Blackjack money management system

A card counter should always have an advantage in the long run. Sadly, even if you have the advantage, you'll experience standard deviation ("ups and downs" in layment terms). Your results will fluctuate regardless of the size of your edge.

The good news is that when you have a good run of cards, the casino has "unlimited" bankroll; the problem is, when you have a bad run of cards, your bankroll is limited. Meaning? You can run out of money.

And in order to avoid losing all of your blackjack bankroll, you need to learn how to manage your money.

Poker and blackjack have little in common, but one characteristic they share is that you can be the most skilled player in the world, but unless you know how to manage your bankroll, you will likely run out of money. And many have.

The less money you have, the more of an advantage you need or the less money you need to bet. In no way, shape or form is it sensible to start betting more after you've lost a lot of money. That's not how smart gamblers make their money back. Instead, smart gamblers understand that if the advantage is there, the money will eventually follow, but not if there's no money left to bet with.

Risk of Ruin

While most card counters only concentrate on how much you can make, smart gamblers also think about how much you can lose, and this is often referred to as your risk of ruin.

Now, what happens if you lose all of your bankroll? Will you be completely broke, or is that just a drop in a bucket for you? Perhaps you have a full-time job where you get a constant stream of money and you treat card counting as more of a hobby.

The reason that matters is because you can obviously take more risks in case losing all of your blackjack bankroll affects your life only a little. On the other hand, if losing all of your blackjack money will absolutely destroy your life, you need to be extremely careful, and in fact you can't afford to lose your bankroll under any circumstances.

This may sound like a ridiculous question but in reality many card counters have never defined their bankroll. It's hard to manage money if you don't know how much of it is available.

Here's what I suggest: put money aside that's only meant for gambling. That money is your bankroll and you should have the mindset that you won't get more money - if you lose that money, you must stop gambling.

It's smart to have tight boundaries for your blackjack bankroll all the way from the beginning of your card counting career.

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