In their pursuit of learning perfect blackjack strategy, some players often neglect to cover bankroll management. But just like with any other casino game, blackjack bankroll management is extremely important, and something that players should definitely study extensively. With this being said, let’s look over some of the main things that players need to know in regards to blackjack bankroll management.
Basics of Bankroll Management
The first thing to understand with bankroll management is that it doesn’t actually change the house edge; instead, it makes your bankroll last longer, which allows you to play more blackjack games, and pick up more comps with your extended play. Key elements here include making sure that you’re playing the right stakes and amount of hours in relation to your bankroll.
When thinking about bankroll management, it’s always best to do a little math when setting things up. For example, let’s say that you want your bankroll to last for five hours, and you make $5 bets each hand. Assuming you surrendered around a 1% house edge to the casino and played 60 hands per hour, you would lose $15 an hour [(60 hands x 5 hours) x ($5 bet x 0.01 house edge)] during the five hours…in theory.
Of course, there are plenty of swings in blackjack, so you obviously can’t go into a five-hour session with just $15. In fact, you’d want to have at least $100 or more to play as long as you’d like.
Win and Loss Limit
Obviously people don’t go into blackjack sessions thinking they’re going to slowly lose money over the long-term to the house. No, players expect to win and overcome the house edge when they play blackjack. But when you’re winning, the question becomes when to walk away from the table and cash out. Likewise, if you’re taking heavy losses, at what point do you call it a night?
This covers the concept of a win and loss limit, which are predetermined limits you set up for yourself going into blackjack sessions. There is no set number here, but a nice general rule is to quit after building your bankroll up by 30%-40%, and stop when you’ve lost 50% of your bankroll. So if you had a $100 bankroll, you would quit playing after winning $30-$40, and you’d also stop playing following losses of $50.
Of course, with a bankroll as small as $100, you might not need to set up any loss limit at all since this isn’t a life-changing sum of money you’re dealing with.