what I like about your videos most: You get right down to business after a brief intro (under 1 minute) - Good lighting, good sound and consistently good information. Thank you
This really is the most important video on the subject of Casino Blackjack. Before you even step foot in a casino, you must have a bankroll you can afford to lose and a perfect card counting discipline. I read somewhere you want to be able to play 100 betting units over 4 hours. I also like how Colin number crunches the risk the higher the bankroll gets.
1 to 5 bet spread isn’t enough to win even with a perfect game. I would use a minimum of 1-8 or 1-10 depending on the game. The worse game the bigger bet spread. You have to put out the money on positive counts to over come variance. This was one of my biggest mistakes when I first started was to small of a bet spread. I use a 1-20 now
@@ChrisTrovato long story short if you count cards you will get backed off eventually. There is things you can do if you don’t want to burn your local down without giving up edge but a 1-20 really isn’t that big. Let’s say 25 to 500 but when you have your top bet out 2 hands of 250 doesn’t look as crazy and actually lowers your risk a little bit
Played black jack for about 10 years off and on. Was a small player so focussed on playing perfect basic blackjack and controlling bankroll exposure. Never had the bankroll to support card counting, although I practised for months to get it down running and truecount, and had it down. However in real life I used to play with just 100 dollars per time. My rules were, if I lose it, dont get more and chase it on the night. Walk away regroup and come back. Second, when I won, and I did (best was 3000+, 2nd was 1500+, and many around 300 -500) walk away as soon as run ended, and next time..start again with 100 dollars. In other words..play as much as possible with casino's money. Also I kept a spreadsheet of wins and losses over time...Kept it accurate and current. When I finished after 10 years...I was up 25,675 dollars exactly. I was not professional..Did not play every day (more like once a week) had plenty of losses too. Just was disciplined.
@@jaywatt8728 I play two hands with red chips $5-$15 per hand. When I win, I usually get a green $25, I nonchalantly flip them in my top front pocket, nobody notices especially on a busy night, I keep track of my winnings and will often walk away with pocket full of green. All bout money management.
I think a video on "trip bankroll" would help (assuming one hasn't been done) 'cause trip bankrolls are where the variance lives and where folks have to understand that you might get 'killed' this time and "ruin" this trip but the long term math works out. CVdata shows that the risk of ruin increases with length of play that a particular bankroll is subject to. a 1k bankroll risked for only 5 hands has a far lower ROR than 1k exposed to 800 hands.
I've watched many sites. You are genuine. I've made money on online sites that hand shuffle and lost money in casinos that hand shuffle. Ya gota withstand the loses as long as you have the bankroll and balls.
@@anderaginaga2 cause a lot of people want to learn it but don't take the proper time needed to learn it. Therefore they go in unprepared and more likely than not end up losing money.
@Blackjack Apprenticeship Have you ever measured the Value at Risk (VaR) for a Blackjack bankroll? It's another metric similar to Risk of Ruin (RoR). But I think it would be more apt for card counters than RoR, since RoR is an "endgame scenario". Value at Risk simply states the minimum loss that would be expected a certain percentage of the time over a certain period of time given the assumed game conditions. So an example would be, "the 5% VaR for a bankroll over a one-session period is $100,000." Basically this is saying that one in every 20 sessions (5%), the bankroll will go down by at least $100,000 in a single session. This of course would be corrected to correlate to the size of the bankroll. If you had a smaller bankroll, then the $100,000 would be smaller and vice versa for a larger bankroll. In the above example the bankroll may be $1.2 million. ANd the assumed game conditions would be the rules of the BJ table you would be sitting at. Better rules equates to lower VaR, while worse rules equates to higher VaR, etc. But I would love to hear what your estimate for the VaR would be for card counting (based on your years of experience), since its a much more natural metric than RoR. VaR just like RoR plays into our fear of losing. And although, losing everything is much scarier. Knowing you will lose, say 8.33% of your bankroll ($100,000/$1.2 million) 5% of the time, will be much more useful statistically and psychologically since it has a higher chance of occuring. Not to mention, when you lose EVERYTHING, you are done. So there aren't any short-term corrections you can make once you lose your WHOLE bankroll.
Yea I made 170 with just doing 15 dollars a bet it was crazy but then got greedy and did 25 dollars lost 20 then lost the went back to 15 dollars and lost that’s when I called it quits not considering I started with 40bucks but wining like 12 times row doesn’t happen often
Colin, I think the bigger issue is how many betting units. I heard from another AP that 1000 units, depending on the BR, almost guarantees that you won't go broke: depending on your RoR. So with a $5 unit you would need a $5000 BR. $10 unit $10,000 BR, etc. So, what do you think?
Brother Collin, the $100 a day, while not allowing you to "live" extravagantly would be a handsome raise to most folks homes or represent a significant amount to use toward debt and life's unexpected events. Love your training and videos by the way.
The problem is how far you'll have to drive/travel to go to a casino. Even if you are only making 100 a day you WILL be noticed eventually and most likely sooner than you think. The closest casino near me costs me about 10 in gas and 45 minutes drive. Eventually ill get backed off from there and have to spend even more time and money getting to another casino to make in the grand sceme of things chump change. (I can count cards at home however lose concentration at a casino like a 13 year old at a strip club btw and therefore only gamble 1-2 times a year). On the flip side I can legally buy 1 ounce of weed for 125-150 and sell it for 200 in about 30minutes. My point being that there are much safer and quicker ways to make a little on the side than trying to fool professionals out of trying to empty your wallet.
Why not just back count at ur local casino bet the $100 when the shoes right and leave? $700 a week for less than an hour a work. And you’re not taking enough for them to get mad. Especially if ur a rewards member and friendly with everyone. I personally know someone in security tho who used to be a cop. I’m good….tfor now
This video is the most eye opening video ever, don’t bother trying to count cards unless you have, no family, no life, no job, and a shit lot of dedication. Good fun to watch tho.
Hey Colin - Great vid as usual. I'd love to hear your advice on the best min bet tables to play at with a bankroll of approximately $4,000. I'm 3 hours from closest casino, so the ones I can get to usually offer $10 min lowest, but more favorable rules with the $25 min tables. Along the same lines, what would you advise on really good counts - playing one hand with higher bets according to the count, or playing two hands and adjusting the size smaller to minimize fluctuation? I'm sure it varies, but curious on 'best practices' so-to-speak. Thanks for all the great info
Honestly, I can't give bankroll coaching for free or I'd spend all day doing it. But my guess is that you'll need to stick to $10 table. As far as exact bet spreads, use software (I'm really proud of our new betting software, or you can go with CVCX).
@@I.OWN.NOTHING I know it's no so. I may be wrong, but when you've got truth on your side there is no need to exaggerate. I've watched dozens of BJA videos, (many more than once) not only is there no hype, Colin often plays the roll of devil's advocate. The math doesn't lie, perfect basic strategy combined with counting begets advantage play. I hear Colin saying, "Having a chance of being a winning player requires these two essentials
Colin, thanks for the videos and app! I’ve recently started counting cards, I practice at the house. I practice on my phone, I practice with my son dealing cards to a table of us at the house. When I get to the casino, I do decent the first few rounds then I lose count, and then I’m back to just gambling. I want to know at what point and how long after you started counting did you get the confidence that you had it. All the practice in the world just doesn’t seem like it translate in the casino. I just want to feel like I’m actually getting it and able to keep count in 1 complete shoe! I play to much not to learn!
Thanks! It generally takes someone 200 hours of practice to get to perfect. We have a video on bringing your training to the casino. It's worth watching.
Thank you Colin. Just to clarify, does risk of ruin include the fact that you are reinvesting your profits into your bankroll? Or does risk of ruin mean at 5% ror with a $20 000 bankroll for example, if you put all your profits aside and only played with that $20 000 forever, only 5% of card counters would lose the 20k eventually? Thanks for your help
Did kinda the same thing but i put in 40 dollars went down to 1 dollar at the beginning then brought it back up to 1400 withdraw bought myself a nice computer
been there. only ever played online blackjack other than one time about 8 or 9 years ago when i was in vegas on my honeymoon. i much prefer online and seem to come away with more profit as i can get a private table with lower stakes and that limits the amount of other people (variables) are against me. i play maybe 100-150 a month and last month i made enough to pay my mortgage and have a nice meal. no way could i have ever done that at an irl casino
This video got me kicked out of a casino. I couldn't get reception with my cell phone so I turned on the casinos Wi-Fi. I watched 2 minutes of this video and got a weird feeling. I walked out tried to check my benefits card and had been cut off they wanted me to leave the hotel. Don't play Blackjack Apprentice videos on their Wi-Fi😢
I signed up over 2hrs ago for the mini course but I've not seen the email from you yet. I'm hoping it'll make it overnight? I now see there's a whole lot more that gets shared when we sign up for the paid course you offer but I want to look at all your stuff & then learn what you charge to teach? Hope to find out soon
$10/hr ev with 40% to 50% ror. That’s crazy lol. At those circumstances the ev play is to stop at the roulette table and bet it all on black. In 30 seconds you either save yourself hours of play before ruin, or you instantly double your bankroll.
When you say 2% risk of ruin does that mean 2% risk of ruin per hour? Or 2% of probability space have graph of balance ever hit zero when T goes to infinity?
It is the probability that you ever run out of money to bet. If it is per hour, then you are basically guaranteed to run out of money eventually, because 2% will happen at some point.
So if I understand correctly. It is not worth to go to casione (Except for training) when you do not have enought bank roll that your EV is more, than your EV in job/bussiness. Is this correct tought?
A second comment: Some commenters seem to think that a lower spread would help them. This is the exact opposite of true. It's true that a higher average bet has a higher RoR, all things being equal, but the greater your edge, the lower your RoR, and your edge is higher with a higher spread. Do NOT lower spread to try to compensate for poor bankroll. If anything, just backcount and only play under the most favorable conditions.
Your edge is not higher with a higher spread. A change in spread affects only your risk, variance, and expected value. Your edge is controlled by the rules of the game offered combined with the overall effect of card counting.
There just doesn't seem to be enough awareness as to how the casinos offer their blackjack - which is to say if not automatic shuffler (w 4 decks) then a 6 deck shue - which returns the cards to the automatic shuffler after every hand. In other words, good luck finding a table which just uses a 6 deck hand shuffle. This isn't the 90's.
But the risk of ruin depends on you betspread no ? If i got a 1000$ bankroll,playing with a base of 10$ and bet spread 1-10 with 10$ unit wont be the same if i do with 100$ unit no ? SO how you determine the risk of ruin ?
ROR takes all aspects of the game, each bet in the spread, and bankroll into account and you can see some insight to the software here: ua-cam.com/video/jWvkK_H0HEg/v-deo.html
What is your advice on leaving the blackjack table every time there is a negative count? I practiced at home, and 4 out of 5 shuffles for 4 decks, there was a negative count almost the entire time. I'm concerned that leaving the table immediately when the count goes negative (nearly 50% blackjack activity) multiple times will make the dealers suspicious and I won't get much time to play.
I like to leave the table on a negative count to go to the bathroom, to end a session, or to check my phone. I like to do it if the first hand after a shuffle yields a negative count especially if the negative count is big like negative 3 or higher and especially if you see a lot of aces pop. A count of negative 1 or 2 I will usually just bet small and take the result.
@@chrisbaker2669 By count of negative 1 or 2, do you mean running count or true count? Let's say I leave to go to the bathroom for a few minutes just after the shoe begins. Do I move on to another table when I come back or wait until another shuffle to start? I ask because the one time I played at a casino, only up to 2 or 3 people including me played at my table, so the shoe went by slowly.
don't ever worry about dealers... they don't give a crap. The floor ppl & the hidden ppl watching cameras are the ones that matter. That being said... if your bet spread is only $10-$100... then, you have nothing at all to worry about. No one will *ever notice.
The best way is with a buddy who also is into counting so you can do a "live" practice, check each others counts, notice weaknesses, create a more realistic feel. If that's not an option we have an app that tracks counts and corrects mistakes but nothing is as a good as face to face if it's possible.
How do you not get stopped all the time just based on the need to move tables all the time to keep the count high? Send like that would be a huge red flag for the casino. Or do you not do that?
Me and my cousin just moved to wendover to attempt to become pros. Over last weekend i turned 60 bucks into about 800. Playing 5 dollar tables walkong every 20 bucks. Then we moved to 25 dollar tables walked every 200. And then we dipped for the week
So when you say you started with $2000, is that what's needed for a $10 table or is that for $100 bets? You said before that with $1000 40% will lose it. Just wondering how much the bets are. I normally play $10 hands soo would $1000 give me a better chance?
Colin How do you deal with others sitting at the table and their whining when you are hitting soft 18's and a lot of times the dealer is telling you that is stupid....Thanks, Colin
This is how it is hitting a 12 when the dealer is showing a 2 or 3. Though this is basic strategy, many people don't follow it. Depending on the count is whether I hit or not, but if I feel it is necessary, I don't give it any extra thought in terms of whether people will like it or not
Isn't this totally dependent on the minimum bet? As your bankroll goes up don't you play higher limit tables, so isn't it all relative as far as cushion for the percentage of risk of ruin.
Hello Colin and the Blackjack Apprenticeship team. As I’ve studied your videos and applied your advice, while on the conversation of bankroll and EV, I’m curious to know how big of a bankroll you’d suggest for someone in that early stages of card counting after completing the 200 - 250 hours of training at home? I’ve been going to the casinos over the past month and just getting comfortable with the atmosphere, counting and keeping a conversation and doing my bet spreads. I have a $2,000 bankroll and usually only bring 500-600 with me when I play. The rules at the casino I play at are solid and I usually walk out after a few shoes with positive EV. I save more money to build up my bankroll each week, but just want to know what you’d recommend for a bankroll of someone just coming off of the recommenced training time and spending their initial time at the casinos sharpening their skills. Thanks guys! As always, I appreciate everything you guys do and have been blessed with positive fortune since I started watching you guys! Looking forward to the book!
While you're training, consider any money you're using as "practice money" that you can afford to lose. Until your game is 100%, there's no guarantee you'll have a winning game. At that point, when your game is 100%, the more bankroll you have, the more EV you can generate!
Hey man. I discovered card counting in the movie 21. So it got me interested and thats how i found your channel. My question is how can i practice card counting on my own so i can improve and hit the casine when the day comes ? Love your channel and have a good one.
If you know the values of each card then take a deck, shuffle it, and flip a card over one at a time keeping track of the count. Just do it over and over and over.
Owen is right, just shuffle, flip and count. Over and over. Then buy 5 more decks and run a count for the whole 6. See how quickly you can flip over 6 decks and still keep an accurate count. Then do it with distractions. Then cut off 3 of the decks and count those to get an idea for how much variance there is going to be for the ending counts on games with poor penetration. Drilling for counting can actually be quite boring. It's not the mathematical ability to add and subtract 1 over and over again that makes someone an AP. Almost anyone can add 1 to a number or subtract 1 from a number and then learn to do it quickly. To be an AP you need the mental fortitude required to do a "boring" task for a very long time over and over again, and that's before you even consider approaching a casino.
Colin really only sneaks this in, but it's very important: You can have more aggressive bankroll management IF you are good at dropping in stakes if hit the bad side of variance. I haven't double checked the numbers, but standard RoR is going to be calculated on basically a flat average bet. But, if you can scale that bet back, then it's often worth being more aggressive. This is exacerbated on the low end, because no professional has a bankroll of >$10k and almost anyone can save money if they had to, so their true bankroll is higher than that. So, particularly when on the lower end, push the limits a little and give yourself a chance to make some money, just be aggressive with stepping down if you run poorly.
Risk of ruin is not calculated on the average bet. It's a representation of the risks posed to the bankroll by the cumulative effect of the bet spread at all the frequencies of individual counts that will be encountered according to your spread. Variance, or standard deviation per round or per hour is calculated by using the average bet.
$1000 bankroll, 50% risk of ruin, thats not acceptable. Why not just put 1000 on banker on baccarat, your risk of ruin is lower than 50%, if u busted, just save countless hours. If successfully run it up to 2to 3k, then play BJ card counting with proper BR
Once i walked in with 100 and walked out with 1k. All it takes is just patience and basic strategy. Of course you need to have the discipline to get off the table with the mindset of you’re losing. The more you think that you’re winning, the more greedy you’ll get and end up losing everything.
If you play a table withe a black chip minimum I know very few who could give more than a ball park estimate. I know you know more than I in that case.
Colin, I was wondering how you got those numbers with $10,000 dollars. Even with good rules and PEN, I played around with Chapter X and couldn't even come close to those numbers.
What is the bet amounts for each bankroll? $1 - $5 - $10? If I have $1000 could I do a $1 bet or is that still risky? I know normally it’s $5 but I have a casino where it’s $1 minimum
even if you only have a 1% RoR, but you're playing full time. Doesn't that mean that even tho you're averaging a profit over the long run, every card counter is destined to eventually hit that 1% and lose all of your capital without being able to recover and hit your average of making profit again? Also what's your opinion on applying the martingale system on cardcounting?
martingale always breaks over time. Youre return is a dollar per cycle, but each cycle of betting is either going to net you a dollar or you will lose everything. I was learning to code and one of the first things i did was test out how large of a bankroll you need for you to make back the bankroll before you lost it consistently. I was using python and it's RNG function could and probably did contribute to this, but, if im remembering correctly, it was 15 million dollars. dont use the martingale method. it is disasterously tempting but always nets in losing all your earnings
Okay but what betting units are these based off of?? Does my risk and EV change if I’m betting 5$ a hand? I feel like these calcs are off of 10$ a hand.
only thing preventing all casinos from having those is that they take time. And for casinos that generate tens of thousands of dollars a minute, it's not worth losing revenue from 99% of the customers by slowing down the game just to combat the 1% of the crowd that counts cards
I turn 20 dollars into $230 in 4 hours playing a single deck black jack table and would only raise my bet from minimum 10 to 20 when i had a count of plus 4 .
@Dbomb Danny no. I was actually at yo mama's house 🤣💯. Naw I'm just kidding but I couldn't tell you that bud. If I commented for you to know then anyone could read this and know where I go to gamble. Including the casino.
Hi Colin, You talked in film that to playing minimum bet 10usd we need 1000 usd bankroll but what bankroll should I take to one session in casino ? I play minimum 10 usd bet in my casino thanks Colin
It means that on average, you win $10 per hour. After 1 hour, there's no telling what you'll have. You might be low on money. You might win considerably. But after a few hundred hours, the money you've won divided by the hours played will be pretty close to 10.
what I like about your videos most: You get right down to business after a brief intro (under 1 minute) - Good lighting, good sound and consistently good information. Thank you
This really is the most important video on the subject of Casino Blackjack. Before you even step foot in a casino, you must have a bankroll you can afford to lose and a perfect card counting discipline. I read somewhere you want to be able to play 100 betting units over 4 hours. I also like how Colin number crunches the risk the higher the bankroll gets.
Play a $5 to $25 betting range to start. Does not need a big bankroll and is typically not scrutinized. Do recreational playing.
1 to 5 bet spread isn’t enough to win even with a perfect game. I would use a minimum of 1-8 or 1-10 depending on the game. The worse game the bigger bet spread. You have to put out the money on positive counts to over come variance. This was one of my biggest mistakes when I first started was to small of a bet spread. I use a 1-20 now
Isn’t it also because it’s easier on your bankroll?
Never play recreationally. Play with a purpose
@@BadaBing_3 how tf do you not get backed off with such high variation?
@@ChrisTrovato long story short if you count cards you will get backed off eventually. There is things you can do if you don’t want to burn your local down without giving up edge but a 1-20 really isn’t that big. Let’s say 25 to 500 but when you have your top bet out 2 hands of 250 doesn’t look as crazy and actually lowers your risk a little bit
Played black jack for about 10 years off and on. Was a small player so focussed on playing perfect basic blackjack and controlling bankroll exposure. Never had the bankroll to support card counting, although I practised for months to get it down running and truecount, and had it down. However in real life I used to play with just 100 dollars per time. My rules were, if I lose it, dont get more and chase it on the night. Walk away regroup and come back. Second, when I won, and I did (best was 3000+, 2nd was 1500+, and many around 300 -500) walk away as soon as run ended, and next time..start again with 100 dollars. In other words..play as much as possible with casino's money. Also I kept a spreadsheet of wins and losses over time...Kept it accurate and current. When I finished after 10 years...I was up 25,675 dollars exactly. I was not professional..Did not play every day (more like once a week) had plenty of losses too. Just was disciplined.
@@jaywatt8728 I play two hands with red chips $5-$15 per hand. When I win, I usually get a green $25, I nonchalantly flip them in my top front pocket, nobody notices especially on a busy night, I keep track of my winnings and will often walk away with pocket full of green. All bout money management.
may be you would be a great Trader with your mindset.
I think a video on "trip bankroll" would help (assuming one hasn't been done) 'cause trip bankrolls are where the variance lives and where folks have to understand that you might get 'killed' this time and "ruin" this trip but the long term math works out. CVdata shows that the risk of ruin increases with length of play that a particular bankroll is subject to. a 1k bankroll risked for only 5 hands has a far lower ROR than 1k exposed to 800 hands.
I've watched many sites. You are genuine. I've made money on online sites that hand shuffle and lost money in casinos that hand shuffle. Ya gota withstand the loses as long as you have the bankroll and balls.
Those 20 dislikes are casino owners 100%
@Jesse Pinkman Why?
Jesse Pinkman I watched Jane die
@@anderaginaga2 cause a lot of people want to learn it but don't take the proper time needed to learn it. Therefore they go in unprepared and more likely than not end up losing money.
Dislikes? What are those?
@@delberssj700 never heard of em
Thanks, give another goal while I learn basic strategy and card counting.
Some casinos don't allow mid-shoe entry, so that defeats back-counting.
Mid shoe entry??
@@ha4b635 entering after they've started a new deck, or 8 decks in the "shoe". shoe is just the nickname for the thing that holds the cards.
I really appreciate the no bullshit nature of this channel.
@Blackjack Apprenticeship Have you ever measured the Value at Risk (VaR) for a Blackjack bankroll? It's another metric similar to Risk of Ruin (RoR). But I think it would be more apt for card counters than RoR, since RoR is an "endgame scenario". Value at Risk simply states the minimum loss that would be expected a certain percentage of the time over a certain period of time given the assumed game conditions.
So an example would be, "the 5% VaR for a bankroll over a one-session period is $100,000."
Basically this is saying that one in every 20 sessions (5%), the bankroll will go down by at least $100,000 in a single session. This of course would be corrected to correlate to the size of the bankroll. If you had a smaller bankroll, then the $100,000 would be smaller and vice versa for a larger bankroll. In the above example the bankroll may be $1.2 million. ANd the assumed game conditions would be the rules of the BJ table you would be sitting at. Better rules equates to lower VaR, while worse rules equates to higher VaR, etc.
But I would love to hear what your estimate for the VaR would be for card counting (based on your years of experience), since its a much more natural metric than RoR. VaR just like RoR plays into our fear of losing. And although, losing everything is much scarier. Knowing you will lose, say 8.33% of your bankroll ($100,000/$1.2 million) 5% of the time, will be much more useful statistically and psychologically since it has a higher chance of occuring.
Not to mention, when you lose EVERYTHING, you are done. So there aren't any short-term corrections you can make once you lose your WHOLE bankroll.
I know this is an older video....but I love Red Robin....YUMMM!
Thanks Colin. Hope I could have the opportunity working as a member of a professional team one day!
I turned 30 $ into 1400 in my 21st birthday but walked out without a dime because I got greedy , It was a really good life experience .
I feel this, but not on as huge of a win scale
Yeah I’ve had a similar night, 150 turned into 500 then turned into 0 super quick
Bro how does this even happen
Yea I made 170 with just doing 15 dollars a bet it was crazy but then got greedy and did 25 dollars lost 20 then lost the went back to 15 dollars and lost that’s when I called it quits not considering I started with 40bucks but wining like 12 times row doesn’t happen often
Colin, I think the bigger issue is how many betting units. I heard from another AP that 1000 units, depending on the BR, almost guarantees that you won't go broke: depending on your RoR. So with a $5 unit you would need a $5000 BR. $10 unit $10,000 BR, etc. So, what do you think?
Brother Collin, the $100 a day, while not allowing you to "live" extravagantly would be a handsome raise to most folks homes or represent a significant amount to use toward debt and life's unexpected events. Love your training and videos by the way.
The problem is how far you'll have to drive/travel to go to a casino. Even if you are only making 100 a day you WILL be noticed eventually and most likely sooner than you think. The closest casino near me costs me about 10 in gas and 45 minutes drive. Eventually ill get backed off from there and have to spend even more time and money getting to another casino to make in the grand sceme of things chump change. (I can count cards at home however lose concentration at a casino like a 13 year old at a strip club btw and therefore only gamble 1-2 times a year). On the flip side I can legally buy 1 ounce of weed for 125-150 and sell it for 200 in about 30minutes. My point being that there are much safer and quicker ways to make a little on the side than trying to fool professionals out of trying to empty your wallet.
@@oats9036 hell nobro there are so many people that play it's hard to detect there's a reason they have hit limit rooms
Why not just back count at ur local casino bet the $100 when the shoes right and leave? $700 a week for less than an hour a work. And you’re not taking enough for them to get mad. Especially if ur a rewards member and friendly with everyone. I personally know someone in security tho who used to be a cop. I’m good….tfor now
@@visible4404 yeah that's a great plan. You could get $700-3500 a week... That ain't bad
@@oats9036 Would Casinos bother about a $100 win when the person next to you won $1000 ?
Great video Collin could you make a video on bet spread recommendations? Or maybe share youtlr thoughts? Thanks mate.
He uploaded one just a few days ago! ua-cam.com/video/SMI658mNMFk/v-deo.html
As my first time actually trying to put some basic card counting I turned 40$ into 135$ I was very happy
When I go in with less than $300 I like to back count and just jam my stack til I have a roll to play for hours
6:03 He says '2% or less than', but the 'greater than sign' shows in the banner at the bottom.
This video is the most eye opening video ever, don’t bother trying to count cards unless you have, no family, no life, no job, and a shit lot of dedication. Good fun to watch tho.
Hey Colin. Did you ever play MTG in Sacramento? You look like someone I used to play.
I’d also like to ask you guys, what were your minimum bets when you were playing? $25 a hand, $50 a hand, $100 a hand?
As low as I felt I could get away with. Anywhere from $5 to $200.
Hey Colin - Great vid as usual. I'd love to hear your advice on the best min bet tables to play at with a bankroll of approximately $4,000. I'm 3 hours from closest casino, so the ones I can get to usually offer $10 min lowest, but more favorable rules with the $25 min tables. Along the same lines, what would you advise on really good counts - playing one hand with higher bets according to the count, or playing two hands and adjusting the size smaller to minimize fluctuation? I'm sure it varies, but curious on 'best practices' so-to-speak. Thanks for all the great info
Honestly, I can't give bankroll coaching for free or I'd spend all day doing it. But my guess is that you'll need to stick to $10 table. As far as exact bet spreads, use software (I'm really proud of our new betting software, or you can go with CVCX).
Blackjack Apprenticeship you make videos to scam people for money 😂😂
@@I.OWN.NOTHING I know it's no so. I may be wrong, but when you've got truth on your side there is no need to exaggerate. I've watched dozens of BJA videos, (many more than once) not only is there no hype, Colin often plays the roll of devil's advocate. The math doesn't lie, perfect basic strategy combined with counting begets advantage play. I hear Colin saying, "Having a chance of being a winning player requires these two essentials
And more... bankroll management, deviations, the right temperament. There is no guarantee made, nor implied.
I'm addicted to these videos
Colin, thanks for the videos and app! I’ve recently started counting cards, I practice at the house. I practice on my phone, I practice with my son dealing cards to a table of us at the house. When I get to the casino, I do decent the first few rounds then I lose count, and then I’m back to just gambling. I want to know at what point and how long after you started counting did you get the confidence that you had it. All the practice in the world just doesn’t seem like it translate in the casino. I just want to feel like I’m actually getting it and able to keep count in 1 complete shoe! I play to much not to learn!
Thanks! It generally takes someone 200 hours of practice to get to perfect. We have a video on bringing your training to the casino. It's worth watching.
How do you know if you hv a "winning" game? is there software or some tutorial out there to test ones skills?
In my country all casinos have machine which shuffles the shoe periodly. Can we gain advantage in this case?
Thank you Colin. Just to clarify, does risk of ruin include the fact that you are reinvesting your profits into your bankroll? Or does risk of ruin mean at 5% ror with a $20 000 bankroll for example, if you put all your profits aside and only played with that $20 000 forever, only 5% of card counters would lose the 20k eventually? Thanks for your help
Great question! I hope he answers
I played with $20 on virtual casino and came up to $900. I want to learn card counting.
Did kinda the same thing but i put in 40 dollars went down to 1 dollar at the beginning then brought it back up to 1400 withdraw bought myself a nice computer
been there. only ever played online blackjack other than one time about 8 or 9 years ago when i was in vegas on my honeymoon. i much prefer online and seem to come away with more profit as i can get a private table with lower stakes and that limits the amount of other people (variables) are against me. i play maybe 100-150 a month and last month i made enough to pay my mortgage and have a nice meal. no way could i have ever done that at an irl casino
This video got me kicked out of a casino. I couldn't get reception with my cell phone so I turned on the casinos Wi-Fi. I watched 2 minutes of this video and got a weird feeling. I walked out tried to check my benefits card and had been cut off they wanted me to leave the hotel. Don't play Blackjack Apprentice videos on their Wi-Fi😢
I signed up over 2hrs ago for the mini course but I've not seen the email from you
yet. I'm hoping it'll make it overnight? I now see there's a whole lot more that gets
shared when we sign up for the paid course you offer but I want to look at all your
stuff & then learn what you charge to teach? Hope to find out soon
$10/hr ev with 40% to 50% ror. That’s crazy lol. At those circumstances the ev play is to stop at the roulette table and bet it all on black. In 30 seconds you either save yourself hours of play before ruin, or you instantly double your bankroll.
I have to ask, in what world can you have a $20/hr EV with a 2% ROR having a bankroll of only $10,000?
Why do ROR when you can do risk of downswing?
When you say 2% risk of ruin does that mean 2% risk of ruin per hour? Or 2% of probability space have graph of balance ever hit zero when T goes to infinity?
It is the probability that you ever run out of money to bet. If it is per hour, then you are basically guaranteed to run out of money eventually, because 2% will happen at some point.
So if I understand correctly. It is not worth to go to casione (Except for training) when you do not have enought bank roll that your EV is more, than your EV in job/bussiness. Is this correct tought?
50 percent of ruin at $1000? Just go all in the first hand lol
A second comment: Some commenters seem to think that a lower spread would help them. This is the exact opposite of true. It's true that a higher average bet has a higher RoR, all things being equal, but the greater your edge, the lower your RoR, and your edge is higher with a higher spread. Do NOT lower spread to try to compensate for poor bankroll. If anything, just backcount and only play under the most favorable conditions.
Your edge is not higher with a higher spread. A change in spread affects only your risk, variance, and expected value. Your edge is controlled by the rules of the game offered combined with the overall effect of card counting.
There just doesn't seem to be enough awareness as to how the casinos offer their blackjack - which is to say if not automatic shuffler (w 4 decks) then a 6 deck shue - which returns the cards to the automatic shuffler after every hand. In other words, good luck finding a table which just uses a 6 deck hand shuffle. This isn't the 90's.
If you have a $2k bankroll what would be your largest size hand bet?
So, with a $5000 bankroll and what size bets do I make?
But the risk of ruin depends on you betspread no ?
If i got a 1000$ bankroll,playing with a base of 10$ and bet spread 1-10 with 10$ unit wont be the same if i do with 100$ unit no ?
SO how you determine the risk of ruin ?
ROR takes all aspects of the game, each bet in the spread, and bankroll into account and you can see some insight to the software here:
ua-cam.com/video/jWvkK_H0HEg/v-deo.html
What is your advice on leaving the blackjack table every time there is a negative count? I practiced at home, and 4 out of 5 shuffles for 4 decks, there was a negative count almost the entire time. I'm concerned that leaving the table immediately when the count goes negative (nearly 50% blackjack activity) multiple times will make the dealers suspicious and I won't get much time to play.
I like to leave the table on a negative count to go to the bathroom, to end a session, or to check my phone. I like to do it if the first hand after a shuffle yields a negative count especially if the negative count is big like negative 3 or higher and especially if you see a lot of aces pop. A count of negative 1 or 2 I will usually just bet small and take the result.
@@chrisbaker2669 By count of negative 1 or 2, do you mean running count or true count? Let's say I leave to go to the bathroom for a few minutes just after the shoe begins. Do I move on to another table when I come back or wait until another shuffle to start? I ask because the one time I played at a casino, only up to 2 or 3 people including me played at my table, so the shoe went by slowly.
don't ever worry about dealers... they don't give a crap. The floor ppl & the hidden ppl watching cameras are the ones that matter. That being said... if your bet spread is only $10-$100... then, you have nothing at all to worry about. No one will *ever notice.
If a casino asks for your players card or ID when you're cashing out winnings, can I say no?
Are the deviations similar to the Illustrious 18?
A bank roll equal to the cost of college tuition taken to the casino is a lower risk, higher paying investment than a graduate degree.
only problem is with that big of bankroll you'll likely be getting backed off fairly frequently therefore not making a much money as you would think
For the hypothetical cases, what's the min bet size?
How do you calculate this?
I was totally thinking of this question earlier today. I want to learn but I only play a couple times a year and don’t bring 10k to Vegas.
Think in terms of max bets then. Fifteen to twenty max bets per session roughly. A session being about 4 hours-ish.
Whats the best way to practice without going to the casino and losing money?
The best way is with a buddy who also is into counting so you can do a "live" practice, check each others counts, notice weaknesses, create a more realistic feel. If that's not an option we have an app that tracks counts and corrects mistakes but nothing is as a good as face to face if it's possible.
Is that 2% risk of ruin per visit? So every 50 sessions you lose everything?
How can/does one evaluate their game to make sure it is "perfect" prior to heading to the casino?
How do you not get stopped all the time just based on the need to move tables all the time to keep the count high? Send like that would be a huge red flag for the casino. Or do you not do that?
roughly how much deck penetration do you recon is enough to be worth playing
2.0 cut off is the bare minimum. But I hunt for 1.5 or better.
+1 For Red Robin. That place is lifesaver when you have kids.
lifesaver how?
Colin, can you count cards with an automatic shuffling machine?
Nope. Avoid at all costs. And 6:5 blackjack a big no no
Me and my cousin just moved to wendover to attempt to become pros. Over last weekend i turned 60 bucks into about 800. Playing 5 dollar tables walkong every 20 bucks. Then we moved to 25 dollar tables walked every 200. And then we dipped for the week
So when you say you started with $2000, is that what's needed for a $10 table or is that for $100 bets? You said before that with $1000 40% will lose it. Just wondering how much the bets are. I normally play $10 hands soo would $1000 give me a better chance?
please explain how you got a $10/ hour game at 10% risk with 3k, I’ve put it cvcx a million ways and can’t figure it out
Colin, as my bankroll drops in the downturns, would you recommend scaling back my betting to remain at the same risk?
Yes! If you lose more than 20% of your bankroll, you should scale back to keep risk manageable.
Did you recover?
Are you still playing bj?
he ded
The swings with 2% is insane lol. I prefer keeping risk less than 0.1%
Do you think that the option to ask for reshuffle the cards that some high limit rooms offer is of any advantage to the counter.
HUGE advantage. If the true count is super low in the negatives, it's time to request a reshuffle
1 shoe shouldnt break you, and if you need a reshuffle you aint got enough money to gamble then
Colin How do you deal with others sitting at the table and their whining when you are hitting soft 18's and a lot of times the dealer is telling you that is stupid....Thanks, Colin
Tune them out! They're there to lose. You're there to win.
Have witnessed this a plenty
It's your money; tell them you play it how you want. Unless they want to give you their money to play with, they can keep the comments to themselves.
This is how it is hitting a 12 when the dealer is showing a 2 or 3. Though this is basic strategy, many people don't follow it. Depending on the count is whether I hit or not, but if I feel it is necessary, I don't give it any extra thought in terms of whether people will like it or not
what deviation is this possible?
hey there, unfortunately in every casino in austria is a shuffling machine and it is impossible to count cards, do u have any advice?
Move
Isn't this totally dependent on the minimum bet? As your bankroll goes up don't you play higher limit tables, so isn't it all relative as far as cushion for the percentage of risk of ruin.
Yes, but you don't have to play higher limit tables or higher bets. That's why he's comparing them to the say $/hour amounts.
He should specify what minimum bets for each bankroll. Thats my point. Are we talking $5 mins or $50 mins???@@AGryphonTamer
Is the Hi - Lo better than Hi-Opt I counting.
Thank you, P. K.
It’s easier for sure
I take in 150 X the lowest bet, bankroll is 450 units
Doesn’t it matter more about the price of the hands? 4000 buy in at $100 a hand vs $15 a hand is very different
done.
Hello Colin and the Blackjack Apprenticeship team. As I’ve studied your videos and applied your advice, while on the conversation of bankroll and EV, I’m curious to know how big of a bankroll you’d suggest for someone in that early stages of card counting after completing the 200 - 250 hours of training at home?
I’ve been going to the casinos over the past month and just getting comfortable with the atmosphere, counting and keeping a conversation and doing my bet spreads. I have a $2,000 bankroll and usually only bring 500-600 with me when I play. The rules at the casino I play at are solid and I usually walk out after a few shoes with positive EV. I save more money to build up my bankroll each week, but just want to know what you’d recommend for a bankroll of someone just coming off of the recommenced training time and spending their initial time at the casinos sharpening their skills.
Thanks guys! As always, I appreciate everything you guys do and have been blessed with positive fortune since I started watching you guys! Looking forward to the book!
While you're training, consider any money you're using as "practice money" that you can afford to lose. Until your game is 100%, there's no guarantee you'll have a winning game.
At that point, when your game is 100%, the more bankroll you have, the more EV you can generate!
Hey man. I discovered card counting in the movie 21. So it got me interested and thats how i found your channel. My question is how can i practice card counting on my own so i can improve and hit the casine when the day comes ? Love your channel and have a good one.
If you know the values of each card then take a deck, shuffle it, and flip a card over one at a time keeping track of the count. Just do it over and over and over.
That’s a very like basic drill but it’s a good one
Owen is right, just shuffle, flip and count. Over and over. Then buy 5 more decks and run a count for the whole 6. See how quickly you can flip over 6 decks and still keep an accurate count. Then do it with distractions. Then cut off 3 of the decks and count those to get an idea for how much variance there is going to be for the ending counts on games with poor penetration. Drilling for counting can actually be quite boring. It's not the mathematical ability to add and subtract 1 over and over again that makes someone an AP. Almost anyone can add 1 to a number or subtract 1 from a number and then learn to do it quickly. To be an AP you need the mental fortitude required to do a "boring" task for a very long time over and over again, and that's before you even consider approaching a casino.
I'd love to be served by Colin at Red Robbin
Colin really only sneaks this in, but it's very important: You can have more aggressive bankroll management IF you are good at dropping in stakes if hit the bad side of variance. I haven't double checked the numbers, but standard RoR is going to be calculated on basically a flat average bet. But, if you can scale that bet back, then it's often worth being more aggressive. This is exacerbated on the low end, because no professional has a bankroll of >$10k and almost anyone can save money if they had to, so their true bankroll is higher than that. So, particularly when on the lower end, push the limits a little and give yourself a chance to make some money, just be aggressive with stepping down if you run poorly.
Risk of ruin is not calculated on the average bet. It's a representation of the risks posed to the bankroll by the cumulative effect of the bet spread at all the frequencies of individual counts that will be encountered according to your spread. Variance, or standard deviation per round or per hour is calculated by using the average bet.
$1000 bankroll, 50% risk of ruin, thats not acceptable.
Why not just put 1000 on banker on baccarat, your risk of ruin is lower than 50%, if u busted, just save countless hours. If successfully run it up to 2to 3k, then play BJ card counting with proper BR
So how much bankroll does you need if you're playing at $25 a hand?
The bankroll that you "does" need for that is at least $5,000.
@@TheHaratashi wrong
Maybe I'm just thinking smaller than you are. But winning $100 a day would do a whole lot for my life.
What casinos use the shoe ?
Oma_Panda YT most casinos in the US and Canada use shoes.
I've seen my friends walk in with 100 and walk out with 800 before
Once i walked in with 100 and walked out with 1k. All it takes is just patience and basic strategy. Of course you need to have the discipline to get off the table with the mindset of you’re losing. The more you think that you’re winning, the more greedy you’ll get and end up losing everything.
I found a blackjack game online where you can choose deck size and rules and it goes until there is one deck left
whats the name?
Name?
Does it pay 3 to 2?
@@GaryLuKOTH yep
"$1,000,000 dollars!" - Austin Power
40 units per game
How much bank roll is needed on a Table of 100 minimum bet , with 2 ror ?
If you play a table withe a black chip minimum I know very few who could give more than a ball park estimate. I know you know more than I in that case.
At least $100,000
Colin, I was wondering how you got those numbers with $10,000 dollars. Even with good rules and PEN, I played around with Chapter X and couldn't even come close to those numbers.
he is just pulling numbers out his ass, this guy is burnt, he cant gamble at most places its why he makes videos
Won't the casino stop you from card counting and eventually run out of casinos to play at?
terminology is important
what do you mean by EV and what do you mean by Deck penetration
Hi Colin. When you say $20.00/HR with a $10,000 BR is that min bet $10.00 with a 1-10 spread? Thanks!
Hey Collin iam a card counter but shouldn't you bet high when ur count is high on your end and bet small if the count is not on your favor?
What is the bet amounts for each bankroll?
$1 - $5 - $10?
If I have $1000 could I do a $1 bet or is that still risky? I know normally it’s $5 but I have a casino where it’s $1 minimum
even if you only have a 1% RoR, but you're playing full time. Doesn't that mean that even tho you're averaging a profit over the long run, every card counter is destined to eventually hit that 1% and lose all of your capital without being able to recover and hit your average of making profit again?
Also what's your opinion on applying the martingale system on cardcounting?
martingale always breaks over time. Youre return is a dollar per cycle, but each cycle of betting is either going to net you a dollar or you will lose everything. I was learning to code and one of the first things i did was test out how large of a bankroll you need for you to make back the bankroll before you lost it consistently. I was using python and it's RNG function could and probably did contribute to this, but, if im remembering correctly, it was 15 million dollars. dont use the martingale method. it is disasterously tempting but always nets in losing all your earnings
I want in!1
You know where to find us! BlackjackApprenticeship.com
Story behind your hebrew tattoos?
I want you to teach me personally
Okay but what betting units are these based off of?? Does my risk and EV change if I’m betting 5$ a hand? I feel like these calcs are off of 10$ a hand.
$1.99 for a pack of cards. There should be at least 52 of them in there.
I guess a lot of money because I believe All Casinos will be putting in Automatic Shufflers to prevent card counting in the future!
Joe Knight Nope... They leave the 8 card stacks in otherwise they will lose alot of business
only thing preventing all casinos from having those is that they take time. And for casinos that generate tens of thousands of dollars a minute, it's not worth losing revenue from 99% of the customers by slowing down the game just to combat the 1% of the crowd that counts cards
I turn 20 dollars into $230 in 4 hours playing a single deck black jack table and would only raise my bet from minimum 10 to 20 when i had a count of plus 4 .
@Dbomb Danny no. I was actually at yo mama's house 🤣💯. Naw I'm just kidding but I couldn't tell you that bud. If I commented for you to know then anyone could read this and know where I go to gamble. Including the casino.
Hi Colin, You talked in film that to playing minimum bet 10usd we need 1000 usd bankroll but what bankroll should I take to one session in casino ? I play minimum 10 usd bet in my casino thanks Colin
What's the equation you are using to connect EV to risk to bankroll?
What is EV
With a $5000 bank roll, what stakes should I be playing?
What do you mean by $10/hr, if I start with $1000 after one hr of playing I’ll have $1010?
It means that on average, you win $10 per hour. After 1 hour, there's no telling what you'll have. You might be low on money. You might win considerably. But after a few hundred hours, the money you've won divided by the hours played will be pretty close to 10.
Basically yes. Have to look at it over , say 100 hours, you double up half the timeish
Yes and no. You could have $800 after an hour, but after 1,000 hours you should have made $10 for each of those hours on average.