The problem is that bet spreading is the mark of a professional blackjack player. The danger
is that a vigilant casino will pick you up quite quickly and have you barred once you start
making money or otherwise start turning up the heat on you (i.e. shuffling insanely often).
So while the basic concept of spread betting is straight forward, the trick is in hiding your
skills from the casino's eyes.
Tricks
It is too much of a giveaway when you are suddenly increasing your bet sizes, especially if
you suddenly increase your bet size by ten times. Another method is to slowly increase your
bet sizes as the count slowly goes up. This way once your true count reaches 4+, you can
make your big bet size but it won't be too much bigger than your last bet so won't be as
immediately noticeable. So you want to start increasing your bets sizes before it becomes
very advantageous.
Backcounting is a trick you can use when your at a new casino or don't intend to play there
for an extended period. Backcounting involves just watching a table and counting the cards,
once the count is decent you start playing. This is good for players on a tight bankroll as
well, since it limits the initial deviations you might face. It works best on weekends when the
blackjack tables are busy and its not uncommon for people to be just watching tables waiting
for a seat. Note, if you backcount before every time you play, the casino will catch on quite
quickly.
Don't buy in for too much. If you buy in for $2000 and then only make $25 bets then it is clear
that you intend to make big spread bets. Find another way to bring extra chips to the table or
make do with re-buying in moderate amounts as you see fit.
David Sklansky proposes another method to hiding your spread bets. He would start off by
with the maximum bet. If that bet won, he would continue until it lost. When the max bet lost,
depending on the count he would continue or decrease. This has a better chance of
camouflaging your spread bets but you are going to be betting big at times when it may not
necessarily be right to do so. So as an example, you have just two bet sizes $25 and $100.
You start off with $100 and continue betting $100 until it loses. If the count is below +1 then
drop to the $25 bet otherwise keep betting $100. In my personal opinion, this would only be
successful in a single deck blackjack game. With larger multi-deck shoes it is very important
to make sure you are betting proportionally more when the opportunities arise and not
wasting too much of your bankroll when the game is dead even or worse.
I have also seen other people pretend to be drunk and making spontaneous jumps in bet
sizes on a whim. This works a few times, but the nature of the act draws attention and no
drunk should be a regular winner in blackjack so will draw scrutiny if you win consistently.
This is not a viable long run strategy.
Also, try not follow a regular play pattern. Change the shifts you play on and take breaks for
extended periods if you think you are starting to be recognized.
In conclusion, a lot of being a professional blackjack player is in disguising the strength of
your play. I personally recommend you try to get as large a spread bet as possible when
good situations come around but you will need to assess how much you think you will be
able to get away with, without drawing too much heat from the pit boss. Good Luck!
