Bankrolling
Unlike online poker, blackjack is a game of odds, and playing those odds means that you need to have enough of a bankroll to survive the fluctuations. It sounds simple enough, but as a regular poker player, this took me forever to learn. In college I would go into the casino with about fifty bucks, which adds up to ten five-dollar hands. This was leaving me sadly unprepared for the fluctuations that would occur even if I were playing smart (which I wasn’t back then). I’d play my hands out for a bit, but mostly I’m win one or two hands and then succumb to a minor losing streak that emaciated my already tiny bankroll. It’s a good thing the drinks were free or I would have had nothing to show for it.
If you are going to play blackjack and plan to actually win, it would be a good idea to bring along a winner’s bankroll. I’m not saying that you have to empty your savings account or get second mortgage, but you need to be able to survive those little unlucky streaks in order to get to the winning streaks and go home victorious.
When you go, like poker, bring enough money to play twenty or thirty hands. Depending on what stakes you play, that could be $20 or $2,000 plus, but twenty should be able to get you through most of the rough patches.
