater the longer the session. I hope this answers your question.
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Blackjack tournaments are not my strong subject. For advice on that I would highly recommend Casino Tournament Strategy by Stanford Wong. Wong says that if you are behind to bet opposite of the leader, small when he bets big, and big when he bets small. If you are in the lead then you should bet with the second highest player. The book gets into much more detail. Speaking of supporting my site, it helps to click through my Amazon links when buying books there.
Your expected loss of this play is 0.005*20*$1000=$100. The betting system will not affect the expected loss, but will affect the volatility.
Blackjack System To Win
Without knowing anything else, if you lost the last hand in blackjack then it is slightly more likely that more small cards than large just left the deck. This would make the remaining deck more large card rich and thus lower the house edge. However I speculate this is an extremely small effect. Yet it does go to show that if you must use a betting system one that increases the bet after a loss is better than one that increases after a win. I hesitate to put this in writing at all because again the effect is probably very small and I fear system sellers will misquote me and imply I endorse any system, which I DO NOT.
You didn’t say how many rounds there were. However, I would bet $10 in all five hands every hand, or go bust trying. With 1,000 players and a relatively low max bet you’ll need all the variance you can get.
I’ve been wondering this myself for years. In 2004 somebody accepted my betting system challenge, claiming he could beat blackjack without counting. The details are in my page on the Daniel Rainsong challenge. After I posted it, I received a message from a blackjack genius, who goes by the handle 'Cacarulo.' He challenged me under the same conditions and blackjack rules set forth in the Rainsong challenge.
212 Blackjack System
Knowing how knowledgeable he is about blackjack, I felt that he was probably right, so I declined the challenge. I asked anyway how he would have gone about his strategy, but he wouldn’t tell me. I tend to think that he would have bet the minimum most of the time, except if it was late in the shoe, and the ratio of losses to wins was very high since the last shuffle, he would have bet the maximum. The reason is that losing is positively correlated to small cards being played, and winning to large cards. In other words, a benefit of losing is that it tends to make the count better. However, this is a weak correlation. My challenge allowed the player a bet range of 1 to 1,000, which is probably enough to overcome the house edge, but it will be hard to find a real casino okay with a jump in bet size by a factor of 1,000.
Blackjack System
The short answer to your question is, no, tracking wins and losses will not help enough to warrant the bother of doing it.