Winning at online blackjack games at BetMGM Casino requires several things; expert knowledge of strategy, a full understanding of the rules (and unwritten blackjack rules), a good amount of luck, and a mature bankroll management approach. Each aspect is equally crucial to breaking even or even ending your time playing ahead.
While BetMGM’s blackjack games are fun for blackjack players, it can be more fun to get some wins than to blow your bankroll in a few hands. Playing casino table games like blackjack sustainably requires you to form a plan for how you’ll spend your bankroll and revise your strategy based on that management plan.
Such a plan should have two components: preparation and in-play adjustments. When it comes to blackjack bankroll management, failing to plan is truly planning to fail.
What Is Bankroll Management in Blackjack?
Bankroll management in blackjack is the same as other forms of gambling to a great extent. Your bankroll is simply the amount of money you have deposited to play with.
Managing that money is the art of making it go as far as it can when you play. That way, you can maximize the enjoyment you get out of your gambling.
The very first step to bankroll management is to decide how much you’re going to play with. It’s extremely crucial to then stick to that amount no matter how the game goes.
The preparation process also involves identifying which of the blackjack variants you’re going to play. Furthermore, you need to determine your comfort level with several aspects of the games.
Determining Your Desired Risk and Reward
While you’re evaluating the blackjack game you want to play, learning about all the options for side bets and the risk associated with each is paramount. That information will help you play blackjack with confidence.
For example, when considering how you’ll play BetMGM’s exclusive Double Up Blackjack, you should decide how much you’ll wager if the opportunity comes to double up. Not being prepared for those moments could put you at risk of betting too much of your bankroll.
Pre-game bankroll management also involves deciding whether you’re going to use any of BetMGM’s frequent and generous casino promotions on your blackjack play. For example, new players may utilize their welcome casino bonus code to minimize their risk and chase a bigger payout.
Ultimately, formulating your pre-game plan is all about deciding how much risk you’re comfortable with and determining how much you’ll bet in each situation based on that risk. As always, though, your bets should never surpass your total bankroll, even if you decide that you want to pursue a bigger payout.
Opportunities to capitalize on a lucky situation will arise in blackjack. Conversely, you’ll experience moments when luck is going against you. At all of those times, gambling responsibly will also help you manage your bankroll effectively.
Understanding How Likely You’re To Win In Blackjack
Responsible gambling prioritizes knowledge of the games you want to play. It’s difficult to plan out your bets if you don’t know what options are available to you or what the house edge in blackjack is.
For most blackjack games, the house edge lives between half a percent and 4%, with 2% being the norm. This means the dealer has the advantage. Making sound moves can decrease the house edge depending on the rules of the exact blackjack game you’re playing but it’s impossible to completely eliminate that advantage.
When you’ve got this down, you need to evaluate your financial position.
Bankroll vs. Bet Size
Bankroll versus bet size are two different considerations. Your bankroll is your overall budget while bet size is the pieces of that budget you risk on each individual wager.
Deciding how much to risk at any given time is where you really start to manage your blackjack bankroll. You can start to do this by setting loss, time, and win limits for your session.
Once you’ve established those parameters, you can divide your bankroll up to fit within them. You can mix smaller bets in among bigger wagers, divide it up evenly, or however you like.
As long as you stick to your limits, you’ll know exactly when your session is over. You can reevaluate your plan afterwards to see if some adjustments would enhance your enjoyment and improve your strategy.
Avoid Common Mistakes
Besides exceeding their blackjack limits, there are other mistakes that novice and even experienced blackjack players can make. The first of these is the gambler’s fallacy.
This is the errant belief that if a particular result hasn’t occurred in a while, it must be due soon. In terms of blackjack mistakes, this would be believing that if a card hasn’t been dealt in a few hands, it has to come up soon.
In blackjack, the draw of the cards is random and the probabilities of any card coming up at any given time is reset with each hand.
Another common mistake in blackjack is failing to observe rule differences in variants.
Players might proceed assuming they have the option to buy blackjack insurance, double down, split, or surrender in certain blackjack situations without verifying that the game they play includes those options. It’s never good to assume and players should instead check to make sure that the game they’re playing provides for such moves before proceeding.
Another problem that some players encounter is when you run into some bad luck. This is an opportunity to practice discipline and put your plan into action.
Recovering from Blackjack Losses
When the luck of the draw goes against you, it can be tempting to chase those losses. That’s the biggest of the things to avoid in the dos and don’ts of blackjack losses.
Smart players realize that the probabilities may not favor their wagers and understand that to win big, they have to risk big. A stellar gambling plan allows for losses and hopes that their luck is good enough to overcome those losses to create a small profit.
If you find yourself struggling to not chase your losses, it’s time to cut those losses and take a break. You can return to the blackjack tables when you’re in a better mood and more ready to stick to your limits. It’s these moments when the rubber meets the road for responsible gambling.
Blackjack Bankroll Management in the Moment
Part of the art of bankroll management is to set enough aside so that you can capitalize on rare opportunities and also limit your losses if you have some bad luck. The key is to look at your blackjack play as a longer session and each hand as just one part of that session.
During that session, you’re going to see opportunities and encounter challenges. For instance, while you’re learning to play progressive blackjack, you will find chances to make a play for that jackpot. At that moment, you need to evaluate how taking that additional risk figures into your overall strategy to keep your bankroll healthy.
Managing your bankroll wisely up to that point will enable you to expand your risk in those moments so you can potentially net a big payout. That management includes not exceeding your budgeted wager amounts when you hit a stretch of bad luck.
Remember that when you’re playing blackjack games at BetMGM, you’re in it for the long haul so you can get hours of enjoyment out of your play. If blackjack bankroll management is new to you, the only way to get started is to register at BetMGM and check out the available games and their betting options. In no time, you’ll be a blackjack budget expert.
