Blackjack Betting

BLACKJACK BETTING SYSTEMS

Now that you’ve learned how to play your hands accurately using the basic playing strategy, the next step on your journey to become a winning player is to learn how to bet. The most often asked question that I receive from blackjack players is, coincidentally, about betting systems so this is a good time and place to learn about them.

Specifically you will learn:

• The different types of betting systems.
• One system that I recommend for casual players who are playing blackjack only for fun.
• Why most betting progressions won’t give you a long-term edge at blackjack.

Blackjack betting systems are known as progressive betting systems because they require increasing bets either following a win (known as a positive progression) or after a loss (known as a negative progression). The betting progressions are trying to take advantage of streaks that we know occur in blackjack (but, unfortunately, can’t be predicted).

What follows is a brief description of several popular betting systems that have been used by blackjack players. The reason I’m showing you these systems is so that you become familiar with them because sooner or later, you will come across them, either from a friend, a huckster, or perhaps a fool-proof system that you created and that you think will beat blackjack.

MARTINGALE

The Martingale betting progression was invented in the 1700s in France and it is an example of a negative progression. You begin the progression with (usually) a table minimum bet (say 1 unit), and if the bet loses, your next bet is double the previous bet. You keep doubling your bets until you finally win, at which point you have recouped all your losses in the progression and have a net win of 1 unit. I’ll explain the Martingale in more detail in Chapter 7.2.

FIBONACCI

This is another example of a slightly more complicated negative progression. The betting progression is a series of numbers in which each number in the series is the sum of the last two numbers. For example, suppose the series is 1-1-2-3-5-8-13-21-34. Notice that any number in the series is the sum of the previous two numbers. Instead of doubling your bet after a loss, as with the Martingale, here you increase your bet per the sequence of numbers until you (finally) win a hand at which point you revert back to the starting 1 unit bet.

D’ALEMBERT

This system was named after a French mathematician and it’s another type of negative betting progression with a slight twist: you raise your bet by 1 unit if you lose and you lower your bet by 1 unit when you win. For example, bet 1 unit and lose, your next bet is 2 units. Lose again, and you would bet 3 units. If you win that bet, your next bet would be 2 units. And so forth.

31

The series in this progression is 1-1-1-4-8-16 (which equals 31). If you lose, you bet the next number in the series. If you win, you bet double the last bet. If you win again, you start the series over at 1 unit. If instead you lose, you bet the next number in the series.

PARLAY

The theory of a Parlay betting system is to gradually increase your bets when you are winning but after several consecutive wins, you take down some of your profits. A simple and widely used Parlay is 1-2-3-5.

Here’s how it works:

• Blackjack dealing
• Blackjack betting card
• Blackjack school
• Black Jack Picture
• Blackjack Felt