In deciding how to size your blackjack bets according your bankroll, a good rule of thumb is
to set your max big bet at 2% of your bankroll. So if you only have a bankroll of $1500, then
you would be looking at a spread betting range of $5 to $30. Ideally if you were playing $5
small bets, then you would like to increase your big bet all the way to $50 but this would
increase the risk of ruin too much.
Consider then that you create a blackjack team with 5 friends, who each have $1500 and are
also at least as good as you at blackjack. Combined, the new blackjack team has a bank
(pooled bankrolls) of $9000. Each member should play independently of the others (i.e. on
different tables), allowing each to play as if he himself had a bankroll of $9000. This means
that each member can now increase the size of their big bet to $180. This dramatically
improves the hourly rate for each member. Further, there will be more stability in returns as
the losses and wins of each player gets averaged out.
Technically, the larger the group the better but the reality is that the larger the group the
more human problems you need to deal with. There is an ever present suspicion of outright
theft and skimming of session winnings. There is also a reality that there will be genuine
differences in skill levels. It could just be short term deviations of very good or bad luck. On
top of these intra-group tensions, you will need to operate under the pressure of casino
security. For these reasons, you should not expect any gambling syndicate or team to last
forever.
Keys factors to a successful blackjack team:-
- short term goals
- clearly pre-defined division of returns
- relatively close levels of skill
- high degree of trust
Short term goals should be things like, length of the team’s campaign (i.e. 1 or 2 months) or
target bank level (i.e. double the initial bank). The division of returns should be based on
initial money invested by each member, time of play and actual contribution to winnings. So
for example the final bank is divided 50% according to initial contribution, 25% by hours of
play and 25% on performance. You should ensure that all members have a high degree of
skill in playing blackjack. If one person is not as skilled then you could negotiate to involve
him as an investor only member of the team. Finally, trust naturally begins to deteriorate over
time so you want at least begin with a high degree of trust.
As a final piece of advice, forget ideas about the romanticism of ‘us versus the world’. This is
strictly business.
Good Luck
