Blackjack Bankroll Wizard Of Odds

Dealer Odds in Blackjack under U.S. Rules Dealer Odds in Blackjack under European Rules; Effect of Card Removal in Blackjack; Blackjack Expected Values; Estimating Number of Decks in Online Blackjack; Composition-Dependent Strategy for Single Deck and Dealer Stands on Soft 17. Jan 21, 2019  Ken Uston's Million Dollar Blackjack, to name one. This appendix shall not recover that issue. However, I am often asked about how much the basic strategy player's bankroll should be, given a targeted number of hands to play. This is especially practical if the player must play a certain number of hands to earn an online casino bonus.

RevJordan
Aloha guys!
Want to take a second to introduce myself! I'm a 25 year old Oregon native, been living in Hawaii the past 3 years. Started playing blackjack at the age of 18 at the tribal casinos around the Northwest. Picked up CC'ing a little over four years ago and have been practicing HI-LO plus indices (18&4) tirelessly ever since. I love everything about casinos and cards and I dream of making a living at it. I love this forum and have been reading for a little while and enjoy the good information and the *cough* witty *cough* banter! LOL
Anyways, my question. Would you take the risk of moving to Vegas and playing BJ full-time with a $25K bankroll tomorrow, or would you spend the next two years practicing/saving and come to Vegas with a 75K bankroll?
Side notes - I don't like Hawaii all that much (living on Oahu is like living in LA, just a lot more cramped. other islands are great but there's no work) and I don't plan on spending much more time doing the work I do (Special Inspector) and will be quitting within two years and either work for minimal wage back home or move to Vegas to count.
endermike

Anyways, my question. Would you take the risk of moving to Vegas and playing BJ full-time with a $25K bankroll tomorrow, or would you spend the next two years practicing/saving and come to Vegas with a 75K bankroll?

Bankroll
25K is not nearly enough for you to play as your full time source of income. This answer is even assuming you have no dependents or other drains on income. If you have other drains it may be a long time before the move is feasible. When I pull out another CC book, I will give you a more exact opinion.
AcesAndEights

Aloha guys!
Want to take a second to introduce myself! I'm a 25 year old Oregon native, been living in Hawaii the past 3 years. Started playing blackjack at the age of 18 at the tribal casinos around the Northwest. Picked up CC'ing a little over two years ago and have been practicing HI-LO plus indices (18&4) tirelessly ever since. I love everything about casinos and cards and I dream of making a living at it. I love this forum and have been reading for a little while and enjoy the good information and the *cough* witty *cough* banter! LOL
Anyways, my question. Would you take the risk of moving to Vegas and playing BJ full-time with a $25K bankroll tomorrow, or would you spend the next two years practicing/saving and come to Vegas with a 75K bankroll?
Side notes - I don't like Hawaii all that much (living on Oahu is like living in LA, just a lot more cramped. other islands are great but there's no work) and I don't plan on spending much more time doing the work I do (Special Inspector) and will be quitting within two years and either work for minimal wage back home or move to Vegas to count.


Since the question was 'Would you...' I will answer: absolutely I would not start full time with a bankroll that small! You have to consider the fact that you will be paying for rent and food out of your bankroll as well. At least I am assuming that by 'bankroll' you mean 'all money available,' as you should be if you are full time.

Wizard Of Odds Blackjack

But, I have never been full time. I'm pretty sure our own kewlj started with a roll smaller than that, but I'll let him speak for himself.
I think that $25K is at the absolute lower limits of what might, maybe be feasible for a starting full-time bankroll. But I haven't run any numbers on that, just going off of instinct/past numbers I have seen. Hence my answer that I would not do it. Save up, give yourself some wiggle room and unlock a higher betting level.
'So drink gamble eat f***, because one day you will be dust.' -ontariodealer
RevJordan

25K is not nearly enough for you to play as your full time source of income. This answer is even assuming you have no dependents or other drains on income. If you have other drains it may be a long time before the move is feasible. When I pull out another CC book, I will give you a more exact opinion.


No dependents, only recurring expense will be phone bill. Not concerned about healthcare at this point.

Blackjack Bankroll Wizard Of Odds Free

I grew up poor, have no problem living in car and eating off the dollar menu for a while (six months to a year, hopefully less).
sodawater
why not move to vegas with the 25k, try to get a job there, and use red-chip card counting to supplement your income?
i think counting cards is probably the very worst way an advantage player could make a living, unless he started with a VERY large bankroll, in the mid 6 figures.
RevJordan

Since the question was 'Would you...' I will answer: absolutely I would not...... Save up, give yourself some wiggle room and unlock a higher betting level.


This is the answer I give myself every evening after I relax, then the next morning at work I'm back to f*** it, it's worth the risk and I'm outta here. LOL
AxiomOfChoice

No dependents, only recurring expense will be phone bill. Not concerned about healthcare at this point.
I grew up poor, have no problem living in car and eating off the dollar menu for a while (six months to a year, hopefully less).


Do you really hate your job that much?
This sounds like a horrible life decision. You are apparently currently in a position where you can save (not make, but save) $25k per year. You are talking about moving to a position where you will live out of your car and hope to make enough money to eat off the dollar menu. So, no, I wouldn't do it.
sodawater
also, if you are able to SAVE $25,000 a year at age 25 living in the most expensive state there is... you're doing pretty well. It's going to be a very, very long time before you are able to save $25,000 a year playing blackjack.
What exactly is a special inspector and what do you do?
geoff
I'm going to go sort of in a different direction than everyone else. If you truly want to do this then I say more power to you. However the problem is just how much do you really want to do this? Have you mastered basic strategy for single, double, and shoes? Do you know all the Hi-Lo indexes (if you are going to make a living on this knowing more than the illustrious 18 is worth quite a bit)? You said you played at tribal casinos, how did you do there? Do you know what the terms risk of ruin, kelly, bet-sizing, and barring actually mean?
I (and probably the others) don't want to be harsh, but a lot of people come up and say they want to count cards for a living. It seems glamorous and after a month of using half learned hi-lo they lose their 8k bankroll and end up flipping burgers in Vegas trying to make their life work.
djatc
I used to live in Hawaii, how do you save any money living there? Regarding moving to Vegas..... I did it a year ago and never looked back. The difference in what I do to what counters do is that I am allowed into casinos all day and am able to grind out a living, but counters have a limited time frame to get the money.
One member who has successfully done this is kewlj, and he's probably got better information then I do. I can tell you that after moving here my life has changed drastically. I greatly enjoy being 'self-employed' and having to punch in and out of work. I always knew growing up that I would never fit into a normal job, since no matter what I did I would always watch the clock until I could leave. The trade-off is that you are on your own, and you'll always have to move from play to play on the fly with no guarantee of longevity or income.
For me the pros and cons of living out here far outweighs moving up the corporate ladder. I do have a backup in the Guard but it's not income I rely on, more like a monthly commitment that pays me a little.
I just feel that life is too short to not take chances and see how things go. Since you're young enough you'll have more then enough time to give counting a try and see how you do. Worst case scenario you go bust and go back to work. At least you could say to yourself, 'Wow I'm glad I took that shot.'
Also Las Vegas has a very cheap standard of living, more so if you know how to gamble smartly. Good luck to you and your endeavors.
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